The True Story of Edward the Elder | The Last Kingdom

a lot of you may know Edward the Elder from the last kingdom here he is presented to us as the son of Alfred the Great his father Alfred was widely remembered for his actions especially for winning his lands back from the Vikings against all the odds however his son Edward remains largely forgotten and almost neglected from history many historians have described his life as being incomparably more glorious in the power of His rule than his father he was also Superior to his father Alfred in terms of military success so let's delve into the life of this warrior king and find out more about him and his life of war and expansion first let's look at his ancestry and early life Edward's father was Alfred the Great the king of the Anglo-Saxons and his mother was elsewhere who was a mercy and Noble woman he was born in the year 874 at the height of the Viking age his father Alfred would spend much time and effort fighting against the Viking Invaders In order to keep his lands Alfred's capital of Winchester was taken by the Vikings and he was then forced into exile he resided in the marshes of Somerset until the men of Wessex and Mercier United in a battle now known as the Battle of Eddington the Saxons defeated the Vikings and Alfred took back his lands so Edward's childhood was very turbulent in the early years due to the uncertainty of England's fate after the battle of Eddington the Vikings still occupied northumbria East Anglia and Eastern Mercier leaving just the Kingdom of Wessex which had its independence the lands the Vikings had taken were known as the Dane law as they had their own Viking Kings and in turn their own laws Edward's most famous sibling was Ethel fled who had later become the lady of the mercians and would help Edward much once he ascended to kinship according to the monk Assa who wrote a biography on Alfred called the life of King Alfred Edward was educated at court by tutors and he was read psalms and Old English poems he was taught humility and Edward was described as being obedient and friendly as a child Edward's later life would prove turbulent once again however due to problems with the succession of the crown of Wessex Edward was the son of King Alfred and when he came of age he was given the title of ethyling by his father the ethyling is an Old English term used to describe princes of the royal Dynasty who were eligible for kinship Alfred had an older brother that was king before him named ethered the first like Alfred Ethel red was a warrior king and the two brothers fought together on many occasions to protect their lands from the Viking Invaders after the battle of Merton in 871 Ethel red was wounded and died shortly after he departed This World In His Prime at around the age of 26. he left two sons Ethel Helm who was the Elder of the two and Ethel world ethelred's two sons were still infants when he died and due to the constant threat of the Vikings Wessex needed a leader so the crown passed to Alfred the battle hardened Warrior Prince so you could say that technically the crown should pass to one of Ethel Red's Sons after the death of Alfred that's what one of his sons thought too so even though Edward was the son of the reigning King his Ascension to the throne was not assured due to his cousin's claim to the throne Alfred of course wanted his own son to be king and would make sure he was trained in the art of combat and diplomacy so that the Witten saw him as the best candidate for the throne in the year 893 Edward defeated the Vikings in the Battle of Farnam portraying him as a warrior prince who would die for his lands and also a man who could lead and who could be trusted not to fold in the thick of battle in the year 893 Edward married ekkin barely anything is known of her or her background she did however give Edward a son the Future King ethelstan Alfred the Great would soon grow ill and would die in the year 899. his grooming of Edward to become the Future King succeeded and the Witten accepted his claim ethelwald however disputed the succession and stormed out of court The elderman Who comprised the Witten knew that this could mean Civil War ethelworld would leave an eerie feeling in the room as Edwards sat on the seat of his father mentally preparing himself for what was to come Ethel walled and his loyalists would seize the Royal Estates of wimborne and Christchurch Edward swiftly rode with an army to wimborne and etherwell declared that he would live or die there he then left in the dead of night and rode to northumbria out of desperation he went against what his father ephoret had died for and sided with the Vikings ethelwald's quest for the throne led to Essex where he formed an alliance with Eric the Viking king of East Anglia he traveled through the Dane law making it known that he was the true heir of the crown of Wessex and no doubt promised the Vikings much should he Ascend to the throne ethelworld and his new allies would soon ravage English Mercier and Northern Wessex the rumors were no longer rumors ethelworld had spilled English blood with his Viking allies the only outcome for Edward or ethelwald was death Edward retaliated and ravaged East Anglia this forced ethelworld and the Viking forces to return to defend their own lands Edward ordered his army to retreat when he spotted Ethel red soldiers but the men of Kent disobeyed his order and stayed to fight so in December in the year 902 the Battle of home would take place according to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle the Vikings won the battle but they suffered heavy losses the men of Kent fought hard and amongst the Fallen were the leaders of the Viking Army at the world the king of York and Eric the king of East Anglia would both lay dead on the field of battle after years of uncertainty treachery and bloodshed the threat to Edward's Crown had come to an end after the battle of home there were no recorded conflicts until the year 909 when Edward sent a combined West Saxon and mercian army to seize the bones of the northumbrian royal Saint Oswald the Vikings would then raid Northern Mercia but on their way back to their lands they were met by a combined Army of the men of Wessex and Men of Mercia Ethel fled would meet the three Viking Kings at Teton Hall with an army also present was her brother Edward with the forces of Wessex and so the Battle of tetan Hall began the allies of Wessex and Mercia trapped their Viking enemy and inflicted such a Slaughter that it was reported in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle the thousands of men were slain the three Viking Kings of northumbria were amongst the fallen and died there on the battlefield the Vikings now knew to fear the warrior siblings that were Edward and Ethel fled after their defeat at Teton Hall they now knew to never Venture south of the Humber River again Edward then remembered his father and his dream of a United England he looked to the Dame law and saw it was ripe for the taking with their many kings having fallen in recent battles before marching into the Dane law and taking it Edward had to secure his defenses so he and his sister Ethel fled began the construction of many fortresses to guard their lands against Viking invasions this would last from the year 911 to 917. the year 917 would prove to be the decisive year in the war between Saxon and Viking the Vikings attacked Edward's Fortress at talchester and Bedford but the attacks were failures the Vikings also had their own strongholds one being at tempsford but the English forces stormed it and killed the last Viking king of East Anglia the Viking forces of Northampton Cambridge and East Anglia would soon submit to Edward something his father Alfred could only dream of in the year 918 Ethel fled the lady of Mercia would die and Edward would swiftly remove elfwind Ethel fled's daughter as the ruler of Mercia and he would absorb Mercier into his own kingdom according to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle Stamford and Nottingham would submit to Edward as did all the people of Mercia both Viking and Saxon this meant that Edward ruled all of England south of the Humber the Dane law was crumbling their numbers dwindling and many of their kings had been killed by the English this was due to Edward's tenacity and bravery in taking action which was birthed by his father's dream but none of it would have been possible without the help of his sister Ethel fled Edward died at one of his Royal Estates in the year 924 at around the age of 50 he and his sister laid the blueprint for his son ethelstan to unite England and be its first true king Edward ruled an expanding realm for 25 years and under his leadership Viking Kings and yells were brought to heal all were killed his father was better remembered due to his decisive battle at Eddington which saved England from Viking Rule and his Court's ability to record most of his triumphs but in my opinion Edward should also be held in high esteem as he took the steps to unify England and conquered much of the Dane law he would allow his father's dreams to become a reality and their bloodline would reap the rewards in the future so let me know your thoughts on Edward the Elder in the comment sections down below if you enjoyed the video make sure to like subscribe and share and I'll see you all soon for another history profile [Music]

Channel: History Profiles

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Keywords: History Profiles, Lost History, Forgotten History, Interesting History, Edward The Elder, Edward The Last Kingdom, King Edward The Last Kingdom, Alfred's son, Alfred the Great The last Kingdom, Alfred The Great, Uhtred, Uhtred The Last Kingdom, Aethelflaed, Aethelflaed The Last Kingdom, Ealhswith, Aethelwold, Aethelstan, Eohric, Aelfwynn, Danelaw, battle of Tattenhall, saint Oswald, Aethelred, King Aethelred, Vikings Valhalla, Freydis, Cnut The Great, Brida the last kingdom

Id: dQa3UpU5R9c

Length: 12min 0sec (720 seconds)

Published: Thu Mar 31 2022