Aethelstan (6 agos 924 anni – 27 ottob 939 anni)

Descrizione:

son of Edward the Elder and his first wife, Ecgwynn. Modern historians regard him as the first King of England and one of the greatest Anglo-Saxon kings. He never married and had no children. When Edward died in July 924, Æthelstan was accepted by the Mercians as king. In 927 he conquered the last remaining Viking kingdom, York, making him the first Anglo-Saxon ruler of the whole of England. In 934 he invaded Scotland and forced Constantine II to submit to him, but Æthelstan's rule was resented by the Scots and Vikings, and in 937 they invaded England. Æthelstan defeated them at the Battle of Brunanburh, a victory which gave him great prestige both in the British Isles and on the Continent. After his death in 939 the Vikings seized back control of York, and it was not finally reconquered until 954. No other West Saxon king played as important a role in European politics as Æthelstan, and he arranged the marriages of several of his sisters to continental rulers. His sister Eadgifu married Charles the Simple, king of the West Franks, in the late 910s. When Charles was deposed in 922, Eadgifu sent their son Louis to safety in England. Other sistser Eadgyth married Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor, in 936. Aethelstan was succeeded by his brothers Edmund and then Eadred.

Aggiunto al nastro di tempo:

Data: