Eadred was King of the English from 26 May 946 until his death. He was the younger son of Edward the Elder and his third wife Eadgifu, and a grandson of Alfred the Great. His elder brother, Edmund, was killed trying to protect his seneschal from an attack by a violent thief. Edmund's two sons, Eadwig and Edgar, were then young children, so Eadred became king. He suffered from ill health in the last years of his life and he died at the age of a little over thirty, having never married. He was succeeded successively by his nephews, Eadwig and Edgar.
Eadred in the early fourteenth-century Genealogical Roll of the Kings of England
Silver penny, obverse, inscribed 'EADRED REX'
HT1 style reverse inscribed 'INGELGAR M'
Portrait of Dunstan kneeling before Christ, probably by Dunstan himself
Edward the Elder was King of the Anglo-Saxons from 899 until his death in 924. He was the elder son of Alfred the Great and his wife Ealhswith. When Edward succeeded to the throne, he had to defeat a challenge from his cousin Æthelwold, who had a strong claim to the throne as the son of Alfred's elder brother and predecessor, Æthelred I.
Portrait miniature from a thirteenth-century genealogical scroll depicting Edward
A page from the will of Alfred the Great, headed Testamentum in a later hand, which left the bulk of his estate to Edward
Silver pseudo-coin brooch found at the Villa Wolkonsky in Rome. It is based on a coin of Edward the Elder and is probably contemporary.
Silver penny of Edward the Elder
