Editing Edward the Martyr (section)

== Family ==
Edward, who was born in around 962, was the eldest of the four known children of King Edgar.{{sfn|Hart|2007}} No contemporary source gives the name of Edward's mother, and post-Conquest sources give varying accounts. The earliest is a life of Dunstan by [[Osbern of Canterbury]], written around 1090. He wrote that Edward's mother was a nun at [[Wilton Abbey]] whom the King seduced, and Dunstan punished Edgar by imposing a seven-year penance which delayed his coronation. Osbern's account is rejected by later chroniclers and modern historians. When [[Eadmer]] wrote a life of Dunstan in the early twelfth century, he included an account of Edward's parentage which he obtained from his friend [[Nicholas of Worcester]], who consulted ancient chronicles. Nicholas said that Edward was the son of Edgar's lawful wife [[Æthelflæd Eneda|Æthelflæd ''candida'']] (the white), daughter of Ealdorman Ordmær.{{sfnm|1a1=Williams|1y=2003|1pp=3, 157 n. 14|2a1=Turner|2a2=Muir|2y=2006|2pp=lxvii, 136–137 and n. 122}} No ealdorman with that name is known, but some historians identify Æthelflæd's parents as a ''vir potens'' (powerful man) called Ordmær and his wife Ealde, who gave [[Hatfield, Hertfordshire|Hatfield]] in [[Hertfordshire]] to Æthelstan Half-King in exchange for land in Devon.{{sfn|Hart|1992|p=586}} John of Worcester, writing in the early twelfth century, also said that Edward was the son of Æthelflæd, adding that she had the byname ''eneda'' (duck).{{sfnm|1a1=Williams|1y=2003|1p=3|2a1=Darlington|2a2=McGurk|2y=1995|2pp=416–417}} Edgar, who was brought up by Æthelstan Half-King's wife [[Ælfwynn, wife of Æthelstan Half-King|Ælfwynn]], probably met Æthelflæd as a result of the connection between her father and his foster-father.{{sfnm|1a1=Williams|1y=2014|2a1=Hart|2y=1992|2p=586}}{{efn|The twelfth century ''[[Liber Eliensis]]'' states that Edgar later claimed that Ordmær and Ealde bequeathed the land at Hatfield to him and gave the Hatfield land to Ely Abbey, After his death Æthelstan's sons claimed that Edgar had forced him to surrender it. They brought a successful action to recover the land from the abbey.{{sfnm|1a1=Hart|1y=1992|1pp=462–463, 586|2a1=Fairweather|2y=2005|2pp=103–104}} }} Almost all modern historians who have discussed Edward's parentage say that his mother was Æthelflæd,{{efn|[[Ann Williams (historian)|Ann Williams]] disputes the consensus, suggesting that Edward was a son of Wulfthryth and thus a full sister of Edith. She thinks that Æthelflæd was invented to absolve Edgar from Osbern's charge that he seduced a nun.{{sfn|Williams|2003|pp=6, 159 n. 33}} }} and most think that she was Edgar's first wife.{{sfnm|1a1=Roach|1y=2016|1p=43|2a1=Yorke|2y=2008|2p=144}} The historian [[Nicholas Brooks (historian)|Nicholas Brooks]] argues that Edgar must have married Æthelflæd because Dunstan backed Edward's succession to the throne, and he was a strong opponent of irregular unions who would not have supported the claim of an illegitimate son.{{sfn|Brooks|1984|pp=249–250}} However, the historian [[Cyril Roy Hart|Cyril Hart]] describes Edward as "of doubtful legitimacy". Æthelflæd probably died shortly after his birth.{{sfn|Hart|2007}} Edward's tutor in religion was [[Sideman (bishop)|Sideman]], [[Bishop of Crediton]].{{sfn|Lapidge|2009|pp=138–139}}

Edgar had his only known daughter, [[Edith of Wilton|Edith]], by his second known consort, [[Wulfthryth of Wilton|Wulfthryth]], who retired shortly afterwards to Wilton Abbey with her child.{{sfn|Yorke|2004b}}{{efn|Historians do not agree on Wulfthryth's status. [[Rosalind Love]] refers to her as a concubine,{{sfn|Love|2014|p=154}} whereas her status as wife is accepted by [[Pauline Stafford]] and defended by [[Barbara Yorke]].{{sfnm|1a1=Stafford|1y=1989|1p=51|2a1=Yorke|2y=2003|2pp=97–113}} }} In 964, Edgar married [[Ælfthryth (wife of Edgar)|Ælfthryth]], the widow of Æthelstan Half-King's eldest son, [[Æthelwald, Ealdorman of East Anglia|Æthelwold]]. Her father was [[Ordgar]], a leading Devonshire [[thegn]] who was appointed an ealdorman in the same year.{{sfn|Lewis|2004}} She had two sons, Edmund, who died in 971, and the future King [[Æthelred the Unready]], who was born around 968. She was the only wife of Edgar to be crowned, and she became a powerful political figure, especially in her son's reign.{{sfnm|1a1=Stafford|1y=2004|2a1=Williams|2y=2003|2p=6}}