Edmund I's elder son, Edwy, was crowned by Oda, Archbishop of Canterbury, in 956 at Kingston-on-Thames (sited on the Wessex/Mercia border, and on the frontier between Alfred's kingdom and the Danelaw, this was where most recorded West Saxon consecrations took place).

Aged 13 on his succession, Edwy became entangled in court factions, and Mercia and Northumbria broke away in rebellion. He died before he was 20.