Edgar, King of the English, 959-975: New Interpretations - Hardcover

King Edgar ruled England for a short but significant period in the middle of the tenth century. Although he died in his early thirties, he sired four children, two of whom succeeded him as king and two were to become canonized. He was known to succeeding generations as the Pacific' or the Peaceable' because his reign was free from external attack and without internal dissention, yet he presided over a period of major social and economic change: early in his rule the growth of monastic power and wealth involved redistribution of much of the country's assets, while the end of his reign saw the creation of England's first national coinage, with firm fiscal control from the centre. He fulfilled King Alfred's dream of the West Saxon royal house ruling the whole of England, and, like his uncle King thelstan, he maintained overlordship of the whole of Britain. Edgar has been neglected by scholars since his reign has been thought to pass with little incident, and it is time for a full reassessment of his achievement. Here twelve scholars from four countries offer just that, a reappraisal of the documentary, coin and pictorial evidence and careful judgement of it.