All the King Edwards of England Summarised
Edward or rather Eadweard is an Anglo-Saxon name, meaning Wealth (Ead) Protector (Weard).
With 11 in total, Edward is the most used name for English Kings and the only name used for Kings in the Pre and Post Norman Conquest periods.
Amongst these King Edwards, there is two saints, three murdered kings, three child kings and four great warriors.
- Edward the Elder, King of the Anglo-Saxons (r. 899–924): The son of Alfred the Great and father of the first three Kings of England. Conquered the Southern Danelaw and unified England south of the Humber. Undoubtedly one of the great Anglo-Saxon Warlords.
Edward the Elder (Timothy Ines) in The Last Kingdom
2. Edward the Martyr, King of the English (r.975–978): The only Saint to Saint royal succession in English history was between him and his father, Edgar the Peaceful. Known for being ….. a martyr, murdered probably by his ‘evil’ stepmother Queen Æthelfryth. Possibly inspiration for Game of Thrones’ Joffrey Baratheon.
3. Edward the Confessor, King of the English (r. 1042–1066): Dominated by his in-laws; the Godwins, reign was peaceful, encouraged French influences within England, England’s last King to be a saint until Charles I, built the original Westminster Abbey and died in 1066 ‘and all that’.
4. Edward I ‘Longshanks’, King of England (r. 1270–1307). Named after Edward the Confessor, went on Crusade, allowed the Commons to attend Parliament regularly, conquered Wales and dominated Scotland. One of England most successful Kings.
Edward I (Patrick McGoohan) in Braveheart
5. Edward II, King of England (r. 1307–1327). Mates with Piers Gaveston, defeated by the Scots, overthrown by his wife, a possible contender for our worst king.
6. Edward III, King of England (r. 1327–1377): Age of Chivalry, victories in France, took the kings of France and Scotland as hostages, founded the Order of the Garter, big fan of King Arthur, one of the better Medieval English Kings and maybe our best warrior.
7. Edward IV, King of England (r. 1461–1483), took the throne via conquest at age 18, never lost a battle, our tallest monarch, great warrior and a fairly decent king.
8. Edward V, King of England (r. 1483). Came to the throne at the age of 12, his guardian was killed and he magically disappeared, how convenient? I’m sure good uncle Richard had nothing to do with this.
9. Edward VI, King of England (r. 1547–1553). England’s last child King. Son of Henry VIII, radical Protestant, very well educated, died aged 15.
10. Edward VII, King of the United Kingdom (r. 1901–1910), longest heir in waiting until Prince Charles, ruled for 9 years and helped make naval reforms which helped during WW1.
11. Edward VIII, King of the United Kingdom (r. 1936), possible nazi sympathiser, abdicated after marrying an American divorcee. Not very well thought of today.
Personally my favourite is Edward the Elder. I think the most iconic is Edward III and the best ruler was Edward I.
