King Edwig ENGLAND

   Other names for Edwig were WESSEX King, KENT King, "The Fair", ENGLAND King, Eadwig and Edwy.

   General Notes:

"The Fair", King of ENGLAND Reigned 955-957/959, King of WESSEX and KENT
Reigned 957-959.

BOOKS
Kings and Queens of Great Britain, Genealogical Chart, Anne Taute and Romilly Squire, Taute, 1990: "Edwy The Fair King of England 955-959, Mar Aelfgifu Daughter of Aethelgifu, Died 959."

Encyclopaedia Britannica, 1981, Micropaedia, Vol III, p743, Eadwig: "also spelled Edwy, Died 1 Oct 959, King of the Anglo-Saxons from 955 to 957 and ruler of Wessex and Kent from 957 to 959. The eldest son of the Anglo-Saxon King Edmund I (ruled 939-946) and the nephew of King Eadred (ruled 946-955), he was probably no more that 15 years old at the time of his accession."
"Early historical sources are biased against Eadwig. According to one writer, he hated the great monastic reformer Dunstan because he made Eadwig return to his coronation feast which he had left in order to visit Aelfgifu, whom he later married. Although Eadwig drove Dunstan into exile, he evidently did not attempt to halt the monastic revival that the churchman had inspired. In 957 theMercians and Northumbrians revolted and proclaimed Eadwig's brother Edgar as their king. For the next two years Eadwig controlled only the region south of the Thames."
p788, Edgar: "...The younger son of Edmund I, King of the English, Edgar was made King of the Mercians and Northumbrians in place of Eadwig, his brother, who was deposed. On Eadwig's death (1 Oct 959), Edgar succeeded to the West Saxon throne..."

The Story of Civilization, Will Durant, Vol III, The Age of Faith, BkIV, The Dark Ages, Chap XX, The Rise of the North, Sec 2, Anglo-Saxon Civilization, p486: "...St Dunstan, Abbot of Glastonbury, became chief counselor under kings Edmund (940-946), and Edred (946-955). He defended the middle and lower classes against the nobles, boldly criticized monarchs and princes, was exiled by King Edwig (955-959), was recalled by Edgar (959-975), and secured the crown for Edward the Martyr (975-978)..."

From Alfred to Henry III 871-1272, Christopher Brooke, 1961, Norton Library History of England, p54: "...Thus, after some vicissitudes, the inheritance of Edward the Elder and Athelstan passed into the next generation intact and well established. It was well that it did so, because the next generation was represented by Edmund's sons, of whom the elder, Eadwig, cannot have been more than fifteen and the younger, Edgar, was twelve. Eadwig lived only four years after his accession; long enough to acquire an evil reputation in those circles to which we owe record of his reign, not long enough to redeem it by any notable act. It is noteworthy that several of the leading associates of his brother, Edgar, had already been promoted under Eadwig; but that Eadwig quarrelled with the greatest of Edgar's colleagues, St Dunstan. It was probably to this quarrel, whose true origin is quite obscure, that Eadwig owed his bad reputation."

The Wall Chart of World History, Edward Hull, 1988, Studio Editions, England 955: "Edwy, son ofEdmund, King of England 955-959..."

   Marriage Information:

Edwig married Queen Aelfgifu ENGLAND, daughter of Aethelgifu, about 956. (Queen Aelfgifu ENGLAND died in 959.)