Athelstan and the making of England

In 925, Edward’s son, Athelstan, was consecrated King of Mercia and Wessex with a crown: a new ceremony of coronation. In 927, Athelstan captured the last Viking stronghold, York and began to mint coins bearing the title ‘rex Anglorum’. The north had not had a southern king; Athelstan assembled the rulers of Scotland and Northumbria to submit to him. The Welsh kings already recognised the overlordship of the King of Wessex. Athelstan was now the overlord of all of Britain and some historians have called him the first ‘King of England’.