Edgar's Achievements

Edgar’s reign was marked by reform, law-making and no recorded conflicts with external parties. The result of this was the title “pacifus” and a reputation as a just king. Yet one must assume part of reign’s success was because of the victories and reputation of the Alfredian dynasty. He was handed a kingdom that had a sophisticated legal, taxation and military system, all provided to him by his ancestors. This does not mean that he did nothing, his reform of the coinage system and a new code, as well as the promotion of the ship-fyrd created a stable kingdom.

The creation of Edgar’s law codes are part of a tradition that each king passes down to the next one and allows us to see the greatness of Edgar, who realised that often organisation

Alfred’s contribution to Edgar’s overall success in unifying the English was the construction of the burhs and the reforms of the military and civil administration. The building of key burhs meant that there was a structure to the defence of the realm, with men assigned to protect the burhs which then became centres of military and civil power. The burhs also stopped the Vikings from attacking from estuaries, as double burhs were utilised. This innovation meant that a key tactic for the Vikings to use was cut off. For Edgar this meant he could rely on the strength of the burhs to stop other invasions from Ireland or Scandinavia. His great grandfather Edward built on these burhs and his key alliance with his sister Aethelflaed to extend the Burghal system into Mercia. This meant that when Edgar reigned over England he did not have to update the Burghal system in place in the heartland of his rule. There were key burhs in Hereford, stopping militant Welsh rulers from invading. The Welsh had not been a problem since their crushing defeat at Brunanburgh in 937, which was another reason for the security of Edgar’s reign; because of the intrinsically embedded fear of English might there were no chronicled reference to a Welsh or Scottish raid or attack on the English. In order to maintain the burhs, and to reorganize the fyrd as a standing army, Alfred expanded the tax and conscription system based on the productivity of a tenant's landholding; this was extended by Edward who put this system in place over Mercia. This meant that by the time of Athelstan’s rule the ability to successfully generate revenue was successful and sophisticated. One must assume that in the 60 years since Alfred, the system had not changed radically; in fact if it was implemented throughout the Kingdom, Edgar had significant