1.
British Library
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The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom and the second largest library in the world by number of items catalogued. It holds well over 150 million items from many countries, as a legal deposit library, the British Library receives copies of all books produced in the United Kingdom and Ireland, including a significant proportion of overseas titles distributed in the UK. The Library is a public body sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media. The Librarys collections include around 14 million books, along with holdings of manuscripts. In addition to receiving a copy of every publication produced in the UK and Ireland, the Library adds some three million items every year occupying 9.6 kilometres of new shelf space. Prior to 1973, the Library was part of the British Museum, the Euston Road building is classified as a Grade I listed building, of exceptional interest for its architecture and history. The British Library was created on 1 July 1973 as a result of the British Library Act 1972. Prior to this, the library was part of the British Museum. In 1983, the Library absorbed the National Sound Archive, which holds many sound and video recordings, with over a million discs, the core of the Librarys historical collections is based on a series of donations and acquisitions from the 18th century, known as the foundation collections. From 1997 to 2009 the main collection was housed in this new building. Construction work on the Newspaper Storage Building was completed in 2013, the collection has now been split between the St Pancras and Boston Spa sites. The British Library Document Supply Service and the Librarys Document Supply Collection is based on the site in Boston Spa. Collections housed in Yorkshire, comprising low-use material and the newspaper and Document Supply collections, the Library previously had a book storage depot in Woolwich, south-east London, which is no longer in use. The new library was designed specially for the purpose by the architect Colin St John Wilson, facing Euston Road is a large piazza that includes pieces of public art, such as large sculptures by Eduardo Paolozzi and Antony Gormley. It is the largest public building constructed in the United Kingdom in the 20th century, in December 2009 a new storage building at Boston Spa was opened by Rosie Winterton. The building was Grade I listed on 1 August 2015, in England, Legal Deposit can be traced back to at least 1610. The other five libraries are, the Bodleian Library at Oxford, the University Library at Cambridge, the Trinity College Library at Dublin, in 2003 the Ipswich MP Chris Mole introduced a Private Members Bill which became the Legal Deposit Libraries Act 2003. The Act extends United Kingdom legal deposit requirements to electronic documents, such as CD-ROMs, the Library also holds the Asia, Pacific and Africa Collections which include the India Office Records and materials in the languages of Asia and of north and north-east Africa
2.
Wessex
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Wessex was an Anglo-Saxon kingdom in the south of Great Britain, from 519 until England was unified by Æthelstan in the early 10th century. The Anglo-Saxons believed that Wessex was founded by Cerdic and Cynric, the two main sources for the history of Wessex are the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle and the West Saxon Genealogical Regnal List, which sometimes conflict. Wessex became a Christian kingdom after Cenwalh was baptised and was expanded under his rule, cædwalla later conquered Sussex, Kent and the Isle of Wight. His successor, Ine, issued one of the oldest surviving English law codes, the throne subsequently passed to a series of kings with unknown genealogies. During the 8th century, as the hegemony of Mercia grew and it was during this period that the system of shires was established. Under Egbert, Surrey, Sussex, Kent, Essex, and Mercia and he also obtained the overlordship of the Northumbrian king. However, Mercian independence was restored in 830, during the reign of his successor, Æthelwulf, a Danish army arrived in the Thames estuary, but was decisively defeated. When Æthelwulfs son, Æthelbald, usurped the throne, the kingdom was divided to avoid war, Æthelwulf was succeeded in turn by his four sons, the youngest being Alfred the Great. Wessex was invaded by the Danes in 871, and Alfred was compelled to pay them to leave and they returned in 876, but were forced to withdraw. In 878 they forced Alfred to flee to the Somerset Levels, during his reign Alfred issued a new law code, gathered scholars to his court and was able to devote funds to building ships, organising an army and establishing a system of burhs. Alfreds son, Edward, captured the eastern Midlands and East Anglia from the Danes and became ruler of Mercia in 918 upon the death of his sister, Edwards son, Æthelstan, conquered Northumbria in 927, and England became a unified kingdom for the first time. Cnut the Great, who conquered England in 1016, created the wealthy and powerful earldom of Wessex, modern archaeologists use the term Wessex culture for a Middle Bronze Age culture in this area. Although agriculture and hunting were pursued during this period, there is little archaeological evidence of human settlements. During the Roman occupation numerous country villas with attached farms were established across Wessex, the Romans, or rather the Romano-British, built another major road that integrated Wessex, running eastwards from Exeter through Dorchester to Winchester and Silchester and on to London. The early 4th century CE was a time in Roman Britain. However, following a previous incursion in 360 that was stopped by Roman forces and they devastated many parts of Britain and laid siege to London. The Romans responded promptly, and Count Theodosius had recovered the land up to the Wall by 368, the Romans temporarily ceased to rule Britain on the death of Magnus Maximus in 388. Stilicho attempted to restore Roman authority in the late 390s, two subsequent Roman rulers of Britain, appointed by the remaining troops, were murdered
3.
Kingdom of England
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In the early 11th century the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms, united by Æthelstan, became part of the North Sea Empire of Cnut the Great, a personal union between England, Denmark and Norway. The completion of the conquest of Wales by Edward I in 1284 put Wales under the control of the English crown, from the accession of James I in 1603, the Stuart dynasty ruled England in personal union with Scotland and Ireland. Under the Stuarts, the kingdom plunged into war, which culminated in the execution of Charles I in 1649. The monarchy returned in 1660, but the Civil War had established the precedent that an English monarch cannot govern without the consent of Parliament and this concept became legally established as part of the Glorious Revolution of 1688. From this time the kingdom of England, as well as its state the United Kingdom. On 1 May 1707, under the terms of the Acts of Union 1707, the Anglo-Saxons referred to themselves as the Engle or the Angelcynn, originally names of the Angles. They called their land Engla land, meaning land of the English, by Æthelweard Latinized Anglia, from an original Anglia vetus, the name Engla land became England by haplology during the Middle English period. The Latin name was Anglia or Anglorum terra, the Old French, by the 14th century, England was also used in reference to the entire island of Great Britain. The standard title for all monarchs from Æthelstan until the time of King John was Rex Anglorum, Canute the Great, a Dane, was the first king to call himself King of England. In the Norman period Rex Anglorum remained standard, with use of Rex Anglie. The Empress Matilda styled herself Domina Anglorum, from the time of King John onwards all other titles were eschewed in favour of Rex or Regina Anglie. In 1604 James VI and I, who had inherited the English throne the previous year, the English and Scottish parliaments, however, did not recognise this title until the Acts of Union of 1707. The kingdom of England emerged from the unification of the early medieval Anglo-Saxon kingdoms known as the Heptarchy, East Anglia, Mercia, Northumbria, Kent, Essex, Sussex. The Viking invasions of the 9th century upset the balance of power between the English kingdoms, and native Anglo-Saxon life in general, the English lands were unified in the 10th century in a reconquest completed by King Æthelstan in 927 CE. During the Heptarchy, the most powerful king among the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms might become acknowledged as Bretwalda, the decline of Mercia allowed Wessex to become more powerful. It absorbed the kingdoms of Kent and Sussex in 825, the kings of Wessex became increasingly dominant over the other kingdoms of England during the 9th century. In 827, Northumbria submitted to Egbert of Wessex at Dore, in 886, Alfred the Great retook London, which he apparently regarded as a turning point in his reign. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle says that all of the English people not subject to the Danes submitted themselves to King Alfred, asser added that Alfred, king of the Anglo-Saxons, restored the city of London splendidly
4.
Gloucester
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Gloucester is a city and district in southwest England, the county city of Gloucestershire. Gloucester lies close to the Welsh border, on the River Severn, Gloucester was founded in AD97 by the Romans under Emperor Nerva as Colonia Glevum Nervensis, and was granted its first charter in 1155 by King Henry II. Economically, the city is dominated by the industries, and has a strong financial and business sector. The origins of the name Gloucester can be traced to Caerloyw in the modern Welsh, there are various appellations in history such as Caer Glow, Gleawecastre, Gleucestre as an early British settlement is not confirmed by direct evidence. However, Gloucester was the Roman municipality of Colonia Nervia Glevensium, or Glevum, parts of the walls can be traced, and a number of remains and coins have been found, though inscriptions are scarce. In Historia Brittonum, an account of the early rulers of Britain, Vortigerns grandfather. Part of the foundations of Roman Gloucester can be today in Eastgate Street, while Roman tombstones. After the withdrawal on the Roman Empire in the late 4th Century the town returned to the control of Celtic Dubonni tribe. By the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, Gloucester is shown as part of Wessex from the Battle of Deorham in 577 until 584, Gloucester was captured by the Saxons in 577. In the early 10th century the remains of Saint Oswald were brought to a church in Gloucester. The core street layout is thought to date back to the reign of Ethelfleda in late Saxon times. In 1051 Edward the Confessor held court at Gloucester and was threatened there by a led by Godwin, Earl of Wessex. A unique coin, dated to 1077–80, was discovered, just north of the city and it features the name of the moneyer Silacwine and its place of minting. The Portable Antiquities Scheme said that, until the coin was discovered, after the Norman Conquest, William Rufus made Robert Fitzhamon the first baron or overlord of Gloucester. Fitzhamon had a base at Cardiff Castle, and for the succeeding years the history of Gloucester was closely linked to that of Cardiff. During the Anarchy, Gloucester was a centre of support for the Empress Matilda who was supported in her claim to the throne by her half-brother, Fitzhamons grandson, Robert, 1st Earl of Gloucester. The story of the Anarchy is vividly told in a series of paintings by William Burges at the Castle. King Henry II granted Gloucester its first charter in 1155, which gave the burgesses the same liberties as the citizens of London, a a second charter of Henry II gave them freedom of passage on the River Severn
5.
Winchester Cathedral
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Winchester Cathedral is a Church of England cathedral in Winchester, Hampshire, England. It is one of the largest cathedrals in Europe, with the longest nave, dedicated to the Holy Trinity, Saint Peter, Saint Paul, and before the Reformation, Saint Swithun, it is the seat of the Bishop of Winchester and centre of the Diocese of Winchester. The cathedral is a Grade I listed building, the cathedral was founded in 642 on a site immediately to the north of the present one. This building became known as the Old Minster and it became part of a monastic settlement in 971. Saint Swithun was buried near the Old Minster and then in it, so-called mortuary chests said to contain the remains of Saxon kings such as King Eadwig of England, first buried in the Old Minster, and his wife Ælfgifu, are in the present cathedral. The Old Minster was demolished in 1093, immediately after the consecration of its successor, in 1079, Bishop Walkelin began work on a completely new cathedral. Much of the used to build the structure was brought across from the Isle of Wight from quarries around Binstead. Nearby Quarr Abbey draws its name from these workings, as do many local places such as Stonelands, the building was consecrated in 1093. A substantial amount of the fabric of Walkelins building, including the crypt, transepts, the original crossing tower, however, collapsed in 1107, an accident blamed by the cathedrals medieval chroniclers on the fact that the dissolute William Rufus had been buried beneath it in 1100. Its replacement, which today, is still in the Norman style. It is a squat, square structure,50 feet wide, the Tower is 45.7 m tall. Following the accession of Godfrey de Lucy in 1189 a retrochoir was added in the Early English style, the next major phase of rebuilding was not until the mid-fourteenth century, under bishops Edington and Wykeham. Edingdon, removed the two westernmost bays of the nave, built a new west front and began the remodelling of the nave, the wooden ceilings were replaced with stone vaults. Wykehams successor, Henry of Beaufort, carried out fewer alterations, adding only a chantry on the side of the retrochoir. His successor, William of Waynflete, built another chantry in a position on the north side. Under Bishops Peter Courtenay and Thomas Langton, there was more work, de Lucys Lady Chapel was lengthened, and the Norman side aisles of the presbytery replaced. In 1525, Bishop Richard Foxe added the side screens of the presbytery, with its progressive extensions, the east end is now about 110 feet beyond that of Walkelins building. After King Henry VIII seized control of the Catholic Church in England and declared himself head of the Church of England, the Benedictine foundation, the priory surrendered to the king in 1539
6.
History of Christianity in Britain
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The history of Christianity in Britain covers the religious organisations, policies, theology, and popular religiosity since ancient times. The early history of Christianity in Britain is highly obscure, the Saxon invasions of Britain destroyed most of the formal church as they progressed, replacing it with a form of Germanic polytheism. There seems to have been a lull traditionally attributed to the Battle of Badon but, following the arrival of Justinians Plague around 547, by the time Cornwall was subjugated by Wessex at Hingston Down in 838, however, it was largely left to its native people and practices. Christianity was largely reintroduced to Britain by the Gregorian Mission, c. 600, early English Christian documents surviving from this time include the 7th-century illuminated Lindisfarne Gospels and the historical accounts written by the Venerable Bede. By the 11th century, the Normans had overrun England and begun the annexation of Wales, although John quickly reneged on his payments, Innocent thereafter took his side and roundly condemned the Magna Carta, calling it not only shameful and demeaning but illegal and unjust. A major reform movement or heresy of the 14th century was Lollardy, led by John Wycliffe, posthumously condemned, his body was exhumed and burnt and its ashes thrown into the River Swift. Even before the Conquest, Edward the Confessor had returned from Normandy with masons who constructed Westminster Abbey in the Romanesque style, the cruciform churches of Norman architecture often had deep chancels and a square crossing tower, which has remained a feature of English ecclesiastical architecture. England has many cathedrals, most notably York Minster, Durham Cathedral. After a fire damaged Canterbury Cathedral in 1174, Norman masons introduced the Gothic style, Oxford and Cambridge began as religious schools in the 11th and 13th centuries, respectively. Henry VIII was named Defender of the Faith for his opposition to Luthers Reformation, a law passed the same year made it an act of treason to publicly oppose these measures, SS John Fisher and Thomas More and many others were martyred for their continued Catholicism. Religious rebellions in Lincolnshire and Yorkshire in 1536, in Cumberland in 1537, meanwhile, laws in 1535 and 1542 fully merged Wales with England. For the next 150 years, religious policy varied with the ruler, Edward VI and his regents favored greater Protestantism, including new books of Common Prayer and Common Order. His sister Mary restored Catholicism after negotiations with the pope ended Romes claims to the church lands. The vicissitudes of the clergy during the period were satirized in The Vicar of Bray, Charles I provoked the Bishops Wars in Scotland and ultimately the Civil War in England. The victorious Long Parliament restructured the church at the 1643 Westminster Assembly, following the Restoration, onerous Penal Laws were enacted against nonconformists, including the Clarendon Code. The religious settlement of 1689 shaped policy down to the 1830s, the Church of England was not only dominant in religious affairs, but it blocked outsiders from responsible positions in national and local government, business, professions and academe. In practice, the doctrine of the right of kings persisted Old animosities had diminished. Restrictions on Nonconformists were mostly ignored or slowly lifted
7.
Dunstan
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Dunstan was an Abbot of Glastonbury Abbey, a Bishop of Worcester, a Bishop of London, and an Archbishop of Canterbury, later canonised as a saint. His work restored monastic life in England and reformed the English Church and his 11th-century biographer, Osbern, himself an artist and scribe, states that Dunstan was skilled in making a picture and forming letters, as were other clergy of his age who reached senior rank. Dunstan served as an important minister of state to several English kings, Dunstan was born in Baltonsborough, Somerset. He was the son of Heorstan, a noble of Wessex, Heorstan was the brother of Athelm the bishop of Wells and of the Bishop of Winchester. It is recorded that his mother, Cynethryth, was a pious woman, the anonymous author of the earliest Life places Dunstans birth during the reign of Athelstan, while Osbern fixed it at the first year of the reign of King Æthelstan,924 or 925. This date, however, cannot be reconciled with other dates of Dunstans life. Historians therefore assume that Dunstan was born around 910 or earlier, as a young boy, Dunstan studied under the Irish monks who then occupied the ruins of Glastonbury Abbey. Accounts tell of his optimism and of his vision of the abbey being restored. While still a boy, Dunstan was stricken with a near-fatal illness, even as a child, he was noted for his devotion to learning and for his mastery of many kinds of artistic craftsmanship. With his parents consent he was tonsured, received minor orders and he became so well known for his devotion to learning that he is said to have been summoned by his uncle Athelm, the Archbishop of Canterbury, to enter his service. He was later appointed to the court of King Athelstan, Dunstan soon became a favourite of the king and was the envy of other members of the court. A plot was hatched to disgrace him and Dunstan was accused of being involved with witchcraft, the king ordered him to leave the court and as Dunstan was leaving the palace his enemies physically attacked him, beat him severely, bound him, and threw him into a cesspool. He managed to out and make his way to the house of a friend. From there, he journeyed to Winchester and entered the service of his uncle, Ælfheah, the bishop tried to persuade him to become a monk, but Dunstan was doubtful whether he had a vocation to a celibate life. The answer came in the form of an attack of swelling tumours all over Dunstans body and this ailment was so severe that it was thought to be leprosy. It was more probably some form of poisoning caused by being beaten. Whatever the cause, it changed Dunstans mind and he took Holy Orders in 943, in the presence of Ælfheah, and returned to live the life of a hermit at Glastonbury. Against the old church of St Mary he built a small cell five feet long and it was there that Dunstan studied, worked at his handicrafts, and played on his harp
8.
Winchester
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Winchester is a city and the county town of Hampshire, England. The city lies at the heart of the wider City of Winchester, a government district. It is situated 61 miles south-west of London and 13.6 miles from Southampton, at the time of the 2011 Census, Winchester had a population of 45,184. The wider City of Winchester district which includes such as Alresford. Winchester developed from the Roman town of Venta Belgarum, which in turn developed from an Iron Age oppidum. Winchesters major landmark is Winchester Cathedral, one of the largest cathedrals in Europe, with the distinction of having the longest nave and overall length of all Gothic cathedrals in Europe. The city is home to the University of Winchester and Winchester College, the area around Winchester has been inhabited since prehistoric times, with three Iron Age hillforts, Orams Arbour, St. Catherines Hill, and Worthy Down all in the nearby vicinity. In the Late Iron Age, an urban settlement type developed, known as an oppidum. It was overrun by the confederation of Gaulish tribes known as the Belgae sometime during the first century BCE and it seems to have been known as Wentā or Venta, from the Brittonic for town or meeting place. After the Roman conquest of Britain, the settlement served as the capital of the Belgae and was distinguished as Venta Belgarum, Venta of the Belgae. Although in the years of the Roman province it was of subsidiary importance to Silchester and Chichester. At the beginning of the century, Winchester was given protective stone walls. At around this time the city covered an area of 144 acres, there was a limited suburban area outside the walls. Like many other Roman towns however, Winchester began to decline in the fourth century. Ford identifies the community as the Cair Guinntguic listed by Nennius among the 28 cities of Britain in his History of the Britains, amid the Saxon invasions of Britain, cemeteries dating to the 6th and 7th centuries suggest a revival of settlement. The city became known as Wintan-ceastre in Old English, in 648, King Cenwalh of Wessex erected the Church of SS Peter and Paul, later known as the Old Minster. This became a cathedral in the 660s when the West Saxon bishopric was transferred from Dorchester-on-Thames, the citys first mint appears to date from this period. In the early tenth century there were two new establishments, the convent of Nunnaminster, founded by Alfreds widow Ealhswith
9.
Kingston upon Thames
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Kingston upon Thames, also known as Kingston, is the principal settlement of the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames in southwest London. It was the ancient market town where Saxon kings were crowned, Kingston is situated 10 miles southwest of Charing Cross and is one of the major metropolitan centres identified in the London Plan. Kingston lies approximately 33 feet above sea level, Kingston was part of a large ancient parish in the county of Surrey and the town was an ancient borough, reformed in 1835. It has been the location of Surrey County Hall from 1893, most of the town centre is part of the KT1 postcode area, but some areas north of Kingston railway station have the postcode KT2 instead. The population of the town itself, comprising the four wards of Canbury, Grove, Norbiton, Kingston was called Cyninges tun in 838, Chingestune in 1086, Kingeston in 1164, Kyngeston super Tamisiam in 1321 and Kingestowne upon Thames in 1589. The name means the manor or estate from the Old English words cyning. It belonged to the king in Saxon times and was the earliest royal borough and it was first mentioned in 838 as the site of a meeting between King Egbert of Wessex and Ceolnoth, Archbishop of Canterbury. Kingston lay on the boundary between the ancient kingdoms of Wessex and Mercia, until in the tenth century when King Athelstan united both to create the kingdom of England. Probably because of the symbolic location, several tenth-century kings were crowned in Kingston, Æthelstan in 925, Eadred in 946. Other kings who may have been crowned there are Edward the Elder in 902, Edmund in 939, Eadwig in 956, Edgar in about 960 and Edward the Martyr in 975. It was initially used as a block, but in 1850 it was moved to a more dignified place in the market before finally being moved to its current location in the grounds of the guildhall. Well known aviation personalities Sydney Camm, Harry Hawker and Tommy Sopwith were responsible for much of Kingstons achievements in aviation. British Aerospace finally closed its Lower Ham Road factory in 1992, part of the site was redeveloped for housing but the riverside part houses a community centre. The growth and development of Kingston Polytechnic and its transformation into Kingston University has made Kingston a university town, Kingston upon Thames formed an ancient parish in the Kingston hundred of Surrey. The parish of Kingston upon Thames covered an area including Hook, Kew, New Malden, Petersham, Richmond, Surbiton, Thames Ditton. The town of Kingston was granted a charter by King John in 1200, but the oldest one to survive is from 1208, other charters were issued by later kings, including Edward IVs charter that gave the town the status of a borough in 1481. The borough covered a smaller area than the ancient parish, although as new parishes were split off the borough. The borough was reformed by the Municipal Corporations Act 1835, becoming the Municipal Borough of Kingston-upon-Thames and it had been known as a Royal borough through custom and the right to the title was confirmed by George V in 1927
10.
Glastonbury Abbey
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Glastonbury Abbey was a monastery in Glastonbury, Somerset, England. Its ruins, a grade I listed building and scheduled ancient monument, are open as a visitor attraction, the abbey was founded in the 7th century and enlarged in the 10th. It was destroyed by a fire in 1184, but subsequently rebuilt. The abbey controlled large tracts of the land and was instrumental in major drainage projects on the Somerset Levels. The abbey was suppressed during the Dissolution of the Monasteries under King Henry VIII of England, the last abbot, Richard Whiting, was hanged, drawn and quartered as a traitor on Glastonbury Tor in 1539. From at least the 12th century the Glastonbury area has been associated with the legend of King Arthur, Christian legends have claimed that the abbey was founded by Joseph of Arimathea in the 1st century. In 1955 Ralegh Radfords excavations uncovered Romano-British pottery at the west end of the cloister, the abbey was founded by Britons and dates at least to the early-7th century. Dark Age occupation of the site is evidenced by pieces of wine jars that were imported from the Mediterranean. A medieval Christian legend claimed that the abbey was founded by Joseph of Arimathea in the 1st century and this fanciful legend is intimately tied to Robert de Borons version of the Holy Grail story and Glastonburys connection with King Arthur from the early-12th century. Glastonbury fell into Saxon hands after the Battle of Peonnum in 658, saxons under Cenwalh of Wessex conquered Somerset as far west as the River Parrett, perhaps with the intention of gaining control of the abbey. Cenwalh allowed the British abbot, Bregored, to remain in power, after Bregoreds death in 669, he was replaced by an Anglo-Saxon, Berhtwald, but British monks remained for many years. A glassworks was established at the site during the 7th century, Glastonbury was ravaged by the Danes in the 9th century. The contemporary reformed soldier Saint Neot was sacristan at Glastonbury before he founded his own establishment in Somerset, Dunstan became Archbishop of Canterbury in 960. In 967, King Edmund was interred at Glastonbury, in 1016 Edmund Ironside, who had lost England to Canute but held onto the title of King of Wessex, was also buried there. Cnuts charter of 1032 was written and promulgated in the church at Glastonbury. The medieval Glastonbury Canal was built about the middle of the 10th century to link the abbey with the River Brue, a distance of about 1.75 kilometres. Its purpose is believed to have been to transport stone to build the abbey, much of the building stone came from the abbeys quarries at Doulting, accessed by way of the River Sheppey at Pilton. In the 13th century, the head boatman transported the abbot in an eight-oared boat on visits to the abbeys nearby manors
11.
Folklore
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Folklore is the body of expressive culture shared by a particular group of people, it encompasses the traditions common to that culture, subculture or group. These include oral traditions such as tales, proverbs and jokes and they include material culture, ranging from traditional building styles to handmade toys common to the group. Folklore also includes customary lore, the forms and rituals of celebrations like Christmas and weddings, folk dances, each one of these, either singly or in combination, is considered a folklore artifact. Just as essential as the form, folklore also encompasses the transmission of these artifacts from one region to another or from one generation to the next, for folklore is not taught in a formal school curriculum or studied in the fine arts. Instead these traditions are passed along informally from one individual to another either through verbal instruction or demonstration, the academic study of folklore is called folkloristics. To fully understand folklore, it is helpful to clarify its component parts and it is well-documented that the term was coined in 1846 by the Englishman William Thoms. He fabricated it to replace the contemporary terminology of popular antiquities or popular literature, the second half of the compound word, lore, proves easier to define as its meaning has stayed relatively stable over the last two centuries. Coming from Old English lār instruction, and with German and Dutch cognates, it is the knowledge and traditions of a particular group, the concept of folk proves somewhat more elusive. When Thoms first created this term, folk applied only to rural, frequently poor, a more modern definition of folk is a social group which includes two or more persons with common traits, who express their shared identity through distinctive traditions. Folk is a concept which can refer to a nation as in American folklore or to a single family. This expanded social definition of folk supports a view of the material, i. e. the lore. These now include all things people make with words, things they make with their hands, Folklore is no longer circumscribed as being chronologically old or obsolete. The folklorist studies the traditional artifacts of a group and how they are transmitted. Transmission is a part of the folklore process. Without communicating these beliefs and customs within the group over space and time, for folklore is also a verb. These folk artifacts continue to be passed along informally, as a rule anonymously, the folk group is not individualistic, it is community-based and nurtures its lore in community. As new groups emerge, new folklore is created… surfers, motorcyclists, in direct contrast to high culture, where any single work of a named artist is protected by copyright law, folklore is a function of shared identity within the social group. Having identified folk artifacts, the professional folklorist strives to understand the significance of these beliefs, customs, for these cultural units would not be passed along unless they had some continued relevance within the group
12.
Edward the Elder
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Edward the Elder was King of the Anglo-Saxons from 899 until his death. He became king in 899 upon the death of his father and he captured the eastern Midlands and East Anglia from the Danes in 917 and became ruler of Mercia in 918 upon the death of Æthelflæd, his sister. All but two of his charters give his title as Anglorum Saxonum rex, a title first used by his father, Alfred. According to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle the Kings of Scotland and Strathclyde and the rulers of Northumbria chose as father and lord in 920, Edwards cognomen the Elder was first used in Wulfstans Life of St Æthelwold to distinguish him from the later King Edward the Martyr. Mercia was the dominant kingdom in southern England in the eighth century, thereafter the two kingdoms became allies, which was to be an important factor in English resistance to the Vikings. In 865 the Danish Viking Great Heathen Army landed in East Anglia, the East Anglians were forced to buy peace and the following year the Vikings invaded Northumbria, where they appointed a puppet king in 867. They then moved on Mercia, where spent the winter of 867–868. The following year, the Danes conquered East Anglia, and in 874 they expelled King Burgred, in 877 the Vikings partitioned Mercia, taking the eastern regions for themselves and allowing Ceolwulf to keep the western ones. The situation was transformed the following year when Alfred won a victory over the Danes at the Battle of Edington. He was thus able to prevent the Vikings from taking Wessex and western Mercia, although they still occupied Northumbria, East Anglia, Alfred the Great married his Mercian queen Ealhswith in 868. Her father was Æthelred Mucel, Ealdorman of the Gaini, and her mother, Alfred and Ealhswith had five children who survived childhood. Their first child was Æthelflæd, who married Æthelred, Lord of the Mercians, Edward was next, and the second daughter, Æthelgifu, became abbess of Shaftesbury. The third daughter, Ælfthryth, married Baldwin, Count of Flanders, and this would usually suggest that he was intended for the church, but it is unlikely in Æthelweards case as he had sons. There were also a number of children who died young. Æthelflæd was probably born about a year after her parents marriage, yorke argues that he was therefore probably nearer in age to Ælfthryth than Æthelflæd. However, he led troops in battle in 893, and he must have been of age in that year as his oldest son Æthelstan was born about 894. They were taught the courtly qualities of gentleness and humility, and Asser wrote that they were obedient to their father and this is the only known case of an Anglo-Saxon prince and princess receiving the same upbringing. As a son of a king, Edward was an ætheling, however, even though he had the advantage of being the eldest son of the reigning king, his accession was not assured, as he had cousins who had a strong claim to the throne
