http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edmund_I_of_EnglandEdmund I 922 –
May 26,
946), called
the Elder,
the Deed-Doer,
the Just or
the Magnificent, was
King of England from 939 until his death. He was a son of
Edward the Elder and half-brother of
Athelstan.
Athelstan died on
October 27,
939, and Edmund succeeded him as king. Shortly after his proclamation as king he had to face several military threats. King
Olaf I of Dublin conquered
Northumbria and invaded the
Midlands. When Olaf died in 942 Edmund reconquered the Midlands. In 943 he became the god-father of King
Olaf of York. In 944, Edmund was successful in reconquering Northumbria. In the same year his ally Olaf of York lost his throne and left for
Dublin in
Ireland. Olaf became the king of Dublin as
Olaf Cuaran and continued to be allied to his god-father. In 945 Edmund conquered
Strathclyde but conceded his rights on the territory to King
Malcolm I of Scotland. In exchange they signed a treaty of mutual military support. Edmund thus established a policy of safe borders and peaceful relationships with
Scotland. During his reign, the revival of
monasteries in England began.
Edmund was murdered in 946 by Leofa, an exiled thief. He had been having a party in
Pucklechurch, when he spotted Leofa in the crowd. After the outlaw refused to leave, the king and his advisors fought Leofa. Edmund and Leofa were both killed:
But William, libro ij° de Regibus, seyth that this kyng kepyng a feste at Pulkirchirche, in the feste of seynte Austyn, and seyng a thefe, Leof by name, sytte [th]er amonge hys gestes, whom he hade made blynde afore for his trespasses -- -- , arysede from the table, and takenge that man by the heire of the hedde, caste him unto the grownde. Whiche kynge was sleyn -- -- with a lyttle knyfe the [th]e man hade in his honde [hand]; and also he hurte mony men soore with the same knyfe; neverthelesse he was kytte at the laste into smalle partes by men longyng to the kynge. --
Polychronicon, 1527
[1]
Edmund was succeeded as king by his brother
Edred, king from 946 until 955. Edmund's sons later ruled England as:
▪ Edwy of England, King from 955 until 957, king of only
Wessex and
Kingdom of Kent from 957 until his death on October 1
959.
▪ Edgar of England, king of only
Mercia and
Northumbria from 957 until his brother's death in 959, then king of England from 959 until 975.