Edward the Elder Edward the Elder Edward the Elder (c. 874 – 17 July 924) was King of the Anglo-Saxons from 899 until his death. He was the elder son of Alfred the Great and his wife Ealhswith. When Edward succeeded to the throne, he had to defeat a challenge from his cousin Æthelwold, who had a strong claim to the throne as the son of Alfred's elder brother and predecessor, Æthelred. Alfred had succeeded Æthelred as king of Wessex in 871, and almost faced defeat against the Danish Vikings until his decisive victory at the Battle of Edington in 878. After the
Alfred Aetheling Alfred Aetheling Ælfred Æþeling (English: "Alfred the Noble") ( 1005–1036) was one of the eight sons of the English king Æthelred the Unready. He and his brother Edward the Confessor were sons of Æthelred's second wife Emma of Normandy. King Canute became their stepfather when he married Æthelred's widow. Alfred and his brother were caught up in the power struggles at the start and end of Canute's reign. In 1013, during the siege of London by the Danes, Æthelred and his family took refuge in Normandy. Æthelred regained the throne in 1014 and died in 1016. England was conquered by