| Eadwig | |
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| Reign | 23 November 955 – 1 October 959 |
| Predecessor | Edred |
| Successor | Edgar |
| Consort | Ælfgifu (annulled) |
| House | House of Wessex |
| Father | Edmund I |
| Mother | Ælfgifu of Shaftesbury |
| Born | 941? Wessex, England |
| Died | October 1, 959 Gloucester, England |
| Burial | Winchester Cathedral |
Eadwig, more rarely Edwy (941? – 1 October 959), sometimes nicknamed All-Fair or the Fair, was King of England from 955 until his death four years later. The eldest son of King Edmund and Ælfgifu of Shaftesbury, Eadwig was chosen by the nobility to succeed his uncle Eadred as King. His short reign was marked by ongoing conflicts with his family, thegns, and especially the Church, under the leadership of Saint Dunstan and Archbishop Odo.
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According to one legend, the feud with Dunstan began on the day of Eadwig's consecration, when he failed to attend a meeting of nobles. When Dunstan eventually found the young monarch, he was cavorting with a noblewoman named Æthelgifu and refused to return with the bishop. Infuriated by this, Dunstan dragged Eadwig back and forced him to renounce the girl as a "strumpet". Later realizing that he had provoked the king, Dunstan fled to the apparent sanctuary of his cloister, but Eadwig, incited by Æthelgifu, followed him and plundered the monastery. Though Dunstan managed to escape, he refused to return to England until after Eadwig's death. The contemporary record of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle reports Eadwig's accession and Dunstan fleeing England - but does not explain why Dunstan fled. Thus this report of a feud between Eadwig and Dunstan could either have been based on a true incident of a political quarrel for power between a young king and powerful church officials who wished to control the king and who later spread this legend to blacken his reputation, or it could be an urban legend; the Chronicle also tells of Odo putting aside the King's marriage on the grounds Eadwig and his wife were "too related".
The account of the quarrel with Dunstan and Cynesige, bishop of Lichfield at the coronation feast is recorded in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle and in the later chronicle of John of Worcester and was written by monks supportive of Dunstan's position. The "cavorting" in question consisted of Eadwig (then only 16) being away from the feast with Ælfgifu and her mother Æthelgifu. He later married Ælfgifu, who seems to have been the sister of Æthelweard the Chronicler.
Æthelweard describes himself as the "grandson's grandson" of King Æthelred I. Eadwig was the son of King Edmund the Magnificent, grandson of King Edward the Elder, great-grandson of King Alfred the Great, and therefore great-great-nephew of King Æthelred I. Eadwig and Ælfgifu were therefore third cousins once removed.
The annulment of the marriage of Eadwig and Ælfgifu is unusual in that it was against their will and clearly politically motivated by the supporters of Dunstan. The Church at the time held that any union within 9 degrees of consanguinity was incestuous. In a population of 1-1.5 million people most of the marriages within England at the time would have been void, but only amongst the aristocracy would such a full family tree be known. Edgar's relationship with his wife was precisely the same as Eadwig's and the consanguinity of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip is slightly closer.
Dunstan, whilst in exile became influenced by the Benedictines of Flanders and a pro-Dunstan, pro-Benedictine party began to form around Athelstan Half-King's domain of East Anglia supporting Eadwig's younger brother Edgar. Frustrated by the king's impositions and supported by Archbishop Odo, the Thanes of Mercia and Northumbria switched their allegiance to Eadwig's brother Edgar. In 957 rather than see the country descend into civil war, an agreement was reached among the nobles by which the kingdom would be divided along the Thames, with Eadwig keeping Wessex and Kent in the south and Edgar ruling in the north.
Eadwig is known for his remarkable generosity in giving away land. In 956 alone, his sixty odd gifts of land make up around 5% of all genuine Anglo-Saxon charters. No known ruler in Europe matched that yearly total before the twelfth century, and his cessions are plausibly attributed to political insecurity.[1]
Eadwig died at a young age in 959, in circumstances which remain unknown. He was succeeded by his brother Edgar the Peaceful, who reunited the kingdom.
| Preceded by Eadred |
King of the English 955–959 |
Succeeded by Edgar |
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