Edward the Elder (c. 874 – 924) was King of the Anglo-Saxons from 899 until his death. He was the elder son of Alfred the Great and his wife Ealhswith. When Edward succeeded to the throne, the Vikings ruled Northumbria, East Anglia and eastern Mercia, leaving only Wessex and western Mercia under Anglo-Saxon control. In 910 a Mercian and West Saxon army inflicted a decisive defeat on an invading Northumbrian army, ending the threat from the northern Vikings. In the 910s, Edward conquered Viking-ruled southern England in partnership with his sister Æthelflæd, who ruled Mercia. By 919 he ruled Wessex, Mercia and East Anglia, and only Northumbria remained under Viking rule. Edward was admired by medieval chroniclers, but he was largely ignored by modern historians until the 1990s, partly because few primary sources for his reign survive. He is now seen as destroying the power of the Vikings in southern England while laying the foundations for a south-centred united English kingdom. (Full article...)