See also
- Edgar KING OF THE ENGLSIH's parents: Edmund I KING OF THE ENGLISH ( -946) and Aelgifu ( - )
- Edgar KING OF THE ENGLSIH's sibling: Eadwig KING OF THE ENGLISH ( -959)
Edgar KING OF THE ENGLSIH (944-975)
1. Edgar I The Peaceful KING OF THE ENGLSIH, son of Edmund I KING OF THE ENGLISH ( -946) and Aelgifu ( - ), was born in 0944. He died in 0975. He married Ethelflead. He married Wulfryth. He married Elfhyrth.
reigned 959-975.
Ethelflead and Edgar I The Peaceful KING OF THE ENGLSIH had the following children:
| +2 |
Elfhyrth was born in 0945. She died in 1000. She and Edgar I The Peaceful KING OF THE ENGLSIH had the following children:
| +3 |
Second Generation
2. Edward the Martyr KING OF THE ENGLISH, son of Edgar I The Peaceful KING OF THE ENGLSIH and Ethelflead, died in 0978.
reigned 975-978.
3. Athelred II The Unready KING OF THE ENGLISH, son of Edgar I The Peaceful KING OF THE ENGLSIH and Elfhyrth, was born in 0978. He married Emma de Normandie in 1002. He died on 23 April 1016. He was buried in Old St. Paul's Cathedral. He married Aelflyd of Northumbria. He married Elfreda Gunnarson.
Athelred (Ethelred) 'The Unready' was King of the English from 978 to 1016. The term 'Unready' was probably a misinterpretation of the word 'un-raed' which meant 'lack of council'. It appears that Athelred was not able to make any decisions on his own and relied on the Witan council heavily. Athelred first married Aelfgifu and then in 1002 married Emma the daughter of Richard I Duke of Normandy. In 1013 the Danes invaded England forcing the Saxon king into exile in Normandy. From September of 1013 Swein Fork-Beard of Denmark is acknowledged as King of all England, but he died in February 1014. Swein's son Canute was elected King of England by the Danes but the Witan council elected Athelred. Athelred sent a delegation from Normandy, including his son Edward (the Confessor), to England to discuss his return and in March of 1014 he resumed his reign.
Aelflyd of Northumbria, daughter of Earl Thorold ( - ) and Hilda ( - ), died before 0996. She and Athelred II The Unready KING OF THE ENGLISH had the following children:
| +4 | |
| +5 | |
| +6 |
Elfreda Gunnarson was born in 0968. She died in 1002. She and Athelred II The Unready KING OF THE ENGLISH had the following children:
| +7 |
Emma de Normandie (also known as Emma DE NORMANDIE), daughter of Richard I of NORMANDY (933-996) and Gunnor DE CREPON (c. 936-1031), was born in 0986. She died on 6 March 1052 in Winchester. She and Athelred II The Unready KING OF THE ENGLISH had the following children:
| +8 | |
| +9 | |
| +10 |
Third Generation
4. Aethelstan KING OF THE ENGLISH, son of Athelred II The Unready KING OF THE ENGLISH and Aelflyd of Northumbria, was born before 0981. He died in 1014.
5. Edmund II Ironside KING OF THE ENGLISH, son of Athelred II The Unready KING OF THE ENGLISH and Aelflyd of Northumbria, was born in 0981. He died on 30 November 1016. He was buried in Glastonbury. He married Ealdgyth.
Edmund was King of England for only a few months. After the death of his father, Æthelred II, in April 1016, Edmund led the defense of the city of London against the invading Knut Sveinsson (Canute), and was proclaimed king by the Londoners. Meanwhile, the Witan (Council), meeting at Southampton, chose Canute as King. After a series of inconclusive military engagements, in which Edmund performed brilliantly and earned the nickname "Ironside", he defeated the Danish forces at Oxford, Kent, but was routed by Canute's forces at Ashingdon, Essex. A subsequent peace agreement was made, with Edmund controlling Wessex and Canute controlling Mercia and Northumbria. It was also agreed that whoever survived the other would take control of the whole realm. Unfortunately for Edmund, he died in November, 1016, transferring the Kingship of All England completely to Canute.
Ealdgyth was born in 0963. She died of Natural causes in 1017. She was buried in Glastonbury Abbey. She and Edmund II Ironside KING OF THE ENGLISH had the following children:
| 11 | Edward KING OF ENGLAND (UNCROWNED) (1016-1057). Edward was born in 1016 in Kiev or Hungary. He married Agatha of Brunswick circa 1035 in London, Middlesex. He died in 1057. |
| 12 |
6. Aelgifu, daughter of Athelred II The Unready KING OF THE ENGLISH and Aelflyd of Northumbria, married Uchtred EARL OF NORTHUMBERLAND.
Uchtred EARL OF NORTHUMBERLAND and Aelgifu had the following children:
| 13 |
7. Egbert was the son of Athelred II The Unready KING OF THE ENGLISH and Elfreda Gunnarson.
8. Edward the Confessor KING OF THE ENGLISH (also known as St.Edward the Confessor KING OF THE ENGLSIH), son of Athelred II The Unready KING OF THE ENGLISH and Emma de Normandie, died in 1066.
reigned 1042-1066.
Edward the Confessor, the son of Ethelred the Redeless and Emma of Normandy was born at Islip in 1004. He was of medium height and was said by some chroniclers to be an albino. Edward had accompanied his father into exile in Normandy in 1016. Brought up in Normandy from the age of twelve, he had acquired the tastes and outlook of a Norman and was extremely fond of his Norman relations including his cousin William, the future Conqueror. He appointed a Norman, Robert of Jumieges as Archbishop of Canterbury, an action which was much resented by the Saxon people.
He married Edith, the daughter of Earl Godwine, whom he found all-powerful on his accession to the throne. He was said to have secretly detested Godwine for his part in the murder of his brother Alfred. The new King was extremely pious and devout and had longings for a monastic life.
Edward's sister, Goda, was the wife of a powerful Norman nobleman, Eustace, Count of Boulogne, who visited his brother-in-law in England. While passing through Dover, Eustace and his retainers greatly offended the citizens of the town by taking free lodgings. A scuffle developed, and an Englishman wounded, who acting in self-defence, slew one of the Normans. His house was promptly surrounded by Eustace and his men and the Saxon was murdered along with several other inhabitants of the town. The men of Dover then drove the Norman intruders out of the town.
Eustace complained to Edward about the affair, who believed his version of the tale against that of his own subjects and instructed Earl Godwine to punish the town. Godwine refused to obey the King, a decision which made him popular with the people. Godwine and his sons Harold and Sweyn gathered their forces and demanded that Eustace and his Norman retainers be surrendered to their vengeance. The northern Earls supported the King and along with the half-Norman Ralph the Timid, Earl of Worcester ( Edward's nephew through Goda's first marriage ) A truce was negotiated by the opposing sides in the quarrel. At a subsequent meeting of the Witan, Godwine's son, Sweyn, was outlawed and Godwine and Harold summoned to appear before the assembly. This they refused to do without a promise of safe conduct, which was denied to them. Sentence of banishment was passed against Godwine and Harold. Edward then rid himself of his Queen, Godwine's daughter, whom he deprived of all her jewellery and had her shut up in a convent.
Godwine and Harold returned in force and were supported by many, as they advanced on London more joined their army, they demanded the King restore their confiscated estates, after initial prevarication, Edward, eager to prevent civil war, agreed to a compromise, all the Normans were outlawed and Edward was obliged to restore the estates of Godwine and his sons and take back his Queen.
Edward's resentment of Earl Godwine remained very strong and a burning sense of the injustice of his brother Alfred's death smouldered within him. During a banquet at Windsor, Edward expressed the opinion that he was convinced that Godwine was guilty of being involved in the murder. Godwine protested his innocence and swore that if he was guilty "May this morsel of bread be my last," whereupon, we are told, he choked on the bread. Whatever the cause, it could possibly have been a stroke, Godwine died on 15th April, 1053 and his eldest son Harold succeeded to his estates and influence, which steadily increased.
King Edward recalled his nephew, Edward 'the Exile', the son of his half-brother Edmund Ironside, to England, with a view to making him his heir. Edward returned with his family from Hungary, his re-call was a popular move among the Saxons, but shortly after his return to England, Edward died and was buried at old St. Paul's Cathedral. Being unlikely to produce children of his own, King Edward then seems to have made a promise to his cousin, William of Normandy, that he should succeed him, during a visit of the latter to England.
Edward is most famous for having founded Westminster Abbey. On his death in 1066 he was buried at Westminster and was canonized a hundred years later. When his admirer, Henry III, rebuilt the Abbey in the thirteenth century, the Confessor's body was translated to a magnificent shrine which became the centerpiece of the new building. It was to become a popular place of pilgrimage throughout the middle ages.
9. Alfred, son of Athelred II The Unready KING OF THE ENGLISH and Emma de Normandie, died in 1036.
10. Godgifu (also known as Godgifu PRINCESS OF ENGLAND and Goda), daughter of Athelred II The Unready KING OF THE ENGLISH and Emma de Normandie, married Eustace II, Gernobadatus EARL (COUNT) OF BOLOINE.
Eustace II, Gernobadatus EARL (COUNT) OF BOLOINE, son of Eustache I de Boulogne (c. 1004-1049) and Mathilde (Maud MAHAUT) VON LOWEN (c. 1006-1046), was born circa 1030 in Boulogne. He died in 1087. He married Ida von Niederlothringen (of Moselle & Lorraine) in December 1093.