Edgar Atheling

Edgar Atheling (1053-1126) was the last male-line member of the House of Cerdic. His nickname & # 34; Atheling & # 34; (or written in its original language, "Æþeling"), means "man of high birth, chief, or leader", and was the designation usually given to the king's children.

Origins

He was born at the court of Hungary, in the year 1053, being the youngest of the 3 children (but only son), of Edward the Exiled (son of Edmund II Ironside), and of Agatha (daughter of Vladimir I of Kiev).

After the death of his father (in February 1057), he became the last and legitimate direct heir of King Edward the Confessor, so he was educated at court along with his sisters Margaret and Christina. But while he was still very young (he was only 13 years old), after the death of the king (in January 1066), the English nobles preferred Harold of Wessex, brother-in-law of the deceased and also a member of the house of Cerdic, as their new monarch (although to a more distant degree), considering it ideal to contain the Norman invasion.

Rise to the throne, and fall

Edgar, however, had the support of Archbishop Stigand of Canterbury and the earls Edwin, earl of Mercia and Morcar of Northumbria, a situation that after the battle of Hastings after the death of Harold, earned him to be immediately proclaimed king of England for the Witan, although he inevitably had to surrender to William the Conqueror at Berkhamstead in late November or early December 1066. ^{[citation needed]}

William saw a great political advantage in that opportunity, and decided to keep Edgar in his custody, taking him with him to his court in Normandy. However, Edgar joined the rebellion of Earls Edwin and Morcar in 1068 and, defeated, fled to the court of King Malcolm III of Scotland. The following year (1069), King Malcolm married Margaret, Edgar's sister, and agreed to support him in his attempt to regain the English crown. Edgar then made common cause with Svend Estridson, king of Denmark and nephew of Canute the Great, who also considered himself legitimate king of England.

Attempts to recover the throne and exile

The combined forces of Edgar and Cnut invaded England in 1069. They captured York, but did not proclaim the independence of Northumbria. William marched north, devastating the land as he went. He paid the Danes to abandon the island territory, while Edgar fled to Scotland where he remained a refugee until 1072, when William signed a peace treaty with King Malcolm, one of the terms of which was to respect Edgar's exile. He later made peace with William in 1074, but never gave up on his dreams of regaining the throne of England. Thus, he supported Robert II, Duke of Normandy, against his brother William II in 1091, and found himself again taking refuge in Scotland. He also supported his nephew, Edgar, who won the Scottish throne, overthrowing King Donald III.

Expedition to Constantinople and return

Around the year 1098, he moved to Constantinople, where it is thought he may have joined the Varangian guard of the Byzantine Empire.^{[citation needed]} Later in That year, Emperor Alexius I Comnenus gave him a fleet to assist the First Crusade, and he brought reinforcements to the crusaders at the siege of Antioch. He was taken prisoner at the Battle of Tinchebray in 1106, where he fought for Duke Robert of Normandy against King Henry I. He returned to England, where he was pardoned by the king, retiring to his county of Hertfordshire. His niece Edith (renamed Matilda) had married King Henry I in the year 1100, thus uniting the house of Cerdic (the female branch) to the Norman dynasty.

It is believed that Edgar traveled to Scotland in his last years (perhaps around the year 1120), still alive in the year 1125, but probably died a few years later, specifically around the year 1130, at approximately 77 years old. years old.^{[citation needed]} By then he had been forgotten by everyone and is remembered to this day as the "lost king of England" #34;.^{[citation required]}