Page "Ælfgifu, wife of Eadwig" Paragraph 12

The event needs to be placed in the broader context of Eadwig's struggle to retain political control and of the factions which supported Edgar as the heir presumptive.

In the summer of 957, Edgar was elected king of Mercia.

Author ' B ' presents this as the outcome of a northern revolt against Eadwig, whereby he lost control north of the Thames ( Mercia and Northumbria ) and Edgar was set up as king over that part of England.

This is a gross exaggeration, since Eadwig retained the title " king of the English " in his charters and Æthelweard envisaged a " continuous " reign.

Edgar's description as regulus in an alliterative charter of 956 may even signify that there was a prior agreement that Edgar would become his brother's subking in Mercia as soon as he reached majority.

The weakness of Eadwig's political position is nevertheless confirmed by Bishop Æthelwold's retrospective note of complaint that Eadwig " had through the ignorance of childhood dispersed his kingdom and divided its unity ".