A recent poll searching for Britain’s ‘Greatest Monarch’, came up with the surprise winner of… drum roll, King Athelstan. Not that the Anglo-Saxon king wasn’t so great, but the winner is a little surprising since most people seem to have believed the ‘crown’ would go to Elizabeth I. (Yawn!)
I hope the voters actually remembered Athelstan in reality and have not just recalled his name from Bernard Cornwell’s The Last Kingdom’! Athelstan was king of the Anglo Saxons between 924-927 and then became King of the English 927-939. He was not popular at first in Wessex and was not crowned for over a year after his father Edward the Elder‘s death, possibly because there was some doubts as to his legitimacy. Once he became king, he conquered the Vikings in Jorvik (York) and also invaded Scotland, forcing Constantine II into submission. Later, the disgruntled Vikings and Scots both returned the favour by invading England, but they met defeat at the Battle of Brunanburh.
Outside of war, Athelstan was keen on legal reforms, using those of his grandfather, Alfred the Great, as a basis. He held councils which were attended by other regional kings and overlords across Britain. A pious Christian, he collected relics and founded many churches, and learning was favoured at his court.
However Athelstan never married or left an heir (which would make some historians actually disqualify him as a ‘successful’ king!) He died in October of 939 and was buried at Malmesbury Abbey in Wiltshire, choosing the Abbey because of his devotion to St Aldhelm. Some of those who had perished at Brunanburh fighting for the king had also been interred, by Athelstan himself, in the Abbey.
His grave there is the most notable monument within the handsome Abbey–although the fine if worn effigy on the tomb chest is not from Athelstan’s time, but from the 15th c. The tomb is also empty; Athelstan’s bones were ‘lost’ during the Dissolution, although they are likely to still be somewhere in the vicinity. As the remains of Athelstan’s sister Eadgyth were found in Germany a few years back, it would be entirely possible to identify his remains using DNA if they should ever be discovered.
murreyandblue 
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