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Opera in four acts by Puccini to a libretto by F. Fontana after A. de Musset's verse-drama La coupe et les lèvres (1889, Milan); Puccini revised it, reducing it to three acts (1892, Ferrara), and made a final version (Buenos Aires, 1905).
Edgar (943–75), king of England. He was the son of Edmund, king of Wessex, and the brother of Edwy, whom he succeeded in 959, after being chosen king of Mercia and Northumbria in 957. He was educated by Dunstan and Ethelwold and became king of all England at the age of only sixteen. His early life was not beyond reproach. He was so fond of two young nuns of Wilton, Wulfhilda, whom he tried to seduce, and Wulfthryth, by whom he had a daughter, Edith, that it would have seemed unlikely to contemporaries that his reign would be regarded as a golden age by later monastic writers. These irregularities may well have been the reason why he was crowned only in 973.
They must not be allowed to obscure his real achievements as a ruler. The key to his reign was the very close co-operation between Church and State. He promoted justice, and his four Law-codes are important in the history of Anglo-Saxon legislation, not least for the use made of them by his successors. The recognition of his royal power in 973 by rulers of Wales, Scotland, and the English Danelaw marked the apogee of the power of Wessex 10th-century kings. During his reign about thirty monasteries were founded, several of them on extensive lands given or sold by Edgar; he and his queen were their protectors and in practice chose their rulers, who acted prominently in local government on the king's behalf, while the monasteries were also notable educational and artistic centres.
Edgar married twice. His first wife was Æthelflaed (daughter of Ordmaer), by whom he had a son, Edward the Martyr. His second was Ælfthryth (daughter of Ordgar of Devon), by whom he had another son, Ethelred the Unready. By comparison with the violent reigns of his predecessors and successors Edgar's was regarded as a model of peaceful government. This, with his close association with the 10th-century monastic revival, earned him the praise of 12th-century historians. King Cnut, however, referring to Edith, thought that no child of so scandalous a king could be considered a saint.
Edgar was buried at Glastonbury, the cradle of the monastic revival. Here it was claimed that his body was incorrupt and emitted blood when cut at the opening of the tomb in 1052. His relics were enshrined with those of Apollinaris and Vincent; only Glastonbury, it seems, culted him, on 8 July.
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King of Scotland from ad 1097. Born c.1074, second son of Malcolm III and Margaret. Died in ad 1107 aged c.32, having reigned nine years.
| Edgar the Peaceful | |
|---|---|
| King of England | |
 |
|
| Reign | October 1,959 – July 8,975 |
| Born | 943/944 |
| Wessex, England | |
| Died | July 8 975 |
| Winchester, Wessex, England | |
| Buried | Glastonbury Abbey |
| Predecessor | Edwy |
| Successor | Edward the Martyr |
| Consort | Æthelflæd, Wulfthryth and Elfrida |
| Issue | Edward the Martyr Ethelred the Unready |
| Father | Edmund I |
| Mother | Elgiva |
King Edgar or Eadgar I (c. 943 or 944 – July 8, 975) was the younger son of King Edmund I of England. He won the nickname, "the Peaceable", but in fact was a stronger king than his elder brother, Edwy, from whom he took the kingdoms of Northumbria and Mercia in 958. Edgar was acclaimed king north of the Thames by a conclave of Mercian nobles in 958, but officially succeeded when Edwy died in October 959. Immediately Edgar recalled Dunstan (eventually canonised as St. Dunstan) from exile and made him successively Bishop of Worcester, then Bishop of London, and finally Archbishop of Canterbury. The allegation that Dunstan at first refused to crown Edgar because he disapproved of his way of life is a discreet reference in popular histories to Edgar's mistress[citation needed] Wulfthryth (later a nun at Wilton), who bore him a daughter Eadgyth in 961. Dunstan remained Edgar's advisor throughout his reign, nevertheless.
Edgar's reign was a peaceful one, and it is probably fair to say that it saw the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of England at its height. Although the political unity of England had been achieved by his predecessors it was Edgar who consolidated this. By the end of Edgar's reign there was little chance of it receding back into its constituent parts.
The Monastic Reform Movement that restored the Benedictine Rule to England's undisciplined monastic communities saw its height during the time of Dunstan, Aethelwold and Oswald. However, the extent and importance of the movement is still debated amongst academics.
Edgar was crowned at Bath, but not until 973, in an imperial ceremony planned not as the initiation, but as the culmination of his reign (a move that must have taken a great deal of preliminary diplomacy). This service, devised by Dunstan himself and celebrated with a poem in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle forms the basis of the present-day British coronation ceremony. The symbolic coronation was an important step; other kings of Britain came and gave their allegiance to Edgar shortly afterwards at Chester. Six kings in Britain, including the kings of Scotland and of Strathclyde, pledged their faith that they would be the king's liege-men on sea and land. Later chroniclers made the kings into eight, all plying the oars of Edgar's state barge on the River Dee. Such embellishments may not be factual, but the main outlines of the "submission at Chester" appear true.
Edgar had several children. He died on July 8, 975 at Winchester, and was buried at Glastonbury Abbey. He left two sons, the eldest named Edward, the son of his first wife Ethelfleda (not to be confused with Ethelfleda, Lady of the Mercians), and Ethelred, the youngest, the child of his second wife Elfrida. He was succeeded by his oldest son, King Edward the Martyr.
From Edgar’s death to the Norman Conquest there was not a single succession to the throne that was not contested. Although perhaps a simplification, Edgar’s death did seem to be the beginning of the end for Anglo-Saxon England that resulted in three 11th century successful conquests, two Danish and one Norman.
For a more complete genealogy including ancestors and descendants, see House of Wessex family tree.
| Preceded by Edwy |
King of
England 959–975 |
Succeeded by Edward the Martyr |
This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)
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