Editing Edward the Martyr (section)

== Background ==
In the ninth century, [[Anglo-Saxon England]] came under increasing attack from [[Vikings|Viking]] raids, culminating with an invasion by the Viking [[Great Heathen Army]] in 865. By 878, the Vikings had overrun the kingdoms of [[Northumbria]], [[Kingdom of East Anglia|East Anglia]], and [[Mercia]], and nearly conquered [[Wessex]], but in that year the West Saxons achieved a decisive victory at the [[Battle of Edington]] under King [[Alfred the Great]] (871–899).{{sfn|Keynes|Lapidge|1983|pp=9, 12–13}} Over the next fifty years, the West Saxons and Mercians gradually conquered the Viking-ruled areas, and in 927 Alfred's grandson [[Æthelstan]] (924–939) became the first king of all England when he conquered Northumbria.{{sfnm|1a1=Miller|1y=2011|2a1=Foot|2y=2011}} He was succeeded by his half-brother and Edward's grandfather, [[Edmund I|Edmund]], who almost immediately lost control of the north to the Vikings, but recovered full control of England by 944. He was killed in a brawl with an outlaw in 946, and as his sons [[Eadwig]] and [[Edgar, King of England|Edgar]] were infants, their uncle [[Eadred]] (946–955) became king.{{sfn|Williams|2004a}} Like Edmund, Eadred inherited the kingship of the whole of England and soon lost it when [[Scandinavian York|York]] (southern Northumbria) accepted a Viking king, but he recovered it when the York magnates expelled King [[Erik Bloodaxe]] in 954.{{sfn|Miller|2014a|pp=154–155}}

Eadred's key advisers included [[Dunstan]], [[Glastonbury Abbey|Abbot of Glastonbury]] and future [[Archbishop of Canterbury]]. Eadred, who suffered from ill health, was in his early thirties when he died in 955, and Eadwig succeeded at the age of around fifteen.{{sfnm|1a1=Williams|1y=2004b|2a1=Keynes|2y=2004}} He was the first king since the early ninth century not to face the threat of imminent foreign invasion, and England remained free from Viking attacks until 980, after Edward's death.{{sfn|Stenton|1971|p=364}} From the start, Eadwig demonstrated his determination to establish his independence from his uncle's advisers. He clashed with Dunstan and sent him into exile. In 957, the kingdom was divided between Eadwig, who kept Wessex, and Edward's father Edgar, who became king of Mercia and other lands north of the [[Thames]]. It is unclear whether this had been planned since the beginning of his reign or was the result of a successful revolt brought about by Eadwig's incompetence.{{sfn|Keynes|2004}}

Eadwig died in 959, and Edgar succeeded to the rule of the whole kingdom.{{sfn|Williams|2014}} Eadwig had appointed [[Ælfhere]] to be [[ealdorman]]{{efn|Ealdorman was the second rank of the lay aristocracy below the king. They governed large areas as the king's local representatives and led local levies in battle.{{sfn|Stafford|2014|p=156}} }} of Mercia, and he became the premier layman, a status he retained until his death in 983. His rise was at the expense of the family of [[Æthelstan Half-King]],{{efn|Æthelstan was known as the Half-King because kings were said to rely on his advice. He retired in 957 and was succeeded as ealdorman of East Anglia by his eldest son, [[Æthelwald, Ealdorman of East Anglia|Æthelwold]], Ælfthryth's first husband, who died in 962. Æthelwold was succeeded as ealdorman by his youngest brother, [[Æthelwine, Ealdorman of East Anglia|Æthelwine]].{{sfnm|1a1=Miller|1y=2014d|1p=19|2a1=Lapidge|2y=2009|2pp=84–87|3a1=Lapidge|3y=2014|3p=20}} }} Ealdorman of East Anglia, leading to a rivalry between the families which disrupted the country in Edward's reign.{{sfn|Williams|2004c}} The [[English Benedictine Reform|Benedictine reform movement]] reached its peak in Edgar's reign under the leadership of Dunstan, [[Oswald, Archbishop of York]], and [[Æthelwold of Winchester|Æthelwold, Bishop of Winchester]]. It became dominant as a result of the strong support of Edgar, earning him high praise by contemporary and later monastic chroniclers. He was a strong, indeed overbearing ruler, and he enriched Benedictine monasteries by forcing the aristocracy and secular (non-monastic) religious institutions to surrender land to them. Æthelwold was the most active and ruthless of the Benedictine leaders in securing land to support his monasteries, in some cases driving [[secular clergy]] out of their establishments in favour of monks. Edgar died at the age of only thirty-one or thirty-two in 975.{{sfnm|1a1=Williams|1y=2014|2a1=Yorke|2y=2004a|3a1=Miller|3y=2014b|3pp=163–164}}