Born c.907, he became a monk at his own foundation at Croyland Abbey, Lincs., in c.946, and was later elected Abbot there. He died on 12 July, 975, at Croyland Abbey, and was buried there.
KING ALFRED
He died on 25, 26 or 28 October, 899, and was buried in Newminster Abbey, Winchester. His remains were later removed to Hyde Abbey, Winchester, which was destroyed during the Reformation. The present site of his grave is unknown. His bones may possibly lie in one of the mortuary chests in Winchester Cathedral.
He was succeeded by his son Edward.
King Edward the Elder
FATHER: King Alfred(
MOTHER: Ethelswitha(
SIBLINGS: (
KING EDWARD
Known as ‘the Elder’, he was born in c.871/2. He succeeded his father as King of Wessex on 25, 26 or 28 October, 899, and was crowned on 31 May or 8 June, 900, at Kingston-upon-Thames, Surrey.
Edward married firstly(although no record exists of the date or the place):
Egwina
She is described as ‘a noblewoman’, although her origins are unknown. William of Malmesbury, writing in the 12th century, states that her children were illegitimate, thereby suggesting that her marriage to Edward was uncanonical, but this is unlikely in view of the fact that her son succeeded Edward as undisputed king. She died in c.901/2.
Issue of marriage:
1 King Athelstan(
2 Alfred
No dates are recorded, and very little is known about him. He may have died young.
3 St Edith
She married Sihtric Caoch, King of Northumbria ( d.927), on 30 January, 925/6, at Tamworth, Staffordshire. After her widowhood, she became a nun at Polesworth Abbey, Warwickshire, in 927. That same year, she was transferred to Tamworth Abbey, Gloucestershire, where she was immediately elected Abbess. She died in c.927. After her death, she was canonised, and her Feast Day is 15 July.
Edward married secondly, in c.901/2 (although no record exists as to where):
Elfleda
She was the daughter of Ealdorman Ethelhelm by his wife Elswitha. She died in 920, and was buried in Winchester Cathedral.
Issue of marriage:
1 Edwin
He was perhaps ‘Subregulus’ of Kent. In 933, he drowned in the English Channel, perhaps murdered on the orders of his half-brother, King Athelstan. He was buried in St Bertin’s Abbey, Flanders.
2 Elfweard
Information about Elfweard is conflicting. One source states he married and had children, but gives no details. Another source, less trustworthy, states he was a hermit at Bridgenorth, Salop. What is certain is that he died on 1 August, 924, at Oxford, and was buried in Winchester Cathedral.
3 Edfleda
No dates are recorded. She was a nun, but her community is not named: it was perhaps Winchester. She was buried in Wilton Abbey, Wiltshire.
4 Edgiva(or Ogive )
She married Charles III, King of France ( d.929), between 916 and 919, and had issue:
1 Louis IV, King of France (921?–954), who married Gerberga ( d.984), daughter of Henry the Fowler of Saxony, Holy Roman Emperor, and had issue.
Edgiva married secondly, Heribert III, Count of Vermandois, Meaux, and Troyes ( d.995), in c.951 at St Quentin, France, and had issue:
2 Stephen I, Count of Vermandois ( b.952?–1021).
3 Agnes ( b. 953).
Edgiva died in c. 953, perhaps in childbirth. Some sources state she died in 948, in which case her second marriage took place earlier than is generally supposed.
5 Edhilda
She married Hugh Capet, Count of Paris and Duke of the French ( d.956), in 926/7, and had issue:
1 Hugh, King of France (938?–996), who married Adelaide ( d.1004/5), daughter of William, Duke of Aquitaine, and had issue. Edhilda died on 26 January, 947. (Some sources state she died in c.938, or even earlier, but this is improbable.)
6 Edith
She married Otto I, Duke of Saxony and German Emperor ( d.973), in c.925/30, and had issue:
1 Liudolf, Duke of Swabia ( d.957), who married Ida, daughter of Hermann, Duke of Almayne, Swabia, and had issue.
2 Liutgarde, married Conrad, Duke of Lorraine.
Edith died on 26 January, c.946/7, in Germany, and was buried in the Cathedral of St Maurice, Magdeburg.
7 Elfleda
She became a nun at Winchester, where she died in c.963. She was buried in Wilton Abbey, Wilts.
8 Elgiva
No dates are recorded. She married ‘a Prince near the Alps’. He has recently been identified, with near certainty, as Boleslaw II, Duke of Bohemia ( d.999). Other, less probable, identifications have been made with Conrad III, King of Burgundy ( d.993); Alberic, son of Majolus, Count of Narbonne; and Charles Constantine, King of Arles, son of either the Emperor Louis the Blind or Louis II, King of Arles.
9 Ethelfleda
No dates are recorded. She was perhaps a nun at Romsey Abbey, Hampshire, and may have been elected Abbess of Romsey, where she was later buried.
10 Ethelhilda
No dates are recorded. She was a lay sister or recluse at Romsey Abbey, Hampshire. She was buried in Wilton Abbey, Wiltshire.
Edward married thirdly, in 920 (?) (although no record exists of the date or the place):
Edgiva
She was the daughter of Sigehelm, Ealdorman of Kent, and she was born before c.905. She died on 25 August, 968, and was buried in Canterbury Cathedral.
Issue of marriage:
1 Edmund I(
2 St Edburga
She became a nun at Nunnaminster Abbey, Winchester; she was possibly elected Abbess, but this is unlikely. She died on 15 June, 960, and was buried in Nunnaminster Abbey. After her canonisation, her remains were translated to Pershore Abbey, Worcs.
3 Edgiva
She was married in infancy to ‘Louis of Aquitaine, King of Arles’, before 923. Her husband has not been successfully identified. He may have been Louis II, King of Arles, in which case the issue of the marriage may have been:
1 Charles Constantine, King of Aries (whose parentage is uncertain).
Louis may also be identified, with less credibility, with Louis the Blind, King of Lower Burgundy and Holy Roman Emperor ( d.928). Some authorities cite Ebehard, Count of Nordgau ( d.c.960), as the husband of Edgiva.
4 King Edred(
5 Thyra
She is said to have been a daughter of Edward by Edgiva, but there is some doubt about this. No dates are recorded. She married Gorm the Old, king in North Jutland, and had issue:
1 Harold I, King of Denmark ( d.986), who also married and had issue.
Edward is also reputed to have had the following illegitimate issue, although this is in dispute: