*disputed*
 |
| Depiction in family tree (c. 1250) |
Birth name: Eadgar Æþeling of Ƿestseaxna rīċe
Born: c. 1052, Kingdom of Hungary
Father: Edward Ætheling of England 'The Exile'
Mother: Lady Agatha of Hungary *disputed*
House: Wessex
Nationality: English
Religion: Catholicism
Claim: Grandchild of Edmund II 'Ironside' and elected
Reign: 14 October 1066 - 25 December 1066 (2 months)
Coronation: N/A
Predecessor: Harold II *disputed*
Successor: William I 'The Conqueror' *disputed*
Died: c. 1125 (aged 73)
Cause: *Unknown*
Burial: *Unknown*
Motto: N/A
Spouse(s):
- Princess Margaret of Scotland (m. ???? - ????) *disputed*
Children:
- With Unknown Woman
- Lady Margaret Lovel (???? - ????) *disputed*
Appearance:
Unknown.
Character:
For most of his life, Edgar displayed a great aptitude for survival in the dangerous world of European and Norman politics.
Though most of his military feats were not successful, he always knew when to make a tactical retreat so that he could live to fight another day. Thus, Edgar was rather resourceful, and was often quite popular with the people he met.
Due to his extensive travels, it's possible he spoke quite a few languages, and maintained close cultural ties with Scotland. Beyond this, not much is known about Edgar's character.
Biography:
Edgar was born some time around the year 1052 in the Kingdom of Hungary, where his father, Edward Ætheling of England, had been exiled. He was the eldest of three known children to have been born to them. His paternal grandfather was King Edmund II of the English, and his family were forced to flee the kingdom after being conquered by the Danes in 1016. It's possible that his mother was of Hungarian nobility, but it's not known for sure.
In 1057, Edgar was able to return to England with his family after the succession of his great-uncle, Edward the Confessor, to the English throne. However, his father unfortunately died upon their arrival, and Edgar was them mainly brought up by the English queen, Edith of Wessex. Since both Edward and Edith had no children, Edgar was largely recognised as Edward's heir as the last surviving male of the House of Wessex, but no official documents confirm that this was recognised in court.
Regardless, when Edward the Confessor died in 1066, Edgar was only 14 years old and considered too young to rule. Three more powerful contenders for the English throne had risen up, which included William, Duke of Normandy, Harold Godwinson, Earl of Wessex, and King Harald III of Norway. There was no hope of the young Edgar being able to successfully compete, thus he stayed away from all the action and did not fight for his claim. This wise move is what would keep him alive.
Harold Godwinson, who had seized the throne after Edward's death, was then defeated in the Battle of Hastings in 1066, in which the Duke of Normandy became King William I of England. Initially, the Anglo-Saxon people of England did not support this, and instead, attempted to have Edgar elected king instead. This was the first time that Edgar had any official backing. However, his supporters failed to provide any military aid, so Edgar, in a clever survival move once again, submitted himself to King William and did not argue his claim.
At this point, William appears to have taken Edgar into his care, and he was frequently a guest at his court. However, two years later in 1068, Edgar began to announce his claim. He married off his sister to King Malcolm III of Scotland in the hopes of creating an alliance, who would then agree to support Edgar's claim to the throne.
Edgar and his forces invaded the north of England, but the rebellion was quickly suppressed by King William I. Once this failed, Edgar was granted asylum in Scotland, and possibly married the King of Scotland's sister, Princess Margaret, though this is not known for certain. Either way, Edgar would not produce any legitimate children, though may have had one illegitimate daughter with an unknown mistress.
Edgar attempted to seize the throne of England once again in 1069 by joining Danish raids in Yorkshire, and though they were briefly able to capture Northumbria, this invasion also ended up in failure. When William and his Norman troops attacked the area, Edgar was once again forced to flee to Scotland. He was able to remain there safely until William invaded Scotland and forced King Malcolm to submit, and in exchange for peace, Malcolm was forced to exile Edgar, who then fled to Flanders.
With the support of the King of France, Edgar made plans for another bid for the throne, but his ship was raided by the Normans, with Edgar once again narrowly escaping back to Scotland.
Eventually, King Malcolm intervened and persuaded Edgar to return to England and submit himself to William, alongside renouncing his claim to the English throne. In his attempt to do this, Edgar was snubbed by William, so Edgar left England to travel the Mediterranean for a few years.
When King William I died in 1087, he divided his lands between his two eldest sons, William and Robert, with William becoming King William II of England, while Robert inherited the Duchy of Normandy. Robert was not pleased with this arrangement, and believed that as the eldest son, he should have inherited all of his father's lands and titles. Upon returning to England from his travels, Edgar supported Robert's claim and became one of his closest advisors. As a reward, Robert gifted him lands confiscated from William II during the rebellions against him.
But like all his other endeavours, this would not last long, and a peace agreement between Robert and William saw Edgar's gained lands stripped from him.
Annoyed, Edgar once again returned to Scotland and to the court of King Malcolm, who was once again planning an invasion of England. However, before any battles could take place, Edgar was able to act as a peaceful interceder, and was even able to reconcile with William II. From then on, Edgar acted as a diplomat for William, utilising his close ties and friendship with the Kingdom of Scotland.
However, this would not stop another Scottish invasion of England, in which Malcolm III would be killed, and the throne of Scotland would be seized by his brother, Donald. This did not last long, as Edgar was quickly able to install his nephew onto the throne, and improve Norman interests in the kingdom.
In 1098, Edgar left Britain to aid in the First Crusade, where he became popular in the Byzantine Empire and Holy Roman Empire. He was offered powerful positions there, but Edgar would ultimately decline to return to England.
King William II died without an heir, and his younger brother, Henry, usurped the throne from his elder brother, Robert. Once again, Edgar sided with Robert, but the two of them would be captured and arrested by Henry's forces. However, Edgar would luckily be pardoned and released, likely as a result of Henry having married his niece, Princess Matilda of Scotland.
After this, Edgar chose to retire and live a more private life in the countryside, occasionally travelling back and forth between England and Scotland.
During the early 1100s, Edgar begins to disappear from records, though its possible that he died some time around 1125, though the cause is unknown.
Rule:
Because Edgar was never officially recognised as king, nor crowned, he had no reign to speak of.
Trivia:
- N/A
Quotes:
N/A
Timeline of Reign:
N/A
Sources & Further Reading:
Edgar The Aetheling | Anglo-Saxon Prince. (n.d.). Britannica. www.britannica.com. https://www.britannica.com/biography/Edgar-the-Aetheling
HOOPER, N. (1985). Edgar the Ætheling: Anglo-Saxon prince, rebel and crusader. Anglo-Saxon England, 14, 197–214. http://www.jstor.org/stable/44509867
Edgar the Ætheling.jpg - Wikimedia Commons. (2022). Wikimedia.org. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Edgar_the_%C3%86theling.jpg
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