Edgar

This is the first-ever biography of the Anglo-Saxon monarch who was the first king of England, Edgar, youngest son of King Edmund of Wessex, became ruler of a united England in 959. Although he became known as Edgar 'the Peaceable' he ruled England with an iron rod. His strict government was back up by military force, and from a naval force which deterred invasion by the Vikings. No such invading occurred from the time Eric Bloodaxe left York in 954 until 980, five years after Edgar's death. We have Edgar to thank for introducing the first form of national taxation... He was married twice, possibly three times and his two sons became Edward the Martyr and Ethelred II the Unready.