Kings and Queens

England's Fourth King: King Eadwig

King Eadwig succeeded King Eadred in 955.

Gaining Responsibility

On November 23rd in 955, the, whom was the aethling, Eadwig had inherited the Anglo-Saxon, English, throne and along with it the responsibility of maintaining his position against all incoming threats.

Whilst Eadwig's ancestors had faced continuous Viking, Dane, incursions, Eadwig's was a reign which was relatively unchallenged by the Great Heathen Army/Dane army, instead, he had to look much closer in order to come and to see where his challenges would have emerged.

King Eadwig unlike his younger brother (soon to be King) Edgar the Peaceful, didn't leave behind a very good record of medieval kingship. After a meer four year reign as king, which had been interrupted by a slight division of the kingdom between himself and his brother, King Eadwig had died, which had left behind a legacy of rather fractious relationships and instability.

Background

Born around the year 940, as the eldest son of King Edmund I, the aethling, Eadwig was destined to inherit the English throne. Eadwig was the eldest of three children which was the result from the union between King Edmund I and his first wife, Lady Aelgifu of Shaftesbury. When Eadwig and his siblings were still quite young, their father had passed away. King Edmund’s death at the hands of an outlaw in Gloucestershire in May of 946 had resulted in Edmund’s younger brother Eadred succeeding the English throne, due to all of the children being far too young to rule a country.

King Eadred’s reign had lasted nothing short of a decade however, he suffered from poor health and had died in his early 30s, which had left the throne to his young, yet eldest, nephew Eadwig in the year 955, when he was only fifteen years of age.

Almost immediately, King Eadwig had gained a rather undesirable reputation, particularly amongst thee advisors whom were close to the crown such as, the future, St Dunstan, Abbot of Glastonbury.

At fifteen years old, King Eadwig had been quite well-known as an attractive young royal and during his coronation in the year 956 in Kingston upon Thames, Eadwig had quickly developed an into something, with somewhat of an unattractive persona.

According to many reports, King Eadwig had left the council chamber during his own feast in order to instead entertain a woman. Upon noticing King Eadwig's absence, St Dunstan went looking for the him, only to find him in the company of a mother and her daughter.

Life as a King

These activities had not only been completed against the royal protocol but they had contributed to King Eadwig’s image as a fairly irresponsible king of England. Alongside this, such was the schism that was created by his actions that the relationship between King Eadwig and St Dunstan would have been irrevocably damaged and had remained fraught with tension for the remainder of his time as king of England.

Many of the problems that had been incurred by King Eadwig had been a result of the powerful people who had held much sway in the court during the time of King Eadred. This had included his grandmother Lady Eadgifu, Archbishop Oda, St Dunstan and Lord Aethelstan, the ealdorman of East Anglia who had, at the time, was often referred to as the Half-King, denoting his power. With many notable factions at play within the royal court he had inherited, a young teenage king, Eadwig was quick to make the distinction between his uncle’s reign and his own reign.

When King Eadwig had appeared on the scene, he wanted to recalibrate the royal court to assert his independence and distance himself from the many varieties of parties in the court who had looked for more continuity with the reign of King Eadred.

In order to proclaim his independence he reduced the power of those who was around him, this included Lady Eadgifu, his grandmother, ridding her of her possessions. The same was done to Lord Aethelstan, Half-King who saw his authority somewhat dwindle.

In making new appointments and reducing the influence of the older order, King Eadwig had hoped to gain more authority and more control.

This was extended to his choice of a bride, as Lady Aelgifu, the younger female involved in his somewhat controversial encounter at the king's coronation ceremony was chosen by King Eadwig. Such a choice would have consequences, as the church had disapproved of the union, citing reasons that the two individuals were in fact related to each other, in blood, as she was a cousin. Moreover, Lady Aelgifu’s mother, Lady Aethelgifu didn't want to see her daughter’s prospects that were ruined by the condemnation of the church and thus pressured had King Eadwig to oust St Dunstan from his position.

With St Dunstan subsequently exiled to the land of Flanders, King Eadwig had continued to gain notoriety from the way that he had handled the Church, something which had permeated the narrative of his rule for the years to come.

With further significant members of the Church alienated by the king, these fractures in relations had become gaping chasms and had ultimately led in the year 957 to the countries of Mercia and Northumbria, pledging their allegiance to his more popular younger brother, Lord Edgar.

At only fourteen years old, Lord Edgar’s reputation was already better than that of his older brother and thus the support that he had garnered had led in tangible terms towards the splitting up of the kingdom.

Whilst King Eadwig was the rightful and true king, in order to prevent any further contention and chaos during his fairly short reign, his young brother Lord Edgar was given control of the north whilst King Eadwig rhad etained Wessex and Kent.

These divisions of loyalty had found themselves to be split along the geographical boundaries that had been demarcated by the River Thames.

Whilst the precise origins of this agreement remains unknown, the arrangement had continued until King Eadwig’s death just two years later.

Only a year after his kingdom was split, Lord Oda, the Archbishop of Canterbury had succeeded in splitting King Eadwig from his controversial choice of a bride, Lady Aelgifu. He was to never remarry and yet, only a year following this arrangement, and still a teenager, King Eadwig had died.

On 1st October 959, Eadwig’s death marked the end of a short and contentious reign characterised by instability and infighting.

He was subsequently buried at Winchester whilst his younger brother became King Edgar, later known as “the Peaceful”, ushering in a new era of stable leadership and overshadowing his older brother’s tumultuous reign.