Editing Eadred (section)

== Background ==
In the ninth century the four Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of [[Wessex]], [[Mercia]], [[Northumbria]] and [[Kingdom of East Anglia|East Anglia]] came under increasing attack from [[Viking]] raids, culminating in invasion by the [[Vikings|Danish Viking]] [[Great Heathen Army]] in 865. By 878, they had overrun East Anglia, Northumbria, and Mercia, and nearly conquered Wessex, but in that year the West Saxons fought back under [[Alfred the Great]] and achieved a decisive victory at the [[Battle of Edington]]. In the 880s and 890s the Anglo-Saxons ruled Wessex and western Mercia, but the rest of England was under Viking rule. Alfred constructed a network of [[burh]]s (fortified sites), and these helped him to frustrate renewed Viking attacks in the 890s with the assistance of his son-in-law, [[Æthelred, Lord of the Mercians]], and his elder son [[Edward the Elder|Edward]], who became king when Alfred died in 899.{{sfnm|1a1=Keynes|1a2=Lapidge|1y=1983|1pp=9, 12–13, 24–25, 37–38, 41–44|2a1=Costambeys|2y=2004a }} In 909, Edward sent a force of West Saxons and Mercians to attack the Northumbrian Danes and the following year the Vikings retaliated with a raid on Mercia. While they were marching back to Northumbria, they were caught by an Anglo-Saxon army and decisively defeated at the [[Battle of Tettenhall]], ending the threat from the Northumbrian Vikings for a generation. In the 910s, Edward and [[Æthelflæd, Lady of the Mercians|Æthelflæd]] – his sister and Æthelred's widow – extended Alfred's network of fortresses and conquered Viking-ruled eastern Mercia and East Anglia. When Edward died in 924, he controlled all England south of the [[Humber]].{{sfn|Miller|2004}}

Edward was succeeded by his eldest son [[Æthelstan]], who seized control of Northumbria in 927, thus becoming the first king of all England. Soon afterwards, [[Wales in the Early Middle Ages|Welsh kings]] and the kings of [[Scotland in the Early Middle Ages|Scotland]] and [[Kingdom of Strathclyde|Strathclyde]] acknowledged his overlordship. After this, he styled himself in [[Anglo-Saxon charters|charters]] by titles such as "king of the English", or grandiosely, "king of the whole of Britain". In 934, he [[Æthelstan's invasion of Scotland|invaded Scotland]] and in 937, an alliance of armies of Scotland, Strathclyde, and the Vikings invaded England. Æthelstan secured a decisive victory at the [[Battle of Brunanburh]], cementing his dominant position in Britain.{{sfn|Foot|2011a}} Æthelstan died in October 939 and he was succeeded by his half-brother and Eadred's full brother [[Edmund I|Edmund]]. He was the first king to succeed to the throne of all England, but he soon lost control of the north. By the end of the year [[Olaf Guthfrithson|Anlaf Guthfrithson]], the [[Kingdom of Dublin|Viking king of Dublin]], had crossed the sea to become [[Scandinavian York|king of York]]. He also invaded Mercia and Edmund was forced to surrender the [[Five Boroughs of the Danelaw|Five Boroughs]] of north-east Mercia to him. Guthfrithson died in 941 and in 942, Edmund was able to recover the Five Boroughs. In 944, he recovered full control of England by expelling the Viking kings of York. On 26 May 946, he was stabbed to death trying to protect his [[Dish-bearers and butlers in Anglo-Saxon England|seneschal]] from attack by a convicted outlaw at [[Pucklechurch]] in [[Gloucestershire]], and as his sons were young children Eadred became king.{{sfn|Williams|2004a}}