http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edgar_of_EnglandEdgar I the Peaceful or
the Peaceable was a king of
England.
Edgar was the younger son of
Edmund I of England. His
cognomen, "The Peaceable", was not necessarily a comment on the deeds of his life, for he was a strong leader, shown by the seizure of the
Northumbrian and
Mercian kingdoms from his older brother,
Edwy, in 958. Edgar was held to be king north of the Thames by a conclave of his nobles, and the aspirational ruler set himself to succeed to the English throne. With Edwy's death in October 959, Edgar immediately recalled
Dunstan from exile to have him made
Bishop of Worcester . The allegation Dunstan at first refused to crown Edgar because of disapproval for his way of life is a discreet reference in popular histories to Edgar's mistress,[
citation needed] Wulfthryth , who bore him a daughter
Eadgyth. Dunstan remained Edgar's advisor throughout his reign.
Edgar's reign was a peaceful one, and it is probably fair to say that it saw the
Anglo-Saxon kingdom of
England at its height. Although the political unity of England was the achievement of his predecessors, it was Edgar who saw to its consolidation. By the end of Edgar's reign there was practically no likelihood of any recession back to its state of rival kingships, and the division of its domains.
The Monastic Reform Movement that restored the
Benedictine Rule to England's undisciplined monastic communities saw its height during the time of Dunstan, Aethelwold and Oswald. However, the extent and importance of the movement is still debated amongst academics.
Edgar was crowned at
Bath, but not until 973, in an imperial ceremony planned not as the initiation, but as the culmination of his reign . This service, devised by Dunstan himself and celebrated with a poem in the
Anglo-Saxon Chronicle forms the basis of the present-day British coronation ceremony. The symbolic coronation was an important step; other kings of Britain came and gave their allegiance to Edgar shortly afterwards at
Chester. Six kings in Britain, including the kings of
Scotland and of
Strathclyde, pledged their faith that they would be the king's liege-men on sea and land. Later chroniclers made the kings into eight, all plying the oars of Edgar's state barge on the
River Dee. Such embellishments may not be factual, but the main outlines of the "submission at Chester" appear true.
Edgar had several children. He died on 8 July 975 at
Winchester, and was buried at
Glastonbury Abbey. He left two sons, the eldest named Edward, the son of his first wife Ethelfleda , and
Ethelred, the youngest, the child of his second wife
Ælfthryth. He was succeeded by his eldest son,
Edward.
From Edgar’s death to the
Norman Conquest there was not a single succession to the throne that was not contested. Although perhaps a simplification, Edgar’s death did seem to be the beginning of the end for Anglo-Saxon England, followed as it was by three successful 11th-century conquests — two Danish and one Norman.