"Edward was only a few months old when his father, King Edmund Ironside, died in 1016 after a brief struggle for the English throne against Cnut the Great. To remove any potential rivals, Cnut ordered that Edward and his brother Edmund be sent abroad with instructions that they be killed. Instead, the children were spared. They were first taken to Sweden and then secretly sent to the court of Kyiv, where they found protection under the ruler Yaroslav the Wise."
"Decades later, King Edward the Confessor learned that his long-lost nephew was still alive. With no children of his own, the king invited Edward back to England in 1057 and apparently intended to make him his heir. However, Edward the Exile died suddenly only two days after arriving in England, under circumstances that remain unclear and have sometimes been suspected to involve foul play."
"After the death of Harold Godwinson at the Battle of Hastings in 1066, Edgar was proclaimed king in London, but he never managed to secure the throne and soon submitted to William the Conqueror."
Medieval England's history includes many men who nearly became king but fell short of the throne. Edward the Exile, son of King Edmund Ironside, was sent into exile as an infant to prevent him from challenging Cnut the Great. He spent decades in Sweden, Kyiv, and Hungary before being invited back by Edward the Confessor in 1057 as a potential heir. Edward died mysteriously two days after arriving in England. His son, Edgar the Ætheling, was proclaimed king after the Battle of Hastings in 1066 but never secured power and submitted to William the Conqueror. Robert Curthose, eldest son of William the Conqueror, also came close to inheriting his father's domains but faced family tensions and conflicts with his younger brothers.
Read at Medievalists.net
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