Athelstan Becomes the First King of England (927)

Athelstan became the first king of all England in 927, when he captured the Viking kingdom of York and then, on 12 July, received the submission of the kings of northern Britain at Eamont, near Penrith. For the first time a single ruler governed every English-speaking region of Britain. Historians therefore usually count him, rather than his famous grandfather Alfred the Great, as the first king of England.

Background: from Wessex to the “Anglo-Saxons”

In the ninth century England was divided into several kingdoms. The arrival of the Great Heathen Army in 865 destroyed most of them, leaving only Wessex under its own dynasty. Alfred the Great defended Wessex, made an alliance with English Mercia and styled himself “king of the Anglo-Saxons”.

His son Edward the Elder (reigned 899–924) and daughter Æthelflæd, Lady of the Mercians then conquered most of the Danish-settled Midlands and East Anglia. By Edward’s death the only major region outside English control was Northumbria, ruled from Viking York by Norse kings with close links to Dublin.

Athelstan was born around 894, Edward’s eldest son by his first partner, Ecgwynn. According to William of Malmesbury he was raised in Mercia at the court of his aunt Æthelflæd, which may explain why the Mercians backed him.

Edward the Elder died on 17 July 924 at Farndon-on-Dee. The Mercians chose Athelstan as king, while Wessex may have preferred his half-brother Ælfweard. Ælfweard died only about sixteen days later, but resistance to Athelstan seems to have continued in Wessex.

He was finally crowned on 4 September 925 at Kingston upon Thames, the traditional coronation site of the West Saxon kings. The delay suggests his position was not secure at first.

How York was taken (926–927)

Athelstan first tried diplomacy with Northumbria. On 30 January 926 his sister married Sihtric, the Norse king of York, at Tamworth. Sihtric accepted Christianity at least in name and acknowledged Athelstan’s superiority.

Sihtric died in 927, within about a year of the marriage. His kinsman Guthfrith came from Dublin to claim York, but Athelstan moved first: he took the city and expelled Guthfrith. Later writers say Athelstan destroyed a Viking fortification in York and divided booty among his army.

The capture was a turning point. York had been under Scandinavian rule since 866, and its kings controlled a large territory between the Humber and the Tees. With it in his hands, Athelstan ruled from the Channel to the borders of the Scots.

The meeting at Eamont, 12 July 927

The northern version of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle records that on 12 July 927 Athelstan met several rulers “at the place called Eamont”. Eamont lies near Penrith in Cumbria, then probably close to the frontier between English Northumbria and the kingdom of Strathclyde.

The Chronicle names Constantine II, king of the Scots; Hywel, king of the “West Welsh”; Owain, king of Gwent; and Ealdred son of Eadwulf, the English lord of Bamburgh. William of Malmesbury, writing two centuries later, names Owain of Strathclyde instead of the Welsh rulers, and historians still debate exactly who was present.

The rulers made peace with “pledges and oaths” and agreed to give up pagan worship. This probably meant that they promised not to support pagan Norse kings, rather than that they were pagans themselves; Constantine, for example, was a Christian.

Consolidation: Wales, Cornwall and the coinage

William of Malmesbury describes two further settlements. At Hereford, Welsh kings agreed to pay a large annual tribute, which he gives as 20 pounds of gold, 300 pounds of silver and 25,000 oxen; these figures cannot be checked and may be exaggerated. The River Wye was fixed as a boundary.

In the south-west, William says Athelstan set the Tamar as the boundary of Cornwall and fortified Exeter. Whether all of this happened in 927–928 or over several years is uncertain.

Athelstan’s new status appeared in his charters and coins. From about 928 he used the title “king of the English”, and some of his pennies carry the Latin inscription REX TOTIUS BRITANNIAE, “king of all Britain”. He was also the first English king shown wearing a crown on his coins.

Key people

• Athelstan (c. 894–939): king of the Anglo-Saxons from 924, of the English from 927.
• Sihtric (died 927): Norse king of York and Athelstan’s brother-in-law.
• Guthfrith (died 934): king of Dublin, expelled from York by Athelstan.
• Constantine II (reigned c. 900–943): king of Alba, the kingdom of the Scots.
• Owain: a name shared by the kings of Strathclyde and of Gwent at this time, a source of confusion in the records.

Consequences

The settlement of 927 did not last unchallenged. In 934 Athelstan invaded Scotland by land and sea, apparently because Constantine had broken the agreement. In 937 Constantine, Owain of Strathclyde and Olaf Guthfrithson of Dublin joined forces against him, and were defeated at the Battle of Brunanburh.

Athelstan also became a major European figure. His half-sisters married into the leading families of the continent: Eadgifu to Charles the Simple of West Francia, Eadhild to Hugh the Great, and Eadgyth (Edith) to the future emperor Otto I. He sheltered his nephew Louis, who returned to rule West Francia in 936, and is said to have fostered Haakon, son of the Norwegian king Harald Fairhair.

He issued several law codes, including one agreed at Grately in Hampshire, which dealt with theft, coinage and the duties of local officials. His court drew scholars and churchmen from Britain, Ireland and the continent.

Myths and facts

• Myth: England was permanently united in 927. After Athelstan died in 939, York was taken again by Norse kings. Lasting control came only in 954.
• Myth: Alfred was the first king of England. Alfred ruled Wessex and English Mercia and called himself king of the Anglo-Saxons, but never ruled Northumbria or the Danelaw.
• Fact: modern historians often call Athelstan “the first king of England”. It is the subtitle of Sarah Foot’s major biography, though she also discusses the limits of the label.

Legacy

Athelstan died on 27 October 939 at Gloucester, unmarried and childless, and was succeeded by his half-brother Edmund. He was buried at Malmesbury Abbey, where a fifteenth-century tomb chest now marks his memory.

His reign is also unusually well documented in charters. Many from 928 to 935 were drafted by a single royal scribe, known to historians as “Æthelstan A”, whose elaborate Latin reflects the ambitions of the court. Athelstan was also a keen collector of relics and books, and gave manuscripts to churches including the community of St Cuthbert at Chester-le-Street.

He has long been less famous than Alfred, partly because no contemporary biography of him survives. In recent decades historians have restored his reputation as the king who turned the kingdom of the West Saxons into the kingdom of England.

Timeline

• c. 894: Athelstan is born, son of Edward the Elder.
• 924, 17 July: Edward the Elder dies; Mercia accepts Athelstan.
• 925, 4 September: Athelstan is crowned at Kingston upon Thames.
• 926, 30 January: His sister marries Sihtric of York at Tamworth.
• 927: Sihtric dies; Athelstan takes York and expels Guthfrith.
• 927, 12 July: Northern rulers submit to Athelstan at Eamont.
• 934: Athelstan invades Scotland.
• 937: Victory at the Battle of Brunanburh.
• 939, 27 October: Athelstan dies at Gloucester.

Why it matters

The events of 927 created, for the first time, a kingdom that covered roughly the territory of modern England. Although it was challenged after Athelstan’s death, the idea of a single English realm under one king survived and became permanent within a generation.