Eadred Eadred ( also Edred , etc . ) was the king of England from 946 until his death in 955 , in succession to his elder brother Edmund I . Background and succession . Eadred was a son of Edward the Elder by his third marriage , to Eadgifu , daughter of Sigehelm , ealdorman of Kent . He succeeded his elder brother King Edmund I ( r . 939 - 946 ) , who was stabbed to death at Pucklechurch ( Gloucestershire ) , on St Augustine ' s Day , 26 May 946 . The same year , on 16 August , Eadred was consecrated by Archbishop Oda of Canterbury at Kingston upon Thames ( Surrey , now Greater London ) , where he appears to have received the submission of Welsh rulers and northern earls . Trouble in Northumbria . The " Anglo - Saxon Chronicle " for the year 946 records that Eadred " reduced all the land of Northumbria to his control ; and the Scots granted him oaths that they would do all that he wanted . " Nevertheless , Eadred soon faced a number of political challenges to the West - Saxon hegemony in the north . Unfortunately , there are some notorious difficulties with the chronology of the events described in the historical sources , but it is clear that there were two Scandinavian princes who set themselves up as kings of Northumbria . Óláf Sihtricson , otherwise known as Amlaíb Cuarán ( ' Sandal ' ) , had been king of Northumbria in the early 940s when he became Edmund ' s godson and client king , but he was later driven out . He then succeeded his cousin as King of Dublin , but after a heavy defeat in battle in 947 , he was once again forced to try his luck elsewhere . Shortly thereafter , Olaf was back in business , having regained the kingdom of York . What Eadred thought of the matter or how much sympathy he bore for his brother ' s godson can only be guessed at , but it seems that he at least tolerated Olaf ' s presence . In any event , Olaf was ousted from the kingship a second time by the Northumbrians , this time in favour of Eric son of Harald , according to MS E of the " Chronicle " . The other player in the game was Eric ' Bloodaxe ' , previously king of Norway ( r . 930 - 4 ) . After a number of successful operations elsewhere , he came to Northumbria and appears at some point to have set himself up as king . King Eadred responded harshly to the northern defectors by launching a destructive raid on Northumbria , which notably included burning the Ripon minster founded by St . Wilfrid . Although his forces sustained heavy losses in the Battle of Castleford ( as he returned home ) , Eadred managed to check his rival by promising the latter ' s supporters even greater havoc if they did not desert the foreign prince . The Northumbrians appeased the English king and paid compensation . The " Historia Regum " suggests that the threat of an independent Northumbrian king had come to an end in 952 , when earls finally took over the helm . Government . Many of the leading magnates at Edmund ' s court continued to be prominent at the court of his brother . Health conditions and death . Towards the end of his life , Eadred suffered from a digestive malady which would prove fatal . ' Author B ' , the biographer and former apprentice of St Dunstan , described with vivid memory how the king sucked out the juices of his food , chewed on what was left and spat it out . Eadred died on 23 November ( St . Clement ' s Day ) , 955 , at Frome ( Somerset ) , and was buried in the Old Minster at Winchester . He died a bachelor , and was succeeded by Edmund ' s son Eadwig .