Wikipedia:Today's featured article/November 16, 2022

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Eadwig in a 14th-century miniature
Eadwig in a 14th-century miniature

Eadwig (c. 940 – 959) was King of England from 955 until his death. He was the elder son of King Edmund I. Eadwig and his brother Edgar were too young to rule when Edmund was killed in 946, so Edmund was succeeded by his brother Eadred, who died unmarried in his early thirties. Eadwig clashed at the start of his reign with Dunstan, the future archbishop of Canterbury, and exiled him to Flanders. In 956 he issued over sixty charters transferring land, perhaps as an attempt to buy support or to reward his favourites. In 957 the kingdom was divided between Eadwig, south of the Thames, and Edgar to its north. Historians disagree whether this was an agreed settlement or the result of dissatisfaction with Eadwig. The next year, Oda, Archbishop of Canterbury, separated Eadwig from his wife Ælfgifu on the grounds of consanguinity. Edgar succeeded to the whole kingdom when Eadwig died. He was condemned by monastic chroniclers, and some historians see him as a victim of unjust character assassination. (Full article...)

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