Edmund I: The Second King of England (opens in new tab)

While Edmund remains overshadowed by Aethelstan and their grandfather, Alfred the Great, he has been remembered sympathetically by medieval and modern scholars alike. As a young boy, he could not have ever expected to inherit the throne, but when Aethelstan died in 939, at the age of 45, and 18-year-old Edmund was set the challenge of proving himself a worthy successor. By 946, 25-year-old Edmund could look back on a successful reign of military expansion, harmony with his chief magnates, and...