EDGAR (EADGAR), king of the English (944-975), was the younger son of Edmund the Magnificent and Aelfgifu. As early as 955 he signed a charter of his uncle Eadred, and in 957 the Mer cian nobles, discontented with the rule of his elder brother Eadwig, made him king of England north of the Thames. On the death of his brother in Oct. 959 Edgar became king of a united England. Immediately on his accession to the throne of Mercia Edgar recalled St. Dunstan from exile and made him first bishop of Worcester, and then of London. In 961 Dunstan was translated to Canterbury, and throughout Edgar's reign he was his chief adviser, and to him must be attributed much of the peace and prosperity of this time.
The reign of Edgar was somewhat uneventful, but two things stand out clearly : his ecclesiastical policy and his imperial position in Britain. Edgar and Dunstan were alike determined to reform the great monastic houses, to restore them to their true owners, and to remove them from the lax discipline of the secular priests or Canonici. The priests of the old and new monasteries at Win chester, Chertsey and Milton Abbas were replaced by monks, and the old rule of St. Benedict was strictly enforced.
The coronation of Edgar, delayed for some unexplained reason till 973, took place with much ceremony at Bath, and was fol lowed shortly after by the submission of eight kings, including the kings of Scotland and Strathclyde, to Edgar at Chester. In 967 an outbreak against Edgar in Northumbria was put down by Thored, the son of Gunnere, steward of the king's household.
Edgar's death took place in the year 975, and he was buried at Glastonbury. By his vigorous rule and his statesmanlike policy Edgar won the approval of his people ; the only fault ascribed to him is a too great love for foreigners and for foreign customs. Edgar strengthened the hands of the provincial administration, and allowed the northern Danes a certain degree of self-govern ment.
Edgar is said to have formed an irregular union in 961 with Wulfthryth, an inmate of the convent at Wilton, who bore him a daughter Eadgyth but refused to marry him. He married Aethel flaed, "the white duck," daughter of Earl Ordmaer, who bore him a son, known as Edward the Martyr. Finally he was united (964) to Aelfthryth, daughter of Earl Ordgar, who became the mother of the Aetheling Edmund (d. 971) and of Aethelred the Unready.