Alfred the Great saves England
King Alfred 849-899 (22 when crowned)
For 100 years from 787 to 878 the Vikings attacked the Shores of England. In 870 a huge force landed in East Anglia with the mission to take over the whole of England. They turned north and sacked Northumbria and then marched south eventually meeting the stronger and better organised Wessex royal family, Ethelred the King and his younger brother Alfred. There were many battles against the Viking Danes led by a determined Guthrum who eventually won and temporally ruled the whole of England. King Ethelred was killed and brother Alfred went into hiding near Athelney in the Somerset marshes. 7 weeks later he returned and with some of his faithful warriors won a decisive victory against Guthrum at Edington Wiltshire-879. Guthrum was forced to give back half of his recently conquered England to Alfred (now the King) and even recognise Alfred as King of all England. The country was divided North East/South West along the old Roman Road called Watling Street running from Dover through London to the Roman town of Chester. (Modern roads A2 and A5) The Saxons ruled directly in the south and the Vikings in the north.

Edward 1st 901-925 (29 when crowned)

Edward, son of Alfred the Great, was determined to win back the Danish ruled land (Danelaw) north east of Watling street and with the help of his equally determined sister Ethelfleda (Lady of Mercia) did so between 921 and 924. So terrified were the remaining Danes in Northumbria together with the Scots and the Welsh that they all paid homage to him to avoid further bloodshed.
Edward (the Elder) is remembered for siring more legitimate children 18, than any other English King before or since. He needed three successive wives for this feat.

Athelstan 934-939 (29 when crowned)

Athelstan continued where his father Edward had left off when a mighty army formed against him in the north of England at Brunanburg consisting of Vikings, from Northumberland and Ireland together with the Scots. Like his father he annihilated his enemies in what historians consider the most important English Saxon victory yet as he thus became overlord of all Britain including Scotland and Wales and was recognised as the most powerful King in Europe. Unfortunately he had no wife and hence no children to expand further. He was succeeded by one of his many half brothers, Edmund

Edmund 1st 939-946 (18 when crowned)

Half Brother of Athelstan called Edmund the Elder and the “Magnificent” who was unfortunately assassinated by a notorious outlaw Liofa, during a feast in his castle at Pucklechurch Dorset when only 26. However he had two wives, the first when he was 18, St Elgiva who produced two sons and a daughter, then she died. Secondly Ethelflleda who when widowed became a nun which was quite usual for widows and unmarried sisters of Kings.
Militarily he followed in the strong family tradition by suppressing Viking uprisings in Northumberland and Mercia and a Welsh threat in Cumbria. He needed to secure friendship with the King of Scotland Malcolm by giving him Cumbria.

Eadred (or Edred) 946-955 (22 when crowned)

Succeeded his half brother Edmund, no record of a marriage or children.
Militarily he quelled the last uprising of Vikings in Northumbria and then removed or ethnically cleansed all the Vikings from England who were causing the English royal family so much trouble. He divided the troublesome Northumbria into three giving the northern section to the Scottish King and dividing the remaining part into two, self governed, by two English Earls.

Eadwig (or Edwy) 955-959 (15 when crowned)

A disastrous reign of 4 years
Sometimes called Edwy the Fair. Fortunately murdered when he was 19. Promiscuous from the start he famously left his coronation banquet at Kingston on Thames, to have sex with two women simultaneously, his mistress Elgifu and her mother. In those days the Archbishop of Canterbury would not only perform the coronation ceremony but also attempt to look after the morals and sometimes the education of the King. In Edwy case he was advised by the famous (Saint) Dunstan whose job it was to pull Edwy from his love bed and return him to the coronation. Not surprisingly Edwy soon exiled Dunstan who fled to Normandy. Later the church punished Elgifu by branding her with a red hot iron and sent her to Ireland.
Note; at this time when St Dunstan went to Normandy it was already in Viking hands as Rollo was given the land round the mouth of the Seine in 911 by the French king Charles 3rd “The Simple”.
In his short reign of 4 years Edwy lost control of Northumbria who with the aid of the Church set up Edwy’s younger brother Edgar as their King (initially of Northumbria).

Edgar 959-975 (16 when crowned)

Edgar “the peaceful” brother of Edwy, was a much better bet who made sure he was well advised by the educated elders of the Church. He brought St Dunstan back from exile and made him Archbishop of Canterbury. He had a sufficient presence to suppress the potential trouble makers of the land and to also rule both the Welsh and the Scots without any major military intervention. His authority was demonstrated by a remarkable publicity stunt on the river Dee when he was rowed up and down in a ceremonial barge by the five kings of Wales and two of Scotland plus the king of the Isle of Man.
Edgar strengthened the Church creating 40 religious centres to foster culture and learning.
Edgar had two wives Ethelfleda and then Elfrida and a number of mistresses, notably a nun called Wulfryth who produced him a daughter who became St Edith of Wilton. Edgar’s first wife Ethelfleda produced King Edward who was also Sainted.
St Dunstan should be noted for trying to reform Church morals by insisting on the poverty, chastity and obedience of monks and the celibacy of parish priests.
Edgar and St Dunstan brought together the Danish and Saxon races in England by introducing Danes into the Witan and creating some Danish Bishops and Earls.

Edward 975-979 (12 when crowned)

Edward the Martyr, son of Edgar and his first wife Ethelfleda
Edward was too young to follow in his fathers good footsteps and even though supported by St Dunstan could not control the Earls. After 4 years as King he was brutally murdered at Corfe Castle (still standing just!) probably at the instigation of his stepmother Elfrida who lived at Corfe to open the way for her son Ethelred to be crowned King even though he was only 10.
He was buried unceremoniously at Wareham but soon after miracles apparently occurred in the area so he was reburied with full royal honours in Shaftsbury Abbey. The procession from Wareham to Shaftsbury a distance of only 25 miles took 7 days. Although Edward was unimportant in the history of England pilgrims still travel to his grave now a modern shrine in Brookwood Cemetery near Woking in Surrey.

Leadership Chaos
Ethelred 979-1016 (10 when crowned)

Ethelred the Unready. Step brother of Edward the Martyr. Father King Edgar, mother Elfrida.
Ethelred had two wives, first Elfled of Northumbria and then Emma of Normandy. His son by Elfled became Edmund Ironside and his son via Emma, Edward the Confessor.
The word “Unready” actually was the Saxon word “unraed” which means he was uncouncilled or would not listen to his advisors. His long 37 year reign was an unmitigated disaster.
The Danish Vikings recommenced their interest in England with a landing in the south east, (Essex) in 980. Ethelred’s response was to buy them off with cash by imposing a tax called Danegelt which raised £10,000.

Now in 980 AD in Ethelred’s reign

• Many people thought 1000 years after Jesus heralded the end of the world.
• England had had two pathetic kings who had lost the confidence of his powerful earls who were his source of fighting men.
• The Danes and Norwegian Vikings attacked simultaneously
• King Ethelred married Emma the daughter of the Norman ruler Richard, in the vain hope that the Normans would provide an army to see off this latest wave of Vikings.
• Ethelred paid handsomely to persuade the Vikings to leave.
• Some Vikings did go and those who didn’t Ethelred sought out and massacred. Unfortunately for him this included Gunhild the sister of the Danish ruler Sweyn who in 1003 returned to avenge the brutal killing of his sister. After 10 years of intermittent but brutal fighting Ethelred fled to Normandy and the Danish Viking leader Sweyn Forkbbeard was appointed king of England by the Witan.

This was not the end of the leadership chaos because within the year, Sweyn not yet crowned, fell from his horse and died. This created the opportunity to recall Ethelred who ruled in competition with Canute the son of Sweyn Forkbeard. Ethelred died soon after his return and his son Edmund Ironside reigned as the Witan appointed King for 8 months in 1016. Like his father Edmund he did not have the support of the whole country in his fight against the now resident Danes and was murdered (probably) in November 1016. Canute was crowned king of England to the relief of all, almost immediately.