 In 955 , Eadred died , and the situation was at once changed . Eadwig , the elder son of Edmund , who then came to the throne , was a headstrong youth wholly devoted to the reactionary nobles . According to one legend , the feud with Dunstan began on the day of Eadwig 's coronation , when he failed to attend a meeting of nobles . When Dunstan eventually found the young monarch , he was cavorting with a noblewoman named Ælfgifu and her mother , and refused to return with the bishop . Infuriated by this , Dunstan dragged Eadwig back and forced him to renounce the girl as a " strumpet " . Later realising that he had provoked the king , Dunstan fled to the apparent sanctuary of his cloister , but Eadwig , incited by Ælfgifu , whom he married , followed him and plundered the monastery . 
