During Edmund’s reign, Eadgifu emerged as a significant landowner and benefactor of the Church. Numerous charters from the period show her receiving and donating land. She was particularly associated with religious houses such as Christ Church Canterbury and Glastonbury Abbey.
When Edmund was murdered in 946, Eadgifu’s younger son Eadred took the throne. Eadgifu retained her prominent position and continued to act as an advisor and supporter of monastic reform. Eadred’s reign saw growing influence from reform-minded clergy like Dunstan, whom Eadgifu also supported.
Later Years and Political Fall
After Eadred’s death in 955, the throne passed to her grandson Eadwig, the teenage son of Edmund I. However, Eadgifu’s influence began to wane. Eadwig is remembered in monastic chronicles as a contentious king, known for alienating supporters of monastic reform and antagonizing older members of the court—Eadgifu among them.
In a dramatic shift of fortune, King Eadwig stripped Eadgifu of her lands and exiled her from court. The reasons are not fully documented, but chroniclers hint at factional strife. Eadgifu, once the matriarch of the royal dynasty, fell into political obscurity for several years.
However, this was not the end of her story. When Eadwig died in 959 and was succeeded by his brother Edgar the Peaceful, Eadgifu returned to court. Edgar reversed many of his brother’s policies and reinstated Eadgifu’s lands, reaffirming her place in the royal household. shutdown123