General Notes

1  NAME Edward the /Elder/
see chart 31 on p 473, "The Family of Edward the Elder".  Also see 10, 1
1, 12, 29, 52, 263-4, 386, 423, 461-3, 467, 470, 769, 801
pp 470-72 "Edward was the second son of Alfred the Great and was born abo
ut 871.  His elder brother, Edmund, apparently died in infancy, though o
ne tradition asserts he lived long enough to be crowned as heir apparen
t.  In any case, the choice of his first two sons' names demonstrate Alfre
d's hopes for them.  Both names mean "protector" (mund) or "guardian" (war
d) of "riches", showing that Alfred hoped his sons would guard the prosper
ity of the nation for the future.  Edward grew up firmly believing thi
s.  He was a soldier from childhood, not a scholar like his father and gra
ndfather, and he knew, once his brother died, that it was in his hands th
at the future of the nation rested.  He was a child throughout the wars th
at his father waged with the Danes, and they would have left a vivid impre
ssion on his mind.  When the Danish problems arose again in 892 and 8
93 he commanded part of the army that captured the raiders.  The Saxons we
re therefore already accustomed to him as their leader.  However, after h
is father's death his succession did not go unchallenged.  His nephew, Ath
elwold, the son of Athelred, was dissatisfied with the terms of Alfred's w
ill and felt dispossessed.  He seized Wimborne manor and, though he was so
on chased out of Wessex, he was accepted by the Danes and Angles of Yo
rk as their leader and subsequently led a revolt amongst the Danes of Ea
st Anglia.  He remained a thorn in Edward's side until he was defeated a
nd killed in 902, after which Edward was able to seal a peace treaty wi
th the Danes of the east.  However the Danes of the north still defied Edw
ard's sovereignty, ruling Jorvik as a separate Danish kingdom.  Througho
ut 909 the Danes tested Edward's resolve with a number of border raids a
nd skirmishes, and eventually Edward moved against them, raising a vast ar
my.  Edward harried Northumbria with little result.  The following ye
ar he was tricked by the Danish fleet moving down the east coast, while t
he main Danish army moved across Northumbria and down into Mercia.  Edwa
rd realised his error and chased the Danes, catching them at Tettenha
ll in August 910, where he inflicted upon them one of their most crushi
ng defeats, resulting in the deaths of the two Danish kings Halfdan and Eo
wils.  It was the end of the Danish hold on Jorvik, although soon after t
he Norse under Ragnall moved in.
The Norse had been expelled from Dublin in 902 and were now landles
s.  They first caused a nuisance in Wales and Scotland, but by 910 had bec
ome bold enough to enter Northumbria, and no sooner had Edwarded defeat
ed one foe than another arrived.  Rather than take them on instantly, Edwa
rd decided to work on one plan at a time.  Since 905 Edward had been refor
tifying England.  He rebuilt Chester and, along with his sister, Athelfla
ed of Mercia, established a chain of fortified towns along the border wi
th the Danelaw, including Runcorn, Tamworth, Stafford, Warwick, down to He
rtford and over to Witham in Essex.  Even before these forts were finish
ed Edward was able to use them as a base to defeat a major Danish army whi
ch movfed across England into Wales in 914, but no matter where the army t
ried to inflict major destruction, Edward was there, and the army eventual
ly moved out of Britain at the end of the year.  Most of the forts were co
mpleted by 915, and Edward progressively advanced into Danish territor
y.  The Danes responded and from 916 on a series of skirmishes occurred ac
ross middle England.  In almost all cases the English were victorious, wi
th major successes at Leicester, Nottingham and Bedford.  Early on the Dan
ish king, Guthrum II, was killed, and thereafter there was no coordinat
ed strategy from the Danes.  Edward was able to pick off small bands of m