ATHELSTAN, or Aethelstan, son of King Edward the elder, and grandson of Alfred the Great, was born in 895. There has been much doubt with regard to his legitimacy, as his mother, Ecgwyn, is said to have been of humble origin; but these suspicions appear to rest on slight foundations. On the death of Edward in 925, Athelstan, who had been named by him as his successor, was elected king by the Mercians and West Saxons, and crowned at Kingston in Surrey. Considerable opposition was made to his election, and several of the leading nobles entered into a conspiracy to put out his eyes and deprive him of the kingdom. Alfred the Atheling, who himself aimed at the royal power, was suspected of being concerned in this plot, and was obliged to proceed to Rome and there take an oath of innocence. While in the act of swearing at the altar, he is said to have dropped down in a fit, and to have died three days afterwards. In 925 Athelstan gave one of his sisters in marriage to Sihtric, the Danish ruler of Northumbria, on whose death, in the following year, he invaded the Danish dominions, drove out Sihtric’s son, Guthfrith, and took possession of his territory. Guth-frith, after an unsuccessful attempt to stir up Constantine, king of Scotland, to whom he had fled, and after a fruitless invasion of England, made submission to Athelstan, and was kindly treated by him. During the next few years, the Welsh, both of Wales and of Cornwall, appear to haye been subdued, and to have done homage to the king of England, who levied tribute on them, and fixed the Wye and the Tamar as the boundaries of Wales and Cornwall respectively. He was thus virtually king of all England. In 933 or 934 he also invaded Scotland, ravaged all the south country, and compelled Constantine to pay a yearly tribute. ...