Ælfweard, King of Wessex

Ælfweard was born around 902 as the second son of Edward the Elder, by his second wife Ælfflæd. He is recognized in some sources as the successor to his father, with a contested reign in Wessex lasting approximately four weeks. The historical records regarding his kingship are inconsistent, with the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle omitting a clear mention of his reign, while other sources such as the Textus Roffensis and the New Minster Liber Vitae list him as king.

After Edward the Elder’s death on 17 July 924, Ælfweard’s brief tenure ended with his own death on 2 August 924 in Oxford. He was buried at the New Minster in Winchester. The ambiguity of his rule led to a struggle for acceptance by his half-brother Æthelstan in Wessex, who was not crowned King of the Anglo-Saxons until the following year.