1.
Bayeux Tapestry
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According to Sylvette Lemagnen, conservator of the tapestry, The Bayeux tapestry is one of the supreme achievements of the Norman Romanesque. Its survival almost intact over nine centuries is little short of miraculous and its exceptional length, the harmony and freshness of its colours, its exquisite workmanship, and the genius of its guiding spirit combine to make it endlessly fascinating. The tapestry consists of some fifty scenes with Latin tituli, embroidered on linen with coloured woollen yarns and it is likely that it was commissioned by Bishop Odo, Williams half-brother, and made in England—not Bayeux—in the 1070s. In 1729 the hanging was rediscovered by scholars at a time when it was being displayed annually in Bayeux Cathedral, the tapestry is now exhibited at the Musée de la Tapisserie de Bayeux in Bayeux, Normandy, France. The designs on the Bayeux Tapestry are embroidered rather than woven, nevertheless, it has always been called a tapestry until recent years, when the more correct name Bayeux Embroidery has gained ground among art historians. Such tapestries adorned both churches and wealthy houses in England, though at 0.5 by 68.38 metres the Bayeux Tapestry is exceptionally large. Only the figures and decoration are embroidered, on a background left plain, the earliest known written reference to the tapestry is a 1476 inventory of Bayeux Cathedral, but its origins have been the subject of much speculation and controversy. French legend maintained the tapestry was commissioned and created by Queen Matilda, William the Conquerors wife, indeed, in France it is occasionally known as La Tapisserie de la Reine Mathilde. The actual physical work of stitching was most likely undertaken by female needle workers, Anglo-Saxon needlework of the more detailed type known as Opus Anglicanum was famous across Europe. It was perhaps commissioned for display in the hall of his palace and then bequeathed to the cathedral he built, following the pattern of the documented, carola Hicks has suggested it could possibly have been commissioned by Edith of Wessex. George Beech suggests the tapestry was executed at the Abbey of St. Florent in the Loire Valley, andrew Bridgeford has suggested that the tapestry was actually of English design and encoded with secret messages meant to undermine Norman rule. Nine linen panels, between fourteen and three metres in length, were together after each was embroidered and the joins were disguised with subsequent embroidery. At the first join the borders do not line up properly, the design involved a broad central zone with narrow decorative borders top and bottom. By inspecting the woollen threads behind the linen it is apparent all these aspects were embroidered together at a session, later generations have patched the hanging in numerous places and some of the embroidery has been reworked. The tapestry may well have maintained much of its original appearance—it now compares closely with a drawing made in 1730. The main yarn colours are terracotta or russet, blue-green, dull gold, olive green, later repairs are worked in light yellow, orange, and light greens. Laid yarns are couched in place with yarn of the same or contrasting colour, the tapestrys central zone contains most of the action, which sometimes overflows into the borders either for dramatic effect or because depictions would otherwise be very cramped. Events take place in a series of scenes which are generally separated by highly stylised trees
2.
Coronation
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The ceremony can also be conducted for the monarchs consort, either simultaneously with the monarch or as a separate event. A ceremony without the placement of a crown on the head is known as an enthronement. Coronations are still observed in the United Kingdom, Tonga, in addition to investing the monarch with symbols of state, Western-style coronations have often traditionally involve anointing with holy oil, or chrism as it is often called. Wherever a ruler is anointed in this way, as in Great Britain and Tonga, some other lands use bathing or cleansing rites, the drinking of a sacred beverage, or other religious practices to achieve a comparable effect. Such acts symbolise the granting of divine favour to the monarch within the relevant spiritual-religious paradigm of the country, in the past, concepts of royalty, coronation and deity were often inexorably linked. Rome promulgated the practice of worship, in Medieval Europe. Coronations were once a direct expression of these alleged connections. Thus, coronations have often been discarded altogether or altered to reflect the nature of the states in which they are held. However, some monarchies still choose to retain an overtly religious dimension to their accession rituals, others have adopted simpler enthronement or inauguration ceremonies, or even no ceremony at all. In non-Christian states, coronation rites evolved from a variety of sources, buddhism, for instance, influenced the coronation rituals of Thailand, Cambodia and Bhutan, while Hindu elements played a significant role in Nepalese rites. The ceremonies used in modern Egypt, Malaysia, Brunei and Iran were shaped by Islam, Coronations, in one form or another, have existed since ancient times. Egyptian records show coronation scenes, such as that of Seti I in 1290 BC, judeo-Christian scriptures testify to particular rites associated with the conferring of kingship, the most detailed accounts of which are found in II Kings 11,12 and II Chronicles 23,11. Following the assumption of the diadem by Constantine, Roman and Byzantine emperors continued to wear it as the symbol of their authority. Although no specific coronation ceremony was observed at first, one gradually evolved over the following century, the emperor Julian was hoisted upon a shield and crowned with a gold necklace provided by one of his standard-bearers, he later wore a jewel-studded diadem. Later emperors were crowned and acclaimed in a manner, until the momentous decision was taken to permit the Patriarch of Constantinople to physically place the crown on the emperors head. Historians debate when exactly this first took place, but the precedent was established by the reign of Leo II. This ritual included recitation of prayers by the Byzantine prelate over the crown, after this event, according to the Catholic Encyclopedia, the ecclesiastical element in the coronation ceremonial rapidly develop. This was usually performed three times, following this, the king was given a spear, and a diadem wrought of silk or linen was bound around his forehead as a token of regal authority
3.
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
4.
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
5.
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
6.
Senlac Hill
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Senlac Hill is the location where Harold Godwinson deployed his army for the Battle of Hastings on 14 October 1066. The name Senlac was popularised by the Victorian historian E. A. Freeman based solely on a description of the battle by the Anglo-Norman chronicler Orderic Vitalis, Freeman went on to suggest that the Normans nicknamed the area Blood lake as a pun on the English Sand lake. It is not improbable that Orderic would have known the English name for Senlac as he spent his life in England having been born to an English mother. His education, towards the end of his time in England, was from an English monk, however, Freemans hypothesis has been criticised by other historians as it relies purely on the evidence from Orderic Vitalis. Orderic was born nine years after the Battle of Hastings and chroniclers who were contemporary with the battle did not use the name Senlac. The name Senlac was introduced into English history by the Victorian historian E. A, Freeman, his only source for this being the Anglo-Norman chronicler Orderic Vitalis. Freeman suggested that Senlac was the name of the Battle of Hastings site since the name of the hill was Senlac and was near a stream called Santlache. Orderic describes Harolds forces as assembling for the battle ad locum, qui Senlac antiquitus vocabatur, Orderic was born in Atcham, Shropshire, England, the eldest son of a French priest, Odeler of Orléans and an English mother. When Orderic was five, his parents sent him to an English monk with the name of Siward, although Orderic moved to a monastery in Normandy at the age of ten, he seems to have maintained his links with England. Freeman concluded that it was possible for Orderic to have known the English name of the ridge. In fact there was a legend that was maintained for centuries after the battle that the soil in that area turned red after a heavy rainfall. Whose name and honours now are denizened for ours and that boding, ominous brook. From Michael Draytons Poly-Olbion 1612 Freeman suggested that Senlac meant Sand Lake in Old English with the Norman conquerors calling it Sanguelac. Freeman regarded this use as a pun because the English translation of Sanguelac is Blood lake, several historians disagreed with the Freeman analysis. John Horace Round published his Feudal England, Historical Studies on the XIth and XIIth Centuries in 1895 and he pointed out that Senlac was not an English word and was simply a fad if not an invention of Orderic Vitalis. Later documents however indicate that the abbey had a tract of land known as Santlache with the name Sandlake continuing for several centuries as a tithing in Battle, the Anglo-Saxon origin of the name Hastings was probably Hæsta-inga meaning clearing of Hæstas people. However another possible, again of Anglo-Saxon origin, is Asten-enge meaning meadow of the Asten, Freeman considered what Orderic Vitalis called the battlefield, namely Senlac, may have been a corruption of the original Anglo-Saxon name. Other scholars have suggested that the Anglo-Saxon form would have been scen-leag meaning beautiful meadow, the complete works of Michael Drayton now first collected. With introduction and notes by the Rev. Richard Hooper, the History of the Norman Conquest of England its causes and results
7.
Sussex
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Sussex, from the Old English Sūþsēaxe, is a historic county in South East England corresponding roughly in area to the ancient Kingdom of Sussex. Brighton and Hove was created as an authority in 1997. Until then, Chichester was Sussexs only city, Sussex has three main geographic sub-regions, each oriented approximately east to west. In the south-west is the fertile and densely populated coastal plain, North of this are the rolling chalk hills of the South Downs, beyond which is the well-wooded Sussex Weald. The name derives from the Kingdom of Sussex, which was founded, according to legend, in 825, it was absorbed into the kingdom of Wessex and subsequently into the kingdom of England. It was the home of some of Europes earliest hominids, whose remains have been found at Boxgrove, in 1974, the Lord-Lieutenant of Sussex was replaced with one each for East and West Sussex, which became separate ceremonial counties. Sussex continues to be recognised as a territory and cultural region. It has had a police force since 1968 and its name is in common use in the media. In 2007, Sussex Day was created to celebrate the rich culture. Based on the emblem of Sussex, a blue shield with six gold martlets. In 2013, Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government Eric Pickles formally recognised and acknowledged the existence of Englands 39 historic counties. The name Sussex is derived from the Middle English Suth-sæxe, which is in turn derived from the Old English Suth-Seaxe which means of the South Saxons, the South Saxons were a Germanic tribe that settled in the region from the North German Plain during the 5th and 6th centuries. The earliest known usage of the term South Saxons is in a charter of 689 which names them and their king, Noðhelm. The monastic chronicler who wrote up the entry classifying the invasion seems to have got his dates wrong, the New Latin word Suthsexia was used for Sussex by Dutch cartographer Joan Blaeu in his 1645 map. Three United States counties, and a former division of Western Australia, are named after Sussex. The flag of Sussex consists of six gold martlets, or heraldic swallows, on a background, blazoned as Azure. Officially recognised by the Flag Institute on 20 May 2011, its design is based on the shield of Sussex. The first known recording of this emblem being used to represent the county was in 1611 when cartographer John Speed deployed it to represent the Kingdom of the South Saxons
8.
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
9.
Waltham Abbey (town)
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Waltham Abbey is a suburban market town within the metropolitan area of London, England, the Greater London Urban Area and the Epping Forest District of Essex with a population of about 21,149. It is located 15 miles north east of central London and it is on the Greenwich Meridian, between the River Lea in the west and Epping Forest in the east. The town is situated north of the London Borough of Waltham Forest in East London and it is the resting place of King Harold Godwinson, who died in the Battle of Hastings in 1066. Henry VIII visited the town several times, including with his wife Anne Boleyn, Waltham Abbey takes its name from the Abbey Church of Waltham Holy Cross, a scheduled ancient monument that was prominent in the towns early history. The town is within the civil parish of Waltham Abbey which was known as Waltham Holy Cross until 1974. The parish has a council and is twinned with the German town of Hörstel. The name Waltham derives from weald or wald forest and ham homestead or enclosure, indeed, the former urban district was named Waltham Holy Cross, rather than Waltham Abbey. There are traces of prehistoric and Roman settlement in the town, ermine Street lies only 5 km west and the causeway across the River Lea from Waltham Cross in Hertfordshire may be a Roman construction. A local legend claims that Boudicas rebellion against the Romans ended in the neighbourhood and it is this cross that gave Waltham the earliest suffix to its name. After Tovis death around 1045, Waltham reverted to the King, Harold rebuilt Tovis church in stone around 1060, in gratitude it is said for his cure from a paralysis, through praying before the miraculous cross. Walthams people used the abbey as their church, and paid their tithes, worked the glebe as well any of their lords land. Legend has it that after his death at the Battle of Hastings in 1066, today, the spot is marked by a stone slab in the churchyard. In 1184, this was enlarged so that Waltham became an abbey with an abbot and twenty-four canons, to the abbeys west and south, the town grew as a linear development around a crossing road, although it had a single north-south High Street as late as 1848. The former, which existed from at least 1375, occupied the Lady Chapel in the part of the church. The Charnel Guild, which occurs as the Sepulchre in 1366, the towns dependence on the Abbey is signalled by its decline after the Abbey was dissolved and partially demolished in 1540, the last working abbey or monastery to be dissolved. Waltham Abbey vicarage is a 17th-century timber framed and plastered building and it was given by Edward Denny, 1st Earl of Norwich to create the first curacy, but was much altered in the 18th century and later, and was more recently architecturally Grade II*listed. In the early 19th century the church held three Sunday services, including one in the evening for the factory workers. In 1862, Holy Communion was celebrated monthly and attended by about 100, in the 17th century there were four churchwardens, one each for the town, Holyfield, Upshire, and Sewardstone
10.
Bosham
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Bosham /ˈbɒzəm/ is a coastal village and civil parish in the Chichester District of West Sussex, England, centred about 2 miles west of Chichester with its clustered developed part west of this. Its land forms a peninsula projecting into natural Chichester Harbour where Bosham has its own harbour. The parish has an area of 3,400 acres, in the 2001 census its 2,847 people lived in 1,313 households, of whom 1,358 were economically active. An electoral ward in the name exists. This ward includes the Civil Parish of Chidham and Hambrook with a population taken at the 2011 census of 4,256. The locality is referred to by its earlier name, Broadbridge. Bosham is surrounded by varying width green buffer land, the vast bulk of which is the south of the peninsular and this includes the site of the original village centre on the harbour as well as the farmland and private property of Bosham Hoe. At spring tides the sea comes up high flooding the lower road. The site has been inhabited since Roman times, and is close to the villa at Fishbourne. The Romans were responsible for the villages Mill Stream as there was no fresh water, tradition holds that Emperor Vespasian maintained a residence in Bosham, although there is little evidence of this. There are, however, the remains of a villa thought to belong to Vespasian. Pottery and tile fragments, of both Roman and early British period, have discovered in the area, confirming pre-Anglo-Saxon activity. The Roman harbour here was known as Magnus Portus and its position, much of Boshams history during the Early Middle Ages is ecclesiastical. The village is one of five places that appear on the map attached to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle of around this time. There is a tradition that a daughter of Canute the Great drowned in a brook and was buried here. The tradition was linked to a fourteenth- or fifteenth-century effigy. In 1865 a coffin containing a skeleton was discovered, buried in the nave in front of what is now the chancel of Holy Trinity Church. This was thought to be Canutes daughter, Canute had a palace in the village, probably where the Manor House now stands, or possibly at the harbours edge
11.
Edith the Fair
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Edith the Fair, also known as Edith Swanneck, was the first wife of King Harold Godwinson. Swanneck comes from the folk etymology which made her in Old English as swann hnecca, swan neck and she is sometimes confused with Ealdgyth, daughter of Earl Ælfgar of Mercia, who was queen during Harolds reign. She may be identical with Eadgifu the Fair, who was one of the wealthiest magnates in England on the eve of the Norman conquest. Their children included Gunhild of Wessex, who became the mistress of Alan Rufus, and Gytha of Wessex, Gytha was addressed as princess and married the Grand Duke of Kiev, Vladimir II Monomakh. Edith the Fair was remembered in history and folklore chiefly because it was she who identified Harolds body after the Battle of Hastings. It was then that Edith the Fair walked through the carnage of the battle so that she might identify Harold by markings on his chest known only to her. It was because of Edith the Fairs identification of Harolds body that Harold was given a Christian burial by the monks at Waltham Abbey. In this work, Flint overturns many of the assumptions made about Ediths relationship with Harold Godwinson, including the fidelity of the couples marital union. Flint argues that Edith and Harold were almost certainly married under the Danish more danico or hand-fast marriage custom, as evidence for this, he cites a number of dowry bequests that were made at the time of Ediths union to Harold. In fact, the Anglo-Saxons had practiced hand-fast marriage long before Danish conquest, flints identification of Edith as the Walsingham visionary is rooted in his belief that the earlier date of shrines foundation, given by Richard Pynson as 1061, is credible. Flint contests the theories of J. C, in defending Ediths Christian character Flint cites her friendship with Wulfstan of Worcester. Helen Hollick - Harold the King G. A, the German poet Heinrich Heine wrote Schlachtfeld bei Hastings. In this poem, Edith and two search the battlefield for the body of King Harold. gutenberg. Transactions of East Riding Antiquarian Society, Volume 4, pages 11–22
12.
Dynasty
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A dynasty is a sequence of rulers from the same family, usually in the context of a feudal or monarchical system but sometimes also appearing in elective republics. The dynastic family or lineage may be known as a house, historians periodize the histories of many sovereign states, such as Ancient Egypt, the Carolingian Empire and Imperial China, using a framework of successive dynasties. As such, the dynasty may be used to delimit the era during which the family reigned and to describe events, trends. The word dynasty itself is often dropped from such adjectival references, until the 19th century, it was taken for granted that a legitimate function of a monarch was to aggrandize his dynasty, that is, to increase the territory, wealth, and power of his family members. The longest-surviving dynasty in the world is the Imperial House of Japan, dynasties throughout the world have traditionally been reckoned patrilineally, such as under the Frankish Salic law. Succession through a daughter when permitted was considered to establish a new dynasty in her husbands ruling house, however, some states in Africa, determined descent matrilineally, while rulers have at other times adopted the name of their mothers dynasty when coming into her inheritance. It is also extended to unrelated people such as poets of the same school or various rosters of a single sports team. The word dynasty derives via Latin dynastia from Greek dynastéia, where it referred to power, dominion and it was the abstract noun of dynástēs, the agent noun of dynamis, power or ability, from dýnamai, to be able. A ruler in a dynasty is referred to as a dynast. For example, following his abdication, Edward VIII of the United Kingdom ceased to be a member of the House of Windsor. A dynastic marriage is one that complies with monarchical house law restrictions, the marriage of Willem-Alexander, Prince of Orange, to Máxima Zorreguieta in 2002 was dynastic, for example, and their eldest child is expected to inherit the Dutch crown eventually. But the marriage of his younger brother Prince Friso to Mabel Wisse Smit in 2003 lacked government support, thus Friso forfeited his place in the order of succession, lost his title as a Prince of the Netherlands, and left his children without dynastic rights. In historical and monarchist references to formerly reigning families, a dynast is a member who would have had succession rights, were the monarchys rules still in force. Even since abolition of the Austrian monarchy, Max and his descendants have not been considered the rightful pretenders by Austrian monarchists, nor have they claimed that position. The term dynast is sometimes used only to refer to descendants of a realms monarchs. The term can therefore describe overlapping but distinct sets of people, yet he is not a male-line member of the royal family, and is therefore not a dynast of the House of Windsor. Thus, in 1999 he requested and obtained permission from Elizabeth II to marry the Roman Catholic Princess Caroline of Monaco. Yet a clause of the English Act of Settlement 1701 remained in effect at that time and that exclusion, too, ceased to apply on 26 March 2015, with retroactive effect for those who had been dynasts prior to triggering it by marriage to a Catholic
13.
Anglo-Saxons
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The Anglo-Saxons are a people who have inhabited Great Britain from the 5th century. Historically, the Anglo-Saxon period denotes the period in Britain between about 450 and 1066, after their settlement and up until the Norman conquest. The early Anglo-Saxon period includes the creation of an English nation, with many of the aspects that survive today, including government of shires. During this period, Christianity was re-established and there was a flowering of literature, charters and law were also established. The term Anglo-Saxon is popularly used for the language that was spoken and written by the Anglo-Saxons in England, in scholarly use, it is more commonly called Old English. The history of the Anglo-Saxons is the history of a cultural identity and it developed from divergent groups in association with the peoples adoption of Christianity, and was integral to the establishment of various kingdoms. Threatened by extended Danish invasions and occupation of eastern England, this identity was re-established, the visible Anglo-Saxon culture can be seen in the material culture of buildings, dress styles, illuminated texts and grave goods. Behind the symbolic nature of these emblems, there are strong elements of tribal. The elite declared themselves as kings who developed burhs, and identified their roles and peoples in Biblical terms, above all, as Helena Hamerow has observed, local and extended kin groups remained. the essential unit of production throughout the Anglo-Saxon period. Use of the term Anglo-Saxon assumes that the words Angles, Saxons or Anglo-Saxon have the meaning in all the sources. Assigning ethnic labels such as Anglo-Saxon is fraught with difficulties and this term began to be used only in the 8th century to distinguish the Germanic groups in Britain from those on the continent. The Old English ethnonym Angul-Seaxan comes from the Latin Angli-Saxones and became the name of the peoples Bede calls Anglorum, Anglo-Saxon is a term that was rarely used by Anglo-Saxons themselves, it is not an autonym. It is likely they identified as ængli, Seaxe or, more probably, also, the use of Anglo-Saxon disguises the extent to which people identified as Anglo-Scandinavian after the Viking age or the conquest of 1016, or as Anglo-Norman after the Norman conquest. The earliest historical references using this term are from outside Britain, referring to piratical Germanic raiders, Saxones who attacked the shores of Britain, procopius states that Britain was settled by three races, the Angiloi, Frisones, and Britons. The term Angli Saxones seems to have first been used in writing of the 8th century. The name therefore seemed to mean English Saxons, the Christian church seems to have used the word Angli, for example in the story of Pope Gregory I and his remark, Non Angli sed angeli. The terms ænglisc and Angelcynn were also used by West Saxon King Alfred to refer to the people, at other times he uses the term rex Anglorum, which presumably meant both Anglo-Saxons and Danes. Alfred the Great used Anglosaxonum Rex, the term Engla cyningc is used by Æthelred
14.
Battle of Hastings
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It took place approximately 7 miles northwest of Hastings, close to the present-day town of Battle, East Sussex, and was a decisive Norman victory. The background to the battle was the death of the childless King Edward the Confessor in January 1066, Harold was crowned king shortly after Edwards death, but faced invasions by William, his own brother Tostig and the Norwegian King Harald Hardrada. Hardrada and Tostig defeated a hastily gathered army of Englishmen at the Battle of Fulford on 20 September 1066, the deaths of Tostig and Hardrada at Stamford Bridge left William as Harolds only serious opponent. While Harold and his forces were recovering, William landed his forces in the south of England at Pevensey on 28 September 1066. Harold was forced to march south swiftly, gathering forces as he went, the exact numbers present at the battle are unknown, modern estimates are around 10,000 for William and about 7,000 for Harold. Harold appears to have tried to surprise William, but scouts found his army and reported its arrival to William, the battle lasted from about 9 am to dusk. Early efforts of the invaders to break the English battle lines had little effect, therefore, Harolds death, probably near the end of the battle, led to the retreat and defeat of most of his army. After further marching and some skirmishes, William was crowned as king on Christmas Day 1066, there continued to be rebellions and resistance to Williams rule, but Hastings effectively marked the culmination of Williams conquest of England. Casualty figures are hard to come by, but some estimate that 2,000 invaders died along with about twice that number of Englishmen. William founded a monastery at the site of the battle, the altar of the abbey church supposedly placed at the spot where Harold died. In 911, French Carolingian ruler Charles the Simple allowed a group of Vikings to settle in Normandy under their leader Rollo and their settlement proved successful, and they quickly adapted to the indigenous culture, renouncing paganism, converting to Christianity, and intermarrying with the local population. Over time, the frontiers of the duchy expanded to the west, in 1002, King Æthelred II of England married Emma, the sister of Richard II, Duke of Normandy. Their son Edward the Confessor spent many years in exile in Normandy, Edward was childless and embroiled in conflict with the formidable Godwin, Earl of Wessex and his sons, and he may also have encouraged Duke William of Normandys ambitions for the English throne. Following King Edwards death on 5 January 1066, the lack of a clear heir led to a succession in which several contenders laid claim to the throne of England. Edwards immediate successor was the Earl of Wessex, Harold Godwinson, Harold was at once challenged by two powerful neighbouring rulers. Duke William claimed that he had promised the throne by King Edward. Harald III of Norway, commonly known as Harald Hardrada, also contested the succession, William and Harald Hardrada immediately set about assembling troops and ships for separate invasions. In early 1066, Harolds exiled brother Tostig Godwinson raided south-eastern England with a fleet he had recruited in Flanders, threatened by Harolds fleet, Tostig moved north and raided in East Anglia and Lincolnshire
15.
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
16.
Norman conquest of England
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Williams claim to the English throne derived from his familial relationship with the childless Anglo-Saxon King Edward the Confessor, who may have encouraged Williams hopes for the throne. Edward died in January 1066 and was succeeded by his brother-in-law Harold Godwinson, within days, William landed in southern England. Harold marched south to confront him, leaving a significant portion of his army in the north, Harolds army confronted Williams invaders on 14 October at the Battle of Hastings, Williams force defeated Harold, who was killed in the engagement. Although Williams main rivals were gone, he faced rebellions over the following years and was not secure on his throne until after 1072. The lands of the resisting English elite were confiscated, some of the elite fled into exile, to control his new kingdom, William granted lands to his followers and built castles commanding military strongpoints throughout the land. More gradual changes affected the classes and village life, the main change appears to have been the formal elimination of slavery. There was little alteration in the structure of government, as the new Norman administrators took over many of the forms of Anglo-Saxon government. In 911 the Carolingian French ruler Charles the Simple allowed a group of Vikings under their leader Rollo to settle in Normandy as part of the Treaty of Saint-Clair-sur-Epte. In exchange for the land, the Norsemen under Rollo were expected to provide protection along the coast against further Viking invaders and their settlement proved successful, and the Vikings in the region became known as the Northmen from which Normandy and Normans are derived. The Normans quickly adopted the culture, renouncing paganism and converting to Christianity. They adopted the langue doïl of their new home and added features from their own Norse language, in 1002 King Æthelred the Unready married Emma of Normandy, the sister of Richard II, Duke of Normandy. Their son Edward the Confessor, who spent many years in exile in Normandy, childless and embroiled in conflict with the formidable Godwin, Earl of Wessex and his sons, Edward may also have encouraged Duke William of Normandys ambitions for the English throne. When King Edward died at the beginning of 1066, the lack of a clear heir led to a succession in which several contenders laid claim to the throne of England. Edwards immediate successor was the Earl of Wessex, Harold Godwinson, Harold was immediately challenged by two powerful neighbouring rulers. William and Harald at once set about assembling troops and ships to invade England, in early 1066, Harolds exiled brother, Tostig Godwinson, raided southeastern England with a fleet he had recruited in Flanders, later joined by other ships from Orkney. Threatened by Harolds fleet, Tostig moved north and raided in East Anglia and Lincolnshire, but he was back to his ships by the brothers Edwin, Earl of Mercia. Deserted by most of his followers, he withdrew to Scotland, King Harald Hardrada invaded northern England in early September, leading a fleet of more than 300 ships carrying perhaps 15,000 men. Haralds army was augmented by the forces of Tostig, who threw his support behind the Norwegian kings bid for the throne
17.
History of Anglo-Saxon England
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Anglo-Saxon England was early medieval England, existing from the 5th to the 11th century from the end of Roman Britain until the Norman conquest in 1066. It consisted of various Anglo-Saxon kingdoms until 927 when it was united as the Kingdom of England by King Æthelstan and it became part of the North Sea Empire of Cnut the Great, a personal union between England, Denmark and Norway in the 11th century. The Anglo-Saxons were the members of Germanic-speaking groups who migrated to the half of the island from continental Europe. Anglo-Saxon identity survived beyond the Norman conquest, came to be known as Englishry under Norman rule, Bede completed his book Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum in around 731. Thus the term for English people was in use by then to distinguish Germanic groups in Britain from those on the continent, the historian James Campbell suggested that it was not until the late Anglo-Saxon period that England could be described as a nation state. It is certain that the concept of Englishness only developed very slowly, as the Roman occupation of Britain was coming to an end, Constantine III withdrew the remains of the army, in reaction to the barbarian invasion of Europe. The Romano-British leaders were faced with a security problem from seaborne raids. The expedient adopted by the Romano-British leaders was to enlist the help of Anglo-Saxon mercenaries, in about 442 the Anglo-Saxons mutinied, apparently because they had not been paid. There then followed several years of fighting between the British and the Anglo-Saxons, the fighting continued until around 500, when, at the Battle of Mount Badon, the Britons inflicted a severe defeat on the Anglo-Saxons. There are records of Germanic infiltration into Britain that date before the collapse of the Roman Empire and it is believed that the earliest Germanic visitors were eight cohorts of Batavians attached to the 14th Legion in the original invasion force under Aulus Plautius in AD43. There is a hypothesis that some of the tribes, identified as Britons by the Romans. It was quite common for Rome to swell its legions with foederati recruited from the German homelands and this practice also extended to the army serving in Britain, and graves of these mercenaries, along with their families, can be identified in the Roman cemeteries of the period. The migration continued with the departure of the Roman army, when Anglo-Saxons were recruited to defend Britain, and also during the period of the Anglo-Saxon first rebellion of 442. The arrival of the Anglo-Saxons into Britain can be seen in the context of a movement of Germanic peoples around Europe between the years 300 and 700, known as the Migration period. In the same there were migrations of Britons to the Armorican peninsula, initially around 383 during Roman rule. The historian Peter Hunter-Blair expounded what is now regarded as the view of the Anglo-Saxon arrival in Britain. He suggested a mass immigration, fighting and driving the Sub-Roman Britons off their land and into the extremities of the islands. This view was influenced by sources such as Bede, where he talks about the Britons being slaughtered or going into perpetual servitude
18.
Cnut the Great
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King Cnut the Great, also known as Canute, was King of Denmark, England, and Norway, together often referred to as the Anglo-Scandinavian or North Sea Empire. After his death, the deaths of his heirs within a decade, the medieval historian Norman Cantor said he was the most effective king in Anglo-Saxon history, though he was Danish and not a Briton or Anglo-Saxon. Cnuts father was Sweyn Forkbeard, King of Denmark, the identity of his mother is uncertain, although medieval tradition makes her a daughter of Mieszko I. As a Danish prince, Cnut won the throne of England in 1016 in the wake of centuries of Viking activity in northwestern Europe and his accession to the Danish throne in 1018 brought the crowns of England and Denmark together. Cnut maintained his power by uniting Danes and English under cultural bonds of wealth and custom, after a decade of conflict with opponents in Scandinavia, Cnut claimed the crown of Norway in Trondheim in 1028. The Swedish city Sigtuna was held by Cnut and he had coins struck there that called him king, but there is no narrative record of his occupation. Cnut attempted to gain concessions on the tolls his people had to pay on the way to Rome from other magnates of medieval Christendom, the Anglo-Saxon kings used the title king of the English. Cnut was ealles Engla landes cyning—king of all England, Cnut was a son of the Danish Prince Sweyn Forkbeard, who was the son and heir to King Harald Bluetooth from a line of Scandinavian rulers central to the unification of Denmark. Neither the place nor the date of his birth are known, Harthacnut was the semi-legendary founder of the Danish royal house at the beginning of the 10th century, and his son, Gorm the Old, was the first in the official line. Harald Bluetooth, Gorms son and Cnuts grandfather, was the Danish king at the time of the Christianization of Denmark, Cnut was two years old when his grandfather, Harald Bluetooth, died, and his father, Sweyn Forkbeard, assumed the throne. The Chronicon of Thietmar of Merseburg and the Encomium Emmae report Cnuts mother as having been a daughter of Mieszko I of Poland, since in the Norse sagas the king of Vindland is always Burislav, this is reconcilable with the assumption that her father was Mieszko. Different theories regarding the number and ancestry of Sweyns wives have been brought forward, Cnuts brother Harald was the first born and crown prince. His date of birth, like his mothers name, is unknown, contemporary works such as the Chronicon and the Encomium Emmae, do not mention this. Even so, in a Knútsdrápa by the skald Óttarr svarti and it also mentions a battle identifiable with Sweyn Forkbeards invasion of England and attack on the city of Norwich, in 1003/04, after the St. Brices Day massacre of Danes by the English, in 1002. If it is the case that Cnut was part of this, his birthdate may be near 990, if not, and the skalds poetic verse envisages another assault, such as Forkbeards conquest of England in 1013/14, it may even suggest a birth date nearer 1000. There is a passage of the Encomiast with a reference to the force Cnut led in his English conquest of 1015/16, here it says all the Vikings were of mature age under Cnut the king. He had a fair complexion none-the-less, and a fine, thick head of hair and his eyes were better than those of other men, both the handsomer and the keener of their sight. Hardly anything is known for sure of Cnuts life until the year he was part of a Scandinavian force under his father, King Sweyn and it was the climax to a succession of Viking raids spread over a number of decades
19.
Witenagemot
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The Witenaġemot, also known as the Witan was a political institution in Anglo-Saxon England which operated from before the 7th century until the 11th century. The institution is thought to represent a development of the ancient Germanic general assemblies. The terms Witan and Witenagemot are increasingly avoided by historians, although few would go as far as Geoffrey Hindley. The Blackwell Encyclopaedia of Anglo-Saxon England prefers Kings Council, but adds that it was known in Old English as the witan, for these reasons, in his study of the origins of the English parliament, he generally preferred the more neutral word assembly. He described witena gemot as an eleventh century usage, with only nine pre-Conquest examples. Patrick Wormald was also sceptical, describing witena-gemot as a word always rare, despite historians best efforts to find in it some permanence of character, the exact nature of the witenagemot remains essentially vague, fluctuating, and incoherent. Nevertheless, there is direct evidence of the witans various activities. Knowledge about who made up the witan and who was present at their meetings is provided mainly by lists of witnesses to charters, or grants of land, reference to the witans acta or official decisions are also preserved in law codes. The first recorded act of a witenagemot was the law code issued by King Æthelberht of Kent ca,600, the earliest document which survives in sustained Old English prose, however, the witan was certainly in existence long before this time. Altogether, about 2000 charters and 40 law codes survive which attest to the workings of the meetings of the witan. These documents clearly indicate that the witan was composed of the nations highest echelon of both ecclesiastical and secular officers, present on the ecclesiastical side were archbishops, bishops, and abbots, and occasionally also abbesses and priests, on the secular side ealdormen and thegns. Members of the family were also present, and the king presided over the entire body. In his investigation into Anglo-Saxon institutions, H. M. Chadwick wrote, I have not thought it necessary to discuss at length the nature of the powers possessed by the council, there can be little hope of arriving at any definite conclusions on this subject. Indeed it seems at least doubtful whether the functions of the council were ever properly defined, similarly, in his study of the witenagemots, Felix Liebermann stated that its functions and power differ. Still, he was able to give a detailed description of its constitution. The king, generally indeed advised by the nobility, conferred prelatures and ealdormanries. Members of the family, ladies not excepted, were present at many gemots. The witan was noted by contemporary sources as having the power to ceosan to cyninge
20.
Westminster Abbey
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It is one of the United Kingdoms most notable religious buildings and the traditional place of coronation and burial site for English and, later, British monarchs. Between 1540 and 1556, the abbey had the status of a cathedral, since 1560, however, the building is no longer an abbey nor a cathedral, having instead the status of a Church of England Royal Peculiar—a church responsible directly to the sovereign. The building itself is the abbey church. According to a tradition first reported by Sulcard in about 1080, a church was founded at the site in the 7th century, at the time of Mellitus, construction of the present church began in 1245, on the orders of King Henry III. Since the coronation of William the Conqueror in 1066, all coronations of English and British monarchs have held in Westminster Abbey. There have been at least 16 royal weddings at the abbey since 1100, two were of reigning monarchs, although, before 1919, there had been none for some 500 years. The first reports of the abbey are based on a tradition claiming that a young fisherman called Aldrich on the River Thames saw a vision of Saint Peter near the site. This seems to be quoted to justify the gifts of salmon from Thames fishermen that the abbey received in later years, in the present was, the Fishmongers Company still gives a salmon every year. The proven origins are that in the 960s or early 970s, Saint Dunstan, assisted by King Edgar, between 1042 and 1052, King Edward the Confessor began rebuilding St Peters Abbey to provide himself with a royal burial church. It was the first church in England built in the Romanesque style, the building was completed around 1090 and was consecrated on 28 December 1065, only a week before Edwards death on 5 January 1066. A week later, he was buried in the church, and, nine years later and his successor, Harold II, was probably crowned in the abbey, although the first documented coronation is that of William the Conqueror later the same year. The only extant depiction of Edwards abbey, together with the adjacent Palace of Westminster, is in the Bayeux Tapestry, construction of the present church was begun in 1245 by Henry III who selected the site for his burial. The abbot and monks, in proximity to the royal Palace of Westminster, the abbot often was employed on royal service and in due course took his place in the House of Lords as of right. The abbey built shops and dwellings on the west side, encroaching upon the sanctuary, the abbey became the coronation site of Norman kings. The Confessors shrine subsequently played a part in his canonisation. The work continued between 1245 and 1517 and was finished by the architect Henry Yevele in the reign of Richard II. Henry III also commissioned the unique Cosmati pavement in front of the High Altar, Henry VII added a Perpendicular style chapel dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary in 1503. Much of the came from Caen, in France, the Isle of Portland
21.
Harald Hardrada
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Harald Sigurdsson, given the epithet Hardrada in the sagas, was King of Norway from 1046 to 1066. In addition, he claimed the Danish throne until 1064. Prior to becoming king, Harald had spent around fifteen years in exile as a mercenary and military commander in Kievan Rus, when he was fifteen years old, in 1030, Harald fought in the Battle of Stiklestad together with his half-brother Olaf Haraldsson. Olaf sought to reclaim the Norwegian throne, which he had lost to the Danish king Cnut the Great two years prior, in the battle, Olaf and Harald were defeated by forces loyal to Cnut, and Harald was forced into exile to Kievan Rus. He thereafter spent some time in the army of Grand Prince Yaroslav the Wise, eventually obtaining rank as a captain, Harald amassed considerable wealth during his time in the Byzantine Empire, which he shipped to Yaroslav in Kievan Rus for safekeeping. He finally left the Byzantines in 1042, and arrived back in Kievan Rus in order to prepare his campaign of reclaiming the Norwegian throne, possibly to Haralds knowledge, in his absence the Norwegian throne had been restored from the Danes to Olafs illegitimate son Magnus the Good. In 1046, Harald joined forces with Magnuss rival in Denmark, the pretender Sweyn II of Denmark, Magnus, unwilling to fight his uncle, agreed to share the kingship with Harald, since Harald in turn would share his wealth with him. The co-rule ended abruptly the next year as Magnus died, domestically, Harald crushed all local and regional opposition, and outlined the territorial unification of Norway under a national governance. Haralds reign was one of relative peace and stability, and he instituted a viable coin economy. Probably seeking to restore Cnuts North Sea Empire, Harald also claimed the Danish throne, although the campaigns were successful, he was never able to conquer Denmark. Harald went along and entered Northern England in September 1066, raided the coast, although initially successful, Harald was defeated and killed in an attack by Harold Godwinsons forces in the Battle of Stamford Bridge. Modern historians have often considered Haralds death at Stamford Bridge, which brought an end to his invasion, Harald is also commonly held to have been the last great Viking king, or even the last great Viking. Through his mother Åsta, Harald was the youngest of King Olaf Haraldssons three half-brothers, in his youth, Harald displayed traits of a typical rebel with big ambitions, and admired Olaf as his role model. He thus differed from his two brothers, who were more similar to their father, down-to-earth and mostly concerned with maintaining the farm. The Icelandic sagas, in particular Snorri Sturluson in Heimskringla, claim that Sigurd, following a revolt in 1028, Haralds brother Olaf was forced into exile until he returned to Norway in early 1030. On hearing news of Olafs planned return, Harald gathered 600 men from the Uplands to meet Olaf and his men upon their arrival in the east of Norway. After a friendly welcome, Olaf went on to gather an army and eventually fight in the Battle of Stiklestad on 29 July 1030, the battle was part of an attempt to restore Olaf to the Norwegian throne, which had been captured by the Danish king Cnut the Great. The battle resulted in defeat for the brothers at the hands of those Norwegians who were loyal to Cnut, Harald was nonetheless remarked to have shown considerable military talent during the battle
22.
Ancestry of the Godwins
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Very little is known for certain of the ancestry of the Godwins, the family of the last Anglo-Saxon King of England, Harold II. When King Edward the Confessor died in January 1066 his closest relative was his great-nephew, Edgar the Ætheling, Harold was the head of the most powerful family in England and Edwards brother-in-law, and he became king. The family is named after Harolds father, Earl Godwin, who had risen to a position of wealth, in 1045 Godwins daughter, Edith, married King Edward the Confessor, and by the mid-1050s Harold and his brothers had become dominant, almost monopolising the English earldoms. He was probably the son of Wulfnoth Cild, a South Saxon thegn, a few genealogists and historians argue that he was descended from Alfred the Greats elder brother, King Æthelred I, but almost all historians of Anglo-Saxon England reject this theory. Earl Godwin is probably first recorded in 1014, when Godwin, as Earl Godwin was later recorded as holding land at Compton in Sussex it is likely that he was the Godwin mentioned in Æthelstan Æthelings will. Historians think that he was probably the son of the outlawed South Saxon thegn Wulfnoth Cild, in 1009 Wulfnoth was accused of unknown crimes at a muster of King Æthelreds fleet, and fled with twenty ships, a force sent in pursuit was destroyed in a storm. Æthelreds daughter Eadgyth married Æthelrics son Eadric Streona, while Eadgyths half-brother Edward the Confessor married Godwins daughter Edith, if Godwin was Æthelrics great-grandson, then Edith was his great-great-granddaughter. John of Worcester also stated that Wulfnoths rebellion was provoked by unjust charges brought by Eadric Streonas brother, the Life of Edward the Confessor, commissioned by his widow Edith, who was Harolds sister, is silent on her familys origin. In a section designed to eulogise her family, Godwin is described as blessed in his ancestral stock, in the view of the historian Frank Barlow, There is massive evasion here. Historians generally discount a later tradition that he was the son of a churl or a farmer. In her Oxford Dictionary of National Biography article on Godwins son, King Harold Godwinson, Robin Fleming says of Godwin and he was the quintessential new man. A few scholars have put forward a genealogical reconstruction making the Godwins descend from Alfred the Greats elder brother, King Æthelred I of Wessex. The theory was first proposed by the historian Alfred Anscombe in 1913, and advocated by the genealogist Lundie W. Barlow in 1957 and the Mayanist scholar and genealogist David H. Kelley in 1989. It was later in the possession of Wulfnoth, presumably confiscated after his rebellion, immediately before the bequest to Godwin is one to an Ælmære. Calling him Ælmær, Anscombe identifies this legatee as Ealdorman Æthelmær the Stout and he supports this relationship with two further arguments. Anscombe likewise places value in John of Worcesters pedigree that shows Godwins father Wulfnoth as son of Agelmær, in his 2002 book The Godwins, Frank Barlow sympathetically examined the arguments put forward by Anscombe and Lundie Barlow. He included a tree based on their work, showing Godwins descent from Æthelred I. He stated nevertheless that This pedigree, even if mistaken, is of the right type, Frank Barlow is almost alone among modern scholars in taking the theory seriously
23.
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
24.
Sweyn Forkbeard
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Sweyn Forkbeard was king of Denmark, England, and parts of Norway. His name appears as Swegen in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle and he was the son of King Harald Bluetooth of Denmark, and the father of Cnut the Great. In the mid-980s, Sweyn revolted against his father and seized the throne, Harald was driven into exile and died shortly afterwards in November 986 or 987. In 1000, with the allegiance of Trondejarl, Eric of Lade, in 1013, shortly before his death, he became the first Danish king of England after a long effort. Many details about Sweyns life are contested, Adam of Bremen identifies his mother as Gunhild while the Dictionary of National Biography states that his mothers name is unknown. The Danish encyclopedia Den Store Danske on the other hand identifies her as Tove from the Western Wendland, many negative accounts build on Adam of Bremens writings, Adam is said to have watched Sweyn and Scandinavia in general with an unsympathetic and intolerant eye, according to some scholars. Adam accused Forkbeard of being a pagan who persecuted Christians, betrayed his father and expelled German bishops from Scania. According to Adam, Sweyn was sent into exile by his fathers German friends and deposed in favour of king Eric the Victorious of Sweden, whom Adam wrote ruled Denmark until his death in 994 or 995. Historians generally have problems with Adams claims, such as that Sweyn was driven into exile in Scotland for a period as long as fourteen years. As many scholars point out, he built churches in Denmark throughout this period, such as Lund and Roskilde, Sweyn was believed to have had a personal interest in the atrocities, with his sister Gunhilde and her husband possibly amongst the victims. Sweyn campaigned in Wessex and East Anglia in 1003–1004, but a famine forced him to return to Denmark in 1005, further raids took place in 1006–1007, and in 1009–1012 Thorkell the Tall led a Viking invasion into England. Simon Keynes regards it as uncertain whether Sweyn supported these invasions, some scholars have argued that Sweyns participation may have been prompted by his state of impoverishment after having been forced to pay a hefty ransom. He needed revenue from the raids and he acquired massive sums of Danegeld through the raids. In 1013, he is reported to have led his forces in a full-scale invasion of England. The contemporary Peterborough Chronicle, one of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicles, states and he went very quickly about East Anglia into the Humbers mouth, and so upward along the Trent till he came to Gainsborough. Earl Uchtred and all Northumbria quickly bowed to him, as did all the people of the Kingdom of Lindsey and he was given hostages from each shire. After he came over Watling Street, they went to Oxford, and the town-dwellers soon bowed to him, from there they went to Winchester, and the people did the same, then eastward to London. But the Londoners put up a resistance, because King Æthelred and Thorkell the Tall
25.
Sweyn II of Denmark
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Sweyn II Estridsson was King of Denmark from 1047 until his death in 1076. He was the son of Ulf Jarl and Estrid Svendsdatter and he was married three times, and fathered 20 children or more out of wedlock, including the five future kings Harald III Hen, Canute IV the Saint, Oluf I Hunger, Eric I Evergood, and Niels. He was courageous in battle, but did not have success as a military commander. His skeleton reveals that he was a tall, powerfully built man who walked with a limp, Sweyn was born in England, as the son of Ulf Jarl and Estrid Svendsdatter, the daughter of king Sweyn I of Denmark and sister of king Canute the Great. Sweyn grew up a military leader, and served under king Anund Jacob of Sweden for a time and he pillaged the Elbe-Weser area in 1040, but was caught by the Archbishop of Hamburg-Bremen, who released him shortly thereafter. Svend was made jarl under Danish king Harthacnut, and led a campaign for him against Norway, when Harthacnut died in 1042, Magnus claimed the Danish throne and made Svend his jarl of Jutland. In 1043, Sweyn fought for Magnus at the Battle of Lyrskov Heath at Hedeby, near the border of Denmark. Sweyn won great reputation at Lyrskov Heath, and had the Danish nobles crown him king in Viborg in Jutland and he was defeated by Magnus on several occasions, and had to flee to Sweden. Eventually he managed to return and establish a foothold in Scania, the war between Magnus and Sweyn lasted until 1045, when Magnus uncle Harald Hardrada returned to Norway from exile. Harald and Sweyn joined forces, and Magnus decided to share the Norwegian throne with Harald, in 1047 Magnus died, having stated on his deathbed that his kingdom would be divided, Harald would get the throne of Norway, while Sweyn would be king of Denmark. Upon hearing of Magnus death Sweyn said, Now so help me God, Harald, unwilling to relinquish Denmark, attacked Sweyn and fought a long war. Harald sacked Hedeby in 1050, and also sacked Aarhus, Sweyn almost captured Harald in 1050, when Harald attacked the coast of Jutland and loaded his ships with goods and captives. Sweyns flotilla caught up with the Norwegians and Harald ordered his men to throw out the captured goods, Sweyn ordered his men to leave the goods and go after Harald. Harald then ordered his men to throw the captives overboard, for them Sweyn was willing to let Harald slip away. Sweyn came close to losing his life at the naval Battle of Niså off the coast of Halland in 1062, according to the sagas Harald urged Sweyn to meet him in a final and decisive battle at Elv in the spring of 1062. When Sweyn and the Danish army did not show up, Harald sent home a part of his army. When Sweyn finally came to meet Harald, his fleet numbered 300 ships to Haralds 150, the fleets met at night and the battle lasted until morning, when the Danes started to flee. In the sagas the Norwegian victory is credited to earl Haakon Ivarsson
26.
Thegn
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It is also the term for an early medieval Scandinavian class of retainers. Old English þeġn is cognate with Old High German degan and Old Norse þegn, the thegn had a military significance, and its usual Latin translation was miles, meaning soldier, although minister was often used. After the Norman conquest of England in 1066, William the Conqueror replaced the Anglo-Saxon aristocracy with Normans, in this process, kings thegns became barons, and thegns appear to have been merged in the class of knights. The precursor of the thegn was the gesith, the companion of the king or great lord, a member of his comitatus, and it is only used once in the laws before the time of Aethelstan, but more frequently in the charters. H. M. Chadwick says that the sense of subordination must have inherent in the word from the earliest time. In the course of time it extended its meaning and was generally used. The thegn became a member of a nobility, and the dignity of thegnhood was attainable by those who fulfilled certain conditions. The nobility of pre-Conquest England was ranked according to the heriot they paid in the descending order, earl, kings thegn. In Anglo-Saxon hierarchic society, a kings thegn attended in person upon the king, bringing him his men. A median thegn did not hold his land directly from the king and his status is shown by his weregild. Over a large part of England this was fixed at 1200 shillings and he was the twelfhynde man of the laws, sharply divided from the twyhynde man or ceorl. A hide of land was considered sufficient to support a family, and again—And if a merchant throve, so that he fared thrice over the wide sea by his own means, then was he thenceforth of thegn-right worthy. In a similar manner a successful thegn might hope to become an earl, in addition to the thegns there were others who were thegns on account of their birth, and thus thegnhood was partly inherited and partly acquired. The twelve senior thegns of the play a part, the nature of which is rather doubtful. By a law of Aethelred they seem to have acted as the committee of the court for the purposes of accusation. The increase in the number of thegns produced in time a subdivision of the order, there arose a class of kings thegns, corresponding to the earlier thegns, and a larger class of inferior thegns, some of them the thegns of bishops or of other thegns. A kings thegn was a person of importance, the contemporary idea being shown by the Latin translation of the words as comes. No one save the king had the right of jurisdiction over him, in Domesday Book, OE þegn has become tainus in the Latin form, but the word does not imply high status
27.
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
28.
Harthacnut
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Harthacnut, sometimes referred to as Canute III, was King of Denmark from 1035 to 1042 and King of England from 1040 to 1042. He was the son of King Cnut the Great and Emma of Normandy, when Cnut died in 1035, Harthacnut struggled to retain his fathers possessions. Magnus I took control of Norway, but Harthacnut succeeded as King of Denmark, Harthacnut died suddenly in 1042 and was succeeded by Magnus in Denmark and Edward the Confessor in England. Harthacnut was the last Scandinavian to rule England, Harthacnut was born shortly after the marriage of his parents in July or August 1017. In 1027, Cnut arrived with a fleet and he forgave Harthacnut his insubordination in view of his youth but had Ulf murdered. He drove the invaders out of Denmark and established his authority over Norway, returning to England in 1028 and leaving Denmark to be ruled by King Harthacnut. Cnut had left Norway under the rule of Håkon Eiriksson, but he was drowned in 1029, in 1035, Harthacnut succeeded his father on the throne of Denmark as Cnut III. In 1037, Harold was generally accepted as king, Harthacnut being, in the words of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, forsaken because he was too long in Denmark, while Emma fled to Bruges, in Flanders. In 1039, Harthacnut sailed with ten ships to meet his mother in Bruges but delayed an invasion as it was clear Harold was sick and would soon die, envoys soon crossed the channel to offer Harthacnut the throne. While the general outline of events following Cnuts death are clear, the details are obscure, there might have been a division of the kingdom if Harthacnut had appeared straight away. According to Ian Howard, Harthacnut agreed to help Svein recover Norway, Svein died shortly before it was to set out, but Harthacnut proceeded anyway. Howard dates the treaty to 1036, whereas other historians date it to 1039, exiled in Bruges, Emma plotted to gain the English throne for her son. She sponsored the Encomium Emmae Reginae, which eulogised her and attacked Harold, the work describes Harthacnuts horror at hearing of his brothers murder, and in Howards view, was probably influential in finally persuading the cautious Harthacnut to invade England. According to an edition of the Encomium, the English took the initiative in communicating with Harthacnut in 1039. Harthacnut travelled to England with his mother, the landing at Sandwich on 17 June 1040, seven days before Midsummer, was a peaceful one, though he had a fleet of 62 warships. Even though he had invited to take the throne, he was taking no chances. Harthacnut had been horrified by Harolds murder of Alfred, and his mother demanded vengeance, with the approval of Harolds former councillors, his body was disinterred from its place of honour at Westminster and publicly beheaded. It was disposed of in a sewer, but then retrieved and thrown in the Thames, from which London shipmen rescued it and had it buried in a churchyard
29.
Harold Harefoot
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Harold I, also known as Harold Harefoot, was King of England from 1035 to 1040. Harolds nickname Harefoot is first recorded as Harefoh or Harefah in the century in the history of Ely Abbey. The son of Cnut the Great and Ælfgifu of Northampton, Harold was elected regent of England and he was initially ruling England in place of his brother Harthacnut, who was stuck in Denmark due to a rebellion in Norway, which had ousted their brother Svein. Although Harold had wished to be crowned king since 1035, Æthelnoth, Archbishop of Canterbury and it was not until 1037 that Harold, supported by earl Leofric and many others, was officially proclaimed king. While en route to Ely he was blinded and soon died of his wounds. Harold died in 1040, having ruled just five years, his half-brother Harthacnut soon returned, the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle reports that Harold said that he was a son of Cnut the Great and Ælfgifu of Northampton, although it was not true. Florence of Worcester elaborates on the subject, claiming that Ælfgifu wanted to have a son by the king but was unable to, she secretly adopted the newborn children of strangers and pretended to have given birth to them. Harold was reportedly the son of a cobbler, while his brother Svein Knutsson was the son of a priest. She deceived Cnut into recognizing both children as his own, Harriet OBrien doubts that Cnut, the shrewd politician who masterminded the bloodless takeover of Norway could have been deceived in such a way. She suspects that the tale started out as a myth, or intentional defamation presumably tailored by Emma of Normandy. Harthacnut, however, was unable to travel to his coronation in England because his Danish kingdom was under threat of invasion by King Magnus I of Norway, there is some dispute in primary sources about Harolds initial role. Versions E and F mention him as regent, the others as co-ruler, Ian Howard points out that Cnut had been survived by three sons, Svein, Harold, and Harthacnut. The Encomium Emmae Reginae also describes Edward the Confessor and Alfred Aetheling as the sons of Canute, Harold could claim the regency or kingship because he was the only one of the five present at England in 1035. Harthacnut was reigning in Denmark, and Svein had joined him there following his deposition from the Norwegian throne, while Edward, Harold could reign in the name of his absent brothers, with Emma rivaling him as candidate for the regency. The Heimskringla of Snorri Sturluson claims that Svein and Harthacnut had agreed to share the kingdom between them and this agreement would include Denmark and England. Snorri quotes older sources on the subject and could be preserving valuable details, Harold reportedly sought coronation as early as 1035. According to the Encomium Emmae Reginae, however, Æthelnoth, Archbishop of Canterbury, coronation by the Archbishop would be a legal requirement to become a king. Æthelnoth reportedly placed the sceptre and crown on the altar of a temple, offering to consecrate Harold without using any of the royal regalia would have been an empty honour
30.
Gyrth Godwinson
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Gyrth Godwinson was the fourth son of Earl Godwin, and thus a younger brother of Harold II of England. He went with his eldest brother Swegen into exile to Flanders in 1051, along with his brothers Harold and Tostig, Gyrth was present at his fathers death-bed. Following the death of his father in April 1053, the Godwinsons managed to retain their hold on England, Harold inherited the Earldom of Wessex and became second in power only to the king. Gyrth was made Earl of East Anglia, Cambridgeshire and Oxfordshire some time between 1055 and 1057, together with his brother Leofwines Earldoms of Kent, Essex, Middlesex, Hertford, Surrey and probably Buckinghamshire the Godwinsons now controlled the entirety of East England. Gyrth fought at and was killed in the Battle of Hastings alongside his brothers Harold, Gyrth was portrayed by actor Malcolm Webster in the two-part BBC TV play Conquest, part of the series Theatre 625. Gyrth 1 at Prosopography of Anglo-Saxon England
31.
Leofwine Godwinson
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Leofwine Godwinson was a younger brother of King Harold Godwinson, the fifth son of Earl Godwin. When the Godwin family was exiled from England in 1051 he went with Harold to Ireland and he would have returned with the rest of the family the following year, but was not present at the death-bed of his father in April 1053. Following the death of his father in April 1053, the Godwinsons managed to retain their hold on England, Harold inherited the Earldom of Wessex and became second in power only to the king. Leofwine was made Earl of Kent, Essex, Middlesex, Hertford, Surrey, together with his brother Gyrths Earldoms of East Anglia, Cambridgeshire and Oxfordshire the Godwinsons now controlled the entire East England. He was killed alongside his brothers Harold and Gyrth in the Battle of Hastings, leofwine was portrayed by actor Sebastian Breaks in the two-part BBC TV play Conquest, part of the series Theatre 625. Leofwine 69 at Prosopography of Anglo-Saxon England
32.
Edith of Wessex
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Edith of Wessex was a Queen of England. Her husband was Edward the Confessor, whom she married on 23 January 1045, unlike most English queens in the 10th and 11th centuries, she was crowned. The principal source on her life is a work she herself commissioned, the Vita Ædwardi Regis or the Life of King Edward who rests at Westminster, Edith was the daughter of Godwin, the most powerful earl in England. Her mother Gytha was sister of Ulf, a Danish earl who was Cnut the Greats brother-in-law, Edith was originally named Gytha, but renamed Ealdgyth when she married King Edward the Confessor. Her brothers were Sweyn, Harold, Tostig, Gyrth, Leofwine, Edith was the firstborn of Godwins three daughters, which included her sisters Gunhild and Ælfgifu. The exact birthdates of the Godwin children are unknown, but Sweyn was the firstborn, Harold was aged about 25 in 1045, which makes his birth date around 1020. Edith was brought up at Wilton Abbey and she was an educated woman who spoke several languages, skills she probably acquired at Wilton. She remained attached to it, and in later years rebuilt its church and her niece, Gunhild of Wessex, would also be educated at Wilton. The Vita Edwardi emphasised her piety, when Gervin, abbot of Saint-Riquier, who was visiting the English court, rejected her kiss of greeting, she took offence. Edward reproved her, and she accepted the rebuff, even going on to urge English churchmen not to kiss women, Edith lost four of her brothers in a very short span. Tostig died on 25 September 1066 during the Battle of Stamford Bridge, three others — Harold, Gyrth, and Leofwine — all died on 14 October 1066, during the Battle of Hastings. Stafford states that Edith was between 12 and 25 when she married, and probably nearer 25, however, this is dismissed by modern historians. In the view of Edwards biographer, Frank Barlow, the theory that Edwards childlessness was due to deliberate abstention from sexual relations lacks authority, plausibility, in 1051 Godwin and his sons fell out with Edward and fled the country. Edith was sent to a nunnery, possibly because she was childless, when the Godwins effected their return through force in 1052, Edith was reinstated as queen. In later years, she one of Edwards inner group of advisers. In the Vita Edwardi, according to Barlow, although she is always placed modestly behind the throne, whenever we catch sight of her elsewhere, we see a determined woman, interfering, hard, probably bad-tempered. As the kings wife, she was responsible for his regal presentation and she commissioned works for his personal ornament, and had at least one goldsmith among her tenants. When he died, the Domesday Book shows that she was the richest woman in England, and the fourth wealthiest individual, after the king, Stigand, Archbishop of Canterbury and she held land valued at between £1,570 and £2,000 per annum
33.
Magnus the Good
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Magnus Olafsson, better known as Magnus the Good, was the King of Norway from 1035 and King of Denmark from 1042, ruling over both countries until his death in 1047. He was a son of Olaf II of Norway. He returned to Norway in 1035 and was crowned king at the age of 11, in 1042, he was also crowned king of Denmark. Magnus ruled the two countries until 1047, when he died under unclear circumstances, after his death, his kingdom was split between Harald Hardrada in Norway and Sweyn Estridsson in Denmark. Magnus was a son of King Olaf Haraldsson, by his English concubine Alfhild. Born prematurely, the child was weak and unable to breathe for the first few minutes, Olaf was not present at the childs birth, and his Icelandic skald Sigvatr Þórðarson became his godfather. In a hasty baptism, Sigvatr named Magnus after the greatest king he knew of, also Olafs greatest role model, Karla Magnus, against the odds, Magnus went on to grow strong and healthy, and he became of vital importance to Olaf as his only son. Olaf was dethroned by the Danish king Cnut the Great in 1028 and they travelled over the mountains and through Eidskog during the winter, entered Värmland, and were given shelter by a chieftain called Sigtrygg in Närke. After a few months, they departed Närke, and by March went eastwards towards Sigtuna, the party thereafter sailed through the Baltic Sea and into the Gulf of Finland, eventually landing in Kievan Rus. They made their first stop at Staraya Ladoga to organise the further journey, from there they travelled southwards to Novgorod, where Olaf sought assistance from Grand Prince Yaroslav the Wise. Yaroslav, however, did not want to directly involved in the Scandinavian power-struggles. After some time, in early 1030, Olaf learned that the Earl of Lade Håkon Eiriksson, Cnuts regent in Norway, had disappeared at sea, Magnus was left to be fostered by Yaroslav and his wife Ingegerd. In early 1031, a party including Magnuss uncle Harald Sigurdsson arrived to report the news of his fathers death at the Battle of Stiklestad, for the next few years, Magnus was educated in Old Russian and some Greek and was trained as a warrior. After Cnuts death in 1035, the Norwegian noblemen did not want to be under the rule of his son Svein. After receiving the approval of Ingegerd, they returned with Magnus to Sigtuna in early 1035, Astrid immediately became an important supporter of Magnus, and an army was gathered in Sweden, headed by Einar and Kalf, to place Magnus on the Norwegian throne. Magnus was proclaimed king in 1035, at 11 years of age, at first Magnus sought revenge against his fathers enemies, but on Sigvatrs advice he stopped doing so, which is why he became known as good or noble. Another son of Cnut, Harthacnut, was on the throne of Denmark and wanted his country to reunite with Norway, however, the noblemen of both countries brought the two kings together at the Göta älv, the border between their kingdoms. They made peace and agreed that the first of them to die would be succeeded by the other, as part of consolidating his control, Magnus destroyed the Jomsborg, headquarters of the Jomsvikings
34.
Leominster Abbey
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Leominster abbey was an Anglo-Saxon monastery established at Leominster in the county of Hereford, England. The name of the town refers to its minster, a settlement of clergy living a communal life, the monastery, perhaps founded in the seventh century, was originally a male house. After being destroyed by Danes, it was rebuilt as a Benedictine abbey for nuns, in 1046 the abbess, Eadgifu, was abducted by Sweyn Godwinson. Eadgifu is only known by name. The convent was dissolved or suppressed not long after this incident. In the 12th century Henry I incorporated land at Leominster into the foundation of Reading Abbey, Reading Abbey in turn founded a Benedictine priory in Leominster of which the Priory Church survives at grid reference SO49855927. Whether the priory was built on the site of the original Anglo-Saxon monastery is not clear, however, archaeological evidence of Saxon activity has been uncovered at the priory. The Foundation of Reading Abbey English Historical Review 1968 p.505 and following Saxon Rule, Herefordshire Through Time Leominster Priory
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