Æthelstan and the foundation of England

Danny Bird reveals everything you need to know about the Anglo-Saxon ruler regarded as the first true 'King of the English' – from his battlefield achievements to his political reforms -

- Danny Bird

WHO WAS ÆTHELSTAN?

Born around AD 894, Athelstan was a member of the royal House of Wessex a grandson of Alfred the Great and son of Edward the Elder. Though there is some debate among historians, it is believed that Alfred may have preferred Athelstan to succeed him as king; indeed, writing two centuries later, the Anglo-Norman chronicler William of Malmesbury recorded that Alfred conferred upon his infant grandson a scarlet cloak, a bejewelled belt and a sword with a gilded scabbard during an elaborate ceremony, perhaps indicating his designs for the dynasty after his death.

However, when Ethelstan's father ascended the throne in 899, his stepmother advanced the interests of her own sons, leading to a sudden shift in Ethelstan's standing. At some point in his childhood he was fostered by his paternal aunt Ethelflæd, the queen consort and later ruler of the AngloSaxon kingdom of Mercia.

WHAT KIND OF WORLD DID ÆTHELSTAN GROW UP IN?

In the centuries following the decline of Roman rule in Britain, a series of kingdoms had arisen across what is now England, including Mercia, Northumbria and Wessex. By the early ninth century, Wessex had become the most influential of these kingdoms to such an extent that the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle described King Ecgberht as bretwalda ('wide ruler') of the Anglo-Saxons.