EDGAR, son of EDMUND King of Wessex & his first wife Ælfgifu --- ([943]-Winchester 8 Jul 975, bur Glastonbury Abbey[1725]). Florence of Worcester records the birth of "filium…Eadgarum" to "regi Eadmundo…sua regina sancta Ælfgiva", undated but dateable to [943] from the context[1726]. "Adgar clito" subscribed a charter of King Eadred dated 953[1727], and "Eadgar frater regis" subscribed charters of King Eadwig in 955 and 956[1728]. He was elected king in 957 by the people of Mercia and Northumbria[1729], apparently supported by his grandmother and by Dunstan abbot of Glastonbury. Reunitingthe kingdom on his brother's death, he succeeded in 959 as EDGAR "the Peaceable" King of England. He supervised the revival of Benedictine monasticism and the reform of the English church. He was crowned in Bath Abbey 11 May 973, followed by the ceremonial submission to his rule by six British kings[1730] at Chester. The ceremony resulted in no change in the title used in charters when naming the king, who was referred to indiscriminately as "rex Anglorum", "totius Britannie telluris dominus","totie Britanniceinsule basileus" or "rex totiusAlbionis". The reform of the coinage took place in the same year, including the introduction of a system of coin management which involvedregular recall and reissue of coins usually every six years, operated through a network of 40 mint towns.The administrative sub-divisions of the shires,hundreds and wapentakes, date from Edgar's reign. King Edgar granted autonomy to the Danish eastern part of England, which came to be known as the Danelaw,with recognition of its legal and socialcustoms. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle records the death on 8 Jul 975 of King Edgar[1731]. Simeon of Durham records the death "VIII Id Jul" in 975 of "King Eadgar" and his burial at Glastonbury[1732]. The Libellus de Anniversariis of Ramsey Monastery records the death “VIII Id Jul” of “Edgarus rex Anglie…qui dedit…terræ in Burewelle et ecclesiam de Gomicestre”[1733].
[m] firstly ([963], maybe repudiated[1734]) ÆTHELFLÆD, daughter of ORDMÆR Ealdorman of Devon & his wife Ealda (bur Wilton Abbey, Wiltshire). Simeon of Durham names "Egelfled the Fair daughter of duke Ordmer" as the mother of King Eadgar's son "Eadward"[1735]. Roger of Hoveden names her "Egelfleda" and names her father[1736]. Florence of Worcester records that "Ægelfleda Candida, cognomento Eneda, Ordmæri ducis filia" was the mother of King Eadgar’s son "Eadwardum, postea regem et martyrem"[1737]. This union of King Edgar’s may have been less formal than implied by the word "marriage". This is suggested by the contrast between the epithets applied to the king's sons in a charter subscribed by two of them dated 966: Edward (presumably born from this first marriage) is described as "Eadweard eodem rege clito procreatus", while Edmund (presumably born from the king's second marriage) was "Edmundus clito legitimus prefati regis filius"[1738]. Æthelflæd was surnamed "Eneda" according to Florence of Worcester[1739].
m secondly (965) as her second husband, ÆLFTHRYTH, widow of ÆTHELWOLD Ealdorman of the East Angles, daughter of ORDGAR Ealdorman of Devon & his wife --- (Lydford Castle, Devon ([945]-Wherwell Abbey, Hampshire [999/1002], bur Wherwell Abbey). The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle records the marriage in 965 of King Edgar and Ælfthryth, stating that she was the daughter of ealdorman Ordgar[1740]. Simeon of Durham records the marriage of King Eadgar and "the daughter of Ordgar duke of Devonshire after the death of her husband Elfwold…duke of the East Angles" in 964[1741]. Roger of Hoveden names her, her father and her first husband, when recording her second marriage[1742]. Geoffrey Gaimar records a lengthy account of King Edgar having sent "Edelwoth" to woo "Estrueth la fille Orgar" on his behalf, and Æthelwold having married her without the king’s knowledge[1743]. King Edgar granted land in Buckinghamshire to "Ælfgifu que mihiafinitate mundialis cruoris coniuncta" in 966[1744]. "Ælfthryth regina" subscribed charters of King Edgar dated between 964 and 974[1745]. William of Malmesbury recounts that King Edgar killed Ælfthryth's first husband to enable him to marry her[1746]. She was crowned queen with her husband in 973, which was the first instance of the coronation of a queen in England. It was alleged that she was involved in the plot to kill her stepson so her own son could succeed as King[1747]. "Ælfthryth regina" subscribed charters of King Æthelred II between 979 and 983[1748], and "Ælfthryth regis mater" between 981 and 999[1749]. She became a nun at Wherwell Abbey, Hampshire in [985]. Her son King ÆthelredII granted privileges to Wherwell Abbey in 1002 for the benefit of her soul[1750].
Mistress (1): WULFTHRYTH, daughter of --- ([945]-1000). Simeon of Durham names "the holy Wlthirtha" as the mother of King Eadgar's daughter "Eagitha"[1751]. Roger of Hoveden names her "Sancta Elfthritha"[1752]. Florence of Worcester records that "sancta Wlfthrytha" was the mother of King Eadgar’s daughter "Eadgitham"[1753]. Abbess of Wilton. King Edgar granted "Wulfthryth abbess" land atChalke, Wiltshire by charter dated 974[1754].