Editing Æthelstan (section)

== Early life ==
[[File:Aethelfleda Monument, Tamworth - geograph.org.uk - 1740828.jpg|thumb|upright=1.1|Statue in [[Tamworth, Staffordshire|Tamworth]], [[Staffordshire]] of [[Æthelflæd|Æthelflæd, Lady of the Mercians]], with her young nephew Æthelstan|alt=refer to caption]]

According to the Anglo-Norman historian [[William of Malmesbury]], Æthelstan was thirty years old when he came to the throne in 924, which would mean that he was born around 894. He was the oldest son of Edward the Elder. He was Edward's only son by his first consort, [[Ecgwynn]]. Very little is known about Ecgwynn, and she is not named in any contemporary source. Medieval chroniclers gave varying descriptions of her rank: one described her as an ignoble consort of inferior birth, while others described her birth as noble.{{Sfn|Foot|2011|pp=29–30}} Modern historians also disagree about her status. [[Simon Keynes]] and Richard Abels believe that leading figures in Wessex were unwilling to accept Æthelstan as king in 924 partly because his mother had been Edward the Elder's concubine.{{Sfnm|1a1=Keynes|1y=1999|1p=467|2a1=Abels|2y=1998|2p=307}} However, [[Barbara Yorke]] and [[Sarah Foot]] argue that allegations that Æthelstan was illegitimate were a product of the dispute over the succession, and that there is no reason to doubt that she was Edward's legitimate wife.{{Sfnm|1a1=Yorke|1y=2001|1pp=26, 33|2a1=Foot|2y=2011|2pp=29–31}} She may have been related to [[Dunstan|St Dunstan]].{{Sfn|Yorke|2004}}

William of Malmesbury wrote that Alfred the Great honoured his young grandson with a ceremony in which he gave him a scarlet cloak, a belt set with gems, and a sword with a gilded scabbard.{{Sfn|Foot|2011|pp=31–33}} Medieval Latin scholar [[Michael Lapidge]] and historian [[Michael Wood (historian)|Michael Wood]] see this as designating Æthelstan as a potential heir at a time when the claim of Alfred's nephew, Æthelwold, to the throne represented a threat to the succession of Alfred's direct line,{{Sfnm|1a1=Lapidge|1y=1993|1p=68 n. 96|2a1=Wood|2y=1999|2pp=157–158}} but historian [[Janet Nelson]] suggests that it should be seen in the context of conflict between Alfred and Edward in the 890s, and might reflect an intention to divide the realm between his son and his grandson after his death.{{Sfn|Nelson|1999a|pp=63–64}} Historian Martin Ryan goes further, suggesting that at the end of his life Alfred may have favoured Æthelstan rather than Edward as his successor.{{Sfn|Ryan|2013|p=296}} An [[acrostic]] poem praising prince "Adalstan", and prophesying a great future for him, has been interpreted by Lapidge as referring to the young Æthelstan, punning on the [[Old English]] meaning of his name, "noble stone".{{Sfn|Lapidge|1993|pp=60–68}} Lapidge and Wood see the poem as a commemoration of Alfred's ceremony by one of his leading scholars, [[John the Old Saxon]].{{Sfnm|1a1=Lapidge|1y=1993|1p=69|2a1=Wood|2y=1999|2p=158}} In Michael Wood's view, the poem confirms the truth of William of Malmesbury's account of the ceremony. Wood also suggests that Æthelstan may have been the first English king to be groomed from childhood as an intellectual, and that John was probably his tutor.{{Sfnm|1a1=Wood|1y=1999|1p=157|2a1=Wood|2y=2007|2p=199|3a1=Wood|3y=2010|3p=137}} However, Sarah Foot argues that the acrostic poem makes better sense if it is dated to the beginning of Æthelstan's reign.{{Sfn|Foot|2011|pp=32, 110–112}}

Edward married his second wife, [[Ælfflæd, wife of Edward the Elder|Ælfflæd]], at about the time of his father's death, probably because Ecgwynn had died, although she may have been put aside. The new marriage weakened Æthelstan's position, as his step-mother naturally favoured the interests of her own sons, Ælfweard and [[Edwin, son of Edward the Elder|Edwin]].{{Sfn|Foot|2011|pp=31–33}} By 920 Edward had taken a third wife, [[Eadgifu of Kent|Eadgifu]], probably after putting Ælfflæd aside.{{Sfnm|1a1=Williams|1y=1991a|1p=6|2a1=Miller|2y=2004}} Eadgifu also had two sons, the future kings [[Edmund I|Edmund]] and [[Eadred]]. Edward had several daughters, perhaps as many as nine.{{Sfn|Foot|2011|pp=xv, 44–52}}

Æthelstan's later education was probably at the Mercian court of his aunt and uncle, Æthelflæd and Æthelred, and it is likely the young prince gained his military training in the Mercian campaigns to conquer the [[Danelaw]]. According to a transcript dating from 1304, in 925 Æthelstan gave a charter of privileges to [[St Oswald's Priory, Gloucester]], where his aunt and uncle were buried, "according to a pact of paternal piety which he formerly pledged with Æthelred, ealdorman of the people of the Mercians".{{Sfn|Foot|2011|pp=17, 34–36, 206}} When Edward took direct control of Mercia after Æthelflæd's death in 918, Æthelstan may have represented his father's interests there.{{Sfn|Foot|2011a}}