More than a millennium ago, Æthelstan stood as one of the most powerful rulers in Europe. Crowned 1,100 years ago as the first king of England, he united warring kingdoms into a single nation, forged bonds with continental powers, and oversaw a realm filled with cultural and ethnic diversity. He even set a royal trend by being the first English monarch to wear a crown—a symbol still worn by kings and queens today.
Yet despite these achievements, history has not been kind to him. Æthelstan’s name rarely appears in popular accounts of England’s past. Instead, he was overshadowed soon after his death by the enduring fame of his grandfather, Alfred the Great. Later generations continued to neglect him: Elizabethan scholars ignored him when searching for heroic English beginnings, and Victorian historians reduced him to a footnote as they sought to justify empire-building narratives.
That neglect has left Æthelstan a curiously forgotten figure, despite his crucial role in shaping England. His story is only now being re-examined, thanks to scholars like David Woodman, a Cambridge historian who argues it is time to restore Æthelstan to his rightful place in the nation’s memory. The anniversary of his coronation in September 2025 provides a timely opportunity to reflect not just on a king’s lost legacy, but on the very origins of English identity itself.
Who was Æthelstan?
Æthelstan was the grandson of Alfred the Great, one of the most celebrated rulers of early medieval England. Alfred earned lasting fame in the 9th century for his struggles against Viking invasions, defeating the Danes and extending his influence into Mercia—a powerful neighboring kingdom that once stretched across much of the Midlands and eastern England. From his base in Wessex, Alfred laid the groundwork for what would eventually become a united English realm.
His son, Edward—known as Edward the Elder and Æthelstan’s father—built on these foundations. Edward expanded control further by driving the Danes from East Anglia. According to historian Sarah Foot, dean of Christ Church College, Oxford, Edward relied on a fresh style of warfare, constructing fortified towns to secure conquered land and maintain dominance. By the end of his reign, he ruled territory stretching all the way to the River Humber in East Yorkshire and proudly bore the title “King of the Anglo-Saxons,” inherited from Alfred.
It was into this dynastic story that Æthelstan was born around 894 AD. He carried forward the legacy of his forefathers, not just maintaining their gains but pushing the kingdom’s boundaries even further—ultimately becoming the first monarch to truly unite England under a single crown.
