King Æthelstan presenting a book to St Cuthbert, the earliest surviving portrait of an English king, circa 930; Credit – Wikipedia

Æthelstan (reigned 924 – 939) is regarded by modern historians to be the first King of England although he used the style King of the English (Rex Anglorum in Latin). England was, at one time, a collection of seven Anglo-Saxon kingdoms: East Anglia, Essex, Kent, Mercia, Northumbria, Sussex, and Wessex. These kingdoms were unified over the years into the Kingdom of England by Æthelstan’s grandfather Alfred the Great, King of Wessex and his successors. During this time period, the invading Danish contested this unification and at times, held the throne.

The House of Wessex, sometimes known as the Anglo-Saxon kings, first reigned from 802 – 1013. From 1013 – 1014, the House of Denmark reigned. The House of Wessex was restored 1014 – 1016. One last time, the House of Denmark reigned from 1016 -1042. The final reign of the House of Wessex began in 1042 and ended with the conquest of William, Duke of Normandy in 1066. He became King William I, the first monarch from the House of Normandy.

Numbers were not used in identifying kings until after the Norman Conquest of 1066 so their use to identify Anglo-Saxon kings is anachronistic but it is helpful in differentiating several kings.

House of Wessex (871-1013), (1014-1016), and (1042-1066)

• Alfred the Great, King of Wessex, King of the Anglo-Saxons (reigned 871 – 899)
• Edward the Elder, King of the Anglo-Saxons (son of Alfred the Great, reigned 899 – 924)
• Æthelstan, King of the English (son of Edward the Elder, reigned 924 – 939)
• Edmund I, King of the English (son of Edward the Elder, reigned 939 – 946, assassinated)
• Eadred, King of the English (son of Edward the Elder, reigned 946 – 955)
• Eadwig, King of the English (son of Edmund I, reigned 955 – 959)
• Edgar the Peaceful, King of the English (son of Edmund I, reigned 959 – 975)
• Saint Edward the Martyr, King of the English (son of Edgar the Peaceful, reigned 975 – 978, assassinated)
• Æthelred II the Unready, King of the English (son of Edgar the Peaceful, 1st reign, 978 – 1013, 2nd reign, 1014 – 1016)
• Emma of Normandy, Queen of the English, Denmark and Norway (second wife of Æthelred II the Unready, King of the English, her first husband, and second wife of Cnut the Great, King of England, Denmark, and Norway, her second husband)
• Edmund Ironside, King of the English (son of Æthelred II the Unready and his first wife, reigned 1016)
• Saint Edward the Confessor, King of England (son of Æthelred II the Unready and Emma of Normandy, reigned 1042 – 1066)
• Edith of Wessex, Queen of England (wife of Edward the Confessor)
• Harold II Godwinson, King of England (reigned 1066)

House of Wessex Miscellaneous Articles

• Assassination of Edmund I, King of England (946)
• Assassination of Saint Edward the Martyr, King of England (978)
• Coronations before the Norman Conquest (871 – 1066)

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