Editing Edgar, King of England (section)

== Death and aftermath ==
[[File:Edgar in Regularis Concordia.jpg|thumb|upright=1.5|Edgar in the {{lang|la|Regularis Concordia}}, flanked by two figures, probably Æthelwold and Dunstan, and all three holding the manuscript{{sfn|Karkov|2008|p=239}}]]

Edgar was thirty-one or thirty-two years old when he died on 8 July 975.{{sfn|Williams|2014}} He was buried at Glastonbury Abbey, which was the burial place of his father and a monastery particularly associated with Dunstan and Benedictine reform.{{sfn|Yorke|2013|p=255}} His burial at Glastonbury helped to make it a leading royal cult centre,{{sfn|Nelson|1999|p=106}} although there is no evidence that he was revered as a saint earlier than the mid-eleventh century.{{sfn|Marafioti|2014|p=190 n. 112}} The historian [[David Rollason]] comments that his cult had surprisingly little success in view of his role in monastic reform, "although presumably weakened by stories of his sexual adventures, notably with nuns".{{sfn|Rollason|1989|pp=140–141}} He is listed as a saint in some modern [[Catholic]] sources with a [[feast day]] of 8 July.<ref name=catholic>{{Cite web |date=14 January 2022 |title=Saint Edgar the Peaceful |url=https://catholicsaints.info/saint-edgar-the-peaceful/ |website=CatholicSaints.Info |access-date=30 July 2021 |archive-date=30 July 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210730151247/https://catholicsaints.info/saint-edgar-the-peaceful/ |url-status=live}}</ref> Two of his children, Edith and Edward, were widely revered as saints shortly after their deaths.{{sfn|Ridyard|1988|p=154}}

The succession to the throne was disputed between the supporters of his two surviving sons. Æthelred had the powerful backing of his mother and her ally, Bishop Æthelwold, but Edgar's eldest son Edward became king with the support of Dunstan and Æthelwine.{{sfn|Yorke|1988b|pp=82–85}} The dispute was personal, between the supporters of Edward and Æthelred, not between the supporters and opponents of monastic reform. The fact that there was no question of dividing the country between the two claimants may be a tribute to the success of Edgar's reforms aimed at unifying the country.{{sfn|Keynes|2008a|pp=52–53}} Edward was murdered in 978 and he was succeeded by Æthelred, whose disastrous reign ended with the Danish conquest of England.{{sfn|Williams|2003|pp=11, 149–150}}