Alfred's son Edward the Elder united southern England under his rule by conquering the Viking occupied areas of Mercia and East Anglia.
His son, Æthelstan, extended the kingdom into the northern lands of Northumbria, which lies above the Mersey and Humber, but this was not fully consolidated until after his nephew Edgar succeeded to the throne.
Their rule was often contested, notably by the Danish king Sweyn Forkbeard who invaded in 995 and occupied the united English throne from 1013 to 1014, during the reign of Æthelred the Unready and his son Edmund Ironside.
Henry II was a descendant of the House of Wessex in the female line, something that contemporary English commentators noted with approval.
[2] For a family tree of the House of Wessex from Cerdic down to the children of King Alfred the Great, see: A continuation into the 10th and 11th centuries can be found at