1.
England
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England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west, the Irish Sea lies northwest of England and the Celtic Sea lies to the southwest. England is separated from continental Europe by the North Sea to the east, the country covers five-eighths of the island of Great Britain in its centre and south, and includes over 100 smaller islands such as the Isles of Scilly, and the Isle of Wight. England became a state in the 10th century, and since the Age of Discovery. The Industrial Revolution began in 18th-century England, transforming its society into the worlds first industrialised nation, Englands terrain mostly comprises low hills and plains, especially in central and southern England. However, there are uplands in the north and in the southwest, the capital is London, which is the largest metropolitan area in both the United Kingdom and the European Union. In 1801, Great Britain was united with the Kingdom of Ireland through another Act of Union to become the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. In 1922 the Irish Free State seceded from the United Kingdom, leading to the latter being renamed the United Kingdom of Great Britain, the name England is derived from the Old English name Englaland, which means land of the Angles. The Angles were one of the Germanic tribes that settled in Great Britain during the Early Middle Ages, the Angles came from the Angeln peninsula in the Bay of Kiel area of the Baltic Sea. The earliest recorded use of the term, as Engla londe, is in the ninth century translation into Old English of Bedes Ecclesiastical History of the English People. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, its spelling was first used in 1538. The earliest attested reference to the Angles occurs in the 1st-century work by Tacitus, Germania, the etymology of the tribal name itself is disputed by scholars, it has been suggested that it derives from the shape of the Angeln peninsula, an angular shape. An alternative name for England is Albion, the name Albion originally referred to the entire island of Great Britain. The nominally earliest record of the name appears in the Aristotelian Corpus, specifically the 4th century BC De Mundo, in it are two very large islands called Britannia, these are Albion and Ierne. But modern scholarly consensus ascribes De Mundo not to Aristotle but to Pseudo-Aristotle, the word Albion or insula Albionum has two possible origins. Albion is now applied to England in a poetic capacity. Another romantic name for England is Loegria, related to the Welsh word for England, Lloegr, the earliest known evidence of human presence in the area now known as England was that of Homo antecessor, dating to approximately 780,000 years ago. The oldest proto-human bones discovered in England date from 500,000 years ago, Modern humans are known to have inhabited the area during the Upper Paleolithic period, though permanent settlements were only established within the last 6,000 years
2.
Edward the Confessor
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Edward the Confessor, also known as Saint Edward the Confessor, was among the last Anglo-Saxon kings of England, and usually considered the last king of the House of Wessex, ruling from 1042 to 1066. When Edward died in 1066, he was succeeded by Harold Godwinson, Edgar the Ætheling, who was of the House of Wessex, was proclaimed king after the Battle of Hastings in 1066, but never ruled and was deposed after about eight weeks. As discussed below, historians disagree about Edwards fairly long reign and his nickname reflects the traditional image of him as unworldly and pious. Confessor reflects his reputation as a saint who did not suffer martyrdom, some portray this kings reign as leading to the disintegration of royal power in England and the advance in power of the House of Godwin, because of the infighting after his heirless death. About a century later, in 1161, Pope Alexander III canonised the late king, Saint Edward was one of Englands national saints until King Edward III adopted Saint George as the national patron saint c. His feast day is 13 October, celebrated by both the Church of England and the Catholic Church in England and Wales, Edward was the seventh son of Æthelred the Unready, and the first by his second wife, Emma of Normandy. Edward was born between 1003 and 1005 in Islip, Oxfordshire, and is first recorded as a witness to two charters in 1005 and he had one full brother, Alfred, and a sister, Godgifu. In charters he was always listed behind his older half-brothers, showing that he ranked behind them, during his childhood England was the target of Viking raids and invasions under Sweyn Forkbeard and his son, Cnut. Following Sweyns seizure of the throne in 1013, Emma fled to Normandy, followed by Edward and Alfred, Sweyn died in February 1014, and leading Englishmen invited Æthelred back on condition that he promised to rule more justly than before. Æthelred agreed, sending Edward back with his ambassadors, Æthelred died in April 1016, and he was succeeded by Edwards older half-brother Edmund Ironside, who carried on the fight against Sweyns son, Cnut. According to Scandinavian tradition, Edward fought alongside Edmund, as Edward was at most thirteen years old at the time, Edmund died in November 1016, and Cnut became undisputed king. Edward then again went into exile with his brother and sister, in the same year Cnut had Edwards last surviving elder half-brother, Eadwig, executed, leaving Edward as the leading Anglo-Saxon claimant to the throne. Edward spent a quarter of a century in exile, probably mainly in Normandy and he probably received support from his sister Godgifu, who married Drogo of Mantes, count of Vexin in about 1024. In the early 1030s Edward witnessed four charters in Normandy, signing two of them as king of England, Edward was said to have developed an intense personal piety during this period, but modern historians regard this as a product of the later medieval campaign for his canonisation. In Frank Barlows view in his lifestyle would seem to have been that of a member of the rustic nobility. He appeared to have a slim prospect of acceding to the English throne during this period, Cnut died in 1035, and Harthacnut succeeded him as king of Denmark. It is unclear whether he was intended to have England as well and it was therefore decided that his elder half-brother Harold Harefoot should act as regent, while Emma held Wessex on Harthacnuts behalf. In 1036 Edward and his brother Alfred separately came to England, Alfred was captured by Godwin, Earl of Wessex who turned him over to Harold Harefoot
3.
Bishop of Exeter
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The Bishop of Exeter is the Ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Exeter in the Province of Canterbury. The current incumbent, since 30 April 2014, is Robert Atwell, the incumbent signs his name as his Christian name or forename followed by Exon. abbreviated from the Latin Episcopus Exoniensis. From the first bishop until the sixteenth century the Bishops of Exeter were in communion with the Roman Catholic Church. However, during the Reformation the church in England broke away from the authority of the Pope, since the Reformation, the Bishop and Diocese of Exeter has been part of the Church of England and of the Anglican Communion. The history of Christianity in the South West of England remains to some degree obscure, at a certain point the historical county of Devon formed part of the diocese of Wessex. Lyfing became Bishop of Crediton in 1027 and shortly afterwards became Bishop of Cornwall, werstans successor appears to have been Putta, who was murdered whilst travelling from his see at Tawton to visit the Saxon viceroy Uffa, whose residence was at Crediton. The Diocese of Crediton was created out of the Diocese of Sherborne in 909 to cover the area of Devon, Crediton was chosen as the site for its cathedral possibly due it having been the birthplace of Saint Boniface and the existence of a monastery there. In 1046, Leofric became the Bishop of Crediton, following his appointment he decided that the see should be moved to the larger and more culturally significant and defensible walled town of Exeter. In 1050, King Edward the Confessor authorised that Exeter was to be the seat of the bishop for Devon and Cornwall, thus, Leofric became the last diocesan Bishop of Crediton and the first Bishop of Exeter. At first the Abbey Church of St Mary and St Peter, founded by Athelstan in 932, rebuilt in 1019, etc. finally demolished 1971, the cathedral is dedicated to St Peter. As it now stands, the cathedral is in the decorated style and it was begun by Peter Quinel, continued by Bytton and Stapeldon, and completed, much as it has since remained, by John Grandisson during his long tenure of 42 years. In many respects Exeter cathedral resembles those of France rather than found in England. Its special features are the towers and the choir, containing much early stained glass. There is also a throne, separated from the nave by a choir screen. In a comparison with certain other English cathedrals, it is perhaps disadvantaged by the absence of a tower and a general lack of elevation. The bishops of Exeter, like the population of the diocese, always enjoyed considerable independence. The result was a long and stable line of bishops, leading to active Christian observance in the area, the diocese contained 604 parishes grouped in four archdeaconries, Cornwall, Barnstaple, Exeter, and Totnes. There were Benedictine, Augustinian, Premonstratensian, Franciscan and Dominican religious houses, Vesey, despite his Catholic sympathies, held the see until 1551, when he finally had to resign, and was replaced by the Bible translator Miles Coverdale
4.
Episcopal see
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An episcopal see is, in the usual meaning of the phrase, the area of a bishops ecclesiastical jurisdiction. Phrases concerning actions occurring within or outside an episcopal see are indicative of the significance of the term. The word see is derived from Latin sedes, which in its original or proper sense denotes the seat or chair that, the word throne is also used, especially in the Eastern Orthodox Church, both for the seat and for the area of ecclesiastical jurisdiction. The term see is also used of the town where the cathedral or the residence is located. Within Roman Catholicism, each diocese is considered to be a See unto itself with an allegiance to the See of Rome. The idea of a See as an entity is somewhat complicated due to the existence of the 23 Particular churches of the Roman Catholic Church. The Western Church and its Eastern Counterparts all reserve some level of autonomy within their particular See, the episcopal see of the Pope, the Bishop of Rome, is known as the Holy See or the Apostolic See, claiming Papal supremacy. The view of the Catholic Church contrasted by the Eastern Catholic idea of Pentarchy, followed by Eastern Orthodox opposition to papal supremacy
5.
Crediton
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Crediton is a town and civil parish in the Mid Devon district of Devon in England. It stands on the A377 Exeter to Barnstaple road at the junction with the A3072 road to Tiverton and it has a population of 6,837, increasing to 7,835 at the 2011 Census. The combined population of these wards at the 2011 Census was 7,600, the town is situated in the narrow vale of the River Creedy, between two steep hills and is divided into two parts, the east or old town and the west or new town. The first indication of settlement at Crediton is the knowledge that Winfrith or Saint Boniface was born here in c and he propagated Christianity in the Frankish Empire during the 8th century and is the patron saint of both Germany and the Netherlands. In 909 a see was established here with Edwulf as the first bishop, nine more bishops ruled here until 1050, when Leofric obtained papal permission from Pope Leo IX to transfer the seat to Exeter, a more culturally aware, larger and walled town. Since 1897 Crediton has been the seat of a bishopric in the Diocese of Exeter, from 2004 until 2012 this was Robert Evens. Two years later there was a riot against the increase of copyhold. The jury of the borough are mentioned in 1275, and Crediton returned two members to parliament during the reign of Edward I, in 1306-07, though it was never afterwards represented again. A borough seal dated 1469 is extant, but the corporation is not mentioned in the grant made by Edward VI of the church to twelve principal inhabitants. The wool trade was established by 1249, and the manufacture and trading of cloth, especially serge. In 1630 the market for kerseys was mentioned in conjunction with a saying as fine as Kirton spinning, the woollen textile trade declined after the mid 18th century. During the English Civil War the Earl of Essex passed through the town on 20 July 1644 on his way towards Cornwall, and evidently left the town and surrounding countryside in some disarray. He was closely followed by Charles I who arrived in the town on 27 July to review the army gathered there by his nephew, Prince Maurice, the following Sunday, the King spent the night at Crediton and then began his expedition of Essex-catching. On Sunday 14 August 1743, a fire started, completely destroying High Street. At that period of time it was the second largest fire in the country, sixteen people lost their lives, with over 2,000 made homeless and 450 houses destroyed. Other large fires occurred in 1766,1769 and 1772, the town is twinned with Avranches, France. In the early 20th century shoe-making, tanning, agricultural trade, tin-plating, every day, a train of three or more Milk Tank Wagons would be filled from lorries, and then taken to London by either the Great Western Railway or the Southern Railway. Express Dairies sold the creamery and a unit in Kirkcudbright, Scotland in July 2002 to Milk Link
6.
Cornwall
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Cornwall is a ceremonial county and unitary authority area of England within the United Kingdom. It is bordered to the north and west by the Celtic Sea, to the south by the English Channel, Cornwall has a population of 551,700 and covers an area of 3,563 km2. Cornwall forms the westernmost part of the south-west peninsula of the island of Great Britain, and this area was first inhabited in the Palaeolithic and Mesolithic periods. It continued to be occupied by Neolithic and then Bronze Age peoples, there is little evidence that Roman rule was effective west of Exeter and few Roman remains have been found. In the mid-19th century, however, the tin and copper mines entered a period of decline, subsequently, china clay extraction became more important and metal mining had virtually ended by the 1990s. Traditionally, fishing and agriculture were the important sectors of the economy. Railways led to a growth of tourism in the 20th century, however, the area is noted for its wild moorland landscapes, its long and varied coastline, its attractive villages, its many place-names derived from the Cornish language, and its very mild climate. Extensive stretches of Cornwalls coastline, and Bodmin Moor, are protected as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, Cornwall is the homeland of the Cornish people and is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, retaining a distinct cultural identity that reflects its history. Some people question the present constitutional status of Cornwall, and a nationalist movement seeks greater autonomy within the United Kingdom in the form of a devolved legislative Cornish Assembly. On 24 April 2014 it was announced that Cornish people will be granted minority status under the European Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities. The modern English name Cornwall derives from the concatenation of two ancient demonyms from different linguistic traditions, Corn- records the native Brythonic tribe, the Cornovii. The Celtic word kernou is cognate with the English word horn. -wall derives from the Old English exonym walh, the Ravenna Cosmography first mentions a city named Purocoronavis in the locality. This is thought to be a rendering of Duro-cornov-ium, meaning fort of the Cornovii. The exact location of Durocornovium is disputed, with Tintagel and Carn Brea suggested as possible sites, in later times, Cornwall was known to the Anglo-Saxons as West Wales to distinguish it from North Wales. The name appears in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle in 891 as On Corn walum, in the Domesday Book it was referred to as Cornualia and in c.1198 as Cornwal. Other names for the county include a latinisation of the name as Cornubia, the present human history of Cornwall begins with the reoccupation of Britain after the last Ice Age. The area now known as Cornwall was first inhabited in the Palaeolithic and Mesolithic periods and it continued to be occupied by Neolithic and then Bronze Age people. The Common Brittonic spoken at the time developed into several distinct tongues
7.
Taxation in medieval England
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Taxation in medieval England was the system of raising money for royal and governmental expenses. During the Anglo-Saxon period, the forms of taxation were land taxes. The most important tax of the late Anglo-Saxon period was the geld, after the Norman Conquest of England in 1066, the geld continued to be collected until 1162, but it was eventually replaced with taxes on personal property and income. Britannia, the southern and central part of the island of Great Britain, was a province of the Roman Empire until the Roman departure from Britain in around 400 AD. No other forms of taxes are mentioned in Æthelberhts law code, other mentions of taxes are contained in the law code of King Ine of Wessex. A document from the 7th or 8th century, the Tribal Hidage, charters from the time of King Offa of Mercia show that tolls were collected on trade, and it was during Offas reign that coinage in silver pennies was first introduced into Anglo-Saxon England. Coinage became a right, and was probably introduced to make payment of taxes easier. In early Anglo-Saxon England the hide was used as the basis for assessing the amount of rent due from an area. Initially the size of the hide varied according to value and resources of the land itself, over time the hide became the unit on what all public obligation was assessed. Tenants had an obligation, based on their landholding, they had to provide manpower for the so-called common burdens of military service, fortress work. With increasing problems from raiding Vikings, the Anglo-Saxon leaders raised taxes, the tax was known as Danegeld and was used to pay the raiders off rather than fight. In the 9th century Alfred the Great confronted the Viking problem, after his victory over them at the Battle of Edington he set about building a system of fortified towns or forts, known as burhs. He also updated the traditional fyrd to provide a standing army, to fund all of these changes Alfred required a new system of tax and conscription that is contained in a document, now known as the Burghal Hidage. The Burghal Hidage contains a list of over thirty fortified places, after Alfreds death his son Edgar developed the tax system further by periodically recalling and reminting all the coinage, with the moneyers being forced to pay for new dies. All profits from these actions went to the king, and were a royal right, however, despite all these changes £132,000 is recorded by the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle as leaving the English exchequer between the years 991-1012 as payment to the Scandinavian attackers. The year 1012 saw the introduction of the geld or heregeld, the reinforced military was needed, in the face of an invasion of England, by King Sweyn Forkbeard of Denmark. Later, after the conquest of England by Sweyns son Cnut the Great and this tax used similar machinery for collection as Danegeld and was again based on the amount of hides a tenant had. The amount due from each hide was variable, in 1051 Edward the Confessor abolished heregeld and saved money by selling off his navy, giving the responsibility of naval defence to the Cinque ports in return for various privileges
8.
Normans
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The Normans were the people who, in the 10th and 11th centuries, gave their name to Normandy, a region in France. They were descended from Norse raiders and pirates from Denmark, Iceland and Norway who, under their leader Rollo, through generations of assimilation and mixing with the native Frankish and Gallo-Roman populations, their descendants gradually adopted the Carolingian-based cultures of West Francia. The distinct cultural and ethnic identity of the Normans emerged initially in the first half of the 10th century, the Norman dynasty had a major political, cultural and military impact on medieval Europe and even the Near East. The Normans were famed for their spirit and eventually for their Christian piety. They adopted the Gallo-Romance language of the Frankish land they settled, their becoming known as Norman, Normaund or Norman French. The Normans are noted both for their culture, such as their unique Romanesque architecture and musical traditions, and for their significant military accomplishments and their chief men were specially lavish through their desire of good report. They were, moreover, a race skillful in flattery, given to the study of eloquence, so that the boys were orators. They were enduring of toil, hunger, and cold whenever fortune laid it on them, given to hunting and hawking, delighting in the pleasure of horses, and of all the weapons and garb of war. The treaty offered Rollo and his men the French lands between the river Epte and the Atlantic coast in exchange for their protection against further Viking incursions. The area corresponded to the part of present-day Upper Normandy down to the river Seine. The territory was equivalent to the old province of Rouen. Before Rollos arrival, its populations did not differ from Picardy or the Île-de-France, the Norman language was forged by the adoption of the indigenous langue doïl branch of Romance by a Norse-speaking ruling class, and it developed into the regional language that survives today. The Normans thereafter adopted the growing feudal doctrines of the rest of France, the new Norman rulers were culturally and ethnically distinct from the old French aristocracy, most of whom traced their lineage to Franks of the Carolingian dynasty. Most Norman knights remained poor and land-hungry, and by 1066 Normandy had been exporting fighting horsemen for more than a generation, many Normans of Italy, France and England eventually served as avid Crusaders under the Italo-Norman prince Bohemund I and the Anglo-Norman king Richard the Lion-Heart. Opportunistic bands of Normans successfully established a foothold in Southern Italy, probably as the result of returning pilgrims stories, the Normans entered Southern Italy as warriors in 1017 at the latest. In 999, according to Amatus of Montecassino, Norman pilgrims returning from Jerusalem called in at the port of Salerno when a Saracen attack occurred. The Normans fought so valiantly that Prince Guaimar III begged them to stay, the Hauteville family achieved princely rank by proclaiming prince Guaimar IV of Salerno Duke of Apulia and Calabria. He promptly awarded their elected leader, William Iron Arm, with the title of count in his capital of Melfi
9.
Archbishop of Canterbury
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The current archbishop is Justin Welby. His enthronement took place at Canterbury Cathedral on 21 March 2013, Welby is the 105th in a line which goes back more than 1400 years to Augustine of Canterbury, the Apostle to the English, sent from Rome in the year 597. From the time of Augustine in the 6th until the 16th century, during the English Reformation the Church of England broke away from the authority of the Pope and the Roman Catholic Church. In the Middle Ages there was variation in the methods of nomination of the Archbishop of Canterbury. At various times the choice was made by the canons of Canterbury Cathedral, today the archbishop fills four main roles, He is the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury, which covers the eastern parts of the County of Kent. Founded in 597, it is the oldest see in the English church and he is the metropolitan archbishop of the Province of Canterbury, which covers the southern two-thirds of England. He is the primate and chief religious figure of the Church of England. The Archbishop of Canterbury plays a part in national ceremonies such as coronations, due to his high public profile. As spiritual leader of the Anglican Communion, the archbishop, although without legal authority outside England, is recognised by convention as primus inter pares of all Anglican primates worldwide, since 1867 he has convened more or less decennial meetings of worldwide Anglican bishops, the Lambeth Conferences. In the last two of these functions he has an important ecumenical and interfaith role, speaking on behalf of Anglicans in England, the archbishops main residence is Lambeth Palace in the London Borough of Lambeth. He also has lodgings in the Old Palace, Canterbury, located beside Canterbury Cathedral, as holder of one of the five great sees, the Archbishop of Canterbury is ex officio one of the Lords Spiritual of the House of Lords. He is one of the men in England and the highest ranking non-royal in the United Kingdoms order of precedence. Since Henry VIII broke with Rome, the Archbishops of Canterbury have been selected by the English monarch, today the choice is made in the name of the monarch by the prime minister, from a shortlist of two selected by an ad-hoc committee called the Crown Nominations Commission. Since the 20th century, the appointment of Archbishops of Canterbury conventionally alternates between more moderate Anglo-Catholics and Evangelicals, the current archbishop, Justin Welby, the 105th Archbishop of Canterbury, was enthroned at Canterbury Cathedral on 4 February 2013. As archbishop he signs himself as + Justin Cantuar and his predecessor, Rowan Williams, 104th Archbishop of Canterbury, was enthroned at Canterbury Cathedral on 27 February 2003. Immediately prior to his appointment to Canterbury, Williams was the Bishop of Monmouth, on 18 March 2012, Williams announced he would be stepping down as Archbishop of Canterbury at the end of 2012 to become Master of Magdalene College, Cambridge. In addition to his office, the archbishop also holds a number of positions, for example, he is Joint President of the Council of Christians. Some positions he formally holds ex officio and others virtually so, geoffrey Fisher, 99th Archbishop of Canterbury, was the first since 1397 to visit Rome, where he held private talks with Pope John XXIII in 1960
10.
Bishop of London
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The Bishop of London is the ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of London in the Province of Canterbury. The diocese covers 458 km² of 17 boroughs of Greater London north of the River Thames and a small part of the County of Surrey. The see is in the City of London where the seat is located at the Cathedral Church of Saint Paul which was founded as a cathedral in 604 and was rebuilt from 1675 following the Great Fire of London. The bishops residence is The Old Deanery, Deans Court, London, previously, for over 1000 years, Fulham Palace was the residence although, from the 18th century, London House next to the Bishops Chapel in Aldersgate Street was where he had his chambers. The current and 132nd Bishop of London is Richard Chartres, who was installed on 26 January 1996 and it has been announced that Chartres is to retire effective Shrove Tuesday,28 February 2017. The diocesan bishop of London has had direct episcopal oversight in the Two Cities area since the institution of the London area scheme in 1979, however, according to later sources, there had been 16 Romano-British bishops of London. The location of Londiniums original cathedral is uncertain, in 1995, however, a large and ornate 4th-century church was discovered on Tower Hill, which seems to have mimicked St Ambroses cathedral in the imperial capital at Milan on a still-larger scale. This possible cathedral was built between 350 and 400 out of stone taken from buildings, including its veneer of black marble. It was burnt down in the early 5th century, following the establishment of the archdiocese of Canterbury by the Gregorian mission, its leader St Augustine consecrated Mellitus as the first bishop to the Saxon kingdom of Essex. Bede records that Augustines patron, King Æthelberht of Kent, built a cathedral for his nephew King Sæberht of Essex as part of this mission and this cathedral was constructed in London and dedicated to St Paul. The diocese was reduced in 1846, when the counties of Essex. The dates and names of early bishops are very uncertain. Diocese of London website Bishop of London refuses to ban gay Bishop from church service The papers of the Bishops of London covering 1423–1945 are held at Lambeth Palace Library
11.
Flanders
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Flanders is the Dutch-speaking northern portion of Belgium, although there are several overlapping definitions, including ones related to culture, language, politics and history. It is one of the communities, regions and language areas of Belgium, the demonym associated with Flanders is Fleming, while the corresponding adjective is Flemish. The official capital of Flanders is Brussels, although Brussels itself has an independent regional government, in historical contexts, Flanders originally refers to the County of Flanders, which around AD1000 stretched from the Strait of Dover to the Scheldt estuary. In accordance with late 20th century Belgian state reforms the area was made two political entities, the Flemish Community and the Flemish Region. These entities were merged, although geographically the Flemish Community, which has a cultural mandate, covers Brussels. Flanders has figured prominently in European history, as a consequence, a very sophisticated culture developed, with impressive achievements in the arts and architecture, rivaling those of northern Italy. Belgium was one of the centres of the 19th century industrial revolution, geographically, Flanders is generally flat, and has a small section of coast on the North Sea. Much of Flanders is agriculturally fertile and densely populated, with a density of almost 500 people per square kilometer. It touches France to the west near the coast, and borders the Netherlands to the north and east, the Brussels Capital Region is an enclave within the Flemish Region. Flanders has exclaves of its own, Voeren in the east is between Wallonia and the Netherlands and Baarle-Hertog in the consists of 22 exclaves surrounded by the Netherlands. It comprises 6.5 million Belgians who consider Dutch to be their mother tongue, the political subdivisions of Belgium, the Flemish Region and the Flemish Community. The first does not comprise Brussels, whereas the latter does comprise the Dutch-speaking inhabitants of Brussels, the political institutions that govern both subdivisions, the operative body Flemish Government and the legislative organ Flemish Parliament. The two westernmost provinces of the Flemish Region, West Flanders and East Flanders, forming the central portion of the historic County of Flanders, a feudal territory that existed from the 8th century until its absorption by the French First Republic. Until the 1600s, this county also extended over parts of France, one of the regions conquered by the French in Flanders, namely French Flanders in the Nord department. French Flanders can be divided into two regions, Walloon Flanders and Maritime Flanders. The first region was predominantly French-speaking already in the 1600s, the latter became so in the 20th century, the city of Lille identifies itself as Flemish, and this is reflected, for instance, in the name of its local railway station TGV Lille Flandres. The region conquered by the Dutch Republic in Flanders, now part of the Dutch province of Zeeland, the significance of the County of Flanders and its counts eroded through time, but the designation remained in a very broad sense. In the Early modern period, the term Flanders was associated with the part of the Low Countries
12.
Gruffydd ap Llywelyn
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Gruffydd ap Llywelyn was the King of Wales from 1055 to 1063. He was the son of King Llywelyn ap Seisyll, although the true lineage of his grandfather Seisyll is obscure, he claimed to be the great-great-grandson of Hywel Dda. Gruffydd was the son of Llywelyn ap Seisyll, who had been able to rule both Gwynedd and Powys, on Llywelyns death in 1023, a member of the Aberffraw dynasty, Iago ab Idwal ap Meurig, became ruler of Gwynedd and began his rise to power in Powys. In 1039, King Iago of Gwynedd was killed and his son Cynan, Gruffydd, who had already recovered Powys, expanded into the vacuum. Soon after gaining power, he surprised a Mercian army at Rhyd y Groes near Welshpool and totally defeated it, killing Edwin, brother of the Leofric and he then attacked Dyfed, which his father had ruled but was now under Hywel ab Edwin. Gruffydd defeated Hywel in the Battle of Pencader and carried off Hywels wife. Gruffydd seems to have been able to drive Hywel out of the south, Gruffydd, however, defeated and killed him in a closely fought engagement. He was able to resist several attacks by Gruffydd ap Llywelyn in the following years, Gruffydd ap Llywelyn was active on the Welsh border in 1052, when he attacked Herefordshire and defeated a mixed force of Normans and English in the Battle of Leominster. In 1055 Gruffydd ap Llywelyn killed his rival Gruffydd ap Rhydderch in battle, Gruffydd allied himself with Ælfgar, son of Leofric, Earl of Mercia, who had been deprived of his earldom of East Anglia by Harold Godwinson and his brothers. They marched on Hereford and were opposed by a led by the Earl of Hereford. This force was mounted and armed in the Norman fashion, and he then sacked the city and destroyed its motte-and-bailey castle. Earl Harold was given the task of counter-attacking, and seems to have built a fortification at Longtown in Herefordshire before refortifying Hereford, shortly afterwards Ælfgar was restored to his earldom and a peace treaty concluded. Around this time Gruffydd was also able to seize Morgannwg and Gwent, in 1056, he won another victory over an English army near Glasbury. Now recognized as King of Wales, he claimed sovereignty over the whole of the country – a claim which was recognised by the English, historian John Davies stated that Gruffydd was the only Welsh king ever to rule over the entire territory of Wales. Thus, from about 1057 until his death in 1063, the whole of Wales recognised the kingship of Gruffudd ap Llywelyn, for about seven brief years, Wales was one, under one ruler, a feat with neither precedent nor successor. Gruffydd reached an agreement with Edward the Confessor, but the death of his ally Ælfgar in 1062 left him more vulnerable, in late 1062 Harold Godwinson obtained the kings approval for a surprise attack on Gruffydds court at Rhuddlan. Gruffydd was nearly captured, but was warned in time to escape out to sea in one of his ships, though his other ships were destroyed. In the spring of 1063 Harolds brother Tostig led an army into north Wales while Harold led the fleet first to south Wales, Gruffydd was forced to take refuge in Snowdonia where he met his death
13.
Wales
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Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, and it had a population in 2011 of 3,063,456 and has a total area of 20,779 km2. Wales has over 1,680 miles of coastline and is mountainous, with its higher peaks in the north and central areas, including Snowdon. The country lies within the temperate zone and has a changeable. Welsh national identity emerged among the Celtic Britons after the Roman withdrawal from Britain in the 5th century, Llywelyn ap Gruffudds death in 1282 marked the completion of Edward I of Englands conquest of Wales, though Owain Glyndŵr briefly restored independence to Wales in the early 15th century. The whole of Wales was annexed by England and incorporated within the English legal system under the Laws in Wales Acts 1535–1542, distinctive Welsh politics developed in the 19th century. Welsh Liberalism, exemplified in the early 20th century by Lloyd George, was displaced by the growth of socialism, Welsh national feeling grew over the century, Plaid Cymru was formed in 1925 and the Welsh Language Society in 1962. Established under the Government of Wales Act 1998, the National Assembly for Wales holds responsibility for a range of devolved policy matters, two-thirds of the population live in south Wales, mainly in and around Cardiff, Swansea and Newport, and in the nearby valleys. Now that the countrys traditional extractive and heavy industries have gone or are in decline, Wales economy depends on the sector, light and service industries. Wales 2010 gross value added was £45.5 billion, over 560,000 Welsh language speakers live in Wales, and the language is spoken by a majority of the population in parts of the north and west. From the late 19th century onwards, Wales acquired its popular image as the land of song, Rugby union is seen as a symbol of Welsh identity and an expression of national consciousness. The Old English-speaking Anglo-Saxons came to use the term Wælisc when referring to the Celtic Britons in particular, the modern names for some Continental European lands and peoples have a similar etymology. The modern Welsh name for themselves is Cymry, and Cymru is the Welsh name for Wales and these words are descended from the Brythonic word combrogi, meaning fellow-countrymen. The use of the word Cymry as a self-designation derives from the location in the post-Roman Era of the Welsh people in modern Wales as well as in northern England and southern Scotland. It emphasised that the Welsh in modern Wales and in the Hen Ogledd were one people, in particular, the term was not applied to the Cornish or the Breton peoples, who are of similar heritage, culture, and language to the Welsh. The word came into use as a self-description probably before the 7th century and it is attested in a praise poem to Cadwallon ap Cadfan c. 633. Thereafter Cymry prevailed as a reference to the Welsh, until c.1560 the word was spelt Kymry or Cymry, regardless of whether it referred to the people or their homeland. The Latinised forms of names, Cambrian, Cambric and Cambria, survive as lesser-used alternative names for Wales, Welsh
14.
Herefordshire
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Herefordshire is a historic English county in the West Midlands. It is a county and a unitary non-metropolitan county and district, also named in legislation as the County of Herefordshire. The Welsh unitary county covering the part of Gwent next to Herefordshire is Monmouthshire, Hereford is a cathedral city and is the county town, with a population of approximately 55,800 inhabitants it is also the largest settlement. The county is one of the most rural and sparsely populated in England, the land use is predominantly agricultural and the county is well known for its fruit and cider production, and the Hereford cattle breed. From 1974 to 1998, Herefordshire was part of the former county of Hereford. Herefordshire was reconstituted both as a new district and as a new county by Statutory Instrument as defined in The Hereford and this Order established Herefordshire as a unitary authority on 1 April 1998, combining county and district functions into a single council. Herefordshire is also called a unitary district, but this is not official nomenclature. Herefordshire is officially known as an authority for local government purposes. The Lieutenancies Act 1997 made Herefordshire a ceremonial county, covering the area of the unitary district. For Eurostat purposes it is a NUTS3 region and is one of three counties that comprise the Herefordshire, Worcestershire and Warwickshire NUTS2 region. The River Wye, which at 135 miles is the fifth-longest in the United Kingdom and it flows through both Hereford and Ross-on-Wye before returning to Wales. Leominster is situated on the River Lugg, a tributary of the Wye, there are two Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty in the county. The Wye Valley is located in the valleys south of Hereford, while the Malvern Hills are in the east of the county. Herefordshire is one of the 39 historic counties of England, in 1974 it was merged with neighbouring Worcestershire to form the Hereford and Worcester administrative county. Within this, Herefordshire was covered by the government districts of South Herefordshire, Hereford. However, the county was dissolved in 1998, resulting in the return of Herefordshire and Worcestershire as counties, the current ceremonial county and unitary district have broadly the same borders as the pre-1974 historic county. However this has been from a base, with only Northumberland. The population is White 98. 2%, Asian 0. 8%, Mixed 0. 7%, Black 0. 2%, gypsies and Travellers have historically been Herefordshires largest minority ethnic group
15.
Exile
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To be in exile means to be away from ones home, while either being explicitly refused permission to return or being threatened with imprisonment or death upon return. It can be a form of punishment and solitude and it is common to distinguish between internal exile, i. e. forced resettlement within the country of residence, and external exile, which is deportation outside the country of residence. Although most commonly used to describe a situation, the term is also used for groups. Exile can also be a departure from ones homeland. Article 9 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that No one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest, detention or exile. In some cases the head of state is allowed to go into exile following a coup or other change of government. A wealthy citizen who departs from an abode for a lower tax jurisdiction in order to reduce his/her tax burden is termed a tax exile. Creative people such as authors and musicians who achieve sudden wealth sometimes find themselves among this group, in 2012, Eduardo Saverin, one of the founders of Facebook, made headlines by renouncing his U. S. citizenship before his companys IPO. In some cases a person lives in exile to avoid legal issues. For example, nuns were exiled following the Communist coup détat of 1948 in Czechoslovakia, many Jewish prayers include a yearning to return to Jerusalem and the Jewish homeland. The entire population of Crimean Tatars that remained in their homeland Crimea was exiled on 18 May 1944 to Central Asia as a form of ethnic cleansing and collective punishment on false accusations. At Diego Garcia, between 1967 and 1973 the British Government forcibly removed some 2,000 Chagossian resident islanders to make way for a military base today jointly operated by the US, since the Cuban Revolution over one million Cubans have left Cuba. Most of these self-identify as exiles as their motivation for leaving the island is political in nature, most of the exiles children also consider themselves to be Cuban exiles. It is to be noted that under Cuban law, children of Cubans born abroad are considered Cuban citizens, during a foreign occupation or after a coup détat, a government in exile of a such afflicted country may be established abroad. Exile is a motif in ancient Greek tragedy. In the ancient Greek world, this was seen as a worse than death. The motif reaches its peak on the play Medea, written by Euripides in the fifth century BC, euripides’ Medea has remained the most frequently performed Greek tragedy through the 20th century. After Medea was abandoned by Jason and had become a murderer out of revenge, she fled to Athens and married king Aigeus there, due to a conflict with him, she must leave the Polis and go away into exile
16.
London
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London /ˈlʌndən/ is the capital and most populous city of England and the United Kingdom. Standing on the River Thames in the south east of the island of Great Britain and it was founded by the Romans, who named it Londinium. Londons ancient core, the City of London, largely retains its 1. 12-square-mile medieval boundaries. London is a global city in the arts, commerce, education, entertainment, fashion, finance, healthcare, media, professional services, research and development, tourism. It is crowned as the worlds largest financial centre and has the fifth- or sixth-largest metropolitan area GDP in the world, London is a world cultural capital. It is the worlds most-visited city as measured by international arrivals and has the worlds largest city airport system measured by passenger traffic, London is the worlds leading investment destination, hosting more international retailers and ultra high-net-worth individuals than any other city. Londons universities form the largest concentration of education institutes in Europe. In 2012, London became the first city to have hosted the modern Summer Olympic Games three times, London has a diverse range of people and cultures, and more than 300 languages are spoken in the region. Its estimated mid-2015 municipal population was 8,673,713, the largest of any city in the European Union, Londons urban area is the second most populous in the EU, after Paris, with 9,787,426 inhabitants at the 2011 census. The citys metropolitan area is the most populous in the EU with 13,879,757 inhabitants, the city-region therefore has a similar land area and population to that of the New York metropolitan area. London was the worlds most populous city from around 1831 to 1925, Other famous landmarks include Buckingham Palace, the London Eye, Piccadilly Circus, St Pauls Cathedral, Tower Bridge, Trafalgar Square, and The Shard. The London Underground is the oldest underground railway network in the world, the etymology of London is uncertain. It is an ancient name, found in sources from the 2nd century and it is recorded c.121 as Londinium, which points to Romano-British origin, and hand-written Roman tablets recovered in the city originating from AD 65/70-80 include the word Londinio. The earliest attempted explanation, now disregarded, is attributed to Geoffrey of Monmouth in Historia Regum Britanniae and this had it that the name originated from a supposed King Lud, who had allegedly taken over the city and named it Kaerlud. From 1898, it was accepted that the name was of Celtic origin and meant place belonging to a man called *Londinos. The ultimate difficulty lies in reconciling the Latin form Londinium with the modern Welsh Llundain, which should demand a form *lōndinion, from earlier *loundiniom. The possibility cannot be ruled out that the Welsh name was borrowed back in from English at a later date, and thus cannot be used as a basis from which to reconstruct the original name. Until 1889, the name London officially applied only to the City of London, two recent discoveries indicate probable very early settlements near the Thames in the London area
17.
Bishop of Lincoln
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The Bishop of Lincoln is the ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Lincoln in the Province of Canterbury. The present diocese covers the county of Lincolnshire and the unitary authority areas of North Lincolnshire, the bishops seat is located in the Cathedral Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary in the city of Lincoln. The cathedral was originally a church founded around 653 and refounded as a cathedral in 1072. Until the 1530s the bishops were in communion with the Roman Catholic Church. The historic medieval Bishops Palace lies immediately to the south of the cathedral in Palace Yard, managed by English Heritage, an adjacent later residence was converted from office accommodation to reopen in 2009 as a 16-bedroom conference centre and wedding venue. It is now known as Edward King House and provides offices for the Bishops, Archdeacons, the historic Bishop of Dorchester was a prelate who administered the Diocese of Dorchester in the Anglo-Saxon period. The bishops seat, or cathedra, was at the cathedral in Dorchester-on-Thames in Oxfordshire, in the 660s the seat at Dorchester-on-Thames was abandoned, but briefly in the late 670s it was once more a bishops seat under Ætla, under Mercian control. The town of Dorchester again became the seat of a bishop in around 875, the diocese merged with that of Lindsey in 971, the bishops seat was moved to Lincoln in 1072 and thus the Mercian Bishops of Dorchester were succeeded by the Bishops of Lincoln. The first bishops of Leicester were originally prelates who administered an Anglo-Saxon diocese between the 7th and 9th centuries, the bishopric fell victim to the invasion by the Danes and the episcopal see was transferred to Dorchester-on-Thames in Oxfordshire. The dioceses of Lindsey and Leicester continued until the Danish Viking invasions, the see of Leicester was transferred to Dorchester, now in Oxfordshire, sometime between 869 and 888. After an interruption, the see of Lindsey was resumed until it was united with the bishopric of Dorchester in the early 11th century, the diocese was the largest in England, extending from the River Thames to the Humber Estuary. In 1072, Remigius de Fécamp moved the see of Dorchester to Lincoln, because of this historic link, for a long time Banbury remained a peculiar of the Bishop of Lincoln. Until the 1530s the bishops were in communion with the Roman Catholic Church. During the English Reformation they changed their allegiance back and forth between the crown and the papacy, under Henry VIII and Edward VI, the bishops conformed to the Church of England, but under Mary I they adhered to the Roman Catholic Church. Since the English Reformation, the bishops and diocese of Lincoln have been part of the reformed Church of England, the dioceses of Oxford and Peterborough were created in 1541 out of parts of the Diocese of Lincoln. The county of Leicestershire was transferred from Lincoln to Peterborough in 1837, for precursor offices, see Bishop of Lindsey, Bishop of Leicester and Bishop of Dorchester Kirby, D. P
18.
Stigand
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Stigand was an Anglo-Saxon churchman in pre-Norman Conquest England who became Archbishop of Canterbury. His birth date is unknown, but by 1020 he was serving as a royal chaplain and he was named Bishop of Elmham in 1043, and was later Bishop of Winchester and Archbishop of Canterbury. Stigand was as an advisor to members of the Anglo-Saxon and Norman English royal dynasties. Stigand was imprisoned at Winchester, where he died without regaining his liberty, Stigand served King Cnut as a chaplain at a royal foundation at Ashingdon in 1020, and as an advisor then and later. He continued in his role of advisor during the reigns of Cnuts sons, Harold Harefoot, when Cnuts stepson Edward the Confessor succeeded Harthacnut, Stigand in all probability became Englands main administrator. Monastic writers of the time accused Stigand of extorting money and lands from the church, and by 1066 the only estates richer than Stigands were the royal estates, in 1043 Edward appointed Stigand to the see of Elmham. Four years later he was appointed to the see of Winchester, and then in 1052 to the archdiocese of Canterbury, five successive popes, including Nicholas II and Alexander II, excommunicated Stigand for holding both Winchester and Canterbury. Stigand was present at the deathbed of King Edward and at the coronation of Harold Godwinson as king of England in 1066, after Harolds death, Stigand submitted to William the Conqueror. On Christmas Day 1066 Ealdred, the Archbishop of York, crowned William King of England, Stigands excommunication meant that he could only assist at the coronation. Despite growing pressure for his deposition, Stigand continued to attend the court and to consecrate bishops, until in 1070 he was deposed by papal legates. His intransigence towards the papacy was used as propaganda by Norman advocates of the view that the English church was backward, neither the year nor the date of Stigands birth is known. His brother Æthelmær, also a cleric, later succeeded Stigand as bishop of Elmham and his sister held land in Norwich, but her given name is unrecorded. Stigand first appears in the record in 1020 as a royal chaplain to King Cnut of England. In that year he was appointed to Cnuts church at Ashingdon, or Assandun, little is known of Stigands life during Cnuts reign, but he must have had a place at the royal court, as he witnessed occasional charters. Following Cnuts death Stigand successively served Cnuts sons, Harold Harefoot, after Harthacnut died Stigand became an advisor to Emma of Normandy, Cnuts widow and the mother of Harthacnut and his successor Edward the Confessor. He may have been Emmas chaplain, and it is possible that Stigand was already one of her advisors while Cnut was alive, because little is known of Stigands activities before his appointment as a bishop, it is difficult to determine to whom he owed his position. Stigand was appointed to the see of Elmham shortly after Edward the Confessors coronation on 3 April 1043 and this was the first episcopal appointment of Edwards reign. The diocese of Elmham covered East Anglia in eastern England, and was one of the episcopal sees at that time
19.
William the Conqueror
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William I, usually known as William the Conqueror and sometimes William the Bastard, was the first Norman King of England, reigning from 1066 until his death in 1087. A descendant of Rollo, he was Duke of Normandy from 1035 onward, after a long struggle to establish his power, by 1060 his hold on Normandy was secure, and he launched the Norman conquest of England six years later. The rest of his life was marked by struggles to consolidate his hold over England and his continental lands, William was the son of the unmarried Robert I, Duke of Normandy, by Roberts mistress Herleva. His illegitimate status and his youth caused some difficulties for him after he succeeded his father, during his childhood and adolescence, members of the Norman aristocracy battled each other, both for control of the child duke and for their own ends. In 1047 William was able to quash a rebellion and begin to establish his authority over the duchy and his marriage in the 1050s to Matilda of Flanders provided him with a powerful ally in the neighbouring county of Flanders. By the time of his marriage, William was able to arrange the appointments of his supporters as bishops and his consolidation of power allowed him to expand his horizons, and by 1062 William was able to secure control of the neighbouring county of Maine. In the 1050s and early 1060s William became a contender for the throne of England, then held by the childless Edward the Confessor, his first cousin once removed. There were other claimants, including the powerful English earl Harold Godwinson. William argued that Edward had previously promised the throne to him, William built a large fleet and invaded England in September 1066, decisively defeating and killing Harold at the Battle of Hastings on 14 October 1066. After further military efforts William was crowned king on Christmas Day 1066 and he made arrangements for the governance of England in early 1067 before returning to Normandy. Several unsuccessful rebellions followed, but by 1075 Williams hold on England was mostly secure, Williams final years were marked by difficulties in his continental domains, troubles with his eldest son, and threatened invasions of England by the Danes. In 1086 William ordered the compilation of the Domesday Book, a listing all the landholders in England along with their holdings. William died in September 1087 while leading a campaign in northern France and his reign in England was marked by the construction of castles, the settling of a new Norman nobility on the land, and change in the composition of the English clergy. He did not try to integrate his various domains into one empire, Williams lands were divided after his death, Normandy went to his eldest son, Robert Curthose, and his second surviving son, William Rufus, received England. Norsemen first began raiding in what became Normandy in the late 8th century, permanent Scandinavian settlement occurred before 911, when Rollo, one of the Viking leaders, and King Charles the Simple of France reached an agreement surrendering the county of Rouen to Rollo. The lands around Rouen became the core of the duchy of Normandy. Normandy may have used as a base when Scandinavian attacks on England were renewed at the end of the 10th century. In an effort to improve matters, King Æthelred the Unready took Emma of Normandy, sister of Duke Richard II, as his second wife in 1002
20.
Harold Godwinson
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Harold Godwinson, often called Harold II, was the last Anglo-Saxon king of England. Harold reigned from 6 January 1066 until his death at the Battle of Hastings on 14 October and his death marked the end of Anglo-Saxon rule over England. Harold was an earl and member of a prominent Anglo-Saxon family with ties to Cnut the Great. Upon the death of Edward the Confessor in January 1066, the Witenagemot convened and chose Harold to succeed, he was crowned in Westminster Abbey. In late September, he repelled an invasion by rival claimant Harald Hardrada of Norway before marching his army back south to meet William the Conqueror at Hastings some two weeks later. Harold was a son of Godwin, the powerful Earl of Wessex, gythas brother was Ulf the Earl, who married Cnuts sister Estrith. This made Ulf the son-in-law of King Sweyn Forkbeard, Ulf, Godwin was the son of Wulfnoth, probably a thegn and a native of Sussex. Godwin began his career by supporting King Edmund Ironside, but switched to supporting King Cnut by 1018. Godwin remained an earl throughout the remainder of Cnuts reign, one of two earls to survive to the end of that reign. Harthacnuts death in 1042 probably involved Godwin in a role as kingmaker, in 1045 Godwin reached the height of his power when the new king married Godwins daughter Edith. Godwin and Gytha had several children – six sons, Sweyn, Harold, Tostig, Gyrth, Leofwine and Wulfnoth, the birthdates of the children are unknown, but Sweyn was the eldest and Harold was the second son. Harold was aged about 25 in 1045, which makes his birth year around 1020, Edith married Edward on 23 January 1045 and, around that time, Harold became Earl of East Anglia. Harold is called earl when he appears as a witness in a will that may date to 1044, one reason for his appointment to East Anglia may have been a need to defend against the threat from King Magnus the Good of Norway. It is possible that Harold led some of the ships from his earldom that were sent to Sandwich in 1045 against Magnus, Sweyn, Harolds elder brother, had been named an earl in 1043. The relationship was a form of marriage that was not blessed or sanctioned by the Church, known as more Danico, or in the Danish manner, any children of such a union were considered legitimate. Harold probably entered the relationship in part to support in his new earldom. Harolds elder brother Sweyn was exiled in 1047 after abducting the abbess of Leominster, sweyns lands were divided between Harold and a cousin, Beorn. In 1049, Harold was in command of a ship or ships that were sent with a fleet to aid the German Emperor Henry III against Baldwin V, Count of Flanders, who was in revolt against Henry
21.
Earl of Wessex
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Earl of Wessex is a title that has been created three times in British history, twice in the pre-Conquest Anglo-Saxon nobility of England and once in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. The region of Wessex, in the south and southwest of England, had one of the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms. Wessex was one of the four earldoms of Anglo-Danish England, in this period, the earldom of Wessex covered the lands of the old kingdom of Wessex, covering the counties of the south of England, and extending west to the Welsh border. During the reign of King Cnut, the earldom was conferred on Godwin at some time after 1020, thereafter, Godwin rose to become, in King Edwards time, the most powerful man in the kingdom. Upon Godwins death in 1053, the passed to his son. Following the Norman conquest in the winter of 1066, King William bestowed the earldom on William FitzOsbern, FitzOsbern continued to help William consolidate his new realm until his death in Flanders in 1071. Following this, the earldom was reduced in power and regional jurisdiction, instead, the Palace announced that Prince Edward would eventually succeed to the title of Duke of Edinburgh, currently held by his father. His wife Sophie became The Countess of Wessex, the current Earl of Wessex is also Viscount Severn. This subsidiary title is used as a title by the Earls son. The family seat is Bagshot Park, near Bagshot, Surrey, the heir apparent is the present holders son James, Viscount Severn. The Earls son is currently the only person in the line of succession to the titles of Earl of Wessex, david Crouch, The Normans ISBN 1-85285-387-5 Emma Mason The House of Godwine ISBN 1-85285-389-1
22.
Siward, Earl of Northumbria
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Siward or Sigurd was an important earl of 11th-century northern England. The Old Norse nickname Digri and its Latin translation Grossus are given to him by near-contemporary texts, Siward was probably of Scandinavian origin, perhaps a relative of Earl Ulf, and emerged as a powerful regional strongman in England during the reign of Cnut. Cnut was a Scandinavian ruler who conquered England in the 1010s, Siward subsequently rose to become sub-ruler of most of northern England. From 1033 at the latest Siward was in control of southern Northumbria and he entrenched his position in northern England by marrying Ælfflæd, the daughter of Ealdred, Earl of Bamburgh. After killing Ealdreds successor Eadulf in 1041, Siward gained control of all Northumbria and he exerted his power in support of Cnuts successors, kings Harthacnut and Edward, assisting them with vital military aid and counsel. He probably gained control of the shires of Northampton and Huntingdon by the 1050s. In the early 1050s Earl Siward turned against the Scottish ruler Mac Bethad mac Findlaích, despite the death of his son Osbjorn, Siward defeated Mac Bethad in battle in 1054. More than half a millennium later the Scotland adventure earned him a place in William Shakespeares Macbeth, Siward died in 1055, leaving one son, Waltheof, who would eventually succeed to Northumbria. St Olaves church in York and nearby Heslington Hill are associated with Siward, source material on Siwards life and career is scarce, and only a small and potentially unrepresentative amount of information exists. Other sources include the material attributed to Symeon of Durham, Siwards career in northern England spanned the reigns of four different monarchs. It began during the reign of Cnut, and lasted through those of Harold Harefoot, most important was the reign of Cnut, in which so many new political figures rose to power that some historians think it comparable to the Norman conquest five decades later. These new men were military figures, usually with weak hereditary links to the West Saxon royal house that Cnut had deposed, as Cnut ruled several Scandinavian kingdoms in addition to England, power at the highest level was delegated to such strongmen. In England, it fell to a handful of newly promoted ealdormen or earls, Siward was, in the words of historian Robin Fleming, the third man in Cnuts new triumvirate of earls, the other two being Godwine, Earl of Wessex and Leofwine, Earl of Mercia. Northern England in the 11th-century was a quite distinct from the rest of the country. The former kingdom of Northumbria stretched from the Humber and Mersey estuaries, northward to the Firth of Forth, the former is associated with the stronghold of Bamburgh, while the latter is associated with the great Roman city of York. It was a fragmented region. One such example was the magnate Thurbrand, a hold in Yorkshire, probably based in Holderness, historians generally claim Siward to be of Scandinavian origin, a conclusion supported by the Vita Ædwardi Regis, which states that Siward was Digri in the Danish tongue. Historian Timothy Bolton has recently argued that the similarities between these genealogies is evidence of a family tradition between the descendants of Siward and Thorgil Sprakling
23.
Scotland
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Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and covers the northern third of the island of Great Britain. It shares a border with England to the south, and is surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, with the North Sea to the east. In addition to the mainland, the country is made up of more than 790 islands, including the Northern Isles, the Kingdom of Scotland emerged as an independent sovereign state in the Early Middle Ages and continued to exist until 1707. By inheritance in 1603, James VI, King of Scots, became King of England and King of Ireland, Scotland subsequently entered into a political union with the Kingdom of England on 1 May 1707 to create the new Kingdom of Great Britain. The union also created a new Parliament of Great Britain, which succeeded both the Parliament of Scotland and the Parliament of England. Within Scotland, the monarchy of the United Kingdom has continued to use a variety of styles, titles, the legal system within Scotland has also remained separate from those of England and Wales and Northern Ireland, Scotland constitutes a distinct jurisdiction in both public and private law. Glasgow, Scotlands largest city, was one of the worlds leading industrial cities. Other major urban areas are Aberdeen and Dundee, Scottish waters consist of a large sector of the North Atlantic and the North Sea, containing the largest oil reserves in the European Union. This has given Aberdeen, the third-largest city in Scotland, the title of Europes oil capital, following a referendum in 1997, a Scottish Parliament was re-established, in the form of a devolved unicameral legislature comprising 129 members, having authority over many areas of domestic policy. Scotland is represented in the UK Parliament by 59 MPs and in the European Parliament by 6 MEPs, Scotland is also a member nation of the British–Irish Council, and the British–Irish Parliamentary Assembly. Scotland comes from Scoti, the Latin name for the Gaels, the Late Latin word Scotia was initially used to refer to Ireland. By the 11th century at the latest, Scotia was being used to refer to Scotland north of the River Forth, alongside Albania or Albany, the use of the words Scots and Scotland to encompass all of what is now Scotland became common in the Late Middle Ages. Repeated glaciations, which covered the land mass of modern Scotland. It is believed the first post-glacial groups of hunter-gatherers arrived in Scotland around 12,800 years ago, the groups of settlers began building the first known permanent houses on Scottish soil around 9,500 years ago, and the first villages around 6,000 years ago. The well-preserved village of Skara Brae on the mainland of Orkney dates from this period and it contains the remains of an early Bronze Age ruler laid out on white quartz pebbles and birch bark. It was also discovered for the first time that early Bronze Age people placed flowers in their graves, in the winter of 1850, a severe storm hit Scotland, causing widespread damage and over 200 deaths. In the Bay of Skaill, the storm stripped the earth from a large irregular knoll, when the storm cleared, local villagers found the outline of a village, consisting of a number of small houses without roofs. William Watt of Skaill, the laird, began an amateur excavation of the site, but after uncovering four houses
24.
Malcolm III of Scotland
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Malcolm was King of Scots from 1058 to 1093. Malcolms long reign of 35 years preceded the beginning of the Scoto-Norman age and he is the historical equivalent of the character of the same name in William Shakespeares Macbeth. Malcolm III fought a series of wars against the Kingdom of England and these wars did not result in any significant advances southward. Malcolms second wife, St. Margaret of Scotland, is Scotlands only royal saint, Malcolm himself had no reputation for piety, with the notable exception of Dunfermline Abbey in Fife he is not definitely associated with major religious establishments or ecclesiastical reforms. Malcolms father Duncan I became king in late 1034, on the death of Malcolm II, Duncans maternal grandfather, Duncans reign was not successful and he was killed by Macbeth on 15 August 1040. Although Shakespeares Macbeth presents Malcolm as a man and his father as an old one, it appears that Duncan was still young in 1040. Malcolms family did attempt to overthrow Macbeth in 1045, but Malcolms grandfather Crínán of Dunkeld was killed in the attempt, soon after the death of Duncan his two young sons were sent away for greater safety—exactly where is the subject of debate. According to one version, Malcolm was sent to England, based on Forduns account, it was assumed that Malcolm passed most of Macbeths seventeen-year reign in the Kingdom of England at the court of Edward the Confessor. An English invasion in 1054, with Siward, Earl of Northumbria in command, had as its goal the installation of one Máel Coluim and this Máel Coluim has traditionally been identified with the later Malcolm III. This interpretation derives from the Chronicle attributed to the 14th-century chronicler of Scotland, John of Fordun, the latter reported that Macbeth was killed in the battle by Siward, but it is known that Macbeth outlived Siward by two years. A. A. M. Duncan argued in 2002 that, using the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle entry as their source, Duncans argument has been supported by several subsequent historians specialising in the era, such as Richard Oram, Dauvit Broun and Alex Woolf. It has also suggested that Máel Coluim may have been a son of Owain Foel, British king of Strathclyde perhaps by a daughter of Malcolm II. In 1057 various chroniclers report the death of Macbeth at Malcolms hand, Macbeth was succeeded by his stepson Lulach, who was crowned at Scone, probably on 8 September 1057. Lulach was killed by Malcolm, by treachery, near Huntly on 23 April 1058, after this, Malcolm became king, perhaps being inaugurated on 25 April 1058, although only John of Fordun reports this. If he did visit the English court, he was the first reigning king of Scots to do so in more than eighty years. If a marriage agreement was made in 1059, it was not kept, equally, Malcolms raids in Northumbria may have been related to the disputed Kingdom of the Cumbrians, reestablished by Earl Siward in 1054, which was under Malcolms control by 1070. The Orkneyinga saga reports that Malcolm married the widow of Thorfinn Sigurdsson, Ingibiorg, although Ingibiorg is generally assumed to have died shortly before 1070, it is possible that she died much earlier, around 1058. The Orkneyinga Saga records that Malcolm and Ingibiorg had a son, Duncan II, Malcolms son Domnall, whose death is reported in 1085, is not mentioned by the author of the Orkneyinga Saga
25.
Macbeth, King of Scotland
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Mac Bethad mac Findlaích was King of the Scots from 1040 until his death. Evidence indicates that he spent much of his time in and around the Forres area of Moray, defeating his cousin Duncan, then king of Moray, Macbeth is best known as the subject of William Shakespeares tragedy Macbeth and the many works it has inspired. Shakespeares play is based mainly upon Holinsheds Chronicles, and is not historically accurate, the name Mac-Bethad, from which the anglicized MacBeth is derived, means son of life. Although it has the appearance of a Gaelic patronymic it does not have any meaning of filiation, an alternative proposed derivation is that it is a corruption of macc-bethad meaning one of the elect. Some sources make Macbeth a grandson of King Malcolm II and thus a cousin to Duncan I and he was possibly also a cousin to Thorfinn the Mighty, Earl of Orkney and Caithness. Nigel Tranter, in his novel Macbeth the King, went so far as to portray Macbeth as Thorfinns half-brother, however, this is speculation arising from the lack of historical certainty regarding the number of daughters Malcolm had. When Cnut the Great came north in 1031 to accept the submission of King Malcolm II, Malcolm, king of the Scots, submitted to him, and became his man, with two other kings, Macbeth and Iehmarc. Whatever the true state of affairs in the early 1030s, it more probable that Macbeth was subject to the king of Alba, Malcolm II. The Prophecy of Berchan, apparently alone in near contemporary sources, says Malcolm died a violent death, tigernachs chronicle says only, Máel Coluim son of Cináed, king of Alba, the honour of western Europe, died. Malcolm IIs grandson Duncan, later King Duncan I, was acclaimed as king of Alba on 30 November 1034, apparently without opposition. Duncan appears to have been tánaise ríg, the king in waiting, so far from being an abandonment of tanistry, as has sometimes been argued. Previous successions had involved strife between various rígdomna – men of royal blood, far from being the aged King Duncan of Shakespeares play, the real King Duncan was a young man in 1034, and even at his death in 1040 his youthfulness is remarked upon. Because of his youth, Duncans early reign was apparently uneventful and his later reign, in line with his description as the man of many sorrows in the Prophecy of Berchán, was not successful. In 1039, Strathclyde was attacked by the Northumbrians, and a raid led by Duncan against Durham turned into a disaster. Duncan survived the defeat, but the year he led an army north into Moray, Macbeths domain. There he was killed in action, at Bothnagowan, now Pitgaveny, near Elgin, by the men of Moray led by Macbeth, on Duncans death, Macbeth became king. No resistance is known at time, but it would have been entirely normal if his reign were not universally accepted. In 1045, Duncans father Crínán of Dunkeld was killed in a battle between two Scottish armies, John of Fordun wrote that Duncans wife fled Scotland, taking her children, including the future kings Malcolm III and Donald III with her
26.
Leofric, Earl of Mercia
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Leofric was an Earl of Mercia. He founded monasteries at Coventry and Much Wenlock, Leofric is most remembered as the husband of Lady Godiva. Leofric was the son of Leofwine, Ealdorman of the Hwicce, Leofric had three brothers, Northman, Edwin and Godwine. It is likely that Northman is the same as Northman Miles to whom King Æthelred II granted the village of Twywell in Northamptonshire in 1013. Northman, according to the Chronicle of Crowland Abbey, the reliability of which is often doubted by historians, says he was a retainer of Eadric Streona and it adds that Northman had been killed upon Cnuts orders along with Eadric and others for this reason. Cnut made Leofric ealdorman in place of his brother Northman, becoming Earl of Mercia made him one of the most powerful men in the land, second only to the ambitious Earl Godwin of Wessex, among the mighty earls. However, Harold died in 1040 and was succeeded by his brother Harthacnut, two of his tax-collectors were killed at Worcester by angry locals. The king was so enraged by this that in 1041 he ordered Leofric and his earls to plunder and burn the city. This command must have sorely tested Leofric, since Worcester was the city of the Hwicce. When Harthacnut died suddenly in 1042, he was succeeded by his half-brother Edward the Confessor, Leofric loyally supported Edward when Edward came under threat at Gloucester, from Earl Godwin, in 1051. Leofric and Earl Siward of Northumbria gathered an army to meet that of Godwin. So in the end the issue was resolved by less bloody means, Earl Godwin, Earl Leofrics power was then at its height. But in 1055 Leofrics own son Ælfgar was outlawed, without any fault, Ælfgar raised an army in Ireland and Wales and brought it to Hereford, where he clashed with the army of Earl Ralph of Herefordshire and severely damaged the town. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle wryly comments And then when they had done most harm, Leofric died in 1057 at his estate at Kings Bromley in Staffordshire. According to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, he died on 30 September, both agree that he was buried at Coventry. Leofric was succeeded by his son Ælfgar as earl, Earl Leofric and Godiva were noted for great generosity to religious houses. In 1043 he founded and endowed a Benedictine monastery at Coventry, in the 1050s Leofric and Godiva appear jointly as benefactors in a document granting land to the monastery of St Mary, Worcester, and the endowment of the minster at Stow St Mary, Lincolnshire. They are commemorated as benefactors of other monasteries as well, at Leominster, Chester, Much Wenlock, and Evesham
27.
Hereford
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Hereford is a cathedral city, civil parish and county town of Herefordshire, England. It lies on the River Wye, approximately 16 miles east of the border with Wales,24 miles southwest of Worcester, with a population of 58,896, it is the largest settlement in the county. The name Hereford is said to come from the Anglo-Saxon here, an army or formation of soldiers, and the ford, if this is the origin it suggests that Hereford was a place where a body of armed men forded or crossed the Wye. The Welsh name for Hereford is Henffordd, meaning old road, much of the county of Herefordshire was Welsh-speaking, as reflected in the Welsh names of many places in the county. An early town charter from 1189 granted by Richard I of England describes it as Hereford in Wales, Hereford has been recognised as a city since time immemorial, with the status being reconfirmed as recently as October 2000. It is now known chiefly as a centre for a wider agricultural and rural area. Products from Hereford include, cider, beer, leather goods, nickel alloys, poultry, chemicals, hostilities between the Anglo-Saxons and the Welsh came to a head with the Battle of Hereford in 760, in which the Britons freed themselves from the influence of the English. Hereford had the only mint west of the Severn in the reign of Athelstan, and it was to Hereford, then a border town, the present Hereford Cathedral dates from the early 12th century, as does the first bridge across the Wye. Former Bishops of Hereford include Saint Thomas de Cantilupe and Lord High Treasurer of England Thomas Charlton. The city gave its name to two suburbs of Paris, France, Maisons-Alfort and Alfortville, due to a manor built there by Peter of Aigueblanche, Bishop of Hereford, in the middle of the 13th century. Hereford, a base for successive holders of the title Earl of Hereford, was once the site of a castle, Hereford Castle, which rivalled that of Windsor in size and scale. This was a base for repelling Welsh attacks and a stronghold for English kings such as King Henry IV when on campaign in the Welsh Marches against Owain Glyndŵr. The castle was dismantled in the 18th century and landscaped into Castle Green, after the Battle of Mortimers Cross in 1461, during the Wars of the Roses, the defeated Lancastrian leader Owen Tudor was taken to Hereford by Sir Roger Vaughan and executed in High Town. A plaque now marks the spot of the execution, Vaughan was later himself executed, under a flag of truce, by Owens son Jasper. During the civil war the city changed several times. On 30 September 1642 Parliamentarians led by Sir Robert Harley and Henry Grey, in December they withdrew to Gloucester because of the presence in the area of a Royalist army under Lord Herbert. The city was occupied briefly from 23 April to 18 May 1643 by Parliamentarians commanded by Sir William Waller. On 31 July 1645 a Scottish army of 14,000 under Alexander Leslie, 1st Earl of Leven besieged the city but met resistance from its garrison
28.
Glasbury
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Glasbury, also known as Glasbury-on-Wye, is a village and community in Powys, Wales. The village is split between the communities of Glasbury and Gwernyfed, the nearest town is Hay-on-Wye, some 4 miles to the north east. The nearest city is Hereford in England, some 25 miles to the east, Glasbury is a popular location for river fishing, canoeing and kayaking. The population of Glasbury is 286 but in 1841 it was 838, the early village grew north of the river crossing, where a church was built dedicated to St Cynidr, a 6th-century bishop said to be buried in Glasbury. The name Glasbury derives from the Welsh clas, which signifies a glebe or church land, St Cynidrs name is retained in the small settlement of Ffynnon Gynydd to the north of the village, where Cynidrs well is still visible. From the 6th century to the 11th century, Glasbury formed part of the Kingdom of Brycheiniog, the importance of this early church was such that Glasbury was made a diocese. A list of the bishops of Glasbury still exists and gives the last bishop as Tryferyn, the diocese was subsumed by the bishopric of Glamorgan, later Llandaff. In the mid 11th century, the Welsh kingdoms were united under Gruffydd ap Llywelyn. On 16 June 1056, a battle was fought at Glasbury between an English force, led by Bishop Leofgar of Hereford, and a Welsh force led by Gruffydd ap Llywelyn, at which the warrior bishop was killed. After the Norman invasion, the kingdom of Brycheiniog was conquered or otherwise acquired by Bernard de Neufmarché, in 1088, he presented the Manor and church of Glasbury to the Abbey of St Peters at Gloucester and the parish church of St. Cynidr was rededicated to St Peter. The patronage of the church was transferred to the Bishop of Gloucester and subsequently to the Bishop of St Davids. In 1144, as part of an exchange, the lordship of the Manor of Glasbury passed from Gloucester Abbey to Walter de Clifford, following a dispute with John Giffard, the lordship passed to John de Braose of Glasbury in 1275. In 1299, it passed to Margaret Longespee and her husband Henry de Lacy, 3rd Earl of Lincoln and in 1330 to Roger Mortimer, 1st Earl of March. The lordship was seized by the crown in 1331, but returned to Mortimers grandson Roger Mortimer, 2nd Earl of March in 1354 and in 1360 to his son Edmund Mortimer, 3rd Earl of March. In 1404, King Henry IV granted the lordship to Sir Robert Whitney in consequence of his father. having been killed in the royal service, Glasbury Castle, north of the river, was first mentioned in 1144 when it was granted to Walter de Clifford. This continued till 1844, when all of Glasbury south of the Wye was transferred to Brecknockshire, following floods in the mid seventeenth century, the River Wye changed course and the old parish church of St Peters found itself south of the river and subsequently fell into disrepair. A new one was still further south in 1661, though the current building dates from 1837. It is now a Grade II listed building, in 1883, a second church was built north of the river and the Radnorshire side of the village transferred to the new parish of Glasbury, All Saints
29.
Hereford Cathedral
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The current Hereford Cathedral, located at Hereford in England, dates from 1079. Its most famous treasure is Mappa Mundi, a map of the world dating from the 13th century. The cathedral is a Grade I listed building, the cathedral is dedicated to two patron saints, namely Saint Mary the Virgin and Saint Ethelbert the King. The latter was beheaded by Offa, King of Mercia in the year 792, the execution, or murder, is said to have taken place at Sutton, four miles from Hereford, with Ethelberts body brought to the site of the modern cathedral by a pious monk. Before this, Hereford had become the seat of a bishopric, in the 7th century the cathedral was refounded by Putta, who settled here when driven from Rochester by Æthelred of Mercia. The cathedral of stone, which Milfrid raised, stood for some 200 years, Hereford Cathedral remained in a state of ruin until Robert of Lorraine was consecrated to the see in 1079 and undertook its reconstruction. His work was carried on, or, more probably, redone, by Bishop Reynelm, who was next but one in the succession, and reorganised the college of secular canons attached to the cathedral. Reynelm died in 1115, and it was only under his successor, Robert de Betun, who was Bishop from 1131 to 1148. Of this Norman church, little has survived but the choir up to the spring of the clerestory, the south transept, the arch between the north transept and the choir aisle, and the nave arcade. Around the middle of the century the clerestory, and probably the vaulting of the choir, were rebuilt, Aquablanca came to England in the train of Eleanor of Provence. He was an unblushing nepotist, nor was he afraid to practise gross fraud when occasion called for it. When Prince Edward came to Hereford to deal with Llywelyn the Great of Gwynedd, the Bishop was away in Ireland on an expedition. In the first half of the 14th century the rebuilding of the central tower, the building of the present edifice therefore extended over a period of 440 years. Thomas de Cantilupe was the next but one bishop of Hereford after Aquablanca and he had faults not uncommon in men who held high ecclesiastical office in his day, however he was a strenuous administrator of his see, and an unbending champion of its rights. Excommunicated by Archbishop of Canterbury John Peckham, he went to the court in Orvieto to plead his case with the pope. He moved with the court to Montefiascone where, already ill and his flesh was buried in the monastery of San Severo outside Orvieto and his heart and bones were brought back to England. His bones were placed in a shrine at Hereford Cathedral where they became a focus of a huge pilgrimage cult, the testimony was regarded as conclusive, and 40 years after his death, in 1320, the bishops name was added to the roll of saints. His arms were adopted for those of the see, the choir stalls support forty 14th-century misericords
30.
Edward the Exile
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Edward the Exile, also called Edward Ætheling, was the son of King Edmund Ironside and of Ealdgyth. He spent most of his life in exile following the defeat of his father by Canute the Great, instead, the two boys were secretly sent either to Kiev, where Olofs daughter Ingigerd was the Queen, or to Poland, where Canutes uncle Bolesław I Chrobry was duke. Later Edward made his way to Hungary, probably in the retinue of Ingigerds son-in-law, András in 1046, on hearing the news of his being alive, Edward the Confessor recalled him to England in 1056 and made him his heir. Edward offered the last chance of an undisputed succession within the Saxon royal house, news of Edwards existence came at a time when the old Anglo-Saxon Monarchy, restored after a long period of Danish domination, was heading for catastrophe. From across the Channel William, Duke of Normandy, also had an eye on the succession, Edward the Exile appeared at just the right time. Edward, who had been in the custody of Henry III, but he died within two days of his arrival. The exact cause of Edwards death remains unclear, but he had powerful enemies. This turn of events left the throne of England to be disputed by Earl Harold and Duke William and he was buried in Old St Pauls Cathedral. Edwards wife was named Agatha, whose origins are disputed and their children were, Edgar Ætheling - Elected King of England after the Battle of Hastings but submitted to William the Conqueror. Saint Margaret of Scotland - Married King Malcolm III of Scotland, cristina - Abbess at Romsey Abbey. Edwards grandchild Edith of Scotland, also called Matilda, married King Henry I of England, of his more immediate ancestors, all four of Edwards male-line ancestors shown in the diagram below were Kings of England before Cnut the Great took the crown and sent Edward into exile. House of Wessex family tree Castle Réka Ronay, Gabriel, the lost King of England, the East European adventures of Edward the Exile. Edward 18 at Prosopography of Anglo-Saxon England Marek, Miroslav
31.
Edmund Ironside
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Edmund II, usually known as Edmund Ironside, was King of England from 23 April to 30 November 1016. He was the son of King Æthelred the Unready and his first wife, Edmunds reign was marred by a war he had inherited from his father, his cognomen Ironside was given to him because of his valour in resisting the Danish invasion led by Cnut the Great. Edmund was not expected to be King of England, however, in the process they forced Sweyns son, Cnut, back to Denmark, where he assembled an invasion force to re-conquer England. It would not arrive for another year, after regaining the throne, the royal family set about strengthening its hold on the country with the assistance of Eadric Streona. People who had sided with the Danes in 1014 were punished, in one case, two brothers, Morcar and Sigeferth, were killed and their possessions, along with Sigferths wife, were taken by Edmund. Edmund unofficially became the Earl of the East Midlands, however, Cnut returned to England in August 1015. Over the next few months, Cnut conquered most of England, and Edmund joined Æthelred to defend London, Edmund died shortly afterwards on 30 November, leaving two sons called Edward and Edmund, however, Cnut became the king of all England. The exact date of Edmunds birth is unclear, but it could have no later than 993 when he was a signatory to charters along with his two elder brothers. He was the third of the six sons of King Æthelred the Unready and his first wife, Ælfgifu and his elder brothers were Æthelstan and Egbert, and younger ones, Eadred, Eadwig and Edgar. He had four sisters, Eadgyth, Ælfgifu, Wulfhilda, and his mother died around 1000, after which his father remarried, this time to Emma of Normandy, who had two sons, Edward the Confessor and Alfred and a daughter Goda. Æthelstan and Edmund were close, and they felt threatened by Emmas ambitions for her sons. The Life of Edward the Confessor, written fifty years later, claimed that when Emma was pregnant with him, however that claim may just be propaganda. When Sweyn Forkbeard seized the throne at the end of 1013 and Æthelred fled to Normandy, the brothers do not appear to have followed him, Æthelstan died in June 1014 and left Edmund a sword which had belonged to king Offa of Mercia. His will also reflected the relationship between the brothers and the nobility of the east midlands. Sweyn died in February 1014, and the Five Boroughs accepted his son Cnut, however, Æthelred returned to England and launched a surprise attack which defeated the Vikings and forced Cnut to flee England. In 1015 Sigeferth and Morcar came to an assembly in Oxford, probably hoping for a royal pardon and he then received the submission of the people of the Five Boroughs. At the same time, Cnut launched a new invasion of England, in early 1016 the army assembled by Edmund dispersed when Æthelred did not appear to lead it, probably due to illness. Æthelred died on 23 April 1016, and the citizens and councillors in London chose Edmund as king and he then mounted a last-ditch effort to revive the defence of England
32.
Norway
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The Antarctic Peter I Island and the sub-Antarctic Bouvet Island are dependent territories and thus not considered part of the Kingdom. Norway also lays claim to a section of Antarctica known as Queen Maud Land, until 1814, the kingdom included the Faroe Islands, Greenland, and Iceland. It also included Isle of Man until 1266, Shetland and Orkney until 1468, Norway has a total area of 385,252 square kilometres and a population of 5,258,317. The country shares a long border with Sweden. Norway is bordered by Finland and Russia to the north-east, Norway has an extensive coastline, facing the North Atlantic Ocean and the Barents Sea. King Harald V of the Dano-German House of Glücksburg is the current King of Norway, erna Solberg became Prime Minister in 2013, replacing Jens Stoltenberg. A constitutional monarchy, Norway divides state power between the Parliament, the Cabinet and the Supreme Court, as determined by the 1814 Constitution, the kingdom is established as a merger of several petty kingdoms. By the traditional count from the year 872, the kingdom has existed continuously for 1,144 years, Norway has both administrative and political subdivisions on two levels, counties and municipalities. The Sámi people have an amount of self-determination and influence over traditional territories through the Sámi Parliament. Norway maintains close ties with the European Union and the United States, the country maintains a combination of market economy and a Nordic welfare model with universal health care and a comprehensive social security system. Norway has extensive reserves of petroleum, natural gas, minerals, lumber, seafood, the petroleum industry accounts for around a quarter of the countrys gross domestic product. On a per-capita basis, Norway is the worlds largest producer of oil, the country has the fourth-highest per capita income in the world on the World Bank and IMF lists. On the CIAs GDP per capita list which includes territories and some regions, from 2001 to 2006, and then again from 2009 to 2017, Norway had the highest Human Development Index ranking in the world. It also has the highest inequality-adjusted ranking, Norway ranks first on the World Happiness Report, the OECD Better Life Index, the Index of Public Integrity and the Democracy Index. Norway has two names, Noreg in Nynorsk and Norge in Bokmål. The name Norway comes from the Old English word Norðrveg mentioned in 880, meaning way or way leading to the north. In contrasting with suðrvegar southern way for Germany, and austrvegr eastern way for the Baltic, the Anglo-Saxon of Britain also referred to the kingdom of Norway in 880 as Norðmanna land. This was the area of Harald Fairhair, the first king of Norway, and because of him
33.
Homage (feudal)
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Homage in the Middle Ages was the ceremony in which a feudal tenant or vassal pledged reverence and submission to his feudal lord, receiving in exchange the symbolic title to his new position. It was an acknowledgement to the lord that the vassal was, literally. The oath known as fealty implied lesser obligations than did homage, a similar concept is the bayah, a type of oath in Islam. There have been some conflicts about obligations of homage in history, for example, the Angevin monarchs of England were sovereign in England, i. e. they had no duty of homage regarding those holdings, but they were not sovereign regarding their French holdings. So Henry II was king of England, but he was merely Duke of the Normans and Angevins, the Capetian kings in Paris, though weak militarily, claimed a right of homage. The usual oath was therefore modified by Henry to add the qualification for the lands I hold overseas, the implication was that no knights service was owed for the conquered English lands. After King John was forced to surrender Normandy to France in 1204, John still expected to recover his ancestral lands, and those English lords who held lands in Normandy would have to choose sides. Many were forced to abandon their continental holdings, at first that seemed to satisfy John, but eventually, as a price for making peace with the French king to keep his lands, the Earl Marshall fell out of favour with John. The conflict between the French monarchs and the Angevin kings of England continued through the 13th century, when Edward I was asked to provide military service to Philip III in his war with Aragon in 1285, Edward made preparations to provide service from Gascony. A truce was arranged, however, before Edward had to decide what to do, but when Phillip III died, and his son Philip IV ascended the French throne in 1286, Edward dutifully but reluctantly performed homage for the sake of peace. In doing so, Edward added yet another qualification – that the duty owed was according to the terms of the peace made between our ancestors, allegiance Bayah Charge Duty Fealty Feudalism in the Holy Roman Empire Honor
34.
Waltheof, Earl of Northumbria
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Waltheof, 1st Earl of Northumbria was the last of the Anglo-Saxon earls and the only English aristocrat to be executed during the reign of William I. Waltheof was the son of Siward, Earl of Northumbria. His mother was Aelfflaed, daughter of Ealdred, Earl of Bernicia, son of Uhtred, in 1054, Waltheof’s brother, Osbearn, who was much older than he, was killed in battle, making Waltheof his father’s heir. Siward himself died in 1055, and Waltheof being far too young to succeed as Earl of Northumbria, Waltheof was said to be devout and charitable and was probably educated for a monastic life. Around 1065, however, he became an earl, governing Northamptonshire and Huntingdonshire, following the Battle of Hastings he submitted to William and was allowed to keep his pre-Conquest title and possessions. He remained at William’s court until 1068, when Sweyn II invaded Northern England in 1069, Waltheof and Edgar Aetheling joined the Danes and took part in the attack on York. He would again make a submission to William after the departure of the invaders in 1070. He was restored to his earldom, and went on to marry Williams niece, in 1072, he was appointed Earl of Northampton. The Domesday Book mentions Waltheof, In Hallam, one manor with its sixteen hamlets, there Earl Waltheof had an Aula. There may have been about twenty ploughs and this land Roger de Busli holds of the Countess Judith. In 1072, William expelled Gospatric from the earldom of Northumbria, Gospatric was Waltheof’s cousin and had taken part in the attack on York with him, but like Waltheof, had been pardoned by William. Gospatric fled into exile and William appointed Waltheof as the new earl, Waltheof had many enemies in the north. Amongst them were members of a family who had killed Waltheof’s maternal great-grandfather, Uchtred the Bold and this was part of a long-running blood feud. In 1074, Waltheof moved against the family by sending his retainers to ambush them, in 1075 Waltheof joined the Revolt of the Earls against William. His motives for taking part in the revolt are unclear, as is the depth of his involvement, however he repented, confessing his guilt first to Archbishop Lanfranc and then in person to William, who was at the time in Normandy. He returned to England with William but was arrested, brought twice before the kings court and he spent almost a year in confinement before being beheaded on 31 May 1076 at St. Giless Hill, near Winchester. He was said to have spent the months of his captivity in prayer, many people believed in his innocence and were surprised when the execution was carried out. His body was thrown into a ditch, but was later retrieved and buried in the chapter house of Crowland Abbey in Lincolnshire
1050s in England 