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Edgar EtelingThe last of the Wessex royal dynasty, proclaimed (but not crowned) King of England during the Norman Conquest in 1066.
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 Great Britain |
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Biography of Edgar Ætheling
Edgar Ætheling (circa 1051, Hungary - circa 1126) was the last representative of the Wessex royal dynasty. He was proclaimed, but not crowned, as the King of England during the Norman Conquest in 1066. Later, he actively participated in the Anglo-Saxon resistance against William the Conqueror, but was forced to submit and abandon his claims to the English throne.
Early Life
Edgar was the only son of Edward the Exile, the heir to the English throne after the death of his father, Edmund Ironside, who was forced to flee England in 1016 when it was conquered by Danish Vikings. Edward found refuge in Hungary, where Edgar was born. His mother was Princess Agatha, believed to be from a German or Kiev ruling family. Edgar spent his childhood at the court of King Andrew I of Hungary.
Norman Conquest
After the death of King Edward the Confessor in early 1066, Edgar remained the sole male representative of the English royal dynasty. However, he was still a child with no connections to the Anglo-Saxon aristocracy and incapable of leading the country in the face of the increased external threat. Therefore, Harold Godwinson was elected as the King of England on January 5, 1066. He was the most powerful magnate in the kingdom and the de facto ruler during the end of Edward the Confessor's reign.
When Duke William of Normandy invaded England in September 1066 and King Harold fell in the Battle of Hastings on October 14, the Anglo-Saxon aristocracy turned to Edgar Ætheling in the hope that his coronation as king would consolidate the country and organize resistance against the Norman invaders. Edgar was likely proclaimed as the King of England in late October in London. However, the city was soon surrounded by William's armies, and it became clear that it was impossible to raise a new army to resist the Normans. In November, Archbishop Stigand, one of the leaders of the national party, defected to William's side, followed by other Anglo-Saxon aristocrats. In late November, Morkar, the Earl of Northumbria, Edwin, the Earl of Mercia, Archbishop Ealdred of York, and others pledged their loyalty to William, recognizing him as the lawful King of England. Edgar Ætheling was forced to renounce his title and submit to William in early December. Soon after, William entered London and was crowned as the King of England on December 25.
Life under William the Conqueror
After William's coronation, Edgar remained at his court and accompanied the king on his trip to Normandy in 1067. However, by the summer of 1068, he went north and participated in the rebellion of the Earls Morcar and Edwin against the Normans. After the failure of the revolt, Edgar fled to Scotland with his mother and sisters and found protection under King Malcolm III. In 1069, Malcolm married Edgar's sister Margaret and acknowledged Ætheling's rights to the English throne. With the active support of the Scots, a massive Anglo-Saxon uprising erupted in Northern England in 1069. A significant army was formed, led by Edgar Ætheling, Waltheof, and Gospatric. The rebels joined forces with the troops of Danish King Sweyn II, who landed in Northumbria, and captured York. However, news of William's approaching main forces prompted the Anglo-Saxons to retreat north. In 1070, the Danes left England, and Gospatric and Waltheof reconciled with William, receiving significant landholdings. Edgar Ætheling, without support, returned to Scotland. By 1071, the rebellion in Northern England was suppressed.
In 1072, in order to eliminate the threat from Anglo-Saxon refugees, William the Conqueror launched a campaign into Scotland. His forces reached the River Tay and forced King Malcolm III to sign a treaty in Abernethy, obligating him to cease support for the Anglo-Saxons. Edgar was forced to leave Scotland and found a new refuge in Flanders, ruled by Count Robert I of Friesland, one of the main opponents of William the Conqueror. Through the Count of Flanders, Edgar began negotiations with King Philip I of France for joint actions against William. Philip even offered Edgar the city of Montreuil-sur-Mer on the coast of the English Channel, which could serve as a base for Ætheling's reconquest of England. However, in 1074, Edgar made peace with William, acknowledging him as the King of England and swearing allegiance to him.
Later Years
Edgar's reconciliation with William the Conqueror was likely due to his lack of real support in England and external backing to overthrow the Normans. Scottish King Malcolm III and his wife Margaret also advocated for reconciliation. According to the agreement of 1074, Edgar recognized William as the King of England and swore loyalty to him. In return, he received an honorary position at the king's court, landed estates in England and Normandy, and a pension of one pound per day. For over ten years, Edgar lived in the company of William the Conqueror without making any attempts to reclaim the English crown, except for the period immediately after the Norman Conquest.
As William's power in England solidified, the need for an alliance with the last representative of the Anglo-Saxon dynasty diminished. The relationship between the king and Edgar soured. In 1086, William allowed Edgar to leave England. According to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle and Florence of Worcester, Edgar went to Apulia with two hundred knights to fight against the Arabs and Byzantines. The reasons for Ætheling's expedition and his actions in Italy are unknown. Upon his return from Italy, Edgar joined the service of Duke Robert Curthose, the eldest son of William the Conqueror. He supported Robert's revolts against the new King of England, William II Rufus. However, the reconciliation between the rulers of Normandy and England in 1091 led to the confiscation of Edgar's lands and his exile to Scotland. The Scottish invasion of Northern England in 1091 was likely related to this event. In response, William II launched a campaign into Scotland, and English forces reached as far as the Firth of Forth but failed to defeat Malcolm III's army. Edgar Ætheling acted as a mediator from the Scottish side in the peace negotiations that resulted in the return of several English villages to Malcolm III, who paid homage to William II. According to the terms of the agreement, the King of England also returned Edgar's confiscated lands and possessions.
A few years later, in 1097, Edgar Ætheling led an English invasion of Scotland, which resulted in the overthrow of the new Scottish King Donald Ban and the ascension of Edgar, son of Malcolm III and nephew of Ætheling, who supported closer ties with England.
In 1098, Edgar Ætheling, along with Duke Robert Curthose, set off on a crusade to Palestine. According to Orderic Vitalis, Ætheling's fleet arrived in the Holy Land in March 1098 and played a significant role in the capture of Antioch in June of the same year. However, according to other sources, Edgar arrived in Palestine much later and remained there until 1102. After returning from the crusade, Ætheling settled in Normandy at the court of Duke Robert. He once again supported Robert's rebellion against the English king, but in the Battle of Tinchebray in 1106, the Normans were defeated, and Edgar Ætheling was captured by King Henry I. Soon, he was pardoned and settled on his estate in Hertfordshire, where he spent the remaining years of his life. Edgar Ætheling, most likely, passed away around 1125. He was never married and had no children. With Edgar's death, the male line of the ancient Anglo-Saxon royal dynasty became extinct. King Henry I's marriage to Edgar's niece Margaret allowed the legitimization of the Norman monarchs' claims to the English throne. Throughout his long life, Edgar Ætheling, except for the immediate period after the Norman Conquest, never attempted to reclaim the English crown. Contemporary sources, such as Orderic Vitalis, attributed this to Ætheling's mild character and indecisiveness, qualities sharply contrasting with the energy and aggression of the Norman dynasty's kings.
