Editing Edgar, King of England (section)

== King of Mercia, 957 to 959 ==
In 957, the kingdom of England was divided between Eadwig, who kept Wessex, and Edgar who became king of Mercia, with the [[River Thames]] forming the boundary. It is uncertain whether this was the result of a coup against Eadwig or a decision to divide the kingdom between the brothers.{{sfn|Keynes|2004}} [[Christopher Lewis (historian)]] sees the division as the solution to "a dangerously unstable government and a court in deep crisis";{{sfn|Lewis|2008|p=106}} Sean Miller and Rory Naismith attribute it to an unsuccessful attempt by Eadwig to promote a powerful new faction at the expense of the old guard.{{sfnm|1a1=Miller|1y=2014a|1pp=155–156|2a1=Naismith|2y=2021|2p=234}} According to Dunstan's first biographer, who only named himself as "B": "King Eadwig was totally abandoned by the people north [of the Thames]. They despised him for his imprudent discharge of the power entrusted to him. The wise and sensible he destroyed in a spirit of idle hatred, replacing them with ignoramuses like himself to whom he took a liking."{{sfn|Winterbottom|Lapidge|2011|pp=xiii, 75}} This is the view of a partisan of Dunstan, who was Eadwig's enemy. "B" was probably in exile with Dunstan when the division took place.{{sfnm|1a1=Keynes|1y=2004|2a1=Yorke|2y=1988b|2p=78}} Archbishop Oda forced Eadwig to divorce his wife [[Ælfgifu (wife of Eadwig)|Ælfgifu]] on the ground that they were too closely related, but Edgar was on good terms with her when he became king.{{sfnm|1a1=Keynes|1y=2004|2a1=Williams|2y=2014}}

Four versions of the ''Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'' mention the division of the kingdom, and they all state that Edgar "succeeded" to the kingship of the Mercians, as if it was a normal and expected event. Manuscripts D and F of the ''Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'' (''ASC D'' and ''ASC F''),{{efn|Manuscripts of the ''Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'' are conventionally labelled ''ASC A'' to ''H''.{{sfn|Swanton|2000|pp=xxi–xxviii}} }} date the division to 955, whereas ''ASC B'' and ''ASC C'' correctly date it to 957.{{sfnm|2a1=Biggs|2y=2008|2pp=129–131|1a1=Whitelock|1y=1979|1pp=224–225|3a1=Yorke|3y=1988b|3p=78}} The difference in dates may be because it was agreed in Eadred's reign that the kingdom would be divided between the brothers, but he died before Edgar was old enough to act in person and had to wait until he reached the age of majority of fourteen in 957. Charter attestations show that the magnates did not decide which court to attend on the basis of personal loyalty: ealdormen and bishops with jurisdictions south of the Thames stayed with Eadwig, and those north of it served Edgar.{{sfnm|1a1=Williams|1y=2014|2a1=Yorke|2y=1988b|2p=78|3a1=Keynes|3y=1999|3p=478}} Keynes comments: "One need not imagine that the unity of England would have been regarded in the 950s as something necessarily desirable for its own sake, not least because it was of such recent creation."{{sfn|Keynes|1999|p=478}} Almost all [[thegns]] who had attested Eadwig's charters before the division stayed with him.{{sfn|Keynes|2008a|p=8}} The historian Frederick Biggs argues that the division was a revival of the earlier Anglo-Saxon practice of joint kingship, against the opposition of the Church,{{sfn|Biggs|2008|pp=124–125}} and Bishop Æthelwold complained that Eadwig had "through the ignorance of childhood dispersed his kingdom and divided its unity".{{sfnm|1a1=Keynes|1y=2004|2a1=Whitelock|2y=1979|2p=920}}

Eadwig retained some degree of seniority, as he attested charters as "King of the English", whereas Edgar was usually "King of the Mercians", and also occasionally of the Northumbrians and the British.{{sfnm|1a1=Keynes|1y=1999|1pp=478–479|2a1=Keynes|2y=2008b|2pp=64–65}}{{efn|Edgar is "King of the English" in two charters of 958, S 674 and S 679, but the style was probably copied from another charter without thinking that it needed to be adapted for Edgar's status.{{sfnm|1a1=Keynes|1y=1980|1p=69 n. 135|2a1=Kelly|2y=2009|2p=240|3a1=Woodman|3y=2012|3p=113}} }} All coins, including those issued in Mercia, were in Eadwig's name until his death,{{sfnm|1a1=Blunt|1a2=Stewart|1a3=Lyon|1y=1989|1pp=278–280|2a1=Naismith|2y=2017|2p=207}} The contemporary chronicler [[Æthelweard (historian)|Æthelweard]], who may have been Eadwig's brother-in-law, wrote that he "held the kingdom continuously for four years".{{sfnm|1a1=Williams|1y=2014|2a1=Campbell|2y=1962|2p=55}} There is no evidence of rivalry between the brothers, but they did disagree over Dunstan. Edgar recalled him from his exile, and soon afterwards appointed him to the Mercian bishoprics of London and Worcester.{{sfnm|1a1=Lavelle|1y=2008|1pp=29–30|2a1=Williams|2y=2014}} Æthelstan Half-King retired when the division took place, perhaps because Edgar had reached an age to take over.{{sfn|Keynes|1999|p=478}} In 958, Edgar gave an estate at [[Sutton cum Lound|Sutton]] in Nottinghamshire to [[Oscytel]], Archbishop of York, probably in support of a policy initiated by Eadwig of strengthening control over this area of Viking settlement by granting land in it to the archbishop.{{sfnm|1a1=Woodman|1y=2012|1p=115|2a1=Stenton|2y=1971|2p=436|3a1=Charter S 679}}