A CONCISE HISTORY OF ENGLISH KINGS, PEOPLE, AND EVENTS FROM 802 TO 1509

The following pages contain information extracted from various sources on the Internet and from other sources and collected and collated for easier reading. No claim is made as to the correctness of the information contained herein and the writer/collator Terry Mozley apologises for any inaccuracies contained herein.

THE HOUSE OF WESSEX 802 t 101!

T"# K$%&' ( ) W#**#+ was founded by Cerdic and Cynric who were chieftains of a clan known as the Gewisse. They were said to have landed on the Hampshire coast and conquered the surrounding area, including the Isle of ight. However, the specific events are in some doubt, and archaeological evidence points to a considerable early !nglo"#a$on presence in the upper valley of the river Thames, the Cotswold%s and the area from The gravity of The Isle of ash along the Icknield ay. The centre of esse$ in the late &th and early 'th century seems to have lain farther to ight was settled not by #a$ons but by (utes, who also settled on the esse$ in the later 'th century.

the north than in later periods, following successful e$pansion to the south and west. Hampshire coast, where they were known as the )eonwara, and these areas were only acquired by T"# K$%&' ( ) M#,-$., usually referred to as )ercia was the other kingdom of the !nglo"#a$ons. The name )ercia is a *atinisation of the +ld ,nglish )ierce or )yrce, meaning border people. The -ingdom of )ercia was centred on the valley of the .iver Trent and its tributaries, in the region now known as the ,nglish )idlands. The kingdom/s capital was the town of Tamworth, which was the seat of the )ercian -ings from at least around !0 123, when -ing Creoda built a fortress at the town. 4rom around the year 255 to 6563 the esse$ started with ,gbert in 257. esse$ -ings were on the throne of ,ngland. esse$. The House of

This was in a period in ,nglish history known as the House of

HOUSE OF WESSEX

E&/#,t 8also spelled E-&/#,"t, E-&/#,t or E-&/,$"t9 '&: or ''6 ; 2<:= was -ing of esse$ from 257 until his death in 2<:. His father was ,alhmund of -ent. In the '25s ,gbert was forced into e$ile by +ffa of )ercia and >eorhtric of >eorhtric/s death in 257 ,gbert returned and took the throne of esse$. esse$, but on

*ittle is known of the first 75 years of ,gbert/s reign, but it is thought that he was able to maintain the independence of esse$ against the kingdom of )ercia, which at that time dominated the other southern ,nglish kingdoms. In 271 ,gbert defeated >eornwulf of )ercia, and which ended )ercia/s supremacy at the >attle of ,llandun. ,gbert then proceeded to take control of the )ercian dependencies in southeastern ,ngland. In 27: ,gbert defeated iglaf of )ercia and drove him out of his kingdom. ,gbert then began to rule )ercia directly. *ater that year ,gbert received the submission of the ?orthumbrian king at 0ore. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle subsequently described ,gbert as a .uler of >ritain. ,gbert was unable to maintain this dominant position, and within a year iglaf

regained the throne of )ercia. ,gbert did however, retain control of -ent, #usse$, and #urrey9 these territories were given to ,gbert/s son @thelwulf to rule as a sub"king under ,gbert. hen ,gbert died in 2<: and @thelwulf succeeded him, the esse$. ,gbert/s southeastern kingdoms were finally absorbed into the kingdom of

wife/s name is unknown. ! fifteenth century chronicle now held by +$ford Aniversity names ,gbert/s wife as .edburga, but this is dismissed by historians in view of its late date He is reputed to have had a half"sister !lburga, later to be recogniBed as a saint for her founding of ilton !bbey. #he was married to ulfstan, ealdorman of ilton !bbey. iltshire, and on his death in 257 she became a nun, !bbess of E.,01 ,#$&% hen >eorhtric of esse$ died in 257, and ,gbert came to the throne of esse$, it

was probably with the support of Charlemagne and perhaps also the papacy. The )ercians continued with their opposition of ,gbert and on the day of ,gbert%s accession, the Hwicce attacked esse$. The Hwicce had originally formed a separate kingdom, but at that time they were part of )ercia.

The Hwicce were under the leadership of @thelmund. ealdorman, met the attacking forces with men from the Hwicce were defeated. >ut

eohstan, a

esse$

iltshire. In the ensueing battle

eohstan was killed as well as @thelmund. ?othing

more is recorded of ,gbert/s relations with )ercia for more than twenty years after this battle. It seems likely that ,gbert had no influence outside his own borders, but on the other hand there is no evidence that he ever submitted to the over"lordship of Cenwulf. Cenwulf did have over"lordship of the rest of southern ,ngland, but in Cenwulf/s charters the title of overlord of the southern ,nglish never appears, presumably in consequence of the independence of the kingdom of esse$.

T"# /.tt0# ) E00#%'2% In 271 one of the most important battles in !nglo"#a$on history took place, when ,gbert defeated >eornwulf of )ercia at ,llendun, now roughton near #windon. This battle marked the end of the )ercian domination of southern ,ngland. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle does not say who was the actual aggressor at ,llendun. +ne historian however, asserts that >eornwulf was almost certainly the one who attacked. >eornwulf/s motivation to launch an attack would have been the threat of unrest or instability in the southeast. The dynastic connections with -ent made esse$ a threat to )ercian dominance. The consequences of ,llendun went beyond the immediate loss of )ercian power in the southeast. !ccording to the Chronicle, the ,ast !nglians asked for ,gbert/s protection against the )ercians in the same year. In the year 27&, >eornwulf invaded ,ast !nglia. This was presumably to recover his overlordship. However, >eornwulf was slain. >eornwulf%s successor *udeca, again invaded ,ast !nglia in 27', presumably for the same reason. It may be that the )ercians were hoping for support from -ent, for there was some reason to suppose that with his ulfred, the !rchbishop of Canterbury, might be discontented ulfred/s currency and had est #a$on rulers, as ,gbert had terminated

started to mint his own, at .ochester and Canterbury. It is known that ,gbert seiBed property belonging to the !rchbishop of Canterbury. The outcome in ,ast !nglia however, was a disaster for the )ercians and which confirmed the southeast. est #a$on power in

<

In 27: ,gbert invaded )ercia and drove

iglaf, the king of )ercia into e$ile. This est #a$on

victory gave ,gbert control of the *ondon mint, and he then issued coins as -ing of )ercia. It was after this victory that in the !nglo"#a$on Chronicle, a scribe described ,gbert as wide"ruler or >ritain"ruler. *ater in 27:, according to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, ,gbert received the submission of the ?orthumbrians at 0ore, now a suburb of #heffield. In 2<5, ,gbert led a successful e$pedition against the elsh, almost certainly with the intent of e$tending est #a$on influence into the elsh lands that were previously within the )ercian orbit. The earlier half of the year 2<5 marked the high point of ,gbert/s reign. *ater in 2<5, )ercia regained its independence under iglaf. The most likely esse$ rule. iglaf/s

e$planation is that this was the result of a )ercian rebellion against recovery of power. independence from

,gbert/s dominion over southern ,ngland therefore, came to an end with esse$, and Charters, indicate that

iglaf/s return to power in )ercia is evidenced by his iglaf had authority in iglaf uses the phrase Cmy est #a$on territory. iglaf may

)iddlese$ and >erkshire. In a later charter of 2<&,

bishops, duces, and magistratesC to describe a group that included eleven bishops from the episcopate of Canterbury, including bishops of sees in It is significant that The iglaf was still able to call together such a group of notables.

est #a$ons, even if they were able to do so, held no such councils.

also have brought ,sse$ back into the )ercian orbit. 0uring the years after he recovered the throne in ,ast !nglia, the east anglian king @thelstan minted coins. This was possibly as early as 27', but is more likely to be around 2<5 after ,gbert/s influence was reduced after iglaf/s return to power in )ercia. This demonstration of independence on ,ast !nglia/s part is not surprising, as it was @thelstan who was probably responsible for the defeat and death of both >eornwulf and *udeca.

>oth

esse$/s sudden rise to power in the late 275s, and the subsequent failure to

retain this dominant position, have been e$amined by historians looking for underlying causes. +ne plausible e$planation for the events of these years is that esse$/s fortunes were to some degree dependent on support from other areas. . The 4ranks supported ,ardwulf when he recovered the throne of ?orthumbria in 252, so it is plausible that the 4ranks also supported ,gbert/s accession in 257. !t ,aster of 2<:, shortly before his death, ,gbert was in touch with *ouis the Dious, the -ing of the 4ranks, to arrange safe passage to .ome. Hence a continuing relationship with the 4ranks seems to be part of southern ,nglish politics during the first half of the ninth century. #upport from the 4ranks may have been one of the factors that helped ,gbert achieve the military successes of the late 275s. However, the .henish and 4rankish commercial networks collapsed at some time in the 275s or 2<5s, and in addition, a rebellion broke out in 4ebruary 2<5 against *ouis the Dious. This was the first of a series of internal 4rank conflicts that lasted through the 2<5s. It was therefore possibly these distractions may have prevented *ouis from supporting ,gbert. This being the case, the withdrawal of 4rankish influence would have forced ,ast !nglia, )ercia and esse$ to find a balance of power that was not dependent on outside aid.

0espite the loss of dominance, ,gbert/s military successes fundamentally changed the political landscape of !nglo"#a$on ,ngland. control of ,ast !nglia. esse$ retained control of the south" eastern kingdoms, with the possible e$ception of ,sse$. !nd )ercia did not regain ,gbert/s victories marked the end of the independent e$istence of the -ingdoms of -ent and #usse$. The conquered territories were administered as a sub"kingdom for a while, including #urrey and possibly ,sse$. !lthough ,gbert%s son @thelwulf was a sub"king under ,gbert, it is clear that he maintained his own royal household, with which he travelled around his kingdom. Charters issued in -ent described ,gbert and @thelwulf as kings of the est #a$ons and also of the people of -ent. In the southwest, ,gbert was defeated in 2<& at Carhampton by the 0anes, but in 2<2 he won a battle against the 0anes and their allies, the est elsh, at Hingston 0own in Cornwall.

It is at this date in 2<& that the independence of the last >ritish kingdom may be considered to have ended. The details of !nglo"#a$on e$pansion into Cornwall are quite poorly recorded, but some evidence comes from place names. The river +ttery, which flows east into the .iver Tamar near *aunceston, appears to be a boundary. #outh of the +ttery the place names are overwhelmingly Cornish, whereas to the north they are more heavily influenced by the ,nglish newcomers. !t a council at -ingston upon Thames in 2<2, ,gbert and his son @thelwulf granted land to the sees of inchester and Canterbury in return for the promise of support for The archbishop of Canterbury, Ceolnoth, also @thelwulf/s claim to the throne.

accepted ,gbert and @thelwulf as the lords and protectors of the monasteries under Ceolnoth/s control. These agreements, along with a later charter in which @thelwulf confirmed church privileges, suggest that the church had recogniBed that esse$ was a new political power that must be dealt with. Churchmen consecrated the king at coronation ceremonies, and helped to write the wills which specified ,gbert%s heir. Their support had real value in establishing est #a$on control and a smooth succession for ,gbert/s line. >oth the record of the Council of -ingston, and another charter of that year, include the following identical phrasing. Ea condition of the grant is that we ourselves and our heirs shall always hereafter have firm and unshakable friendships from !rchbishop Ceolnoth and his congregation at Christ ChurchF. ?othing is known of any other claimants to the throne. It is likely however, that there were other surviving descendants of Cerdic who might have contended for the kingdom. ,gbert died in 2<:, and his will, according to the account of it found in the later will of his grandson !lfred the Great, left land only to male members of his family. This was so that the estates should not be lost to the royal house through marriage. ,gbert/s great wealth, which was acquired through conquest, was no doubt one reason for his ability to purchase the support of the southeastern church establishment. The thriftiness of his will however, indicates he understood the importance of personal wealth to a king.

&

The kingship of

esse$ had been frequently contested among different branches of In addition, @thelwulf/s

the royal line, and it is a noteworthy achievement of ,gbert/s that he was able to ensure his son @thelwulf/s untroubled succession. e$perience of kingship, in the sub"kingdom formed from ,gbert/s southeastern conquests, would have been e$tremely valuable to him when he took the throne. ,gbert was buried in inchester, as were his son, @thelwulf, his grandson, !lfred the

Great, and his great"grandson, ,dward the ,lder. 0uring the ninth century, inchester began to show signs of urbaniBation, and it is likely that the sequence of burials indicates that line. inchester was held in high regard by the est #a$on royal

3t"#0420), also spelled A#t"#0420) or Et"#0420)9 +ld ,nglishG elwulf, meaning ?oble olf, was -ing of esse$ from 2<: until his death in 212. He was the only esse$. He conquered the kingdom of -ent on behalf esse$ on ,gbert/s death in 2<:, at which known child of -ing ,gbert of

of his father in 271, and was sometime later made -ing of -ent as a sub"king to ,gbert. He succeeded his father as -ing of time his kingdom stretched from the county of -ent in the east to 0evon in the west. ,thelwulf%s eldest son @thelstan became sub"king of -ent as a subordinate ruler. Historians give conflicting assessments of @thelwulf. !ccording to one, @thelwulf had a worrying style of -ingship. He had come to the throne of esse$ by inheritance. He proved to be intensely religious, cursed with little political sense, and produced too many able and ambitious sons. To another, @thelwulf seems to have been a religious and un"ambitious man, for whom engagement in war and politics was an unwelcome consequence of rank. However, yet another, thought that his reign has been under"appreciated in modern scholarship, and that he laid the foundations for !lfred the Great%s success, finding new as well as traditional answers, and coping more effectively with #candinavian attacks than most contemporary rulers.

'

In 235, ,thelwulf fought at Carhampton against <1 ship companies of 0anes, whose raids had increased considerably. His most notable victory came in 216 at !cleah, possibly +ckley in #urrey, or +akley in >erkshire. Here, @thelwulf and his son @thelbald fought against the heathen, and according to the Chronicle it was the greatest slaughter of a heathen host ever made. !round 21<, @thelwulf and his son" in"law, >urgred, -ing of )ercia, defeated Cyngen ap Cadell of ales and made the elsh subHect to him The Chronicle depicts more battles throughout the years, mostly against invading pirates and 0anes. This was an era in ,uropean history when nations were being invaded by many different groups9 there were #aracens in the south, )agyars in the east, )oors in the west, and Iikings in the north. 0uring @thelwulf/s reign, raiders had wintered on the Isle of #heppey and pillaged at will in ,ast !nglia, and over the course of the ne$t 75 years the struggles of ,thelwulf%s sons were to be ceaseless, heroic, and largely futile. +ne of the first of @thelwulf/s acts as king was to split his kingdom. He gave the eastern half, including -ent, ,sse$, #urrey, and #usse$, to his eldest son @thelstan 8not to be confused with the later !thelstan the Glorious :71":35=, and @thelwulf kept the ancient western side of esse$which was Hampshire, iltshire, 0orset, and 0evon, for himself. @thelwulf and his first wife, +sburh, had five sons and a daughter. !fter @thelstan came @thelbald, @thelbert, @thelred, and !lfred. ,ach of his sons, with the e$ception of @thelstan, succeeded to the throne. @thelwulf/s only daughter, @thelswith, was married as a child to -ing >urgred of )ercia. .eligion was always an important part of @thelwulf/s life. !s early as the first year of his reign he planned a pilgrimage to .ome. 0ue to the ongoing and increasing raids he felt the need to appeal to the Christian God for help against an enemy who was so agile, numerous, and profane. In 21<, @thelwulf sent his son !lfred, a child of about four years, to .ome. In 211, about a year after the death of his wife +sburga, @thelwulf followed !lfred to .ome, where he was generous with his wealth. He distributed gold to the clergy of #t. Deter/s and offered them chalices of the purest gold and silver"gilt candelabra of #a$on work. 0uring the return Hourney in 21& he married (udith, a 4rankish princess and a great"granddaughter of Charlemagne. #he was about 67 years old, the daughter of Charles the >ald, -ing of the est 4ranks.

Apon return to ,ngland in 21& @thelwulf met with an acute crisis. His eldest ,thelstan had died and his ne$t eldest son, @thelbald had devised a conspiracy with the ,aldorman of #omerset and the >ishop of #herborne to oppose @thelwulf/s resumption of the kingship on his return. he chose instead to yield western central and eastern hile @thelwulf was able to muster enough support to fight a civil war or to banish @thelbald and his fellow conspirators, esse$ to his son ,thelbald. He himself retained esse$. The absence of coins in @thelbald/s name suggests that

est #a$on coinage was in @thelwulf/s name until his death. ,thelwulf%s actions in respect to his son%s demands, testifies to the fact that his Christian spirit did not e$haust itself only in the giving of lavish charities to the Church. It also e$tended to him sacrificing his own prestige and power in the cause of national peace. The resumption of @thelwulf as king included a special concession on behalf of #a$on queens. The est #a$ons previously did not allow the queen to sit ne$t to the king. In fact they were referred to not as a queen but merely as the wife of the king This restriction was lifted for his ,thelwulf%s new wife, Jueen (udith. This probably was because she was a high"ranking ,uropean princess. ,thelwulf died in 211 and was buried first at #teyning and later re"interred in the +ld )inster in bones now rest in one of several mortuary chests in succeeded by his son ,thelbald. inchester. His inchester Cathedral. He was

-ing 3t"#0/.0' ) W#**#+ or Et"#0/.0' 8+ld ,nglishG elbald= was the second of the five sons of -ing @thelwulf of esse$ and +sburh. He was king of esse$ from 212 to 2&5. He witnessed his father/s charters as a kings/ son in the 235s, and in 215 he received the rank of ,aldorman. In 211 he became .egent of esse$ while his father, @thelwulf was away visiting .ome, his elder brother @thelstan having died in 216 or shortly after. ,thelbald%s younger brother @thelbert became sub"king of -ent. @thelwulf returned from .ome one year later, having taken as his second wife, the 4rankish -ing Charles the >ald/s thirteen"year"old daughter (udith.

!ccording to !lfred the Great/s biographer. 0uring @thelwulf/s absence in .ome there may have been a plot hatched to prevent the king/s return. The plot was either by @thelbald, or by ,alhstan, >ishop of #herborne, and ,anwulf, ,aldorman of #omerset. +r it may have been by all three. It is probable that @thelbald was involved in such a plot because of his father/s marriage to (udith. The marriage of ,thelwulf to a 4rankish princess who had her own royal lineage could have produced heirs more throne"worthy than @thelbald. +n ,thelwulf%s return to ,ngland and to avoid a civil war, @thelwulf allowed @thelbald to continue to rule western part of esse$ or the esse$, while he took -ent and the other eastern parts of the

kingdom. (udith/s charisma as a 4rankish princess was so great that rather than lose the prestige of her connection with the 4ranks when his father ,thelwulf died, ,thelbald his son decided to marry her himself. This was in spite of strong clerical opposition, as marriage to a widowed stepmother was considered incestuous. *ittle is known of ,thelbald%s reign and only one charter survives. The charter was witnessed by king @thelbald, sub king @thelbert and Jueen (udith. This suggests that he was on good terms with his brother ,thelbert @thelbald died at #herborne in 0orset on 75 0ecember 2&5. He was childless and was succeeded by his younger brother ,thelbert.

Et"#0/#,t was the third son of @thelwulf of brother @thelbald was left in charge of the eastern parts of the kingdom. the

esse$ and his first wife, +sburh. In est #a$ons. !fter his father/s death in

211 he became under"king of -ent while his father, @thelwulf, visited .ome. His 212 his elder brother ,thelbald succeeded ,thelwulf as king of -ent and the other hen @thelbald died childless in 2&5, the kingship of est #a$ons also passed to @thelberht. 0uring the reign of ,thelbert the 0anes inchester before two contingents of

returned and soon after his accession a 0anish army landed either via the Thames or on the south coast and advanced as far as ,thelbert/s #a$ons defeated them.

65

Towards the end of his reign a more organiBed 0anish force arrived under the command of .agnar *odbrok. His fleet had been attacking the east coast of ,ngland, particularly ?orthumbria, and in the winter of 2&3K1 they stayed in Thanet. !lthough the #a$ons made a pact with them, the 0anes plundered east -ent, before advancing back up the east coast. ,thelbert died in 2&& .He was childless and was succeeded by his younger brother ,thelred

K$%& 3t"#0,#' I sometimes rendered as Et"#0,#', 8c. 2<' ; 2'6= was -ing of esse$ from 2&& to 2'6. He was the fourth son of -ing @thelwulf of succeeded his brother, @thelberht 8,thelbert=, as -ing of esse$. He esse$ and -ent in 2&1.

In 21< his younger brother !lfred went to .ome, and according to contemporary references ,thelred accompanied him. He first witnessed his father/s charters as @theling in 213, and he kept this name until he succeeded to the throne in 2&&. He may have acted as an under"king as early as 2&7. In 2&7 and 2&< he issued charters as -ing of the est #a$ons. This must have been as deputy or in the absence of his elder brother -ing @thelberht, as there is no record of conflict between them and he continued to witness his brother/s charters as a king/s son in 2&3. In the same year as @thelred/s succession as king, a great Iiking army arrived in ,ngland, and within five years they had destroyed two of the principal ,nglish kingdoms, ?orthumbria and ,ast !nglia. In 2&2 @thelred/s brother"in"law, >urgred the -ing of )ercia, appealed to him for help against the Iikings. @thelred and his younger brother, the future !lfred the Great, led a Iikings defeated >urgred and drove him into e$ile. In 2'5 the Iikings turned their attention to esse$, and on 3 (anuary 2'6 at the est #a$on army to ?ottingham, but there was no decisive battle, and >urgred bought off the Iikings. *ater in 2'3 the

>attle of .eading, @thelred suffered a heavy defeat. !lthough he was able to re"form his army in time to win a victory at the >attle of !shdown, he suffered further defeats on 77 (anuary at >asing, and 77 )arch at )eretun.

66

In about 2&', @thelred effectively established a common currency between e$clusively at *ondon and Canterbury then circulated in the two kingdoms. ,thelred%s wife was probably called the Queen. It was rare in ninth century (udith of 4landers. death in 2::. @thelred died shortly after ,aster on 61 !pril 2'6. He is buried at

esse$

and )ercia by adopting the )ercian type of lunette penny, and coins minted

ulfthryth. ! charter of 2&2 refers to Wulfthryth esse$ for the king/s wife to be given the title

queen, and it is only definitely known to have been given to @thelwulf/s second wife, ,thelred had two known sons, @thelhelm and @thelwold @thelwold later disputed the throne with ,dward the ,lder after !lfred the great%s

imborne )inster

in 0orset. In accordance with an agreement made between ,thelred and his younger brother !lfred, !lfred succeeded him to the throne and became !lfred the Great. This was despite the fact that ,thelred had two infant son%s ,thelhelm and ,thelwold. hen ,thelwold later came of age he made a claim for the throne.

67

A0),#' t"# G,#.t 823: ; 7& +ctober 2::= was -ing of

esse$ from 2'6 to 2::.

!lfred successfully defended his kingdom against the Iiking attempt at a conquest, and by the time of his death had become the dominant ruler in ,ngland He is the only ,nglish monarch to be accorded the epithet Cthe GreatC. !lfred was the first -ing of the esse$ #a$ons to style himself C-ing of the !nglo"#a$onsC. !lfred/s reputation has been that of a learned and merciful man who encouraged education and improved his kingdom/s legal system and military structure. !lfred was born in the village of anating, now of antage in +$fordshire. He was the youngest son of -ing @thelwulf esse$, by his first wife, +sburh.

In 21<, at the age of four, !lfred is said to have been sent to .ome where, according to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, he was confirmed by Dope *eo II who Canointed him as kingC. Iictorian writers later interpreted this as an anticipatory coronation in preparation for his ultimate succession to the throne of esse$. However, his succession could not have been foreseen at the time, as !lfred had three living elder brothers. The story may be based on !lfred having later accompanied his father on a pilgrimage to .ome where he spent some time at the court of Charles the >ald, -ing of the 4ranks. This was around the year 213;211. +n their return from .ome in 211, -ing @thelwulf was partly deposed by his son @thelbald, and with civil war looming, the magnates of the realm met in council to hammer out a compromise, which was9 @thelbald the son would retain and rule the western shires of esse$, and @thelwulf his father would rule in the east. hen ,thelwulf died later in 211, the whole of hen ,thelbald died, ,thelbert died, esse$ was ruled by ,thelbald 8211"2&5=.

esse$ was rued by ,thelbert 82&5"2&&,= and then when esse$ and @thelberht of esse$,

esse$ was ruled by ,thelred 82&&"2'6. 0uring the short reigns of the

older two of his three elder brothers, @thelbald of

!lfred is not mentioned. In 2&1 an army of 0anes which the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle described as the Great Heathen !rmy had landed in ,ast !nglia with the intent of conquering the four kingdoms that constituted !nglo"#a$on ,ngland. It was with the backdrop of a rampaging Iiking army coupled with the accession of his third brother, @thelred of esse$, in 2&&, that !lfred/s public life began to be recorded,

6<

It is during this period that >ishop !sser applied to !lfred the unique title of CsecundariusC, which may indicate a position akin to that of a recognised successor and one who is closely associated with the reigning monarch. It is possible that this arrangement was sanctioned by !lfred/s father9 to guard against the danger of a disputed succession should one or another of his sons fall in battle. The arrangement of crowning a successor as royal prince and military commander is well known among other Germanic tribes, such as the #wedes and 4ranks, to whom the !nglo" #a$ons were closely related.

In 2&2, !lfred is recorded as fighting beside @thelred in an unsuccessful attempt to keep the Great Heathen !rmy led by Ivar the >oneless out of the adHoining -ingdom of )ercia. !t the end of 2'5, the 0anes arrived in !lfred%s homeland of esse$. The year which followed has been called C!lfred/s year of battlesC. He fought nine engagements with varying outcomes, though the place and date of two of these battles have not been recorded. In >erkshire, a successful skirmish at the >attle of ,nglefield on <6 0ecember 2'5 was followed by a severe defeat at the siege and >attle of .eading by Ivar/s brother Halfdan .agnarsson on 1 (anuary 2'6. 4our days later, the !nglo"#a$ons won a brilliant victory at the >attle of !shdown on the >erkshire 0owns, possibly near Compton or !ldworth. !lfred is particularly credited with the success of this latter battle. *ater that month, on 77 (anuary, the ,nglish were defeated at the >attle of >asing. They were defeated again on 77 )arch at the >attle of )erton 8perhaps )arden in iltshire or )artin in 0orset=. -ing @thelred died shortly afterwards on 7< !pril 2'6 at which time !lfred succeeded to the throne of esse$ despite the fact that @thelred left two under"age sons, @thelhelm and @thelwold. This was in accordance with the agreement that @thelred and !lfred had made earlier that year when the brothers had agreed that whichever of them outlived the other he would inherit all the personal property that -ing @thelwulf had left Hointly to his sons in his will. The children of the deceased brother would receive only whatever property and riches their father had settled upon them and whatever additional lands their uncle had acquired. The unstated premise was that the surviving brother would be -ing. Given the ongoing 0anish invasion and the youth of his nephews, !lfred/s succession probably went completely uncontested.

63

In 2'6 while he was busy with the burial ceremonies for his brother, the 0anes defeated the ,nglish. This was in !lfred%s absence, at an unnamed spot, and then another defeat by the 0anes, but this time in !lfred%s presence at ilton in )ay. The defeat at ilton smashed any remaining hope that !lfred could drive the invaders from his kingdom. He was therefore forced instead to make peace with them. #ources do not tell what the peace terms were

The Iiking army however, did withdraw from .eading in the autumn of 2'6 to take up winter quarters in *ondon which was part of )ercia. !lfred probably also paid the Iikings cash to leave, much as the )ercian%s were to do in the following year. .elics dating to the Iiking occupation of *ondon in 2'6K7 have been e$cavated at Croydon, Gravesend, and aterloo >ridge. These finds hint at the cost involved in making peace with the Iikings. 4or the ne$t five years, the 0anes occupied other parts of ,ngland In 2'& under a new leader Guthrum, the 0anes slipped past the ,nglish army and attacked and occupied areham in 0orset. !lfred blockaded them but was unable to take areham by assault. !ccordingly, he negotiated a peace which involved an e$change of hostages and oaths, which the 0anes swore on a Choly ringC associated with the worship of Thor The 0anes, however, broke their word and, after killing all the hostages, slipped away under cover of night to ,$eter in 0evon. !lfred blockaded the Iiking ships in 0evon, and with a relief fleet having been scattered by a storm, the 0anes were forced to submit. The 0anes eventually withdrew into )ercia In (anuary 2'2, the 0anes made a sudden attack on Chippenham, a royal stronghold in which !lfred had been staying over Christmas the 0anes killed almost everyone, but -ing !lfred escaped the massacre. ith a little band of supporters !lfred made his way to #omerset, and after ,aster they made a fort at !thelney in the marshes of #omerset. 4rom this fort at !thelney, which was on an island in the marshes near ?orth Detherton, !lfred was able to mount an effective resistance movement, and succeeded in rallying the local militias from #omerset, iltshire and Hampshire. ! popular legend, originating from 67th century chronicles, tells how when he first fled to the #omerset *evels, !lfred was given shelter by a peasant woman who, unaware of his identity, left him to watch some cakes she had left cooking on the fire. Dreoccupied with the problems of his kingdom, !lfred accidentally let the cakes burn.

61

In the seventh week after ,aster L3;65 )ay 2'2M, around hitsuntide, !lfred rode to /,gbert/s #tone/ east of #elwood, where he was met by the people of #omerset and iltshire and of that part of Hampshire which is on this side of the sea 8that is, west of #outhampton ater. !lfred/s emergence from his marshland stronghold was part of a carefully planned offensive. This indicated that not only had the king retained the loyalty of the people. His nobles had also maintained their positions of authority in these localities and they were able to enlist local people to answer !lfred%s summons to war. !lfred won a decisive victory in the ensuing >attle of ,dington which may have been fought near estbury, iltshire. He then pursued the 0anes to their stronghold at Chippenham and starved them into submission. +ne of the terms of the surrender was that Guthrum their king was to convert to Christianity. Three weeks later the 0anish king and 7: of his chief men were baptised at !lfred/s court at !ller, near !thelney, with !lfred receiving -ing Guthrum as his spiritual son. ,ight days later at the royal estate at edmore in #omerset, Guthrum fulfilled his promise to leave esse$. There is no contemporary evidence that !lfred and Guthrum agreed upon a formal treaty at this time9 the so"called Treaty of edmore is an invention of modern historians. The Treaty of !lfred and Guthrum, preserved in +ld ,nglish in Corpus Christi College, Cambridge and in a *atin compilation known as Quadripartitus, was negotiated later, perhaps in 2': or 225, when -ing Ceolwulf the second of )ercia was deposed The later treaty of !lfred and Guthrum divided up the kingdom of )ercia. >y its terms the boundary between !lfred/s and Guthrum/s kingdoms was to run up the .iver Thames, to the .iver *ea9 follow the *ea to its source 8near *uton=9 from there e$tend in a straight line to >edford9 and from >edford follow the .iver +use to atling #treet In other words, !lfred succeeded to Ceolwulf of )ercia%s kingdom, consisting of western )ercia9 and Guthrum incorporated the eastern part of )ercia into an enlarged kingdom of ,ast !nglia 8henceforward known as the 0anelaw=. >y terms of the treaty, !lfred was to have control over the )ercian city of *ondon and its mints. The disposition of ,sse$, which had been held by est #a$on kings since the days of ,gbert, is unclear from the treaty. Given !lfred/s political and military superiority however, it would have been surprising if !lfred had conceded any disputed territory to his new godson Guthrum.

6&

ith the signing of the Treaty of !lfred and Guthrum, an event most commonly held to have taken place around 225 when Guthrum/s people began settling ,ast !nglia. Guthrum was no longer a threat. In accordance with this agreement the 0anish army left ,ngland, boarded long boats and sailed to Ghent.

!lfred however, was still forced to contend with a number of minor 0anish threats. ! year later in 226 !lfred fought a small sea battle against four 0anish ships. Two of the ships were destroyed and the others surrendered to !lfred/s forces. In the year 22<, though there is some debate over the year, there was a raid taking place in -ent, in ,ngland, and during the year 221, there was quite possibly the largest raid since the battles with Guthrum. !sser/s account of the raid places the 0anish raiders at the #a$on city of .ochester, where they built a temporary fortress in order to besiege the city. In response to this incursion, !lfred led an !nglo"#a$on force against the 0anes who, instead of engaging the army of esse$, fled to their beached ships and sailed to another part of >ritain. The retreating 0anish force supposedly left >ritain the following summer. ?ot long after the failed 0anish raid in -ent, !lfred dispatched his fleet to ,ast !nglia. The purpose of this e$pedition is debated, though !sser claims that it was for the sake of plunder. !fter travelling up the .iver #tour, the fleet was met by 0anish vessels that numbered 6< or 6& 8sources vary on the number= and a battle ensued. The !lfred%s !nglo"#a$on fleet emerged victorious and laden with spoils. The victorious fleet was then caught unaware when attempting to leave the .iver #tour and they were attacked by a 0anish force at the mouth of the river. The 0anish fleet was able to defeat !lfred/s fleet which may have been weakened in the previous engagement. ! year later, in 22&, !lfred reoccupied the city of *ondon and set out to make it habitable again. !lfred entrusted the city to the care of his son"in"law @thelred, of )ercia. The restoration of *ondon progressed through the latter half of the 225s and is believed to have revolved around a new street plan, added fortifications in addition to the e$isting .oman walls, and, some believe, the construction of matching fortifications on the south bank of the .iver Thames. -ing !lfred, because of his support and his donation of alms to .ome, received a number of gifts from Dope )arinus. !mong these gifts was reputed to be a piece of the true cross of (esus, this was a true treasure for the devout #a$on king. !lso and according to !sser, because of Dope )arinus/ friendship with -ing !lfred, the pope granted an e$emption from any ta$ or tribute, to any !nglo"#a$ons residing within .ome.

6'

This is also the period in which almost all chroniclers agree that the #a$on people of pre"unification ,ngland submitted to -ing !lfred. This was not, however, the point at which !lfred came to be known as -ing of ,ngland9 in fact he would never adopt that title for himself. In truth, the power which !lfred wielded over the ,nglish peoples at this time seemed to stem largely from the military might of the est #a$ons, !lfred/s political connections from having the ruler of )ercia as his son"in"law, and !lfred/s keen administrative talents. >etween the restoration of *ondon and dealing with the resumption of large scale 0anish attacks in the early 2:5s, !lfred/s reign was rather uneventful. The relative peace of the late 225s was marred by the death of !lfred/s sister, @thelswith, who died en route to .ome in 222. In the same year the !rchbishop of Canterbury, @thelred, also died. +ne year later in 22: Guthrum, or !thelstan as he was known by his Christian baptismal name, who was !lfred/s former enemy and -ing of ,ast !nglia died. He was buried in Hadleigh, #uffolk. Guthrum/s passing marked a change in the political sphere because his death created a power vacuum which would stir up other power;hungry warlords eager to take his place in the following years. The quiet years of !lfred/s life were coming to a close, and war was on the horiBon.

!fter another lull, in the autumn of 2:7 or 2:<, the 0anes attacked once again. 4inding their position in mainland ,urope precarious, they had crossed to ,ngland in <<5 ships in two divisions. The larger division became entrenched at !ppledore, -ent, and the lesser division at )ilton, also in -ent. The invaders had brought their wives and children with them, which indicated they were making a meaningful attempt at conquest and colonisation. !lfred, in 2:< or 2:3, took up a position from where he could observe both 0anish forces. The 0anes at !ppledore eventually broke out and struck northwestwards. They were overtaken by !lfred/s eldest son, ,dward, and they were defeated in an engagement at 4arnham in #urrey. The 0anes took refuge on an island at Thorney, on Hertfordshire/s .iver Colne, where they were blockaded and ultimately forced to submit. The 0anish force fell back on ,sse$, and they again suffered another defeat at >enfleet.

62

!lfred had been on his way to relieve his son at Thorney when he heard that the ?orthumbrian and ,ast !nglian 0anes were besieging ,$eter and an unnamed stronghold on the ?orth 0evon shore. !lfred at once hurried westward and sieged ,$eter. The fate of the unnamed place is not recorded. )eanwhile, the 0anish force under Hastein set out to march up the Thames Ialley, possibly with the idea of assisting their friends in the west. >ut they were met by a large force led by the three great ealdormen of )ercia, iltshire and #omerset, and they forced to head off to the northwest, being finally overtaken and blockaded at >uttington. #ome identify this with >uttington Tump at the mouth of the .iver ye, others with >uttington near elshpool. !n attempt to break through the ,nglish lines was defeated. Those who escaped retreated to #hoebury. Then, after collecting reinforcements, they made a sudden dash across ,ngland and occupied the ruined .oman walls of Chester. The ,nglish did not attempt a winter blockade, but contented themselves with destroying all the supplies in the district. ,arly in 2:3 8or 2:1=, want of food obliged the 0anes to retire once more to ,sse$. !t the end of this year and early in 2:1 8or 2:&=, the 0anes drew their ships up the .iver Thames and .iver *ea and fortified themselves twenty miles north of *ondon. ! direct attack on the 0anish lines failed but, later in the year, !lfred saw a means of obstructing the river so as to prevent the egress of the 0anish ships. The 0anes realised that they were out"maneuvered. They struck off north"westwards and wintered at Cambridge near >ridgnorth. The ne$t year, 2:& 8or 2:'=, they completely gave up the struggle. #ome retired to ?orthumbria, some to ,ast !nglia. Those who had no connections in ,ngland withdrew back to the continent. The history of battle failures preceding the success of 2'2 emphasised to !lfred that the traditional system of battle he had inherited, played to the 0anes/ advantage. hile both the !nglo"#a$ons and the 0anes attacked settlements to seiBe wealth and other resources, they employed very different strategies. In their raids, the !nglo"#a$ons traditionally preferred to attack head"on by assembling their forces in a shield wall, advancing against their target and overcoming the oncoming wall marshaled against them in defense. In contrast, the 0anes preferred to choose easy targets, mapping cautious forays designed to avoid risking all their accumulated plunder with high"stake attacks for more. !lfred determined the 0anish strategy was to launch smaller scaled attacks from a secure and reinforced defensible base to which they could retreat should their raiders meet strong resistance.

6:

ith his understanding of the 0anish battle strategy, !lfred capitalised on the relatively peaceful years immediately following his victory at ,dington, by focusing on an ambitious restructuring of his kingdom/s military defenses. +n a trip to .ome, !lfred had stayed with Charles the >ald and it is possible that he may also have studied how the Carolingian kings had dealt with the Iiking problem, and learning from their e$perience was able to put together a system of ta$ation and defense for his own kingdom. !lso, there had been a system of fortifications in pre"Iiking )ercia that may have also been an influence. #o when the Iiking raids resumed in 2:7, !lfred was much better prepared to confront them with a standing mobile field army, a network of garrisons, and a small fleet of ships navigating the rivers and estuaries. !lfred also tried his hand at naval design. In 2:& he ordered the construction of a small fleet, perhaps a doBen or so long ships, that, at &5 oars, were twice the siBe of Iiking warships. This was not, as the Iictorians asserted, the >irth of the ,nglish ?avy. esse$ had earlier possessed a royal fleet, -ing !thelstan of -ent and ,aldorman ,alhhere had defeated a Iiking fleet in 216, and !lfred himself had conducted naval actions in 227 !lfred did however have sea power in mind. He figured that if he could intercept raiding fleets before they landed, he could spare his kingdom from ravaging. !lfred/s ships were superior in conception. In practice however, they proved to be too large to manoeuver in the close waters of estuaries and rivers, which were the only places in which a naval battle could occur. The warships of the time were not designed to be ship killers but troop carriers. The sea battles would entailed a ship coming alongside an enemy vessel, at which point the crew would lash the two ships together before they boarded the enemy craft. The result was effectively a land battle involving hand" to"hand fighting on board the two lashed vessels.

75

In the one recorded naval engagement in the year 2:&, !lfred/s new fleet of nine ships intercepted si$ Iiking ships in the mouth of an unidentified river along the south of ,ngland. The 0anes had beached half their ships, and gone inland, either to rest their rowers or to forage for food. !lfred/s ships immediately moved to block their escape to the sea. The three Iiking ships afloat attempted to break through the ,nglish lines. +nly one made it9 !lfred/s ships intercepted the other two. *ashing the Iiking boats to their own, the ,nglish crew boarded the enemy/s vessels and proceeded to kill everyone on board. The one ship that escaped managed to do so only because all of !lfred/s heavy ships became grounded when the tide went out. hat ensued was a land battle between the crews of the grounded ships. The 0anes were heavily outnumbered, and would have been wiped out if the tide had not risen. hen that occurred, the 0anes rushed back to their boats, which being lighter, and with shallower drafts, were freed before !lfred/s ships. Helplessly, the ,nglish watched as the Iikings rowed past them.

!lfred died on 7& +ctober 2::. How he died is unknown, although he suffered throughout his life with a painful and very unpleasant illness. His biographer !sser gave a detailed description of !lfred/s symptoms and this has allowed modern doctors to provide a possible diagnosis. It is thought that he either had Crohn/s disease or haemorrhoidal disease. His grandson -ing ,dred also seems to have suffered from a similar illness. !lfred was originally buried temporarily in the +ld )inster in inchester, then, four years after his death, he was moved to the ?ew )inster 8perhaps built especially to receive his body=. hen the ?ew )inster moved to Hyde, a little north of the city, in 6665, the monks transferred to Hyde !bbey along with !lfred/s body and those of his wife and children. #oon after the dissolution of the !bbey in 61<:, during the reign of Henry IIII, the church was demolished, leaving the graves intact. The royal graves and many others were probably rediscovered by chance in 6'22 when a prison was being constructed by convicts on the site. Coffins were stripped of lead, and bones were scattered and lost. The prison was demolished between 623& and 6215. 4urther e$cavations in 62&& and 62:' were inconclusive. However, in 62&& an amateur antiquarian (ohn )ellor recovered a number of bones from the site which he claimed were those of !lfred. These later came into the possession of the vicar of nearby #t >artholomew/s Church, who reburied them in an unmarked grave in the church graveyard.

76

! 6::: archeological e$cavation of the Hyde !bbey site uncovered the foundations of the abbey buildings and some bones. >ones suggested at the time to be those of !lfred proved instead to belong to an elderly woman. In )arch 756<, the 0iocese of inchester e$humed the bones from the unmarked grave at #t >artholomew/s and placed them in secure storage. The 0iocese made no claim they were the bones of !lfred, but intended to secure them for later analysis. The bones were subsequently radiocarbon dated, but the results showed that they were from the 6<55s and therefore unrelated to !lfred. However, it was announced in (anuary 7563 that a fragment of pelvis unearthed in the 6::: e$cavation of the Hyde site that had subsequently lain in a inchester museum store room, had been radiocarbon dated to the correct period. It has been suggested that this bone may belong to either !lfred or his son ,dward, but this remains unproved. ! statue of !lfred the Great, situated in antage market place, was sculpted by Count Gleichen, a relative of Jueen Iictoria/s, and unveiled on 63 (uly 62'' by the Drince and Drincess of ales. The statue was vandalised on ?ew Near/s ,ve of 755', losing part of its right arm and a$e. !fter the arm and a$e were replaced the statue was again vandalised on Christmas ,ve of 7552, once more losing its a$e. hen !lfred the Great died he was succeeded to the throne by his son ,dward who became ,dward the ,lder

77

E'4.,' t"# E0'#, 8c. 2'3;2'' ; 6' (uly :73= was an ,nglish king. He became king in 2:: upon the death of his father, !lfred the Great. His court was at inchester, previously the capital of esse$. He captured the ,astern )idlands and ,ast !nglia from the 0anes in :6' and also became ruler of )ercia in :62 upon the death of @thelflOd, his sister. !ll but two of his charters give his title as C-ing of the !nglo"#a$onsC. He was the second king of the !nglo"#a$ons as this title was created by his father !lfred the Great. ,dward/s coinage reads ,!0II,!.0 .,P. Chroniclers record that all ,ngland accepted ,dward as -ing in the year :75. >ut the fact that Nork continued to produce its own coinage suggests that ,dward/s authority was not accepted in Iiking ruled ?orthumbria. ,dward was the second surviving child and the elder son born to !lfred the Great and his )ercian queen, ,alhswith. ,dward/s birth cannot be dated with certainty. His parents married in 2&2 and his eldest sibling a daughter @thelflOd, was born soon afterwards, 8she married in 22<=. ,dward was probably born rather later, in the 2'5s, and probably between 2'3 and 2''. !sser/s Life of King Alfred reports that ,dward was educated at court together with his youngest sister @lfthryth. His second sister, @thelgifu, was intended for a life in religion from an early age, perhaps due to ill health, and later became the !bbess of #haftesbury. The youngest sibling, @thelweard, was educated at a court school where he learned *atin. This suggests that he too was intended for a religious life. ,dward and his sister @lfthryth, however, while they learned the ,nglish of the day, they received a courtly education, and !sser refers to them taking part in the pursuits of this present life which are appropriate to the nobility..

7<

The first appearance of ,dward is in 2:7, in a charter granting land at ?orth ?ewnton, near Dewsey in iltshire, to ealdorman @thelhelm, where ,dward is called the king/s son. !lthough he was the reigning -ing/s elder son, ,dward was not certain to succeed his father. Antil the 2:5s, the obvious heirs to the throne were @thelwold and @thelhelm, who were the sons of @thelred. ,thelred was ,dwards Ancle and !lfred the Great%s older brother. @thelwold and @thelhelm were around ten years older than ,dward. @thelhelm disappeared from view in the 2:5s, presumed dead, but a charter from that decade shows @thelwold witnessing before ,dward, and the order of witnesses is generally believed to relate to their status. !s well as his greater age and e$perience, @thelwold may have had another advantage over ,dward where the succession was concerned. hile !lfred/s wife ,alhswith was never described as Jueen and was never crowned, @thelwold and @thelhelm/s mother ulfthryth was called Jueen. hen !lfred died, ,dward/s cousin @thelwold, the son of -ing @thelred of esse$, rose up to claim the throne and began @thelwold/s .evolt. He seiBed imborne, in 0orset, where his father was buried, and Christchurch 8then in Hampshire, now in 0orset=. !lfred%s son ,dward, marched to >adbury and offered battle, but @thelwold refused to leave imborne. !s ,dward was preparing a morning attack on imborne, @thelwold left imborne in the night, and Hoined the 0anes in ?orthumbria, where he was announced as -ing. In the meantime, ,dward was crowned on 2 (une :55, possibly at -ingston upon Thames. In :56, @thelwold came with a fleet to ,sse$, and encouraged the 0anes in ,ast !nglia to rise up. In the following year he attacked ,nglish )ercia and northern esse$. ,dward retaliated by ravaging ,ast !nglia, but when he retreated south the men of -ent disobeyed the order to retire, and were intercepted by the 0anish army. The two sides met at the >attle of the Holme on 6< 0ecember :57. !ccording to the !nglo"#a$on Chronicle, the 0anes Ckept the place of slaughterC, but they suffered heavy losses. 0eaths on the 0anish side including @thelwold and a -ing ,ohric, possibly of the ,ast !nglian 0anes. .elations with the ?orth proved problematic for ,dward for several more years. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle mentions that he made peace with the ,ast !nglian and ?orthumbrian 0anes. There is also a mention of the regaining of Chester in :5', which may be an indication that the city was taken in battle.

73

In :5:, ,dward sent an army to harass ?orthumbria. In the following year, the ?orthumbrians retaliated by attacking )ercia, but they were met by the combined )ercian and est #a$on army at the >attle of Tettenhall, where the ?orthumbrian 0anes were destroyed. 4rom that point, they never again raided south of the .iver Humber. ,dward then began the construction of a number of fortresses at Hertford, itham and >ridgnorth. He is also said to have built a fortress at #cergeat, but that location has not been identified. This series of fortresses kept the 0anes at bay. +ther forts were built at Tamworth, #tafford, ,ddisbury and arwick. These fortresses were built to the same specifications as those built within the territory that his father had controlled9 it has been suggested on this basis that ,dward actually built them all. ,dward e$tended the control of esse$ over the whole of )ercia, ,ast !nglia and ,sse$, conquering lands occupied by the 0anes and bringing the residual autonomy of )ercia to an end in :62. #oon a !fter the death of his sister, @thelflOd. @thelflOd/s daughter, @lfwynn, was named as her successor in )ercia, but ,dward deposed her, bringing )ercia under his direct control. He had already anne$ed the cities of *ondon and +$ford and the surrounding lands of +$fordshire and )iddlese$ in :66. The first half of the tenth century was critical in the development of the shire as the principal administrative unit in ,ngland, and ,dward was probably responsible for shiring )ercia and the eastern 0anelaw. >y :62, all of the 0anes south of the Humber had submitted to him, and by the end of his reign, the ?orse, the #cots and the elsh had acknowledged him as C4ather and *ordC. This recognition of ,dward/s over"lordship in #cotland led to the claims of his successors/ over that -ingdom. ,dward reorganiBed the Church in esse$, creating new bishoprics at .amsbury and #onning, ells and Crediton. 0espite this, there is little indication that ,dward was particularly religious. In fact, the Dope delivered a reprimand to him to pay more attention to his religious responsibilities. ,dward the ,lder died leading an army against a elsh")ercian rebellion, on 6' (uly :73 at 4arndon"Apon"0ee, and he was buried in the ?ew )inster in inchester, Hampshire, which he himself had established in :56. !fter the ?orman Conquest, the minster was replaced by Hyde !bbey to the north of the city and ,dward/s body was transferred there. His last resting place is currently marked by a cross"inscribed stone slab within the outline of the old abbey marked out in a public park.

71

,dward the ,lder had four siblings, including @thelflOd, *ady of the )ercians, and @lfthryth, Countess of 4landers. ,dward the ,lder had about fourteen children from three marriages 8or according to some sources, an e$tramarital relationship and two marriages=. ,dward the ,lder first married ,cgwynn around 2:<. Conflicting information is given about her by different sources. Their children were The future -ing !thelstan 8c.2:< ; :<:= ! daughter who married #ihtric CQech, Iiking king of Nork In 2::, ,dward married @lfflOd, a daughter of @thelhelm, the ealdorman of iltshire. Their children were

,adgifu 8:57 ; after :11=, who married Charles the #imple @lfweard of esse$ 8:53;:73=, whose death occurred 6& days after ,dward/s. *ater sources sometimes portray him as ,dward/s successor, at least in part of the kingdom. ,adgyth 8:65;:3&=, who married +tto I, Holy .oman ,mperor ,adhild, who married Hugh the Great, 0uke of the 4ranks and Count of Daris @lfgifu who married Ca prince near the !lpsC, sometimes identified with Conrad of >urgundy or >oleslaus II of >ohemia or >oleslaus I, 0uke of >ohemia ,adflOd, who became a nun ,dwin of esse$

,dward married for a third time, about :6:, to ,adgifu, the daughter of #igehelm, the ealdorman of -ent. Their children were

The future king ,dmund 8:77;:3&= The future king ,adred 8died :11= #aint ,dburga of inchester 8died :&5= ,adgifu, married C*ouis, Drince of !quitaineC, whose identity is disputed, as is the very e$istence of this daughter.

,adgifu outlived her husband and her sons, and was alive during the reign of her grandson, -ing ,dgar. It is also claimed that ,dward/s second wife, @lfflOd, was also alive after ,dward/s death, but only one known source is for that claim. +n his death in :73 ,dward the ,lder was succeeded by his eldest son by his first wife, who became -ing !thelstan 7&

3t"#0*t.% or At"#0*t.% 8c. 2:<K2:1 ; 7' +ctober :<:= was -ing of the !nglo" #a$ons from :73 to :7' and -ing of the ,nglish from :7' to :<:. He was the son of -ing ,dward the ,lder and his first wife, ,cgwynn. Historians regard him as the first -ing of ,ngland and one of the greatest !nglo"#a$on kings. He never married, and he was eventually succeeded by his half"brother, ,dmund. hen ,dward died in (uly :73, @thelstan was accepted by the )ercians as king. His half"brother @lfweard may have been recognised as -ing in esse$, but he died within weeks of their father. However, @thelstan still encountered resistance in esse$ for several months, and he was not crowned until #eptember :71. In :7' he conquered the last remaining Iiking -ingdom of Nork, making him the first !nglo" #a$on ruler of the whole of ,ngland. In :<3 he invaded #cotland and forced -ing Constantine of #cotland to submit to him. @thelstan/s rule was however, resented by the #cots and Iikings and in :<' they invaded ,ngland. @thelstan defeated them at the >attle of >runanburh, a victory which gave him great prestige both in the >ritish Isles and on the Continent. *ater and after ,thelstan%s death in :<: the Iikings seiBed back control of Nork, and it was not finally re"conquered until :13. @thelstan centralised government9 he increased control over the production of charters and summoned leading figures from distant areas to his councils. These meetings were also attended by rulers from outside his territory, especially elsh kings, who thus acknowledged his over"lordship. )ore legal te$ts survive from his reign than from any other tenth"century ,nglish king. They show his concern about widespread robberies, and the threat they posed to social order. His legal reforms built on those of his grandfather, !lfred the Great. @thelstan was one of the most religious of est #a$on kings, and was known for collecting relics and founding churches. His household was the centre of ,nglish learning during his reign, and it laid the foundation for the >enedictine monastic reform later in the century. ?o other est #a$on king played as important a role in ,uropean politics as @thelstan, and he arranged the marriages of several of his sisters to continental rulers.

7'

The coronation of @thelstan took place on 3 #eptember :71 at -ingston upon Thames, perhaps due to its symbolic location on the border between esse$ and )ercia He was crowned by the !rchbishop of Canterbury, !thelm, who probably designed or organised a new religious order of service in which for the first time the king wore a crown instead of a helmet. @thelstan became the first king of all the !nglo"#a$on peoples, and in effect he was -ing of >ritain. @thelstan tried to reconcile the aristocracy in his new gained territory of ?orthumbria. He lavished gifts on the minsters of >everley, Chester"le" #treet, and Nork, emphasising his Christianity. He also purchased the vast territory of !mounderness in *ancashire, and gave it to the !rchbishop of Nork, who was his most important lieutenant in that region. >ut in spite of his efforts, he remained a resented outsider, and the northern >ritish kingdoms preferred to ally with the pagan ?orse of 0ublin. In contrast to his strong control over southern >ritain, his position in the north was far more tenuous. In :<3 @thelstan invaded #cotland. His reasons are unclear, and historians give alternative e$planations. The death of his half"brother ,dwin in :<< may have finally removed factions in esse$ opposed to his rule. Guthfrith, the ?orse king of 0ublin who had briefly ruled ?orthumbria, died in :<39 any resulting insecurity among the 0anes may have given @thelstan an opportunity to stamp his authority on the north. @thelstan set out on his campaign in )ay :<3, accompanied by four elsh kingsG Hywel 0da of 0eheubarth, Idwal 4oel of Gwynedd, )organ ap +wain of Gwent, and Tewdwr ap Griffri of >rycheiniog. His retinue also included eighteen bishops and thirteen earls, si$ of whom were 0anes from eastern ,ngland. >y late (une or early (uly he had reached Chester"le"#treet, where he made generous gifts to the tomb of #t Cuthbert, including a stole and maniple 8ecclesiastical garments= originally commissioned by his step"mother @lfflOd as a gift to >ishop 4rithestan of inchester. The invasion was launched by land and sea. !ccording to the twelfth" century chronicler #imeon of 0urham, his land forces ravaged as far as 0unnottar in north"east #cotland, while the fleet raided Caithness, then probably part of the ?orse kingdom of +rkney. ?o battles are recorded during this campaign, and chronicles do not record its outcome. >y #eptember, however, ,thelstan was back in the south of ,ngland at >uckingham,

72

In :<3 +laf Guthfrithson succeeded his father Guthfrith as the ?orse -ing of 0ublin. The alliance between the ?orse and the #cots was cemented by the marriage of +laf to Constantine/s daughter. >y !ugust :<' +laf had defeated his rivals for control of the Iiking part of Ireland, and he promptly launched a bid for the former ?orse -ingdom of Nork. Individually +laf and Constantine were too weak to oppose @thelstan, but together they could hope to challenge the dominance of esse$. In the autumn they Hoined with the #trathclyde >ritons under +wain to invade ,ngland. )edieval campaigning was normally conducted in the summer, and @thelstan can hardly have e$pected an invasion on such a large scale so late in the year. Dresumably because of this he seems to have been slow to react and an old *atin poem preserved by illiam of )almesbury accused him of having Clanguished in sluggish leisureC. The ?orse and #cots allies plundered the north"west while @thelstan took his time gathering a est #a$on and )ercian army. However, )ichael ood praises his caution, arguing that unlike Harold in 65&&, he did not allow himself to be provoked into action. hen he did march north, the elsh did not Hoin him, and they did not fight on either side. The two sides met at the >attle of >runanburh, resulting in an overwhelming victory for @thelstan, who was supported by his young half"brother, the future -ing ,dmund the first. +laf escaped back to 0ublin with the remnant of his forces, while Constantine lost a son. The ,nglish also suffered heavy losses, including two of @thelstan/s cousins, sons of ,dward the ,lder/s younger brother, @thelweard. !ccording to historian )ichael *ivingstonG EIt would be no small stretch to consider the battle the moment when ,nglishness came of age. The men who fought and died on that field forged a political map of the future that remains with us today, arguably making the >attle at >runanburh one of the most significant battles in the long history not Hust of ,ngland but of the whole of the >ritish IslesF @thelstan died at Gloucester on 7' +ctober :<:. His grandfather !lfred, his father ,dward, and his half"brother @lfweard had all been buried at inchester, but @thelstan chose not to honour the city because it was associated with opposition to his rule. >y his own wish he was buried at )almesbury !bbey, where he had buried his cousins who died at >runanburh. ?o other member of the est #a$on royal family was buried there. His bones were lost during the .eformation, but he is commemorated by an empty fifteenth"century tomb.

7:

!fter ,thelstan%s death, the men of Nork immediately chose the Iiking king of 0ublin, +laf Guthfrithsson, as their king, and ,thelstan%s control of the north, seemingly made safe by his previous victory of >runanburh collapsed. The following reigns of his half"brothers ,dmund 8:<:;:3&= and ,adred 8:3&;:11= were therefore largely concerned with regaining control. +n -ing !thelstan%s death in :<: he had no children and he was succeeded by his half brother ,dmund who became -ing ,dmund the )agnificent

E'(2%' I 5- :76 ; 7& )ay :3&=, called the Elder, the eed-doer, the !ust, or the "agnificent, was -ing of ,ngland from :<: until his death. He was a son of ,dward the ,lder and half"brother of !thelstan. !thelstan died on 7' +ctober :<:, and ,dmund succeeded him as king. ,dmund came to the throne as the son of ,dward the ,lder, grandson of !lfred the Great, great"grandson of ,thelwulf of esse$, great"great grandson of ,gbert of esse$ and great"great"great grandson of ,alhmund of -ent. #hortly after his proclamation as king in :<:, he had to face several military threats. -ing +laf III conquered ?orthumbria and had invaded the )idlands, and +laf had then died. In :37, ,dmund the )agnificent re"conquered the )idlands. In :3<, ,dmund became the god"father of -ing +laf of Nork. In :33, ,dmund was successful in re" conquering ?orthumbria. In the same year, his ally +laf of Nork lost his throne and left for 0ublin in Ireland. +laf became the king of 0ublin as +laf Cuaran and continued to be allied to ,dmund, his god"father. In :31, ,dmund conquered #trathclyde but ceded the territory to -ing )alcolm I of #cotland in e$change for a treaty of mutual military support. ,dmund thus established a policy of safe borders and peaceful relationships with #cotland. 0uring his reign, the revival of monasteries in ,ngland began.

<5

+ne of ,dmund/s last political movements of which there is some knowledge is his role in the restoration of *ouis II of 4rance to the throne. *ouis, son of Charles the #imple and ,dmund/s half"sister ,adgifu had resided at the est"#a$on court for some time until :<&, when *ouis returned to be crowned -ing of 4rance. In the summer of :31, *ouis was captured by the ?orsemen of .ouen and subsequently released to 0uke Hugh the Great, who held him in custody. ,dmund -ing of the ,nglish, sent messengers to 0uke Hugh about the restoration of -ing *ouis, and the 0uke accordingly made a public agreement with his nephews and other leading men of his kingdom. Hugh, 0uke of the 4ranks, allying himself with Hugh the >lack, son of .ichard, and the other leading men of the kingdom, restored the kingdom to -ing *ouis 6I. +n 7& )ay :3&, ,dmund was murdered by *eofa an e$iled thief. This was while he was attending #t !ugustine/s 0ay mass in Ducklechurch 8#outh Gloucestershire=. (ohn of orcester and illiam of )almesbury add some lively detail by suggesting that ,dmund had been feasting with his nobles, and he spotted *eofa in the crowd. ,dmund attacked the intruder in person, but in the event, *eofa killed ,dmund *eofa was also killed on the spot by those present ,dmund the magnificent was succeeded as king by his brother ,dred, who became king from :3& until :11. ,dmund the magnificent%s sons later ruled ,ngland asG ,adwig of ,ngland was -ing of ,ngland from :11 until :1', and -ing of -ent, from :1' until his death on 6 +ctober :1:. esse$ and

,dgar of ,ngland, was -ing of )ercia and ?orthumbria from :1' until his brother/s death in :1:, and then king of ,ngland from :1: until :'1.

<6

E.',#' 8also E',#', etc.= was the king of ,ngland from :3& until his death in :11. He succeeded to the throne on the death of his elder brother ,dmund I.

,adred was a son of ,dward the ,lder by his third marriage, to ,adgifu, daughter of #igehelm, ealdorman of -ent. He succeeded his elder brother -ing ,dmund the first who was stabbed to death at Ducklechurch 8Gloucestershire=, on #t !ugustine/s 0ay, 7& )ay :3&. The same year, on 6& !ugust, ,adred was consecrated by !rchbishop +da of Canterbury at -ingston upon Thames, where he appears to have received the submission of elsh rulers and northern earls. ,adred soon faced a number of political challenges to the est"#a$on territories in the north. Anfortunately, there are some notorious difficulties with the chronology of the events described in the historical sources, but it is clear that there were two #candinavian princes who set themselves up as -ings of ?orthumbria. RlQf #ihtricson, otherwise known as !mlaSb CuarQn, had been -ing of ?orthumbria in the early :35s when he became ,dmund/s godson, but he was later driven out. He then succeeded his cousin as -ing of 0ublin, but after a heavy defeat in battle in :3', he was once again forced to try his luck elsewhere. #hortly thereafter, +laf was back in business, having regained the kingdom of Nork. hat ,adred thought of the matter or how much sympathy he bore for his brother/s godson can only be guessed at, but it seems that he at least tolerated +laf/s presence. In any event, +laf was ousted from the -ingship a second time by the ?orthumbrians, this time it was in favour of ,ric who was the son of Harald. The other player in the game was ,ric />looda$e/, previously king of ?orway. !fter a number of successful operations elsewhere, he came to ?orthumbria and appears at some point to have set himself up as -ing -ing ,adred responded harshly to the northern defectors by launching a destructive raid on ?orthumbria, which notably included burning the .ipon minster founded by #t. ilfrid. !lthough his forces sustained heavy losses in the >attle of Castleford 8as he returned home=, ,adred managed to check his rival by promising the latter/s supporters even greater havoc if they did not desert the foreign prince. The ?orthumbrians appeased the ,nglish king and paid compensation.
.

<7

Towards the end of his life, ,adred suffered from a digestive malady which would eventually prove fatal. ,adred is said to have sucked out the Huices of his food, chewed on what was left and spat out the residue. ,adred died on 7< ?ovember 8#t. Clement/s 0ay=, :11, at 4rome 8#omerset=, and was buried in the +ld )inster at inchester. He died a bachelor, and was succeeded by ,adwig who was the eldest son of his brother ,dmund, the previous -ing.

E.'4$&, more rarely E'41 8:36T ; 6 +ctober :1:=, sometimes nicknamed A006F.$, or t"# F.$,, was -ing of ,ngland from :11 until his death four years later. The eldest son of -ing ,dmund and @lfgifu of #haftesbury, ,adwig was chosen by the nobility to succeed his uncle ,adred as -ing. His short reign was marked by ongoing conflicts with his family, and especially the Church, under the leadership of #aint 0unstan and !rchbishop +do. !ccording to one legend, the feud with #aint 0unstan began on the day of ,adwig/s consecration. This was when ,adwig failed to attend a meeting of nobles. hen 0unstan eventually found the young monarch, he was cavorting with a noblewoman named @thelgifu and refused to return with the bishop. Infuriated by this, 0unstan dragged ,adwig back and forced him to renounce the girl as a CstrumpetC. *ater realiBing that he had provoked the king, 0unstan fled to the sanctuary of his cloister, but ,adwig, incited by @thelgifu, followed him and plundered the monastery. Though 0unstan managed to escape, he refused to return to ,ngland until after ,adwig/s death. The account of the quarrel with 0unstan and Cynesige, the >ishop of *ichfield at the coronation feast is recorded in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle and in the later chronicles of (ohn of orcester and was written by monks supportive of 0unstan/s position. The CcavortingC in question consisted of ,adwig then only 6& being away from the feast with @lfgifu and her mother @thelgifu. ,adwig later married @lfgifu, who seems to have been the sister of @thelweard the Chronicler. @thelweard describes himself as the Cgrandson/s grandsonC of -ing @thelred I. ,adwig was the son of -ing ,dmund the )agnificent, grandson of -ing ,dward the ,lder, great"grandson of -ing !lfred the Great, and therefore great"great"nephew of -ing @thelred I. ,adwig and @lfgifu were therefore third cousins once removed.

<<

The annulment of the marriage of ,adwig and @lfgifu is unusual in that it was against their will. It was clearly politically motivated by the supporters of 0unstan. The Church at the time regarded any union within seven degrees of incestuousnesss. This was reduced to four degrees in 6761. !t the time, the number of degrees was reached by counting up to the common ancestor and backG a second cousin would have been related within the si$th degree.

0unstan, whilst in e$ile, became influenced by the >enedictines of 4landers. ! pro" 0unstan, pro">enedictine alliance began to form in !thelstan%s domain of ,ast !nglia. This alliance supported ,adwig/s younger brother ,dgar. 4rustrated by the king/s impositions and supported by !rchbishop +do, the Thanes of )ercia and ?orthumbria switched their allegiance to ,adwig/s brother ,dgar. In :1', rather than see the country descend into civil war, the nobles agreed to divide the kingdom along the Thames, with ,adwig keeping esse$ and -ent in the south and ,dgar ruling in the north.

,adwig is known for his remarkable generosity in giving away land. In :1& alone, his si$ty odd gifts of land make up around 1U of all genuine !nglo"#a$on charters. ?o known ruler in ,urope matched that yearly total before the twelfth century, and his gifts are plausibly attributed to political insecurity. ,adwig died at a young age in :1:, and in circumstances which remain unknown. He was succeeded by his younger brother ,dgar the Deaceful, who reunited the kingdom.

E'&., t"# P#.-#)20, or E'&., I 8c.' !ugust :3< ; 2 (uly :'1=, also called the #eaceable, was king of ,ngland from :1: to :'1. ,dgar was the younger son of ,dmund I. ,dgar is regarded as the first ruler of a consolidated ,ngland.

<3

,dgar was the son of ,dmund I and ,lfgiva, thus making him the grandson of ,dward the elder, great"grandson of !lfred the Great, great"great grandson of ,thelwulf of esse$, great"great"great grandson of ,gbert of esse$. Apon the death of -ing ,dmund in :3&, ,dgar/s uncle, -ing ,dred ruled until :11. ,dred, in turn was succeeded by his nephew, ,dmund/s son and ,dgar/s older brother ,adwig. The Deaceable, was not necessarily a comment on the deeds of his life, for he was a strong leader, as shown by his seiBure of the ?orthumbrian and )ercian kingdoms from his brother in :12. ! conclave of nobles held ,dgar to be king north of the Thames ith the death of ,adwig in +ctober :1:, ,dgar consolidated his holdings in esse$ ,which were previously held by his brother.

+ne of ,dgar/s first actions was to recall 0unstan from e$ile and have him made >ishop of orcester and subsequently >ishop of *ondon and later, !rchbishop of Canterbury. 0unstan remained ,dgar/s advisor throughout his reign. hile ,dgar may not have been a particularly peaceable man, his reign was peaceful. The -ingdom of ,ngland was well established, and ,dgar consolidated the political unity achieved by his predecessors. >y the end of his reign, ,ngland was sufficiently unified in that it was unlikely to regress back to a state of division among rival kingships, as it had to an e$tent under the reign of ,adred The )onastic .eform )ovement that restored the >enedictine .ule to ,ngland/s undisciplined monastic communities peaked during the era of 0unstan,

In :&< ,dgar the Deaceful reputedly killed his rival in love, ,arl @thelwald. The deed was commited near present"day *ongparish, Hampshire, and is an event that was commemorated in 6271 by the erection of 0ead )an/s Dlack. T"# D#.' M.%7* P0.-8 is a Grade"II listed 6:th"century monument to ,arl ,thelwald of herwell, who was allegedly killed by his rival in love -ing ,dgar the Deaceful, in :&< near the site in *ongparish Hampshire where the monument stands.

,dgar was crowned at >ath and anointed with his wife @lfthryth. This set a precedent for a coronation of a Jueen in ,ngland. ,dgar/s coronation however, did not take place until fourteen years into his reign in :'<. !nd instead of being an initiation ceremony it was a ceremony at the culmination of his reign. This was a <1

move that must have taken a great deal of preliminary diplomacy. ,dgar%s coronation service was devised by 0unstan himself and it forms the basis of the present"day >ritish coronation ceremony. The symbolic coronation was a very important step, and the other kings of >ritain came and gave their allegiance to ,dgar shortly afterwards at Cheste when #i$ kings in >ritain, including the -ing of the #cots and the -ing of #trathclyde, pledged their faith that they would be the king/s liege"men on sea and land.

,dgar died on 2 (uly :'1 at inchester and was buried at Glastonbury !bbey. He left two sons, the elder named ,dward, who was most likely his illegitimate son by @thelflOd, and @thelred, the younger, the child of his wife @lfthryth. It was ,dward succeeded him to the throne. 4rom ,dgar%s death until the ?orman Conquest, there was not a single succession to the throne that was not contested. #ome see ,dgar%s death as the beginning of the end of !nglo"#a$on ,ngland, followed as it was by three successful 66th century conquests, two 0anish and one ?orman.

E'4.,' t"# M.,t1, 8c. :&7 ; 62 )arch :'2= was king of the ,nglish from :'1 until he was murdered in :'2. ,dward was the eldest son of -ing ,dgar but was not his father/s acknowledged legitimate heir. +n ,dgar/s death, the leadership of ,ngland was contested, with some supporting ,dward/s claim to be king and others supporting <&

his much younger half"brother @thelred the Anready. ,thelred was recogniBed as the legitimate son of ,dgar while ,dward was suspected of being the illegitimate son of ,dgar. It was ,dward however, who was eventually chosen as king and was crowned by his main clerical supporters, the archbishops 0unstan and +swald of orcester. The great nobles of the kingdom, @lfhere and @thelwine, quarreled, and civil war almost broke out. In the so"called anti"monastic reaction, the nobles took advantage of ,dward/s weakness to dispossess the >enedictine reformed monasteries of the lands and other properties that -ing ,dgar had granted to them.

,dward/s short reign was brought to an end by his murder at Corfe Castle in circumstances that are not altogether clear. His body was reburied with great ceremony at #haftesbury !bbey early in :25. In 6556 ,dward/s remains were moved to a more prominent place in the abbey, probably with the blessing of his half"brother -ing @thelred. ,dward was already reckoned to be a saint by this time. ! number of biography%s of ,dward were written in the centuries following his death in which he was portrayed as a martyr, and generally seen as a victim of the Jueen 0owager @lfthryth, mother of @thelred. He is today recogniBed as a saint in the ,astern +rthodo$ Church, the .oman Catholic Church, and the !nglican Communion. ,dward/s date of birth is unknown, but he was the eldest of ,dgar/s three children. He was likely in his teens when he succeeded his father, who died at age <7 in :'1 ,dward was known to be -ing ,dgar/s son, but he was not the son of Jueen @lfthryth, the third wife of ,dgar. This much and no more is known from contemporary charters. *ater sources of questionable reliability address the identity of ,dward/s mother. The earliest such source is that ,dward/s mother was a nun at ilton !bbey whom the king seduced

! charter of :&& describes @lfthryth, whom ,dgar had married in :&3, as the king/s lawful wife, and their eldest son ,dmund as the legitimate son of the king. ,dward is noted to be the king/s son. However, a genealogy created at Glastonbury !bbey circa :&: gives ,dward precedence over ,dmund and @thelred. @lfthryth was the widow <'

of @thelwald, ,aldorman of ,ast !nglia and perhaps ,dgar/s third wife. The contradictions regarding the identity of ,dward/s mother, and the fact that ,dmund appears to have been regarded as the legitimate heir until his death in :'6, suggest that ,dward was probably illegitimate. ,dmund/s full brother @thelred may have inherited his position as heir. +n a charter to the ?ew )inster at inchester, the names of @lfthryth and her son @thelred appear ahead of ,dward/s name. hen ,dgar died on 2 (uly :'1, @thelred was probably nine and ,dward only a few years older.M

The leaders were divided as to whether ,dward or @thelred should succeed ,dgar. ?either law nor precedent offered much guidance. The choice between the sons of ,dward the ,lder had divided his kingdom, and ,dgar/s elder brother ,adwig had been forced to give over a large part of the kingdom to ,dgar. The Jueen 0owager certainly supported the claims of her son @thelred, aided by >ishop @thelwold9 and 0unstan supported ,dward, aided by his fellow archbishop +swald. It is likely that ,aldorman @lfhere and his allies supported @thelred and that @thelwine and his allies supported ,dward, although some historians suggest the opposite. *ater sources suggest that perceptions of legitimacy played a part in the arguments, as did the relative age of the two candidates. In time, ,dward was anointed by !rchbishops 0unstan and +swald at -ingston upon Thames, most likely in :'1. There is evidence that the settlement involved a degree of compromise. @thelred appears to have been given lands which normally belonged to the king/s sons, some of which had been granted by ,dgar to !bingdon !bbey and which were forcibly repossessed for @thelred by the leading nobles.

,dward, or rather those who were wielding power on his behalf, also appointed a number of new ealdormen to positions in esse$. *ittle is known of two of these men, and it is difficult to determine which faction, if any, they belonged to. ,dwin, probably ruling in #usse$, and perhaps also parts of -ent and #urrey, was buried at !bingdon, an abbey patronised by @lfhere. @thelmOr, who oversaw Hampshire, held lands in .utland, perhaps suggesting links to @thelwine. The third ealdorman, @thelweard, today best known for his *atin history, ruled in the west. @thelweard was a descendant of -ing @thelred of esse$ and probably the brother of -ing ,adwig/s wife. He appears to have been a supporter of ,dward rather than of either faction.

<2

In some places, the secular clergy who had been driven from the monasteries returned, driving the regular clergy out in their turn. >ishop @thelwold had been the main enemy of the seculars, and !rchbishop 0unstan appears to have done little to aid his fellow reformer at this time. )ore generally, the magnates took the opportunity to undo many of ,dgar/s grants to monasteries and to force the abbots to rewrite leases and loans to favour the local nobility. ,aldorman @lfhere was the leader in this regard, attacking +swald/s network of monasteries across )ercia. @lfhere/s rival @thelwine, while a staunch protector of his family monastery of .amsey !bbey, treated ,ly !bbey and other monasteries harshly.L72M !t some point during these disorders, @lfhere and @thelwine appear to have come close to open warfare. This may well have been related to @lfhere/s ambitions in ,ast !nglia and to attacks upon .amsey !bbey. @thelwine, supported by his kinsman ,aldorman >yrhtnoth of ,sse$ and others unspecified, mustered an army and caused @lfhere to back down. Iery few charters survive from ,dward/s reign, perhaps as few as three, leaving ,dward/s brief reign in obscurity. >y contrast, numerous charters survived from the reigns of his father ,dgar and half"brother @thelred. !ll of the surviving ,dward charters concern the royal heartland of esse$9 two deal with Crediton where ,dward/s former tutor #ideman was bishop. 0uring ,dgar/s reign, dies for coins were cut only at inchester and distributed from there to other mints across the kingdom. ,dward/s reign permitted dies to be cut locally at Nork and at *incoln. The general impression is of a reduction or breakdown of royal authority in the midlands and north. The machinery of government continued to function, as councils and synods met as customary during ,dward/s reign, at -irtlington in +$fordshire after ,aster :'', and again at Calne in iltshire the following year. 0uring the meeting at Calne, some councilors were killed and others inHured by the collapse of the floor of their room.

The version of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle containing the most detailed account records that ,dward was murdered in the evening of 62 )arch :'2, while visiting @lfthryth and @thelred, probably at or near the mound on which the ruins of Corfe Castle now stand. It adds that he was buried at areham Cwithout any royal honoursC.

<:

C?o worse deed for the ,nglish race was done than this was, since they first sought out the land of >ritain. )en murdered him, but God e$alted him. In life he was an earthly king9 after death he is now a heavenly saint. His earthly relatives would not avenge him, but his Heavenly 4ather has much avenged him.C +ther versions of the Chronicle report less detail, the oldest te$t stating only that he was killed, while versions from the 6535s say that he was martyred. )odern historians have offered a variety of interpretations of ,dward/s killing. Three main theories have been proposed. 4irstly, that ,dward was killed, as the life of +swald claims, by nobles in @thelred/s service, either as a result of a personal quarrel, or to place their master on the throne. The life of +swald portrays ,dward as an unstable young man who, according to 4rank #tentonG Chad offended many important persons by his intolerable violence of speech and behavior. *ong after he had passed into veneration as a saint it was remembered that his outbursts of rage had alarmed all who knew him, and especially the members of his own household.C In the second version, @lfthryth was implicated, either beforehand by plotting the killing, or afterwards in allowing the killers to go free and unpunished. ! third alternative, noting that ,dward in :'2 was very close to ruling on his own, proposes that ,aldorman @lfhere was behind the killing so as to preserve his own influence and to prevent ,dward taking revenge for @lfhere/s actions earlier in the reign. (ohn notes this and interprets @lfhere/s part in ,dward/s reburial as being a penance for the assassination. ,dward/s body lay at areham for a year before being disinterred. @lfhere initiated the re"interment, perhaps as a gesture of reconciliation. !ccording to the life of +swald, ,dward/s body was found to be incorrupt when it was disinterred 8which was taken as a miraculous sign=. The body was taken to the #haftesbury !bbey, a nunnery with royal connections which had been endowed by -ing !lfred the Great and where ,dward and @thelred/s grandmother @lfgifu had spent her latter years. ,dward/s remains were reburied with lavish public ceremony

In 6556, ,dward/s relics 8he was considered to be a saint, although he was never canoniBed= were translated to a more prominent place within the nunnery at #haftesbury. The ceremonies are said to have been led by the then">ishop of #herborne, ulfsige III, accompanied by a senior cleric. ,dward%s brother, -ing @thelred, who had succeeded ,dward, was preoccupied with the threat of a 0anish 35

invasion, and did not attend in person, but he issued a charter to the #haftesbury nuns late in 6556 granting them lands at >radford on !von, which is thought to be related. ! 6<th"century calendar of saints gives the date of this translation as 75 (une. The rise of ,dward/s cult has been interpreted in various ways. It is sometimes portrayed as a popular movement or as the product of a political attack on -ing @thelred by former supporters of ,dward. !lternatively, @thelred has been seen as one of the key forces in the promotion of ,dward/s cult and that of their sister ,adgifu 8,dith of ilton=. He was thought to make the charter in 6556 granting land to #haftesbury at the elevation of ,dward/s relics, and some accounts suggest that @thelred legislated for the observation of ,dward/s feast days across ,ngland in a law code of 6552 In the +rthodo$ Church, #t ,dward is ranked as a Dassion"bearer, a type of saint who accepts death out of love for Christ. ,dward was never officially canoniBed, but he is also regarded as a saint in the ,astern +rthodo$ Church, the .oman Catholic Church and the !nglican Communion. His feast day is celebrated on 62 )arch, the day of his murder. The +rthodo$ Church also commemorates him a second time each year on < #eptember. ,dward the )artyr was succeeded by his younger half brother ,thelred the Anready

3t"#0,#' t"# U%,#.'1, or 3t"#0,#' II 8circa :&2 ; 7< !pril 656&=, was king of ,ngland 8:'2;656< and 6563;656&=. He was son of -ing ,dgar and Jueen @lfthryth and was only about ten years old 8no more than thirteen= when his half"brother ,dward was murdered. @thelred was not personally suspected of participation, but as the murder was committed at Corfe Castle by the attendants of @lfthryth, it made it

36

more difficult for the new king to rally the nation against the military raids by 0anes, especially as the legend of #t ,dward the )artyr grew. 4rom ::6 onwards, @thelred paid tribute, to the 0anish -ing. In 6557, @thelred ordered a massacre of 0anish settlers. In 655<, -ing #weyn of 0enmark invaded ,ngland, and in 656<, @thelred fled to ?ormandy and was replaced by #weyn, who was also king of 0enmark. @thelred returned as king, however, after #weyn died in 6563. Anready, is a mistranslation of an +ld ,nglish word meaning bad"counsel, a twist on his name C@thelredC, meaning noble"counsel. ! better translation would be illad$ised. 0uring these early years of his reign, @thelred was developing a close relationship to @thelwold, >ishop of inchester, who had earlier supported his unsuccessful claim to the throne. hen @thelwold died, on 6 !ugust :23, @thelred deeply lamented the loss, and he wrote later in a charter from ::< that the event had deprived the country of one Cwhose industry and pastoral care administered not only to my interest but also to that of all inhabitants of the country.C ,ngland had e$perienced a period of peace after the re"conquest of the 0anelaw in the mid"65th century by -ing ,dgar, @thelred/s father. However, beginning in :25, when @thelred could not have been more than 63 years old small companies of 0anish adventurers carried out a series of coast"line raids against ,ngland. Hampshire, Thanet, and Cheshire were attacked in :25, 0evon and Cornwall in :26, and 0orset in :27. ! period of si$ years then passed before, in :22, another coastal attack is recorded as having taken place to the south"west, though here a famous battle was fought between the invaders and the people of 0evon. 0uring this period, the ?ormans, who remembered their origins as a #candinavian people, were well" disposed to their 0anish cousins who, occasionally returning from a raid on ,ngland, sought rest in ?ormandy. This led to grave tension between the ,nglish and ?orman courts, and word of their enmity eventually reached Dope (ohn PI. The pope was disposed to dissolve their hostility towards each other, and took steps to engineer a peace between ,ngland and ?ormandy, which was ratified in .ouen in ::6.

However, in !ugust of that same year, a siBeable 0anish fleet began a sustained campaign in the south"east of ,ngland. It arrived off 4olkestone, in -ent, and made its way around the south"east coast and up the river >lackwater, coming eventually to its estuary and occupying ?orthey Island !bout 6 mile west of ?orthey lies the

37

coastal town of )aldon, where >yrhtnoth, ealdorman of ,sse$, was stationed with a company of people. The battle that followed between ,nglish and 0anes is immortalised by the +ld ,nglish poem %he &attle of "aldon, which describes the doomed but heroic attempt of >yrhtnoth to defend the coast of ,sse$ against overwhelming odds. This was the first of a series of crushing defeats felt by the ,nglishG beaten first by 0anish raiders, and later by organised 0anish armies.

In ::6, @thelred was around 73 years old. In the aftermath of )aldon, it was decided that the ,nglish should grant the tribute to the 0anes that they desired, and so a gift of 65,555 pounds was paid to them for their peace. ! treaty was signed between @thelred and +laf that provided for seemingly civilised arrangements between the then"settled 0anish companies and the ,nglish government, such as regulation settlement disputes and trade. >ut the treaty also stipulated that the ravaging and slaughter of the previous year would be forgotten, and the treaty ended abruptly by stating that 77,555 pounds of gold and silver had been paid to the raiders as the price of peace. In ::3, +laf Tryggvason, already a baptised Christian, was confirmed as Christian in a ceremony at !ndover9 -ing @thelred stood as his sponsor. !fter receiving gifts, +laf promised Cthat he would never come back to ,ngland in hostility.C +laf then left ,ngland for ?orway and never returned, though other component parts of the Iiking force appear to have decided to stay in ,ngland, for it is apparent from the treaty that some had chosen to enter into -ing @thelred/s service as mercenaries, based presumably on the Isle of ight.

In ::', 0anish raids began again. It harried Cornwall, 0evon, western #omerset, and south ales in ::', 0orset, Hampshire, and #usse$ in ::2. In :::, it raided -ent, and, in 6555, it left ,ngland for ?ormandy, perhaps because the ,nglish had refused in this latest wave of attacks to acquiesce to the 0anish demands for gifts or tribute, which would come to be known as 0anegeld,. This sudden relief from attack allowed @thelred to gather his thoughts, resources, and armies. The 0anish fleet/s departure in 6555 allowed @thelred to carry out an attack on #trathclyde, the motive for which is part of the lost history of the north. In 6556, 0anish fleet, perhaps the same fleet from 6555, returned and ravaged west #usse$. 0uring its movements, the fleet regularly returned to its base in the Isle of ight. There was later an attempted attack in the south of 0evon, though the ,nglish mounted a successful defense at ,$eter. ?evertheless, @thelred must have felt at a loss, and, in the spring of 6557, the ,nglish bought a truce for 73,555 pounds. @thelred/s frequent payments of immense 0anegelds are often held up as an e$ample 3<

of the incompetency of his government and his own short"sightedness. !lthough undeniably burdensome, it constituted a measure for which the king could always rely on widespread support.

+n 6< ?ovember 6557, @thelred ordered the massacre of all 0anish men in ,ngland on #t >rice/s 0ay. ?o order of this kind could be carried out in more than a third of ,ngland, where the 0anes were too strong, but Gunhilde, sister of #weyn 4orkbeard, -ing of 0enmark, was said to have been among the victims. It is likely that a wish to avenge her was a principal motive for #weyn/s invasion of western ,ngland the following year. >y 6553 #weyn was in ,ast !nglia, where he sacked ?orwich. In this year, a nobleman of ,ast !nglia, Alfcytel #nillingr met #weyn in force, and made an impression on the until"then rampant 0anish invasion. Though Alfcytel was eventually defeated, outside of Thetford, he caused the 0anes heavy losses and was nearly able to destroy their ships. The 0anish army left ,ngland for 0enmark in 6551, perhaps because of their inHuries sustained in ,ast !nglia, perhaps from the very severe famine which afflicted the continent and the >ritish Isles in that year. !nother invasion in the following year was bought off in early 655' by tribute money of <&,555 pounds, and for the ne$t two years ,ngland was free from attack. In 6552, ,thelred%s government created a new fleet of warships, organised on a national scale. >ut this was weakened when one of its commanders took to piracy, and the king and his council decided not to risk it in a general action.

#weyn then launched an invasion in 656<. He intended to crown himself king of ,ngland. 0uring this invasion he proved himself to be a general greater than any other Iiking leader of his generation. >y the end of 656< ,nglish resistance had collapsed and #weyn had conquered the country. @thelred was forced into e$ile in ?ormandy. The situation changed suddenly when #weyn died on < 4ebruary 6563. The crews of the 0anish ships in the Trent that had supported #weyn immediately swore their allegiance to #weyn/s son Canute, but leading ,nglish noblemen sent a deputation to @thelred to negotiate his restoration to the throne. ,thelred was required to declare 33

his loyalty to the noblemen, to bring in reforms regarding everything that they had disliked and to forgive all that had been said and done in his previous reign. The terms of this agreement are of great constitutional interest in early ,nglish History as they are the first recorded pact between a -ing and his subHects and are also widely regarded as showing that many ,nglish noblemen had submitted to #weyn simply because of their distrust of @thelred.

@thelred then launched an e$pedition against Canute. Canute/s army had not completed its preparations and, in !pril 6563, Canute decided to withdraw from ,ngland without a fight leaving his allies to suffer @thelred/s revenge. In !ugust 6561, Canute returned to find a comple$ and volatile situation unfolding in ,ngland. @thelred/s son, ,dmund Ironside, had revolted against his father. ,dmund Ironside was angry at @thelred for the ravaging of *indsey and he was prepared to support Canute in any uprising against both of them.

+ver the ne$t months, Canute conquered most of ,ngland. ,dmund had reHoined his father @thelred to defend *ondon when @thelred died on 7< !pril 656&. ,dmund succeeded his father to the crown but on 62 th +ctober 656& the subsequent battle between ,dmund and Canute ended in a decisive victory for Canute at the >attle of !shingdon. ,dmund/s reputation as a warrior was such that Canute and his father #vein nevertheless agreed to divide ,ngland. ,dmund took esse$, and Canute and #vein took the whole of the country beyond the Thames. However, ,dmund died soon after on <5 ?ovember 656& and the 0anes under Canute and his father #vein therefore took over control of ,ngland. @thelred was buried in old #t Daul/s Cathedral, *ondon.

@thelred married first @lfgifu, daughter of Thored, earl of ?orthumbria, in about :21. Their known children areG

@thelstan @theling 8died 6563= ,cgberht @theling 8died c. 6551= ,dmund Ironside 8died 656&= ,adred @theling 8died before 656<= ,adwig @theling 8e$ecuted by Canute 656'=

31

,dgar @theling 8died c. 6552= ,adgyth or ,dith 8married ,adric #treona= @lfgifu 8married Achtred the >old, ealdorman of ?orthumbria= ulfhilda 8married Alfcytel #nillingr= !bbess of herwell !bbey

In 6557 @thelred married ,mma of ?ormandy, sister of .ichard II, 0uke of ?ormandy. Their children wereG

,dward the Confessor 8died 65&&= @lfred @theling 8died 65<&;'= Goda of ,ngland 8married 6. 0rogo of )antes and 7. ,ustace II, Count of >oulogne=

E'(2%' I, %*$'# or E'(2%' II 8c. :2: ; <5 ?ovember 656&= was -ing of ,ngland from 7< !pril to 62 +ctober 656& and of esse$ from 7< !pril to <5 ?ovember 656&. His nickname IronsideC is not recorded until 651', but it may have been contemporary. !ccording to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, it was given to him Cbecause of his valourC in resisting the 0anish invasion led by Cnut the Great. He fought five battles against the 0anes, ending in defeat against Canute on 62 +ctober at the >attle of !ssandun, after which they agreed to divide the kingdom, ,dmund taking esse$

3&

and Canute the rest of the country. ,dmund died shortly afterwards on <5 ?ovember, and Cnut became the king of all ,ngland.

,dmund was a signatory to charters from ::<. He was the third of the si$ sons of -ing @thelred the Anready and his first wife, @lfgifu, who was probably the daughter of ,arl Thored of ?orthumbria. His elder brothers were @thelstan and ,gbert 8died c. 6551=, and younger ones, ,adred, ,adwig and ,dgar. His mother died around 6555, after which his father remarried, this time to ,mma of ?ormandy, who had two sons, ,dward the Confessor and !lfred.

@thelred died on 7< !pril 656&, and the citiBens and councilors in *ondon chose ,dmund as king and probably crowned him. He then mounted a last"ditch effort defend ,ngland against the 0anes. headed for hile the 0anes laid siege to *ondon, ,dmund esse$, where the people submitted to him and he gathered an army. He iltshire. He then raised the siege of

fought inconclusive battles against the 0anes and their ,nglish supporters at Denselwood in #omerset and #herston in ,dmund went to *ondon and defeated the 0anes near >rentford. The 0anes renewed the siege while esse$ to raise further troops, returning to again relieve *ondon, and defeat the 0anes at +tford, and pursue Canute into -ent. ,adric #treona now went over to ,dmund, but at the decisive >attle of !ssandun on 62 +ctober, ,adric and his men fled and Canute and his father #vein decisively defeated ,dmund. There may have been one further battle in the 4orest of 0ean, after which the two kings negotiated a peace dividing the country between them. ,dmund received esse$ while Canute and #vein took )ercia and probably ?orthumbria. #hortly afterwards, on <5 ?ovember 656&, -ing ,dmund died, probably in *ondon. Canute and #vein were now able to seiBe control as of ,ngland. ,dmund was buried at Glastonbury !bbey in #omerset. His burial site is now lost. 0uring the 0issolution of the )onasteries, any remains of a monument or crypt were destroyed. The location of his body is unknown. ,dmund had two children by his wife ,aldgyth, ,dward the ,$ile and ,dmund. !ccording to (ohn of orcester, Canute sent them to the king of #weden to be

3'

murdered, but they were instead sent to Hungary, where ,dmund died but ,dward prospered. He returned to ,ngland in 651' only to die within days of his arrival. His son ,dgar the @theling was briefly proclaimed king after the >attle of Hastings in 65&&, but he also immediately submitted to illiam the Conqueror.

T ! "#NI$

%IN!

SWEYN THE FIRST S4#1% I F ,8/#.,' 8d. < 4ebruary 6563= was king of 0enmark and ,ngland, as well as parts of ?orway. His name appears as S4#&#% in, the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. He was the son of -ing Harald >luetooth of 0enmark, and he was the father of -ing Canute the Great.

32

In the mid :25s #weyn revolted against his father and seiBed the throne of 0enmark. -ing Harald of 0enmark was driven into e$ile and died soon afterwards in ?ovember :2& or :2'. In 6555, with allegiance of the TrondeHarl, ,ric of *ade, #weyn was also ruler over most of ?orway. !fter a long conquest of ,ngland by his son Canute, and shortly before his death, in 656< he became the first of the 0anish -ings of ,ngland.

#weyn 4orkbeard had coins made with an image in his likeness. The *atin inscription on the coins read, CVI,? .,P 0@?+.LA)MC, which translates as C#ven, king of the 0anesC #weyn/s father, Harald >luetooth, was the first of the #candinavian kings to officially accept Christianity in the early or mid":&5s. !ccording to !dam of >remen, an 66th" century historian, Harald/s son #weyn was baptised 'tto, in tribute to the German -ing +tto I, who was the first Holy .oman ,mperor. #weyn 4orkbeard is never known to have officially made use of this Christian name.

)any details about #weyn/s life are contested. #cholars disagree about the various, too often contradictory, accounts of his life that are given in various sources from his era of history, !ccording to the chronicles of (ohn of allingford, #weyn was involved in raids against ,ngland during 6557;6551, 655&;655', and 655:;6567, to revenge the #t. >rice/s 0ay massacre of ,ngland/s 0anish inhabitants in ?ovember 6557. Historians have considered the massacre as similar to a large"scale ethnic cleansing of the 0anes in ,ngland orchestrated earlier by @thelred the Anready. #weyn was believed to have had a personal interest in the atrocities due to his sister Gunhilde being amongst the victims. #ome scholars have argued that #weyn/s participation may have been prompted by his state of impoverishment after having been forced to pay a hefty ransom. He needed the revenue and he acquired massive sums of anegeld through the raids. In 656<, he is reported to have personally led his forces in a full"scale invasion. The contemporary #eterborough Chronicle 8also called the Laud "anuscript=, one of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicles, states, C>efore the month of !ugust came king #weyn with his fleet to #andwich. He went very quickly about ,ast !nglia into the Humber/s mouth. !nd so upward along the Trent till he came to Gainsborough. ,arl Achtred and all ?orthumbria quickly bowed to him, as did all the people of *indsey, then the people of the 4ive >oroughs. He was given hostages from each shire. hen he 3:

understood that all the people had submitted to him, he bade that his force should be provisioned and horsed9 he went south with the main part of the invasion force, while some of the invasion force, as well as the hostages, were with his son Canute. !fter he came over atling #treet, they went to +$ford, and the town"dwellers soon bowed to him, and gave hostages. 4rom there they went to inchester, and the people did the same, then eastward to *ondon.C The *ondoners however, put up a strong resistance, because -ing @thelred and Thorkell the Tall, a Iiking leader who had defected to @thelred, were in the city, and held their ground against him. #weyn then went west to >ath, where the western thanes submitted to him and gave hostages. The *ondoners followed suit, fearing #weyn/s revenge if they resisted any longer. -ing @thelred sent his sons ,dward and !lfred to ?ormandy, and ,thelred retreated to the Isle of ight, and then followed his sons into e$ile. +n Christmas 0ay 656< #weyn was declared -ing #weyn of ,ngland. >ased in Gainsborough, *incolnshire, #weyn began to organise his vast new kingdom, but he died there on < 4ebruary 6563, having ruled ,ngland for only five weeks. His embalmed body was returned to 0enmark, to be buried in the church he built in .oskilde. In 0enmark #vein was succeeded briefly as -ing by his elder son, Harald II, In ,ngland however #vein%s younger son Canute contrived to take the ,nglish crown. The ,nglish Councilors however, had sent for @thelred to come out of e$ile in ?ormandy, who upon his return in the spring of 6563 he managed to drive Canute out of ,ngland. >ut Canute returned and eventually defeated and killed ,thelred to become -ing Canute the first of ,ngland in 656&. In 6562 Canute%s brother -ing Harald the second of 0enmark died, at which time Canute also became -ing of 0enmark, ?orway and parts of #weden, Domerania, and #chleswig. Canute and his two sons Harold Harefoot and Harthacnut ruled ,ngland for 7& years. !fter Harthacnut/s death, the ,nglish throne reverted back to the House of esse$. #weyn/s descendants however, through his daughter ,strid continue to rule 0enmark to this day. +ne of #weyn%s descendants, )argaret of 0enmark, married (ames the third of #cotland, introducing #weyn/s bloodline into the #cottish .oyal blood line. !fter (ames the si$th of #cotland inherited the ,nglish throne in 6&5< to become (ames the first of ,ngland, #weyn/s ancestry was introduced into the ,nglish royal bloodline as well.

15

CANUTE THE FIRST C.%2t# t"# G,#.t 8c. :21 or ::1 ; 67 ?ovember 65<1=, more commonly known as C.%2t#9 He was a king of 0enmark, ,ngland, ?orway, and parts of #weden, together often referred to as the !nglo"#candinavian or ?orth #ea ,mpire. Canute became -ing of ,ngland in 656&. !fter his death, and the deaths of all his heirs within a decade, and the ?orman conquest of ,ngland in 65&&, his legacy was largely lost to history. Historian ?orman Cantor has made the statement that he was Cthe most effective king in !nglo"#a$on historyC, despite his not being !nglo"#a$on.

Canute was of 0anish and #lavic descent. His father was #weyn 4orkbeard, -ing of 0enmark 8which gave Canute the patronym S(eynsson, +ld ?orse S$einsson=. Canute/s mother was the daughter of the first duke of the Dolans, )iesBko I. her name may have been WwiXtosYawa, but the +$ford 0?> article on Canute states that her name is unknown. In the summer of 6561 Canute/s fleet set sail for ,ngland with a 0anish army of perhaps 65,555 in 755 long ships. Canute was at the head of an array of Iikings from all over #candinavia. The invasion force was to engage in often close and grisly warfare with the ,nglish for the ne$t fourteen months. Dractically all of the battles were fought against ,dmund Ironside, the eldest son of !ethelred.

!ccording to the Deterborough manuscript of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, early in #eptember 6561 Canute came into #andwich, and straightway sailed around -ent to esse$, until he came to the mouth of the 4rome. He harried the ,nglish in 0orset and iltshire and #omerset, and began a campaign of an intensity not seen since the days of !lfred the Great. !s a prince of 0enmark, Canute won the throne of ,ngland in 656& in the wake of centuries of Iiking activity in northwestern ,urope. His eventual accession to the 0anish throne in 6562 also brought the crowns of ,ngland and 0enmark together. Canute maintained his power by uniting 0anes and ,nglishmen under cultural bonds 16

of wealth and custom, rather than by sheer brutality. !fter a decade of conflict with opponents in #candinavia, Canute claimed the crown of ?orway in Trondheim in 6572. The #wedish city #igtuna was held by Canute. He had coins struck there that called him king, but there is no narrative record of his occupation. The kingship of ,ngland gave the 0anes an important link to the maritime Bone between the islands of Great >ritain and Ireland, where Canute, like his father before him, had a strong interest and wielded much influence among the Gall"Ghaedhil. Canutes possession of ,ngland/s 0ioceses and the 0iocese of 0enmark, with a claim laid upon it by the Holy .oman ,mpire/s !rchdiocese of Hamburg">remen, was a source of great leverage within the Church, gaining notable concessions from Dope >enedict IIII and his successor (ohn PIP. !t the coronation of the Holy .oman ,mperor, Canute also gained concessions from other magnates of medieval Christendom from the tolls his people had to pay on the way to .ome, !fter his 657& victory against ?orway and #weden, and on his way to .ome for this coronation, Canute in a letter written for the benefit of his subHects, stated himself Cking of all ,ngland and 0enmark and the ?orwegians and of some of the #wedesC

! 67th"century chronicler, tells how Canute set his throne by the sea shore and commanded the tide to halt and not wet his feet and robes. Continuing to rise as usual the tide dashed over his feet and legs without respect to his royal person. Then the king leapt backwards, sayingG /*et all men know, how empty and worthless is the power of kings. There is no one worthy of the name, but he whom heaven, earth, and sea obey by eternal laws./ He then hung his gold crown on a crucifi$, and never wore it again, saying to the honour of God the almighty -ing. This incident is usually misrepresented by popular commentators and politicians as an e$ample of Canute/s arrogance.

17

The encounter with the waves is said to have taken place at Thorn"eye 8Thorney Island=, in #outhampton, Hampshire. There were and are numerous islands so named, in est #usse$, associated with Canute.

However, according to the House of Commons Information +ffice, Canute set up a royal palace and court on Thorney Island during his reign, and the court was later to moved and became known as was on the estminster in an area sufficiently far away from the busy settlement to the east, known as *ondon. It is also conflictingly believed that it estminister site that Canute tried to command the tide of the river. This was to prove to his courtiers that they were fools to think that he could command the waves. !lso conflictingly, a sign on #outhampton city centre/s Canute .oad reads, C?ear this spot !0 6572 Canute reproved his courtiersF Canute the first died in 65<1. He was succeeded to the throne by Harald Harefoot, a son presented to him by his first wife. -ing Canute%s second wife was ,mma of ?ormandy who had previously been married to ,thelred the Anready and she had also bore him a son Harthcnut. ,mma of ?ormandy already had two sons from her marriage to ,thelred who were ,dward and !lfred. hen Canute died and because of Harold questionable parentage, Harthncut who was by then the -ing of 0enmark was considered to be more entitled to be Canute%s successor to the ,nglish throne and he eventually did succeed after his half brother Harold. *ater ,dward 8,dward the Confessor= also became -ing of ,ngland

HAROLD THE FIRST H., 0' H.,#) t or H., 0' I 8c. 6561 ; 6' )arch 6535= was -ing of ,ngland from

65<1 to 6535. His nickname CHarefootC referred to his speed, and the skill of his huntsman ship. He was the younger son of Cnut the Great, king of ,ngland, 0enmark, and ?orway by his first wife, @lfgifu of ?orthampton.

The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle reports that Harold said that he was a son of Cnut the Great and @lfgifu of ?orthampton. This however is perhaps untrue. 4lorence of orcester in the 67th century elaborated on the subHect and claimed that @lfgifu 1<

wanted to have a son by the king but was unable. #he 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 #vein -nutsson was the illegitimate son of a priest. #he deceived Canute into recogniBing both children as his own. Harriet +/>rien doubts that Canute, the shrewd politician who C)aster)inded the bloodless ta*eo$er of +or(ayC could have been deceived in such a way. #he suspects that the tale started out as a popular myth, or an intentional defamation presumably tailored by ,mma of ?ormandy, who had been previously married to ,thelred the Anready but who was now the second wife of Canute and a rival to the divorced @lfgifu.

Apon the death of Canute on 67 ?ovember 65<1, 0ue to Harold%s questionable parentage, Harold/s younger half"brother Harthacnut, the son of Canute and his Jueen ,mma of ?ormandy, was considered to be the legitimate heir to the thrones of both the 0anes and the ,nglish. Harthacnut, however, was unable to travel to his coronation in ,ngland because his 0anish kingdom was under threat of invasion by -ing )agnus I of ?orway and -ing !nund (acob of #weden. ,ngland/s magnates favoured the idea of installing Harold Harefoot temporarily as regent or Hoint monarch, due to the difficulty of Harthacnut/s absence, and despite the opposition of Godwin, the ,arl of esse$, and Jueen ,mma, he eventually wore the crown. There is some dispute in primary sources about Harold the first%s initial role. #ome sources mention him as regent, and the others as co"ruler. Harold could claim the regency or maybe the kingship because he was the only one of Canute the first%s five sons present at ,ngland in 65<1. +f Canute%s five sons, Harold was in ,ngland, Harthacnut was reigning in 0enmark, and #vein had Hoined him there following his deposition from the ?orwegian throne, while ,dward and !lfred were in ?ormandy. Harold reportedly sought coronation as early as 65<1, however, @thelnoth, the !rchbishop of Canterbury, refused to crown Harold Harefoot. This was on the grounds that if a Coronation was performed by the !rchbishop it would indicate that the archbishop believed Harold was legally entitled to become a king. @thelnoth reportedly placed the sceptre and crown on the altar of a temple, possibly that of the Canterbury Cathedral. Then he offered to consecrate Harold without using any of the 13

royal regalia which would have been an empty honor. ,thelmoth refused to remove the items from the altar and forbade any other bishop from doing so. The tale goes on that Harold failed to sway @thelnoth, as both bribes and threats proved ineffectual. The despairing Harold reportedly reHected Christianity in protest. He refused to attend church services while uncrowned, preoccupying himself with hunting and trivial matters. Initially the -ingdom of ,ngland was divided between the two half"brothers Harold and Harthacnut. Harold ruled the areas north of the .iver Thames, and he was supported by the northern nobility. The southern nobility under Godwin, the ,arl of esse$ and ,mma of ?ormandy who was the mother of Harthacnut, continued to be ruled in the name of the absent Harthacnut The situation could not last for long, and Godwin the ,arl of esse$ eventually

switched sides. In 65<', ,mma of ?ormandy fled to >ruges, 4landers, and Harold everywhere was then chosen as -ing. The details behind the event are obscure. +ne theory states that the death of Harold%s brother #vein -nutsson could have strengthened Harold/s position. Harold went from being the second surviving son of Canute to being the eldest living son. Harthacnut was still absent and unable to press his claim to the throne. !t the time it was possible for the eldest son of a king who had a superior right of inheritance but could still lose the throne to a younger brother, or other Hunior claimant. Harold%s strength in ,ngland was the way Harold the first managed to win the throne.

ith the -ingdom of ,ngland practically owned by Harold the first, his half brother Harthacnut could not even approach without securing sufficient military strength, and Harthacnut%s decision to remain in 0enmark probably points to him lacking sufficient support. He would however, most certainly wait for an opportunity to forcefully assert his claim and depose his half"brother. Harold the first reigned as sole king from 65<' to 6535. There are few surviving documents about events of his reign.

In 65<&, @lfred @theling, son of ,mma of ?ormandy by the long"dead @thelred the unready, returned to ,ngland from e$ile in the 0uchy of ?ormandy with his brother

11

,dward who eventually became ,dward the Confessor.

The motivation of the

brothers is uncertain. It is claimed that they had come to claim the ,nglish throne for themselves, and it was suspected that ,mma had invited them, possibly to use them against Harold. If so, it could mean that ,mma had abandoned the cause of Harthacnut, probably to strengthen her own position It is also claimed that Harold himself had lured them to ,ngland, having sent them a forged letter, supposedly written by ,mma. The letter reportedly both decried Harold/s behavior against her, and urged her estranged sons to come and protect her. )odern historians suspect that this letter was genuine. ith his bodyguard, according to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, @lfred intended to visit his mother, ,mma of ?ormandy, in inchester, but he may have made this Hourney esse$ 8now apparently on the for reasons other than a family reunion. !t this time Harold the first had a lot of support and on the direction of Godwin the ,arl of side of Harold the first=, @lfred was captured. Godwin had him seiBed and delivered to an escort of men loyal to Harald the first. He was transported by ship to ,ly, and blind folded while on board. He died in ,ly soon after due to the severity of the wounds he sustained. This event would later affect the relationship between ,dward when he became -ing ,dward the Confessor and Godwin. ,dward the Confessor would hold Godwin responsible for the death of his brother.

The failed invasion shows that Harold the first, son of Canute%s first wife, and successor to Canute the first, had gained the support of !nglo"0anish nobility, which violently reHected the claims of @lfred, ,dward, and 8by e$tension= the !ethelings. The House of esse$ had lost support among the nobility of the -ingdom. It might also have served as a turning point in the struggle between Harold and ,mma of ?ormandy, resulting in the e$ile of ,mma

Harold died at +$ford on 6' )arch 6535 at the relatively young age of 73, Hust as his brother Harthacnut was preparing an invasion force of 0anes. Harold the first was buried at estminster !bbey His body was subsequently e$humed, beheaded, and

1&

thrown into a fen bordering the Thames, when Harthacnut assumed the throne in (une of 6535. The body was subsequently recovered by fishermen, and resident 0anes reportedly had it reburied at their local cemetery in *ondon. The body was eventually buried in a church in the City of 0anes. There is little attention paid to the illness of -ing Harold. Harriet +/>rien feels this is enough to indicate that Harold died of natural causes, but not to determine the nature of the disease. The !nglo"#a$ons themselves would consider him elf"shot 8attacked by elves=, their term for any number of deadly diseases. )ichael ,vans points out that Harold was only one of several youthful kings of pre"Conquest ,ngland to die following short reigns. +thers included ,dmund I 8reigned :<:;:3&=, ,adred 8reigned :3&;:11=, ,adwig 8reigned :11;:1:=, ,dmund Ironside 8reigned 656&=, and Harthacnut 8reigned 6535;6537=. ,vans wonders whether the role of king was dangerous in this era, more so than in the period after the Conquest, or whether hereditary diseases were in effect, since most of these kings were members of the same lineage, the House of esse$. estminster, which was fittingly named #t. Clement

It is unclear why a king would have been buried at the !bbey. The only previous royals reportedly buried there were #Oberht of ,sse$ and his wife @thelgoda. ,mma )ason speculates that Canute had built a royal residence in the vicinity of the !bbey, or that estminster held some significance to the 0anish -ings of ,ngland, which would also e$plain why Harthacnut would not allow a usurper to be buried there. The lack of detail in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle implies that, for its compilers, the main point of interest was not the burial site, but the e$humation of the body. Harriet +/>rien theorises that the choice of location might simply reflect the political affiliation of the area, the area of for Harold. the first. estminster and nearby *ondon being a power base

1'

Harold may have had a wife, @lfgifu, and a son, @lfwine, who eventually became a monk on the continent. hen he was old, his monastic name was !lboin. @lfwineK!lboin is recorded in 65&5 and 65&7 in charters from the #t. 4oy !bbey Church in Conques, which mention him as son of C,eroldus rex fuit Angloru)8*atinG Harold, who was -ing of the ,nglish Deople=. Harold Harefoot is the most likely father as the only other -ing Harold was Harold Godwinson, who would not rise to the throne until 65&&. ,ither way, an underage boy would be unable to claim the throne in 6535. and his possible hereditary claims would not be enough to gain the support of the leading nobles against the adult Harthacnut.

H.,t".-%2t 80anishG

arde&nud9 CTough"knotC9 c.6562 ; 2 (une 6537= was -ing of

0enmark from 65<1 to 6537 and -ing of ,ngland from 6535 to 6537. He was the son of -ing Cnut the Great and ,mma of ?ormandy. He ruled 0enmark, ?orway, and ,ngland. hen Canute died in 65<1, Harthacnut struggled to retain his father/s land possessions. )agnus I took of control of ?orway, but Harthacnut succeeded as -ing of 0enmark and eventually became -ing of ,ngland in 6535 after the death of his half"brother Harold Harefoot. Harthacnut died suddenly in 6537 and was succeeded by )agnus in 0enmark and ,dward the Confessor in ,ngland. Harthacnut was the last 0anish king to rule ,ngland.

12

'($! ') *!$$!+ ,-!$T'-!".

E'4.,' t"# C %)#** , 8*atinG Eduardus Confessor9 between 655< and 6551 to the 3th or 1th (anuary 65&&=, ,dward the Confessor was the son of @thelred the Anready and ,mma of ?ormandy. He was one of the last !nglo"#a$on kings of ,ngland and is usually regarded as the last king of the House of esse$, ruling from 6537 to 65&&

hen Canute died his two sons Harold by his first wife and Harthncut by his second wife ,mma of ?ormandy succeeded him in succession to the throne. ?either of these sons produced heirs, therefore the succession reverted to the sons of the dead ,thelred the Anready who had also been married to ,mma of ?ormandy and produced two

1:

sons !lfred and ,dward.

!lfred had been killed by Harold, and ,dward therefore

succeeded Harthcnut to became ,dward the Confessor. ,dward has traditionally been seen as unworldly and pious, and his reign as notable for the disintegration of royal power in ,ngland and the advance in power of the Godwin family. ,dward had succeeded Canute the Great/s son Harthacnut, restoring the rule of the House of conquered ,ngland in 656&. esse$ after the period of 0anish rule since Cnut had hen ,dward died in 65&& he was succeeded by Harold

Godwinson, who was defeated and killed in the same year by the ?ormans under illiam the Conqueror at the >attle of Hastings.

,dward is called the Confessor, the name for someone believed to have lived a saintly life but who was not a martyr. He was canonised in 66&6 by Dope !le$ander III, and is commemorated on 6< +ctober by both the Church of ,ngland and the .oman Catholic Church in ,ngland and 6<15 ales. #aint ,dward was one of the national saints of ,ngland until -ing ,dward the third adopted #aint George as patron saint in about

,dward was the seventh son of @thelred the Anready, and the first by his second wife, ,mma of ?ormandy. ,dward was born between 6557 and 6551 in Islip, +$fordshire, and is first recorded as a /witness/ to two charters in 6551. He had one full brother, !lfred, and a sister, Godgifu. In charters he was always listed behind his older half"brothers, showing that he ranked behind them. 0uring his childhood ,ngland was the target of Iiking raids and invasions under #weyn 4orkbeard and his son, Canute. 4ollowing #weyn/s seiBure of the throne in 656<, ,mma fled to ?ormandy, followed by ,dward and !lfred, and then by ,mma%s husband, -ing ,thelred. #weyn died in 4ebruary 6563, and leading ,nglishmen invited ,thelred back on condition that he promised to rule /more Hustly/ than before. ,thelred agreed, sending ,dward back with his ambassadors. ,thelred died in !pril 656&, and he was succeeded by ,dward/s older half brother ,dmund Ironside, who

&5

carried on the fight against #weyn/s son, Canute. !ccording to #candinavian tradition, ,dward fought alongside ,dmund9 as ,dward was at most thirteen years old at the time, the story is disputed. ,dmund died in ?ovember 656&, and Canute became undisputed king. ,dward then again went into e$ile with his brother and sister, but his mother ,mma of ?ormandy had no taste for the sidelines, and in 656' she married Canute. In the same year Canute had ,dward/s last surviving elder half"brother, ,adwig, e$ecuted, and thus leaving ,dward as the leading !nglo"#a$on claimant to the throne. ,dward spent a quarter of a century in e$ile, probably mainly in ?ormandy, although there is no evidence of his location until the early 65<5s. He probably received support from his sister Godgifu, who married 0rogo of )antes, count of Ie$in in about 6573. In the early 65<5s ,dward witnessed four charters in ?ormandy, signing two of them as -ing of ,ngland. ,dward 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. He appeared to have a slim prospect of acceding to the ,nglish throne during this period, and his ambitious mother ,mma of ?ormandy was more interested in supporting Harthacnut, her son by Canute.

Canute died in 65<1, and Harthacnut succeeded as king of 0enmark. It is unclear whether he was intended to have ,ngland as well, but he was too much occupied in defending his position there to come to ,ngland to make good any claim. It was therefore decided that his elder half"brother, Harold Harefoot should act as regent, while ,mma of ?ormandy held esse$ on Harthacnut/s behalf. In 65<& ,dward and his brother !lfred separately came to ,ngland. ,mma later claimed that they came in response to a letter inviting them to visit her which had been forged by Harold, but historians believe that she probably did invite them in an effort to counter Harold/s growing popularity. !lfred was captured by Godwin, ,arl of esse$ who turned him over to Harold

Harefoot. He had !lfred blinded by forcing red hot pokers into his eyes to make him unsuitable for kingship, and !lfred died soon after as a result of his wounds. The murder is thought to be the source of much of ,dward/s later hatred for the Godwin &6

the ,arl of

esse$ and one of the primary reasons for Godwin/s banishment in

autumn 6516. ,dward is said to have fought a successful skirmish near #outhampton, and then retreated back to ?ormandy. He thus showed his prudence, but he had some reputation as a soldier in ?ormandy and #candinavia. In 65<' Harold was accepted as king, and the following year he e$pelled ,mma of ?ormandy 8Canute%s second wife=, who retreated to >ruges. #he then summoned ,dward and demanded his help for Harthacnut. ,dward refused as he had no resources to launch an invasion, and disclaimed any interest for himself in the throne. Harthacnut, his position in 0enmark now secure, did plan an invasion, but Harold died in 6535, and Harthacnut was able to cross unopposed and with his mother ,mma of ?ormandy to take the ,nglish throne. In 6536, Harthacnut invited ,dward back to ,ngland, probably as heir because he knew he had not long to live. ,dward arrived at Hursteshever, probably Hurst Head, a shingle spit opposite the Isle of of Canute. ight which was the site of the later Hurst Castle. There he was received as -ing in return for his oath that he would continue the laws

4ollowing Harthacnut/s death on 2 (une 6537, Godwin the ,arl of

esse$ and the

most powerful of the ,nglish earls, supported ,dward, who succeeded to the throne. ,dward complained that his mother ,mma of ?ormandy, had done less for him than he wanted before he became king, and also afterwards. In ?ovember 653< he rode to inchester with his three leading earls, *eofric of )ercia, Godwin the ,arl of esse$ and #iward of ?orthumbria, to deprive her of her property, possibly because she was holding on to treasure which belonged to the -ing. Her adviser, #tigand, was deprived of his bishopric of ,lmham in ,ast !nglia. However, both were soon restored to favour, after ,mma of ?ormandy died in 6517. ,dward/s position when he came to the throne was very weak. ,ffective rule required keeping on terms with the three leading ,arls, but loyalty had been eroded by the period of 0anish rule. *eofric the ,arl of )ercia was descended from a family which had served @thelred. #iward the ,arl of ?othumbria was probably 0anish, and

&7

Godwin the ,arl of

esse$ although he was ,nglish, he was one of Canute/s new

men, and married to Canute/s former sister"in"law. However, in his early years ,dward restored the traditional strong monarchy, showing himself to be a vigorous and ambitious man, a true son of the impetuous @thelred and the formidable ,mma of ?ormandy. In 653< Godwin the ,arl of ,dith, the ,arl of Godwin the ,arl of esse$%s eldest son #weyn was appointed to an earldom

in the south"west midlands, and on 7< (anuary 6531 ,dward the Confessor married esse$%s daughter. #oon afterwards, her brother Harold and her esse$ and his family now ruled subordinately all of #outhern 0anish cousin >eorn ,strithson were also given earldoms in southern ,ngland. ,ngland. However, in 653' #weyn was banished for abducting the !bbess of *eominster. In 653: he returned to try to regain his earldom, but this was said to have been opposed by Harold and >eorn, probably because they had been given #weyn/s land in his absence. #weyn murdered his cousin >eorn and went again into e$ile. ,dward the Confessor/s nephew, .alph was given >eorn/s earldom, but the following year #weyn/s father was able to secure his reinstatement.

The wealth of ,dward the Confessor%s lands e$ceeded that of the greatest ,arls, but they were scattered among the southern earldoms. He had no personal powerbase, and he does not seem to have attempted to build one. In 6515;16 he even paid off the fourteen foreign ships which constituted his standing navy and abolished the ta$ raised to pay for it. However in ecclesiastical and foreign affairs he was able to follow his own policy. -ing )agnus of ?orway aspired to the ,nglish throne, and in 6531 and 653&, fearing an invasion ,dward the Confessor took command of the fleet at #andwich. >eorn/s elder brother, #weyn of 0enmark submitted himself to ,dward as a sonC, hoping for his help in his battle with )agnus for control of 0enmark, but in 653' ,dward reHected Godwin the ,arl of and allowed #weyn to take the 0anish throne. )odern historians reHect the traditional view that ,dward mainly employed ?orman favourites, but he did have foreigners in his household, including a few ?ormans, who &< esse$%s demand that he send aid to his son #weyn, and it was only )agnus/s death in +ctober that saved ,ngland from attack

became unpopular. Chief among them was .obert, !bbot of the ?orman abbey of (umiZges, who had known ,dward from the 65<5s and came to ,ngland with him in 6536, becoming >ishop of *ondon in 653<. In ecclesiastical appointments, ,dward and his advisers showed a bias against candidates with local connections, and when the clergy and monks of Canterbury elected a relative of Godwin as !rchbishop of Canterbury in 6516, ,dward reHected him and appointed .obert of (umiZges. .obert claimed that Godwin was in illegal possession of some archiepiscopal estates. In #eptember ,dward was visited by his brother"in"law, Godgifu/s second husband, ,ustace, Count of >oulogne. His men had caused an affray in 0over, and ,dward ordered Godwin as ,arl of ,dward seiBed the chance to bring his over"mighty ,arl of !rchbishop .obert accused Godwin ,arl of esse$ to punish esse$ to heel. the town/s burgesses, but Godwin took the side of the Town%s burgesses and refused. esse$ of plotting to kill the king, Hust as

he had killed his brother !lfred in 65<&. *eofric the ,arl of )ercia and #iward the ,arl of ?orthumbria supported the king and called up their supporters. Godwin the ,arl of esse$ and his sons #weyn and Harold called up their supporters, but neither side wanted a fight. Godwin the ,arl of fight the king. esse$%s/ position disintegrated as their men were not willing to

hen the -ings message was conveyed to Godwin which was Cthat

Godwin could have his peace if he could restore the -ings brother !lfred 8whom Godwin had had killed= and his companions alive and wellF. Godwin the ,arl of esse$ saw that he had lost the support of the -ing and he and his sons fled, going to 4landers and Ireland. ,dward is repudiated to have sent his wife ,dith to a nunnery, perhaps because she was childless, and !rchbishop .obert urged ,dward to divorce her. Godwin%s oldest son #weyn went on pilgrimage to (erusalem 8dying on his way back=, but Godwin and his other sons returned with an army a year later, and received considerable support, while *eofric the earl of )ercia and #iward the ,arl of ?urthumbria failed to support the king. >oth sides were concerned that a civil war would leave the country open to foreign invasion. The king was furious, but he was forced to give way and restore Godwin and Harold to their earldoms of esse$, while .obert of (umiZges and other 4renchmen fled, in fear of Godwin/s vengeance. ,dith

&3

was restored as queen, and #tigand, was appointed !rchbishop of Canterbury in .obert/s place. #tigand retained his e$isting bishopric of inchester, and his pluralism was to be a continuing source of dispute with the pope. ,dward/s nephew, ,arl .alph, who had been one of his chief supporters in the crisis of 6516;17, may have received #weyn/s marcher earldom of Hereford at this time. Antil the mid"6515s ,dward was able to structure his earldoms so as to prevent the esse$ Godwins becoming dominant. Godwin himself died in 651< and although his son Harold succeeded to his ,arldom of esse$, none of his other brothers Tostig, Gryth and *eofwine were ,arls at this date. His house was then weaker than it had been since ,dward/s succession. >ut a succession of deaths in 6511;1' completely changed the picture in 6511.

#iward the ,arl of ?orthumbria died but his son was considered too young to command ?orthumbria, and Godwin%s son Tostig was appointed. In 651' *eofric and .alph died, and *eofric/s son @lfgar succeeded as ,arl of )ercia, while Godwin%s son Gyrth succeeded @lfgar as ,arl of ,ast !nglia. The fourth surviving Godwin brother, *eofwine, was given an earldom in the south"east this was carved out of Harold/s territory, and Harold received .alph/s territory in compensation. Thus by 651' the Godwin brothers Harold, Tostig, Gyrth and *eofwine controlled all of ,ngland subordinately apart from )ercia. It is not known whether ,dward approved of this transformation or whether he had to accept it, but from this time he seems to have begun to withdraw from active politics, devoting himself to hunting, which he pursued each day after attending church. In the 6515s, ,dward had pursued an aggressive, and generally successful, policy in dealing with #cotland and ales. )alcolm Canmore was an e$ile at ,dward/s court after )acbeth killed his father 0uncan I, and seiBed the #cottish throne. In 6513 ,dward sent #iward ,arl of ?orthumbria to invade #cotland. He defeated )acbeth, and )alcolm who had accompanied the e$pedition gained control of southern

&1

#cotland. >y 6512 )alcolm had killed )acbeth in battle and taken the #cottish throne. In 651: )alcolm visited ,dward, but in 65&6 he started raiding ?orthumbria with the aim of adding it to his territory. In 651< ,dward ordered the assassination of the south elsh prince .hys ap ales, and allied

.hydderch in reprisal for a raid on ,ngland, and .hys/s head was delivered to him. In 6511 Gruffydd ap *lywelyn established himself as the ruler of all himself with @lfgar of )ercia, who had been outlawed for treason. They defeated ,arl .alph at Hereford, and Harold had to collect forces from nearly all of ,ngland to drive the invaders back into ales. Deace was concluded with the reinstatement of @lfgar, who was able to succeed as ,arl of )ercia on the death of his father *eofric in 651'. Gruffydd swore an oath to be a faithful under"king of ,dward the Confessor. @lfgar appears to have died in 65&7 and his young son ,dwin was allowed to succeed as ,arl of )ercia, but Harold then launched a surprise attack on Gruffydd. He escaped, but when Harold and Tostig attacked again the following year, he retreated and was killed by elsh enemies. ,dward the Confessor and Harold were then able to elsh princes. impose control on some

In +ctober 65&1 Tostig, the ,arl of ?orthumbria, was hunting with the king when the people in ?orthumbria rebelled against the ,arl%s rule, which they claimed was oppressive. They killed some 755 of Tostig/s followers, nominated )orcar, the brother of ,dwin of )ercia, as ,arl of ?orthumbria and invited the brothers )orcar and ,dwin to march south. They met Harold at ?orthampton, and Tostig accused Harold of conspiring with the rebels to overthrow him. Tostig up until then seems to have been a favourite with ,dward the Confessor and his Jueen ,dith, who now demanded that the revolt be suppressed. >ut neither Harold nor anyone else would support Tostig. ,dward the Confessor was therefore forced to submit to the demands of the rebels to banish Tostig. The resulting humiliation may have caused a series of strokes which led to his death. He was too weak to attend the dedication of his new church at estminster, which was then still incomplete, on 72 0ecember. esse$

,dward probably entrusted the kingdom to Harold, son of Godwin the ,arl of was buried in same day.

and to his wife ,dith shortly before he died on 3 or 1 (anuary 65&&. +n & (anuary he estminster !bbey, and Harold was crowned Harold the second on the

&&

#tarting as early as

illiam of )almesbury in the early 67th century, historians have illiam the Conqueror to be his heir,

puBBled over ,dward/s intentions for the succession. +ne school of thought supports the ?orman case that ,dward always intended accepting the medieval claim that ,dward had already decided to be celibate before he married. >ut most historians believe that he hoped to have an heir by ,dith at least until his quarrel with Godwin in 6516. illiam may have visited ,dward during illiam the succession at this Godwin/s e$ile, and he is thought to have promised

time, but historians disagree how seriously he meant the promise, and whether he later changed his mind. ,dmund Ironside/s son, ,dward @theling, had the best claim to be considered ,dward the Confessor%s heir. He had been taken as a young child to Hungary, and in 6513 >ishop ,aldred of orcester visited the Holy .oman ,mperor, Henry III to secure his return, probably with a view to becoming ,dward/s heir.

The e$ile returned to ,ngland in 651' with his family, but he died almost immediately. His son ,dgar, who was then about five years old, was brought up at the ,nglish court. He was given the designation @theling, meaning throneworthy, which may mean that ,dward considered making him his heir, and he was briefly declared -ing after Harold/s subsequent death in 65&&. However, ,dgar was absent from witness lists of ,dward/s diplomas, and there is no evidence in the 0omesday >ook that he was a substantial landowner, which suggests that he was marginalised at the end of ,dward/s reign. !fter the mid"6515s, ,dward seems to have withdrawn from affairs as he became increasingly dependent on the sons of Godwin the ,arl of esse$, and may have become reconciled to the idea that one of them would succeed him. The ?ormans claimed that ,dward sent Harold to ?ormandy in about 65&3 to confirm the promise of the succession to Harold sent illiam. The strongest evidence comes from a ?orman apologist, illiam of Doitiers. !ccording to his account, shortly before the >attle of Hastings, illiam an envoy who admitted that ,dward had promised the throne to illiam but argued that this was overridden by his deathbed promise to Harold. In

&'

reply,

illiam did not dispute the deathbed promise, but argued that ,dward/s prior

promise to him took precedence. In .ichard >a$ter/s view, ,dward/s Chandling of the succession issue was dangerously indecisive, and contributed to one of the greatest catastrophes to which the ,nglish have ever succumbed.C Hastings. ,dward the Confessor%s ?orman sympathies are most evidenced in the maHor building proHect of his reign, estminster !bbey, the first ?orman .omanesque church in ,ngland. This was commenced between 6537 and 6517 as a royal burial church, consecrated on 72 0ecember 65&1, completed after his death in about 65:5, and demolished in 6731 to make way for Henry the third%s new building, which still stands. It was very similar to (umiZges !bbey, which was built at the same time. .obert of (umiZges must have been closely involved in both buildings, although it is not clear which is the original and which the copy. ,dward does not appear to have been interested in books and associated arts, but his abbey played a vital role in the development of ,nglish .omanesque architecture, showing that he was an innovating and generous patron of the church. ,dward the Confessor was the first !nglo"#a$on and the only king of ,ngland to be canonised, but he was part of a tradition of 8un"canonised= ,nglish royal saints, such as ,adburh of inchester, a daughter of ,dward the ,lder, ,dith of ilton, a daughter of ,dgar the Deaceful, and -ing ,dward the )artyr. ith his proneness to He of course was making a reference to the >attle of

fits of rage and love of hunting, ,dward is regarded by most historians as an unlikely saint, and his canonisation as political. !lthough some argue that his cult started so early that it must have had something credible to build on. ,dward displayed a worldly attitude in his church appointments. hen he appointed

.obert of (umiZges as !rchbishop of Canterbury in 6516, he chose the leading craftsman #pearhafoc to replace .obert as >ishop of *ondon. .obert refused to consecrate him, saying that the pope had forbidden it, but #pearhafoc occupied the bishopric for several months with ,dward/s support. !fter the Godwins fled the country, ,dward e$pelled #pearhafoc, who fled with a large store of gold and gems which he had been given to make ,dward a crown. #tigand was the first archbishop of Canterbury not to be a monk in almost a hundred years, and he was said to have been &2

e$communicated by several popes because he held Canterbury and

inchester in

plurality. #everal bishops sought consecration abroad because of the irregularity of #tigand/s position. ,dward usually preferred clerks to monks for the most important and richest bishoprics, and he probably accepted gifts from candidates for bishoprics and abbacies. However, his appointments were generally respectable. !fter 65&& there was a subdued cult of ,dward as a saint, possibly discouraged by the early ?orman !bbots of estminster, which gradually increased in the early twelfth estminster !bbey, then started to campaign for century. +sbert of Clare, the prior of

,dward/s canoniBation, aiming to increase the wealth and power of the !bbey. >y 66<2, he had converted the Iita @dwardi, the life of ,dward commissioned by his widow, into a conventional saint/s life.

He seiBed on an ambiguous passage which might have meant that their marriage was chaste, perhaps to give the idea that ,dith/s childlessness was not her fault, to claim that ,dward had been celibate. In 66<: +sbert went to .ome to petition for ,dward/s canonisation with the support of -ing #tephen, but he lacked the full support of the ,nglish hierarchy and #tephen had quarreled with the church, so Dope Innocent II postponed a decision, declaring that +sbert lacked sufficient testimonials of ,dward/s holiness. In 661: there was a disputed election to the papacy, and Henry the second%s support helped to secure recognition of Dope !le$ander III. In 66&5 a new abbot of estminster, *aurence, seiBed the opportunity to renew ,dward/s claim. This time, it had the full support of the king and the ,nglish hierarchy, and a grateful pope issued the bull of canoniBation on ' 4ebruary 66&6, the result of a conHunction of the interests of estminster !bbey, -ing Henry II and Dope !le$ander III He was called /Confessor/ as the name for someone who was believed to have lived a saintly life but was not a martyr. In the 67<5s -ing Henry the third became attached to the cult of #aint ,dward, and he commissioned a new life by )atthew Daris. Henry also constructed a grand new tomb for ,dward in a rebuilt estminster !bbey in 67&:.

&:

Antil about 6<15, ,dmund the )artyr, Gregory the Great and ,dward the Confessor were regarded as ,nglish national saints, but ,dward the third preferred the more war" like figure of #t George, and in 6<32 he established the +rder of the Garter with #t George as its patron. It was located at indsor Castle, and its chapel of #t ,dward the Confessor was re"dedicated to #t George, who was acclaimed in 6<16 as patron of the ,nglish race. ,dward was never a popular saint, but he was important to the ?orman dynasty, which claimed to be the successor of ,dward as the last legitimate !nglo" #a$on king.

The shrine of #aint ,dward the Confessor in

estminster !bbey remains where it

was after the final translation of his body to a chapel east of the sanctuary on 6< +ctober 67&: by Henry the third. The day of his translation, 6< +ctober 8his first translation had also been on that date in 66&<=, is regarded as his feast day, and each +ctober the !bbey holds a week of festivities and prayer in his honour. 4or some time the !bbey had claimed that it possessed a set of coronation regalia that ,dward had left for use in all future coronations. 4ollowing ,dward/s canonisation, these were regarded as holy relics, and thereafter they were used at all ,nglish coronations from the 6<th century until the destruction of the regalia by +liver Cromwell in 6&3:. +ctober 6< is an optional feast day for ,dward the Confessor for the Catholic Church of ,ngland and ales, and the Church of ,ngland/s calendar of saints designates it as a *esser 4estival. He is regarded as a patron saint of difficult marriages

'5

LADY GODIVA, WIFE OF LEOFRIC OF MERCIA G '$:. 8 +ld ,nglishG .odgifu=, known as L.'1 G '$:., was an 66th"century !nglo"#a$on noblewoman who, according to a legend dating back at least to the 6<th century, rode naked through the streets of Coventry in order to gain a remission of the oppressive ta$ation imposed by her husband on his tenants. The name CDeeping TomC for a voyeur originates from later versions of this legend in which a man named Tom had watched her ride and was struck blind or dead.

Godiva was the wife of *eofric, ,arl of )ercia. They had one proved son !elfgar, ,arl of )ercia. Godiva/s name occurs in charters and the 0omesday survey, though the spelling varies. The +ld ,nglish name Godgifu or Godgyfu meant Cgift of GodC9 Godiva was the *atinised version. #ince the name was a popular one, there are many contemporaries of the same name. If she is the same Godiva who appears in the history of ,ly !bbey, written at the end of the 67th century, then she was a widow when *eofric married her. >oth *eofric and Godiva were generous benefactors to religious houses. In 653< *eofric founded and endowed a >enedictine monastery at Coventry on the site of a nunnery destroyed by the 0anes in 656&. Godiva is cridited as the persuasive force behind this act. In the 6515s, her name is coupled with that of her husband on a grant of land to the monastery of #t )ary orcester, and the

'6

endowment of the minster at #tow #t )ary, *incolnshire. #he and her husband are commemorated as benefactors of other monasteries at *eominster, Chester, )uch enlock and ,vesham. #he gave Coventry a number of works in precious metal made for the purpose by the famous goldsmith )annig, and bequeathed a necklace valued at 655 marks of silver. !nother necklace went to ,vesham, to be hung around the figure of the Iirgin accompanying the life"siBe gold and silver rood she and her husband gave. #t Daul/s Cathedral, *ondon also received a gold"fringed chasuble. #he and her husband *eofric were among the most generous of the several large !nglo" #a$on donors of the last decades before the ?orman Conquest. The early ?orman bishops made short work of these gifts, carrying them off to ?ormandy or melting them down for bullion.

The manor of

oolhope in Herefordshire, along with four others, was given to the ulviva

Cathedral at Hereford before the ?orman Conquest by the benefactresses has a 75th"century stained glass window representing them.

and Godiva. This was usually held to be by Godiva and her sister. The church there

!fter her husband *eofric/s death in 651', Godiva his widow lived on until sometime between the ?orman Conquest of 65&& and 652&. #he is mentioned in the 0omesday survey as one of the few !nglo"#a$ons, and the only woman to remain a maHor landholder shortly after the conquest. >y the time of this great survey in 652&, Godiva had died, but her former lands are listed, although now held by others. Thus, Godiva apparently died between 65&& and 652&. The place where Godiva was buried has been a matter of debate. !ccording to the E$esha) Chronicle, she was buried at the Church of the >lessed Trinity at ,vesham, which is no longer standing. !ccording to the account in the +$ford 0ictionary of ?ational >iography, There is no reason to doubt that she was buried with her husband at Coventry, despite the assertion of the ,vesham Chronicle that she lay in Holy Trinity, ,vesham. In 6&1& it is said that a window with representations of *eofric and Godiva was placed in Trinity Church, Coventry,at about the time of .ichard the second. L#&#%'

'7

The legend of the nude ride is first recorded in the 6<th century, in the /lores ,istoriaru) and the adaptation of it by .oger of endover. 0espite the 4lores Historiarium%s considerable age, it is not regarded as plausible by modern historians. ?or is the nude ride mentioned in the two centuries intervening between Godiva/s death and the 4lores Historiarium%s first appearance. Godiva%s generous donations to the church however, receive various mentions. !ccording to the typical version of the story, *ady Godiva took pity on the people of Coventry, who were suffering grievously under her husband/s oppressive ta$ation. *ady Godiva appealed again and again to her husband, who obstinately refused to remit the tolls. !t last, weary of her entreaties, he said he would grant her request if she would strip naked and ride through the streets of the town. *ady Godiva took him at his word and, after issuing a proclamation that all persons should stay indoors and shut their windows, she rode through the town, clothed only in her long hair. (ust one person in the town, a tailor ever afterwards known as #eeping %o), disobeyed her proclamation in one of the most famous instances of voyeurism. In the story, the Deeping Tom bores a hole in his shutters so that he might see Godiva pass, and he is struck blind. In the end, Godiva/s husband keeps his word and abolishes the onerous ta$es. #ome historians have discerned elements of pagan fertility rituals in the Godiva story whereby a young )ay Jueen was led to the sacred Cofa/s tree perhaps to celebrate the renewal of spring. The oldest form of the legend has Godiva passing through Coventry market from one end to the other while the people were assembled, attended only by two knights. This version is given in /lores ,istoriaru) by .oger of endover, a somewhat gullible collector of anecdotes who quoted from unnamed earlier writers. +ther attempts to find a more plausible rationale for the legend, include one based on the custom at the time for penitents to make a public procession in their shift, which was a sleeveless white garment similar to a slip today and one which was certainly considered to be underwear. Thus Godiva might have actually travelled through town as a penitent, in her shift. !nother theory has it that *ady Godiva/s nakedness might have refered to her riding through the streets stripped of her Hewellery, which was the '<

trademark of her upper class rank. However, both of these attempts to reconcile known facts with legend are weak because at that time, the word naked is only known to mean, without any clothing whatsoever

T"# *t ,1 ) P##;$%& T ( The story of Deeping Tom, who alone among the townsfolk spied on *ady Godiva riding naked, did probably not originate in literature, but came up through popular lore in the locality of Coventry. The Deeping Tom story is absent from the few sources contemporary with Godiva and it has been pointed out that Tom 8Thomas= is not an !nglo"#a$on name, and therefore hardly likely to be a name of a townsperson governed by *eoffric. !t that time Coventry was still a small settlement, with only &: families and the monastery, as recorded in the 0omesday >ook some decades later. *astly, the only recorded tolls were on horses. Thus, it remains doubtful whether there is any historical basis for the famous ride. The story is particularly doubtful since Countess Godiva would herself have been responsible for setting ta$ation in Coventry. !s in !nglo"#a$on times the laws which e$cluded females from the inheritance of a throne did not apply in !nglo"#a$on society. If only because of the nudity in the story, its popularity has been maintained, and spread internationally, with many references in modern popular culture. The Herbert !rt Gallery [ )useum, in Coventry, maintains a permanent e$hibition on the subHect. The oldest painting was commissioned by the County of the City of Coventry in 612& and produced by !dam van ?oort, a refugee 4lemish artist. His painting depicts a voluptuously displayed *ady Godiva against the background of a fantastical Italianate Coventry.

'3

H., 0' G '4$%* %, or H., 0' t"# *#- %' 5c. 6577 ; 63 +ctober 65&&=, was the last !nglo"#a$on -ing of ,ngland. Harold reigned from & (anuary 65&& until his death at the >attle of Hastings on 63 +ctober, fighting the ?orman invaders led by the Conqueror during the ?orman conquest of ,ngland illiam

!t the end of 65&1, -ing ,dward the Confessor fell into a coma without clarifying his preference for the succession. He died on 1 (anuary 65&&, but not before briefly regaining consciousness and commending his widow, and his kingdom, to Harold the ,arl of esse$%s protection. The intent of this charge is ambiguous, as is the >ayeu$ itenagemot convened the ne$t day, they selected Harold to succeed Tapestry, which simply depicts ,dward pointing at a man thought to represent Harold. hen the ,dward the Confessor and his coronation followed on & (anuary, most likely at estminster !bbey9 however there is no surviving evidence from the time to confirm this. !lthough later ?orman sources point to the suddenness of this Coronation, the reason may have been that all the nobles of the land were present at second%s part. estminster for the feast of ,piphany, and not because of any usurpation of the throne on Harold the

!lso in (anuary 65&&, and on hearing that Harold the second had been crowned, 0uke illiam the second of ?ormandy began plans to invade by building '55 warships and transports at 0ives"sur")er on the ?ormandy coast. Initially, illiam the second of

'1

?ormandy could not get support for the invasion, but by claiming that Harold had sworn on sacred relics to support shipwrecked at Donthieu, illiam%s claim to the throne after having been illiam was given the Church/s blessing and ?orman ight, but illiam%s invasion fleet remained in

nobles flocked to his cause. In anticipation of the invasion, Harold the second had assembled his troops on the Isle of port for almost seven months, perhaps due to unfavorable winds. +n 2 #eptember 65&& with provisions running out, Harold the second disbanded the Isle of hite army, and returned to *ondon. +n the same day, Harald Hardrada of ?orway who also claimed the ,nglish crown, had Hoined Tostig who was Harold the second%s younger brother and who was banished by ,dward the Confessor, Hoined forces to invade ,ngland. Their fleet landed at the mouth of the .iver Tyne. The invading forces of Hardrada and Tostig defeated the ,nglish ,arls, ,dwin of )ercia and )orcar of ?orthumbria, at the >attle of 4ulford near Nork on 75 #eptember. Hardrada and Tostig were in turn defeated and slain by Harold the second%s army, five days later at the >attle of #tamford >ridge. Harold the second, having led his army north, on a four day forced march from *ondon was able to catch the army of Hardrada and Tostig by surprise. It is said that before the >attle of #tamford >ridge, a man bravely rode up to Hardrada and Tostig and offered Tostig his earldom if he would but turn on Harald Hardrada. hen Tostig asked what his brother Harold would be willing to give Harald Hardrada for his trouble, the rider replied that he would be given seven feet of ground as he was taller than other men. Harald Hardrada was impressed with the rider and asked Tostig his name. Tostig replied that the rider was none other than Harold the second. It is, however, unknown whether this conversation ever took place. +n 67 #eptember, 65&& illiam/s fleet sailed. #everal ships sank in storms, and the

fleet was forced to take shelter at #aint"Ialery"sur"#omme and wait for the wind to change. +n 7' #eptember the ?orman fleet finally set sail for ,ngland, arriving, it is believed, the following day at Devensey on the coast of ,ast #usse$. Harold/s army marched 736 miles to intercept #usse$, in the south of ,ngland. illiam, who had landed perhaps '555 men in Harold established his army in hastily built

earthworks near Hastings. The two armies clashed at the >attle of Hastings, at #enlac Hill near the present town of >attle on 63 +ctober, where after nine hours of hard

'&

fighting Harold the second was killed and his forces were routed . Harold%s brothers Gyrth and *eofwine were also killed in the battle. illiam the second of ?ormandy eventually became is known as illiam the Conquerer. illiam the first of ,ngland and

THE <ATTLE OF HASTINGS

The >attle of Hastings was fought on 63 +ctober 65&& between the ?orman"4rench army of 0uke illiam the second of ?ormandy and an ,nglish army under the !nglo"#a$on -ing Harold the second. It took place appro$imately 66 kilometres north"west of Hastings, close to the present"day town of >attle, ,ast #usse$. The battle was a decisive ?orman victory. 4ollowing the death of the childless -ing ,dward the Confessor in (anuary 65&&. This event set up a succession struggle between several claimants to the ,nglish throne. Harold was crowned -ing shortly after ,dward/s death, but he faced invasions by illiam of ?ormandy, Harold%s own brother Tostig, and the ?orwegian -ing Hardrada and Tostig defeated a hastily Harald Hardrada 8Harold III of ?orway=.

gathered army of ,nglishmen at the >attle of 4ulford on 75th #eptember 65&&, and they were in turn defeated by Harold at the >attle of #tamford >ridge five days later. Tostig and Hardrada both died during the >attle of #tamford >ridge which left illiam of ?ormandy as Harold/s only serious opponent. hile Harold and his forces were recovering from the >attle of #tamford, illiam

landed his invasion forces in the south of ,ngland at Devensey on 72 #eptember 65&&, and he established a beachhead for his conquest of the ,nglish kingdom. Harold was forced to march south from #tamford >ridge swiftly, gathering forces as he went. The e$act numbers present at the >attle of Hastings are unknown9 estimates are around 65,555 for illiam and about '555 for Harold. The composition of the forces

''

is however clearer. The ,nglish army was composed almost entirely of infantry and had few archers, whereas about half of the invading force was infantry, with the rest split equally between cavalry and archers. Harold appears to have tried to surprise illiam, but scouts found his army and reported its arrival to illiam, who marched from Hastings to the battlefield to confront Harold. The battle lasted from about : am to dusk on the 63th +ctober 65&&. ,arly efforts of the invaders to break the ,nglish battle lines had little effect9 therefore, the ?ormans adopted the tactic of pretending to flee in panic and then turning on their pursuers. Harold/s death, from an arrow piercing the eye was probably near the end of the battle, and it led to the retreat and defeat of most of his army. !fter the victory at the >attle of Hastings, illiam moved his army to the ?orthwest. allingford, where he received the inchester. He then

He and his army crossed the .iver Thames at

submission of #tigand the !rchbishop of Canterbury and

travelled north"east along the Chilterns, before turning south to advance towards *ondon from the north"west to fight further forces from the city of *ondon. The ,nglish leaders eventually surrendered to illiam at >erkhamsted Castle in Hertfordshire, and he was proclaimed -ing of ,ngland. He was crowned -ing illiam the 4irst of ,ngland by ,aldred the !rchbishop of Nork on 71 0ecember 65&&, in estminster !bbey.L. illiam/s rule. The

!lthough there continued to be some rebellions and resistance to >attle of Hastings effectively marked the culmination of

illiam of ?ormandy%s

conquest of ,ngland. Casualty figures are hard to come by, but some historians estimate that 7555 invaders died along with about twice that number of ,nglishmen. illiam founded a monastery at the site of the battle. The high altar of the abbey church supposedly placed at the spot where Harold died.

'2

NORMAN LINE
W$00$.( t"# F$,*t also known as illiam the Conqueror and illiam the >astard

because of his believed illegitimate parentage ruled ,ngland until his death in 652'. !part from defeating Harold at the >attle of Hastings, or the 0oomsday >ook. +n a visit to ?ormandy towards the end of 652& -ing died early in 652'. who was also called -ing of ,ngland. first son, and the custody of ,ngland was given to illiam the 4irst fell ill and he illiam/s second surviving son, illiam would become illiam the first is also known for obtaining an inventory of ,ngland% assets in a survey called the 0oomsday #urvey

illiam the 4irst, left the kingdom of ?ormandy to .obert his illiam. This was on the assumption that

illiam the 4irst%s youngest son, Henry, received money. +n 'th illiam back to ,ngland bearing a letter to *anfranc

#eptember 652& after stating his intention to entrust ,ngland to his second son, illiam the 4irst sent his son the !rchbishop of Canterbury. The letter ordered the archbishop to aid the new king. +ther bequests included gifts to the Church and money to be distributed to the poor. illiam the 4irst also ordered that all of his prisoners be released, including his half" brother +do 0isorder followed illiam the 4irst%s in death in ?ormandy9 everyone who had been

at his deathbed left the body at .ouen and hurried off to attend to their own affairs. ,ventually, the clergy of .ouen arranged to have the body sent to Caen, where illiam had desired to be buried in his foundation of the !bbaye"au$"Hommes. The funeral, attended by the >ishops and !bbots of ?ormandy as well as his son Henry, ':

was disturbed by the assertion of a citiBen of Caen who alleged that his family had been illegally despoiled of the land on which the church was built. !fter hurried consultations the allegation was shown to be true, and the man was compensated. ! further indignity occurred when the corpse of illiam the first was lowered into the tomb. The corpse was too large for the space, and when attendants forced the body into the tomb it burst, spreading a disgusting odour throughout the church.

illiam the 4irst%s grave is currently marked by a marble slab with a *atin inscription. The tomb has been disturbed several times since 652', the first time in 6177 when the grave was opened on orders from the papacy. The intact body was restored to the tomb at that time, but in 61&7, during the 4rench ars of .eligion, the grave was reopened and the bones scattered and lost, with the e$ception of one thigh bone. This lone relic was reburied in 6&37 with a new marker, which was replaced 655 years later with a more elaborate monument. This tomb was again destroyed during the 4rench .evolution, but was eventually replaced with the current marble slab early in the 6:th century. illiam the first had five sons. His first son .obert inherited the kingdom of ?ormandy. The ne$t son did not survive. The third son, father and became eventually succeeded illiam, who succeeded his illiam the second of ,ngland, Henry, the fourth son, who illiam the second to become Henry the first of ,ngland, and

#tephen, the fifth son who married )atilda of >oulogne and produced a son #tephen who eventually became #tephen the first of ,ngland In 652' became illiam the first%s second son succeeded his father to the ,nglish crown and illiam the second of ,ngland.

25

THE DOOMSDAY SURVEY The "omesday /oo& is a manuscript that records the great survey of much of ,ngland and parts of ales. It was completed in 652&. The survey was e$ecuted for hile spending the Christmas time illiam the first sent illiam I of ,ngland 8 illiam the Conqueror=.

of 6521 in Gloucester, after a consultation with his counsellors had in land and livestock, and what it was worth

men all over ,ngland into each shire to find out what or how much each landholder +ne of the main purposes of the survey was to determine who held what and what ta$es had been liable under ,dward the Confessor. The Hudgement of the 0omesday assessors was final, and whatever they reported about who held the material wealth, or what it was worth was absolute and there was no appeal. The 0oomsday >ook was written in *atin, although there were some words inserted for terms that had no previous *atin equivalent. The te$t was also highly abbreviated. The manuscript is held at The ?ational !rchives, -ew, in #outh est *ondon. In !ugust 755&, a limited online version of o)esday &oo* was made available by the Anited -ingdom/s ?ational !rchives site, charging users \7 per page to view the manuscript. In 7566, the +pen 0omesday site made the manuscript freely available for the first time. ! survey approaching the scope and e$tent of the 0omesday >ook was not attempted until the .eturn of +wners of *and, in 62'<, which presented the first subsequent complete picture of the distribution of landed property in the >ritish Isles, and is thus sometimes referred to as the )odern 0omesday

26

%he

o)esday &oo* is really two independent works. +ne, known as Little o)esday, covers ales, e$cept for lands in the north inchester, and some

o)esday, covers ?orfolk, #uffolk, and ,sse$. The other, .reat much of the remainder of ,ngland and parts of which later became

estmorland, Cumberland, ?orthumberland, and the County

Dalatine of 0urham. There are also no surveys of *ondon, e$empt status, not their siBe and comple$ity.

other towns. The omission of these two maHor cities is probably due to their ta$"

)ost of Cumberland and 0urham,

estmorland are missing because they were not conquered

until some time after the survey, and County 0urham is missing as the >ishop of illiam de #t"Calais, had the e$clusive right to ta$ 0urham. Darts of the north east of ,ngland were covered by the 662< &oldon &oo*, which listed those areas liable to ta$ by the >ishop of 0urham. The omission of the other counties has not been fully e$plained. 0espite its name, Little o)esday was larger, as it is far more detailed, it goes down to numbers of livestock. It is possible that Little o)esday represents a first attempt, and that it was found impossible, or at least inconvenient, to complete the work on the same scale for .reat o)esday. 4or both volumes, the contents of the returns were entirely rearranged and classified according to manors, rather than geographic areas. Instead of appearing by hundred or by township, holdings appear under the names of the landholders. The book was for the most part a large scale ta$ return and it was significantly unpopular. In each county, the list opened with the holdings of the -ing and which possibly had formed the subHect of separate inquiry. These lists were followed by those of the churchmen and religious houses in order of status, for e$ample, the !rchbishop of Canterbury is always listed before other bishops, followed by the lay tenants"in"chief again in appro$imate order of status and lastly the -ing/s servants who retained land. In some counties, one or more principal towns formed the subHect of a separate section. !nd any disputed titles to land were similarly treated separately. This

27

principle applies more specially to the larger volume. In the smaller one, the system is more confuse, and the e$ecution less perfect. 0omesday names a total of 6<,362 places. !part from the wholly rural portions, which constitute its bulk. o)esday contains entries of interest concerning most of the towns, which were probably made because of their bearing on the fiscal rights of the crown. These include the fragments of older customary agreements, the records of the military service due, and the records of markets, mints, and so forth. 4rom the towns, from the counties as wholes, and from many of its ancient lordships, the crown was entitled to archaic dues in kind, such as honey. The information of most general interest contained in the 0oomsday >ook, is that concerning political, personal, ecclesiastical, and social history. This is information that only occurs sporadically and seemingly by accident. 4rom the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle it is known that the planning for the survey was conducted in 6521, and from the book itself it is known that the survey was completed in 652&. It is not known when e$actly the 0oomsday >ook was compiled, but the entire copy of Great 0omesday appears to have been copied out by one person on parchment 8prepared sheepskin=, although si$ scribes seem to have been used for *ittle 0omesday. 0uring the survey, most shires were visited by a group of royal officers, who held a public inquiry, probably in the great assembly known as the shire court. The public enquiry was attended by representatives of every township as well as by the local lords. The unit of inquiry was the Hundred, a subdivision of the county, which then was an administrative entity, and the return for each Hundred was sworn to by twelve local Hurors, half of them ,nglish and half of them ?ormans. hat is believed to be a full transcript of these original returns is preserved for several of the Cambridgeshire Hundreds and is of great illustrative importance. Through comparison of the details recorded and in which counties, si$ distict areas can be determined. 6.>erkshire, Hampshire, -ent, #urrey, #usse$ 7.Cornwall, 0evon, 0orset, #omerset, iltshire 8,$eter 0omesday= arwickshire <.>edfordshire, >uckinghamshire, Cambridgeshire, Hertfordshire, )iddlese$ 3.*eicestershire, ?orthamptonshire, +$fordshire, #taffordshire,

2<

1.Cheshire, Gloucestershire, Herefordshire, #hropshire, )arches

orcestershire, the

&.0erbyshire, Huntingdonshire, *incolnshire, ?ottinghamshire, Norkshire. !lthough it can by no means be reconciled in every detail, it is now generally recognised that the primary obHect of the survey was to ascertain and record the fiscal rights of the king which wereG

The national land"ta$, to be paid on a fi$ed assessment, The payment of miscellaneous ta$es and dues. The proceeds of the crown lands.

!fter a great political upheaval such as the ?orman conquest, and the wholesale confiscation of the landed estates which followed it. It was in illiam the first%s interest to make sure that the rights of the crown, which he claimed to have inherited, had not sufferred in the process. )ore especially as was the case of his ?orman followers who were disposed to evade the liabilities of their ,nglish predecessors. The successful trial of the ?orman +do de >ayeu$ at Denenden Heath less than a decade after the conquest was one e$ample of the growing discontent at the ?orman land"grab that had occurred in the years following the ?orman invasion. The survey has since been viewed in the conte$t that illiam required certainty and a definitive reference point as to property holdings across the nation so that it might be used as evidence in any disputes and purported authority for crown ownership. The 0omesday survey therefore, recorded the names of the new holders of lands and the assessments on which their ta$ was to be paid. +n the instructions however, it did more than this. illiam the first%s It endeavoured to make a national

valuation list, estimating the annual value of all the land in the country, at the time of ,dward the Confessor/s death, at the time when the new owners received it, and at the time of the survey. 4urthermore it reckoned, by command, the future potential value as well. It is evident that illiam desired to know the current financial resources of his kingdom, and it is probable that he wished to compare them with the previous assessment, which was one of considerable antiquity, though there is evidence that it had been occasionally modified. The great bulk of the 23 o)esday &oo* is devoted to

the somewhat dry and boring details of the assessment and valuation of rural estates, which were as yet the only important source of national wealth. !fter stating the assessment of the manor, the record sets forth the amount of arable land, and the number of plough teams each reckoned at eight o$en that were available for working it, plus the additional number 8if any= that might be employed. It also stated the river" meadows, woodland, pasture, fisheries, water"mills, salt"pans 8if by the sea= and other subsidiary sources of revenue. The peasants are enumerated in their several classes9 and finally the annual value of the whole, past and present, is roughly estimated. It is obvious that, both in its values and in its measurements, the survey/s reckoning is very crude.

The rearrangement, on a feudal basis, of the original returns enabled

illiam the

Conqueror and his officers to see with ease the e$tent of a baron/s possessions, but it also had the effect of showing how far he had engaged under"tenants, and who those under"tenants were. This was of great importance to allegiance directly to himself. >ecause the illiam, not only for military reasons, but also because of his firm resolve to make the under"tenants swear o)esday &oo* only records the Christian name of an under"tenant, it is not possible to search for the surnames of those families claiming a ?orman origin. >ut an attempt was made to identify the under"tenants, the great bulk of whom bear foreign Christian names. To a large e$tent, it comes down to the king being able to know where he should look when he needed to raise money. It therefore includes sources of income but not sinks of e$penditure such as castles, unless their mention is needed to e$plain discrepancies between pre"and post"Conquest holdings. Typically, this happened in a town, where separately"recorded properties had been demolished to make way for a castle. %he o)esday &oo* was originally preserved in the royal treasury at hen the treasury moved to inchester 8the estminster,

?orman kings/ capital=. It was originally referred to as the &oo* of Winchester, and refers to itself as such in a late edition. probably under Henry the second, the book went with it. In the )iddle !ges, its evidence was frequently invoked in the law"courts9 and even now, there are certain cases in which appeal is made to its testimony.

21

It remained in

estminster until the days of Jueen Iictoria, being preserved from o)esday &oo* was

6&:& onwards in the Chapter House, and only removed in special circumstances, such as when it was sent to #outhampton for reproduction. The eventually placed in the Dublic .ecord +ffice, *ondon. It can be now seen in a glass case in the museum at The ?ational !rchives in -ew, which is in the *ondon >orough of .ichmond upon Thames in #outh est *ondon. In 62&:, it received a o)esday was modern binding. )ost recently, the two books were rebound for its ninth centenary in 6:2&, when .reat o)esday was divided into two volumes and Little is also preserved in the building at -ew. divided into three volumes. The ancient 0omesday chest, in which it used to be kept,

The printing of

o)esday, was begun by the government in 6''<, and the book was o)esday0

published, in two volumes, in 6'2<. In 6266, a volume of inde$es was added, and in 626& a supplementary volume separately inde$ed was added. The Exon for the south"western counties containgG 6. The 1n2uisitio Eliensis 7. The Liber Winton]surveys of 0omesday Dhotographic facsimiles of the o)esday &oo*, for each county separately, were o)esday &oo* is available inchester late in the 67th century. <. The &oldon &u*e]a survey of the bishopric of 0urham a century later than

published in 62&6;62&<, also by the government. Today, history resources. The importance of the

in numerous editions, usually separated by county and available with other local

o)esday &oo* for the understanding of the period in which it

was written is difficult to overstate.

2&

W$00$.( II 8c.651& ; 7 !ugust 6655=, was the third son of +n his fathers death he became

illiam the Conqueror.

illiam the second of ,ngland, and was -ing of ales. illiam the second

,ngland from 652' until 6655. He had powers over ?ormandy, and influence in #cotland. He was less successful in e$tending control into red"faced appearance. He was a figure of comple$ temperamentG capable of both bellicosity and flamboyance. He did not marry, nor did he produce any offspring, legitimate or otherwise. He died after being struck by an arrow while hunting, under circumstances that remain murky. Circumstantial evidence in the behaviour of those around him raises strong but unproven suspicions of murder. His younger brother Henry hurriedly succeeded him as king. He was said to be a tumultuous, devil"may"care soldier, without natural dignity or social graces, with no cultivated tastes and little show of conventional religious piety or morality. Indeed, according to his critics, he was addicted to every kind of vice, particularly lust and especially sodomy. +n the other hand he was a wise ruler and victorious general, and his chivalrous virtues and achievements were all too obvious. He had maintained good order, had administered satisfactory Hustice in ,ngland and restored peace to ?ormandy. He e$tended !nglo"?orman rule in younger brother Henry. ales, and brought #cotland firmly under his lordship. +n his death in 6655 he was succeeded by his is commonly known as W$00$.( R2)2* or W$00$.( t"# R#', perhaps because of his

2'

H#%,1 I 8c. 65&2 ; 6 0ecember 66<1=, also known as H#%,1 <#.2-0#,-, was -ing of ,ngland from 6655 to 66<1. Henry was the fourth son of was educated in *atin and the liberal arts. +n Henry/s older brothers illiam the Conqueror and illiam the Conqueror%s death in 652',

illiam .ufus and .obert Curthose inherited the crowns estern ?ormandy from his brother .obert, and

,ngland and ?ormandy respectively, and brother Henry was left landless. Henry purchased the County of Cotentin in in 65:6 both brothers brother illiam .ufus and .obert Curthose deposed him to ?ormandy. illiam the second, against their brother .obert. illiam%s illiam the

Henry gradually rebuilt his power base in western ?ormandy and allied himself with illiam who was now Henry was with illiam when he died in a hunting accident in 6655, and as

brother he took the opportunity to seiBe the ,nglish throne, and he became Henry the first of ,ngland. He promised at his coronation to correct many of second%s less popular policies. Henry married )atilda of #cotland but continued to have a large number of mistresses, by whom he had many illegitimate children. >rother .obert Curthose invaded ,ngland from ?ormandy in 6656. He disputed Henry/s control of ,ngland. The military campaign ended in a negotiated settlement that confirmed Henry the first, as king of ,ngland. The peace however, was short" lived, and Henry the first invaded his brother .obert%s land in ?ormandy in 6651 and 665&. This land was known as the 0uchy of ?ormandy. Henry the first finally defeated his brother .obert at the >attle of Tinchebray. Henry the first then took control of ?ormandy and kept .obert his brother imprisoned for the rest of his life.

22

Henry the first%s control over ?ormandy was challenged by *ouis the si$th of 4rance, >aldwin of 4landers and 4ulk of !nHou. These three promoted the rival claims of Henry%s brother .obert/s son illiam, and they supported a maHor rebellion in the 4ollowing however, Henry the first%s decisive 0uchy between 666& and 666:. with *ouis the si$th. Considered by contemporaries to be a harsh but effective ruler, Henry the first skilfully manipulated the barons in ,ngland and ?ormandy. In ,ngland, he drew on the e$isting !nglo"#a$on system of Hustice, local government and ta$ation, but also strengthened it with additional institutions, including the royal e$chequer and itinerant Hustices. ?ormandy was also governed through a growing system of Hustices and an e$chequer. )any of the officials that ran Henry/s system were Cnew men,C relatively low"born individuals who rose through the ranks as administrators. Henry encouraged ecclesiastical reform, but became embroiled in a serious dispute in 6656 with !rchbishop !nselm of Canterbury, which was resolved through a compromise solution in 6651. Henry the first had one only legitimate son and heir, illiam !delin. illiam

victory at the >attle of >r^mule in 6675, a favourable peace settlement was agreed

drowned in the White Ship disaster of 6675, throwing the royal succession into doubt. Henry took a second wife, !deliBa, in the hope of having another son, but their marriage was childless. Henry the first then declared his only daughter, )atilda, as his heir and married her to Geoffrey of !nHou. .elationships between Henry the first and the married couple however became strained, and fighting broke out along the border with !nHou. Henry the first, died on 6 0ecember 66<1 after a week of illness. 0espite his plans for )atilda, the -ing was succeeded by his brother%s son #tephen. #tephen%s father also named #tephen had died and #tephen the older was the fifth son of illiam the Conqueror. #tephen had married a 4rench noble lady, )atlida of >oulogne, and from whom he obtained his title #tephen of >lois. The succession of #tephen to the ,nglish crown resulted in a period of civil war known as the !narchy.

T ! * IT! $ I0 "I$#$T!-

2:

The *hite $hip was a vessel that sank in the ,nglish Channel near the ?ormandy coast off >arfleur, on 71 ?ovember 6675. +nly two of those aboard survived. Those who drowned included illiam !delin, the only surviving legitimate son and heir of illiam !delin/s death led to a succession crisis and -ing Henry the first of ,ngland.

a period of civil war in ,ngland known as the !narchy. The White Ship was a new vessel captained by Thomas 4itB#tephen, whose father #tephen 4itB!irard had been captain of the ship "ora for illiam the Conqueror when he invaded ,ngland in 65&& Thomas 4itB#tephen offered his ship to Henry the first of ,ngland to use it to return to ,ngland from >arfleur in ?ormandy.

Henry had already made other arrangements, but Henry allowed many of those in his retinue to take the White Ship3 Those on the and heir, hite ship including his legitimate son illiam !delin, his illegitimate son .ichard of *incoln his illegitimate

daughter )atilda 4itB.oy, Countess of Derche9 and many other nobles. It is said that much wine was drunk and by the time the ship was ready to leave >arfleur there were about <55 people on board although some had disembarked before the ship sailed due to the e$cessive drinking. The ship/s captain, Thomas 4itB#tephen, was ordered by the revelers to overtake the king/s ship which had already sailed. The White Ship was fast, of the best construction and had recently been fitted with new materials which made the captain and crew confident they could reach ,ngland first. >ut when it set off in the dark, its port side struck a submerged rock and the ship quickly capsiBed. illiam !delin had got into a small boat and could have escaped but he turned back to try to rescue his half"sister, )atilda the countess of Derche when he heard her cries for help. His boat was swamped by others trying to save themselves, and illiam drowned along with them. +nly two survived by clinging to the rock all night9 one was a butcher from .ouen, and the second was Geoffrey de l/!igle. It is further claimed that when Thomas 4itB#tephen, the captain of the learned that the wrath of .Henry the first. hite ship came to the surface after the sinking and he illiam !delin had not survived, he let himself drown rather than face

:5

The cause of the shipwreck remains uncertain and various stories surround its loss. The most frequently aired version of events is that of a drinking binge by the crew and passengers. ! direct result of illiam !delin/s death was the period known as the !narchy. The

White Ship disaster had left Henry the first with only one legitimate child, a daughter named )atilda. !lthough Henry the first had forced his barons to swear an oath to support )atilda as his heir on several occasions, a woman had never ruled in ,ngland in her own right. )atilda was also unpopular because she was married to Geoffrey I, the Count of !nHou, who was a traditional enemy of ,ngland/s ?orman nobles. Apon Henry/s death in 66<1, the ,nglish barons were reluctant to accept )atilda as Jueen.

+ne of Henry the first%s male relatives, #tephen of >lois, who was his nephew by his younger brother #tephen, usurped )atilda as well as #tephen%s older brothers illiam and Theobald to become -ing. #tephen of >lois had allegedly planned to travel on the White Ship but had disembarked Hust before it sailed. It is said that this was attributed this to a sudden bout of diarrhea. !fter Henry the first%s death, )atilda, Henry%s daughter and her husband Geoffrey of !nHou, the founder of the Dlantagenet dynasty, launched a long and devastating war against #tephen and his allies for control of the ,nglish throne. The !narchy dragged from 66<1 to 661< with devastating effect, especially in southern ,ngland.

St#;"#% 8c. 65:7K& ; 71 +ctober 6613=, often referred to as St#;"#% ) <0 $*, was a grandson of illiam the Conqueror by illiams fifth son #tephen. He was -ing of ,ngland from 66<1 to his death in 6613. He was also the Count of >oulogne, a title due to his marriage to )atilda of >oulogne. #tephen/s reign was marked by the !narchy, which was a civil war with his cousin and rival )atilda of !nHou, who was Henry the 4irst%s only daughter. +n his death in 6613 #tephen was succeeded by )atilda of !nHou%s son, who became Henry the second, the first of the !ngevin kings.

#tephen was born in the County of >lois in middle 4rance. #tephen, was another son of

His father, Count

illiam the first. Count #tephen died while #tephen was :6

still young, and #tephen was brought up by his mother, !dela. #tephen was placed into the court of his uncle, Henry the first, and he rose in prominence and was granted e$tensive lands. #tephen married )atilda of >oulogne, inheriting additional estates in -ent and >oulogne. It was this that made the couple one of the wealthiest in ,ngland. #tephen narrowly escaped drowning with Henry the first%s son, first. illiam !delin, in the sinking of the White Ship in 6675. #tephen had sailed in the ship carrying Henry the illiam !delin%s death left the succession of the ,nglish throne open to hen Henry the first died in 66<1, #tephen quickly crossed the ,nglish challenge.

Channel and with the help of his brother Henry of >lois, a powerful ecclesiastic, took the ,nglish throne, arguing that the preservation of order across the kingdom took priority over his earlier oaths to support the claim of Henry the first%s daughter )atilda The early years of #tephen/s reign were largely successful, despite a series of attacks on his possessions in ,ngland and ?ormandy from 0avid the first of #cotland, elsh rebels, and )atilda/s husband, Geoffrey of !nHou. In 66<2, )atilda of !nHou%s half" brother .obert of Gloucester rebelled against #tephen, threatening civil war. Together with his close advisor, aleran de >eaumont, #tephen took firm steps to defend his hen )atilda of !nHou and rule, including arresting a powerful family of bishops.

.obert of Gloucester invaded in 66<:, however, #tephen was unable to rapidly crush the revolt and it took hold in the south"west of ,ngland. #tephen was eventually captured at the >attle of *incoln in 6636. #tephen was abandoned by many of his followers and he lost control of ?ormandy. #tephen was freed only after his wife )atilda of >oulogne, together with illiam of Npres, one of #tephen%s military inchester, but the war commanders, captured .obert of Gloucester at the .out of

still dragged on for many years with neither side able to win an advantage. #tephen became increasingly concerned with ensuring that his son ,ustace would inherit his throne after him. #tephen attempted to convince the Church to agree to crown ,ustace to reinforce his claim9 Dope ,ugene III refused, and #tephen found himself in a sequence of increasingly bitter arguments with his senior clergy. In 661< , Henry 4itB,mpress, who was the son of )atilda of !nHou who was Henry the first%s daughter, invaded ,ngland and built an alliance of powerful regional barons to support )atilda of !nHou and her son Henry 4itB,mpress%s claim to the throne.

:7

E(;,#** M.t$0'. 8c.' 4ebruary 6657 ; 65 #eptember 66&'=, also known as the E(;,#** M.2'# or M.t$0'. ) E%&0.%', was the leader of one of the factions in the ,nglish civil war known as the !narchy. The daughter of -ing Henry the first of ,ngland, she moved to Germany as a child when she married the future Holy .oman ,mperor Henry I. #he travelled with her husband into Italy in 666& and was, controversially, crowned in #t. Deter/s >asilica, before then acting as the imperial regent in Italy. )atilda and Henry had no children, and when he died in 6671, the crown was claimed by *othair II, one of his political enemies.

)eanwhile, )atilda/s younger brother,

illiam !delin, died in the White Ship

disaster of 6675, leaving ,ngland facing a potential succession crisis. )atilda was sent to ?ormandy by her father Henry the first who arranged for her to marry Geoffrey of !nHou to form an alliance to protect his southern borders. Henry the first had no further children and he nominated )atilda as his heir, making his court swear an oath of loyalty to her and her successors. >ut the decision was not popular in the !nglo"?orman court. Henry the first died in 66<1 but )atilda and Geoffrey of !nHou faced opposition from the ?orman barons and were unable to pursue their claims to the throne. The throne was instead taken by )atilda/s cousin #tephen of >lois, who enHoyed the backing of the ,nglish Church. #tephen took steps to solidify his new regime, but faced threats both from neighbouring powers and from opponents within his kingdom. In 66<: )atilda crossed into ,ngland to take the kingdom by force. #he was supported by her half"brother, .obert of Gloucester and her uncle, -ing 0avid I of #cotland, while Geoffrey her husband focused on conquering ?ormandy. )atilda/s forces captured #tephen the first at the >attle of *incoln in 6636, but the ,mpress/s attempt to be crowned at estminster collapsed in the face of bitter opposition from the *ondon crowds. !s a result of this retreat, )atilda was never formally declared Jueen of ,ngland, and was instead entitled the *ady of the ,nglish. .obert was captured following the .out of inchester in 6637, and )atilda agreed to e$change him for #tephen. )atilda became trapped in +$ford Castle by #tephen/s forces that :<

winter, and was forced to escape across the .iver Isis at night to avoid capture. The war degenerated into a stalemate, with )atilda controlling much of the south"west of ,ngland, #tephen the south"east and the )idlands, with large parts of the rest of the country in the hands of local barons. *ater that year in 661<, #tephen and Henry 4itB,mpress the son of )atilda of !nHou agreed to the Treaty of inchester, in which #tephen recognised Henry as his heir in illiam was passed over by this agreement. e$change for peace. #tephen/s son

#tephen died the following year, and Henry 4itB,mpress, )atilda of !nHou%s son and a grandson of Henry the first succeeded to the ,nglish crown. Henry 4itB,mpress became Henry the second of ,ngland.

THE PLANTAGENET 5ANGEVIN= LINE

H#%,1 II 81 )arch 66<< ; & (uly 662:=, also known as H#%,1 C2,t(.%t0#, H#%,1 F$t>E(;,#** or H#%,1 P0.%t.&#%#t, ruled as Count of !nHou, Count of )aine, 0uke of ?ormandy, 0uke of !quitaine, Count of ?antes, -ing of ,ngland 86613;2:= and *ord of Ireland9 at various times, he also controlled the first of ,ngland. Henry the second, became actively involved by the age of 63 in his mother/s efforts to claim the throne of ,ngland which was then occupied by #tephen of >lois. Henry the second was made 0uke of ?ormandy at 6', and he inherited !nHou in 6616 and he shortly afterwards married ,leanor of !quitaine, whose marriage to *ouis III of 4rance had recently been annulled. -ing #tephen of ,ngland agreed to a peace treaty after Henry/s military e$pedition to ,ngland in 661<G Henry the second, son of )atilda of !nHou and grandson of Henry the first inherited the ,nglish kingdom on #tephen/s death a year later in 6613. Henry was an energetic and sometimes ruthless ruler, driven by a desire to restore the lands and privileges of his grandfather, Henry the first. 0uring the early years of his reign he restored the royal administration in ,ngland, re"established control over ales and gained full control over his lands in !nHou, )aine and Touraine. Henry/s ales, #cotland and >rittany. Henry was the son of Geoffrey and )atilda of !nHou who was the daughter of Henry

:3

desire to reform the relationship with the Church led to conflict with his former friend Thomas >ecket, the !rchbishop of Canterbury. This controversy lasted for much of the 66&5s and eventually resulted in >ecket/s murder in 66'5. Henry soon came into conflict with *ouis III and the two rulers fought what has been called a Ccold warC over several decades. Henry e$panded his empire, often at *ouis/ e$pense, taking >rittany and pushing east into central 4rance and south into Toulouse. 0espite numerous peace conferences and treaties no lasting agreement was reached. >y 66'7, Henry the second controlled ,ngland, large parts of ,mpire. ales, the eastern half of Ireland and the western half of 4rance, an area that would later come to be called the !ngevin

Henry and his wife ,leanor of !quitaine had eight children. !s they grew up, tensions over the future inheritance of the !ngevin empire began to emerge. encouraged by *ouis I66 and his son -ing Dhilip II. This was In 66'< Henry the second%s

oldest son and heir apparent, CThe Noung HenryC, rebelled in protest and he was Hoined by his younger brothers .ichard and Geoffrey and by their mother ,leanor of !quitaine. 4rance, #cotland, 4landers and >oulogne also allied themselves with the four rebels. The ensuing rebellion was known as the Great .evolt and was only defeated by vigorous military action and talented local commanders, many of them Cnew menC who were appointed for their loyalty and administrative skills. Noung Henry and his brother Geoffrey revolted again in 662<. This rebellion resulted in the death of the heir apparent Noung Henry the eldest son of Henry the second. The ?orman invasion of Ireland had provided lands for (ohn who was Henry the second%s youngest son, but Henry the second struggled to find ways to satisfy all his sons/ desires for land and immediate power. -ing Dhilip 66 successfully played on Henry the second%s older son .ichard who feared, that Henry the second would pass the throne to his younger brother (ohn ! final rebellion broke out in 662:. Henry the second was decisively defeated by -ing Dhilip66 and Henry the second%s son .ichard. #uffering from a bleeding ulcer, Henry the second retreated to Chinon in !nHou, where he died in 66::. Henry the second was succeeded by his second oldest son .ichard who became .ichard the first of ,ngland.

:1

Henry/s empire quickly collapsed during the reign of his son .ichard. )any of the changes Henry the second introduced during his long rule, however, had long"term consequences. Henry/s legal changes are generally considered to have laid the basis for the ,nglish Common *aw, while his intervention in >rittany, ales and #cotland shaped the development of their societies and governmental systems. Historical interpretations of Henry the second%s reign have changed considerably over time. In the 62th century, scholars argued that Henry was a driving force in the creation of a genuinely ,nglish monarchy and, ultimately, a unified >ritain.

T 'M#$ /!12!T3 T ! #-1 /I$ '0 ') 1#NT!-/(-4 T" (.* <#-8#t 8also known as S.$%t T" (.* ) C.%t#,/2,1, T" (.* ) L %' % and later T" (.* ? <#-8#t 8c. 6662 8or 6675= ; 7: 0ecember 66'5== was !rchbishop of Canterbury from 66&7 until his murder in 66'5. He is venerated as a saint and martyr by both the Catholic Church and the !nglican Communion. He engaged in conflict with Henry the second of ,ngland over the rights and privileges of the Church and was murdered by followers of the king in Canterbury Cathedral. #oon after his death, he was canoniBed by Dope !le$ander III. >ecket was born in 6662 or in 6675 according to later tradition. He was born in Cheapside, *ondon, on 76 0ecember, which was the feast day of #t Thomas the !postle. He was the son of Gilbert >eket and his wife )atilda. Gilbert/s father was from Thierville in the lordship of >rionne in ?ormandy, and was either a small landowner or a petty knight. )atilda was also of ?orman ancestry and her family may have originated near Caen. Gilbert was perhaps related to Theobald of >ec, whose family also was from Thierville. Gilbert began his life as a merchant, perhaps as a te$tile merchant, but by the 6675s he was living in *ondon and was a property"owner, living on the rental income from his properties. He also served as the sheriff of the city at some point. >oth parents were buried in +ld #t Daul/s Cathedral. +ne of >ecket/s father/s rich friends, .icher de */!igle, often invited the young Thomas >ecket to his estates in #usse$ where >ecket was e$posed to hunting and

:&

hawking. !ccording to Grim, >ecket learned much from .icher. .icher was later a signatory at the Constitutions of Clarendon against Thomas >eginning when he was 65 years old, Thomas >ecket was sent as a student to )erton Driory in ,ngland and later attended a grammar school in *ondon, perhaps the one at #t Daul/s Cathedral. *ater, he spent about a year in Daris around age 75. He did not, however, study canon or civil law at this time and his *atin skills have always remained somewhat rudimentary. #ometime after >ecket began his schooling, Gilbert >eke, Thomas%s father had financial problems, and the young Thomas >ecket was forced to earn a living as a clerk. Gilbert first secured a place for his son in the business of a relative +sbert Huitdeniers, and then later >ecket acquired a position in the household of Theobald of >ec, who was the !rchbishop of Canterbury. Theobald of >ec entrusted Thomas >ecket with several important missions to .ome and also sent him to >ologna and !u$erre to study canon law. In 6613, Theobald of >ec the !rchbishop named Thomas >ecket as !rchdeacon of Canterbury. +ther ecclesiastical offices included a number of benefices and prebends at *incoln Cathedral and #t Daul/s Cathedral, and the office of Drovost of >everley. Thomas >ecket%s efficiency in those posts led to Theobald of >ec recommending him to -ing Henry the second for the vacant post of *ord Chancellor, to which >ecket was appointed in (anuary 6611 !s *ord Chancellor, Thomas >ecket controlled the -ing%s traditional sources of revenue that were e$acted from all landowners, including churches and bishoprics. -ing Henry the second even sent his son Henry to live in >ecket/s household, it being the custom then for noble children to be fostered out to other noble houses. The younger Henry was reported to have said >ecket showed him more fatherly love in a day than his father did for his entire life. !n emotional attachment to >ecket as a foster"father may have been one of the reasons the younger Henry would eventually turn against his father. >ecket was nominated to the post of !rchbishop of Canterbury in 66&7, several months after the death of Theobald of >ec. His election was confirmed on 7< )ay 66&7 by a royal council of bishops and noblemen. Henry the second may have hoped that !rchbishop Thomas >ecket would continue to put the royal government first, rather than that of the church. The famous transformation of >ecket into an ascetic

:'

occurred at this time. >ecket was ordained a priest on 7 (une 66&7 at Canterbury, and on < (une 66&7 was consecrated as archbishop by Henry of >lois, the >ishop of inchester. ! rift grew between Henry the second and Thomas >ecket when the new archbishop resigned his chancellorship and sought to recover and e$tend the rights of the archbishopric. This led to a series of conflicts with Henry the second, including that over the Hurisdiction of secular courts over ,nglish clergymen, which accelerated antipathy between >ecket and the -ing. !ttempts by Henry the second to influence the other bishops against Thomas >ecket began in regard to the church. This led to the events at Clarendon Dalace, where !rchbishop Thomas >ecket was officially asked to sign off on the -ing%s rights or face political repercussions.. Henry the second presided over the assemblies of most of the higher ,nglish clergy at Clarendon Dalace on <5 (anuary 66&3. In si$teen constitutions, Henry sought less clerical independence and a weaker connection with .ome. He employed all his skills to induce their consent and was apparently successful with all but !rchbishop Thomas >ecket. 4inally !rchbishop Thomas >ecket e$pressed his willingness to agree to the substance of the Constitutions of Clarendon, but he still refused to formally sign the documents. Henry the second summoned !rchbishop Thomas >ecket to appear before a great council at ?orthampton Castle on 2 +ctober 66&3. This was to answer allegations of contempt of royal authority and malpractice when in the office of Chancellor. !rchbishop Thomas >ecket was convicted on the charge. He stormed out of the trial and fled to the Continent Henry the second pursued the fugitive !rchbishop with a series of edicts, aimed at all his friends and supporters as well as >ecket himself9 but -ing *ouis III of 4rance offered Thomas >ecket protection, and >ecket spent nearly two years in the Cistercian !bbey of Dontigny. Henry/s threats against the Cistercian order continued, and !rchbishop Thomas >ecket fought back by threatening e$communication against the Henry the second. His bishops supported this action, but Dope !le$ander III, although sympathising with him in theory, favoured a more diplomatic approach. Dapal advisers were sent to ,ngland in 66&' with authority to act as arbitrators. estminster in +ctober 66&<, where the -ing sought approval of the traditional rights of the royal government in

:2

In 66'5, Dope !le$ander sent delegates to impose a solution to the dispute. !t that point, Henry the second offered a compromise that allowed !rchbishop Thomas >ecket to return to ,ngland from e$ile. In (une 66'5, .oger de Dont */_v`que, the !rchbishop of Nork, along with Gilbert 4oliot, the >ishop of *ondon, and (osceline de >ohon, the >ishop of #alisbury, conducted a coronation ceremony to confirm Henry who was the oldest son of Henry the second as the heir apparent. This was a breach of Canterbury/s privilege of coronation, and in ?ovember 66'5 >ecket e$communicated all three of the >ishops. hile the three clergymen fled to the king in ?ormandy, !rchbishop Thomas >ecket continued to e$communicate his opponents in the church, the news of which also reached Henry the second. Apon hearing reports of !rchbishop Thomas >ecket/s actions, Henry the second is said to have uttered words that were interpreted by his men as wishing >ecket killed. The king/s e$act words are in doubt and several versions have been reported. The most commonly quoted, as handed down by oral tradition, is C ill no one rid me of this turbulent priestF but according to historian #imon #chama this is incorrectG he accepts the account of the contemporary biographer ,dward Grim, writing in *atin, who gives us C hat miserable drones and traitors have I nourished and brought up in my household, who let their lord be treated with such shameful contempt by a low" born clericF )any variations have found their way into popular culture. hatever Henry the second said, it was interpreted as a royal command, and four knights, .eginald fitBArse, Hugh de )orville, illiam de Tracy, and .ichard le >reton, set out to confront the !rchbishop of Canterbury. +n 7: 0ecember 66'5 they arrived at Canterbury. !ccording to accounts left by the monk Gervase of Canterbury and eyewitness ,dward Grim, they placed their weapons under a tree outside the cathedral and hid their mail armour under cloaks before entering to challenge !rchbishop Thomas >ecket. The knights informed >ecket he was to go to inchester to give an account of his actions, but >ecket refused. It was not until >ecket refused their demands to submit to the king/s will that they retrieved their weapons and rushed back inside for the killing. >ecket, meanwhile, proceeded to the main hall for vespers. The four knights, wielding drawn swords, caught up with him in a spot near a door to the monastic cloister, the stairs into the crypt, and the

::

stairs leading up into the quire of the cathedral, where the monks were chanting vespers. #everal contemporary accounts of what happened ne$t e$ist9 of particular note is the account of ,dward Grim, who was himself wounded in the attack.

This is part of the account from ,dward GrimG ...The wicked knight leapt suddenly upon him, cutting off the top of the crown which the unction of sacred chrism had dedicated to God. ?e$t he received a second blow on the head, but still he stood firm and immovable. !t the third blow he fell on his knees and elbows, offering himself a living sacrifice, and saying in a low voice, /4or the name of (esus and the protection of the Church, I am ready to embrace death./ >ut the third knight inflicted a terrible wound as he lay prostrate. >y this stroke, the crown of his head was separated from the head in such a way that the blood white with the brain, and the brain no less red from the blood, dyed the floor of the cathedral. The same clerk who had entered with the knights placed his foot on the neck of the holy priest and precious martyr, and, horrible to relate, scattered the brains and blood about the pavements, crying to the others, /*et us away, knights9 this fellow will arise no more. 4ollowing !rchbishop Thomas >ecket/s death, the monks prepared his body for burial. !ccording to some accounts, it was discovered that >ecket had worn a hair shirt under his archbishop/s garments, this was sign of penance. #oon after, the faithful throughout ,urope began venerating >ecket as a martyr, and on 76 4ebruary 66'<, a little more than two years after his death, he was canonised by Dope !le$ander III in #t Deter/s Church in #egni. +n 67 (uly 66'3, in the midst of the .evolt of 66'<;66'3, Henry the second humbled himself with public penance at

655

Thomas >ecket/s tomb as well as at the church of #t. 0unstan/s, which became one of the most popular pilgrimage sites in ,ngland. In 66'<, !rchbishop Thomas >ecket/s sister )ary was appointed as !bbess of >arking !bbey as reparation for the murder of her brother. >ecket/s assassins fled north to -naresborough Castle, which was held by Hugh de )orville, where they remained for about a year. 0e )orville held property in Cumbria and this may also have provided a convenient bolt"hole. The men prepared for a longer stay in the separate kingdom of #cotland. They were not arrested and neither did Henry the second confiscate their lands, but he failed to help them when they sought his advice in !ugust 66'6. Dope !le$ander 666 e$communicated all four.

#eeking forgiveness, the assassins travelled to .ome and were ordered by the Dope to serve as knights in the Holy *ands for a period of fourteen years. The )onks in Canterbury were afraid that !rchbishop Thomas >ecket/s body might be stolen. To prevent this, his remains were placed beneath the floor of the eastern crypt of Canterbury Cathedral. ! stone cover was placed over the burial place with two holes where pilgrims could insert their heads and kiss the tomb9 this arrangement is illustrated in the /)iracle indows/ of Canterbury Cathedral%s the Trinity Chapel. a$ Chamber= had a clear view of the grave. In ! guard chamber 8now called the

6775, >ecket/s bones were moved to a new gold"plated and beHeweled shrine behind the high altar in the Trinity Chapel. The shrine was supported by three pairs of pillars, placed on a raised platform with three steps. This is also illustrated in one of the miracle windows. Canterbury, because of its religious history, had always seen a large number of pilgrims. However, after the death of !rchbishop Thomas >ecket, the number of pilgrims visiting the city rose rapidly. In 6775, Thomas >ecket/s remains were relocated from this first tomb to a shrine, in the recently completed Trinity Chapel where it stood until it was destroyed on orders from Henry the eighth in 61<2, during the 0issolution of the )onasteries, Henry the eighth also destroyed >ecket/s bones and ordered that all mention of his name be obliterated. The pavement where the shrine stood is today marked by a lit candle.

656

Thomas >ecket was very much regarded as a *ondoner by the citiBens and was adopted as the *ondon/s co"patron saint with along with #aint DaulG both their images appeared on the seals of the city and of the *ord )ayor. *ocal legends regarding !rchbishop Thomas >ecket arose after his canonisation. C>ecket/s ellC, in +tford, -ent, is said to have been created after >ecket had become displeased with the taste of the local water. Two springs of clear water are said to have bubbled up after he struck the ground with his croBier. The absence of nightingales in +tford is also ascribed to >ecket, who is said to have been so disturbed in his devotions by the song of a nightingale that he commanded that none should sing in the town ever again. In the town of #trood, also in -ent, >ecket is said to have caused the inhabitants of the town and their descendants to be born with tails. The men of #trood had sided with the king in his struggles against the archbishop, and to demonstrate their support, had cut off the tail of >ecket%s horse as he passed through the town. The saint/s fame quickly spread throughout the ?orman world. The first holy image of >ecket is thought to be a mosaic icon still visible in )onreale Cathedral, in #icily, created shortly after his death. >ecket/s cousins obtained refuge at the #icilian court during his e$ile, and -ing illiam II of #icily wed a daughter of Henry the second. The principal church of the #icilian city of )arsala is dedicated to #t Thomas >ecket. +ver forty"five medieval chasse reliquaries decorated in champlev^ enamel showing similar scenes from >ecket/s life survive, including the >ecket Casket in *ondon%s I [ ! )useum.

R$-".,' I 82 #eptember 661' ; & !pril 66::= was -ing of ,ngland from & (uly 662: until his death. He also ruled as 0uke of ?ormandy 8as R$-".,' IV=, 0uke of !quitaine, 0uke of Gascony, *ord of Cyprus, Count of !nHou, Count of )aine, Count of ?antes, and +verlord of >rittany at various times during the same period. 657

He was the second son of Henry the second of ,ngland and ,leanor of !quitaine. Henry%s first son had died and .ichard succeeded to the ,nglish throne when his father Henry the second died in 662:. >ecause of his reputation as a great military leader and warrior he was known as R$-".,' C@2, '# L$ %, or .ichard t"# L$ %"#.,t, >y the age of 6&, .ichard the *ionheart had taken command of his own army, putting down rebellions in Doitou against his father, -ing Henry the second. .ichard was a central Christian commander during the Third Crusade, leading the campaign after the departure of Dhilip II of 4rance. .ichard the *ionheart scored considerable victories against his )uslim counterpart, #aladin, although he did not re"conquer (erusalem from #aladin

.ichard spoke a 4rench dialect language, and +ccitan, a .omance language spoken in southern 4rance and nearby regions. He lived in his 0uchy of !quitaine in the southwest of 4rance and spent very little time in ,ngland, preferring to use his ,nglish kingdom as a source of revenue to support his armies He was seen as a pious hero by his subHects. He remains one of the few kings of ,ngland remembered by .ichard the *ionheart rather than .ichard the first and is an enduring iconic figure in ,ngland and 4rance. !fter a short reign .ichard died in 66:: and his younger brother (ohn succeeded him to the throne of ,ngland

A "% the first 873 0ecember 66&& ; 62K6: +ctober 676&=, was also known as A "% L.-80.%' and was -ing of ,ngland from & !pril 66:: until his death. 0uring (ohn/s reign, ,ngland lost the 0uchy of ?ormandy to Dhilip II of 4rance, which resulted in the collapse of most of the !ngevin ,mpire and contributed to the subsequent growth in power of the Capetian dynasty during the 6<th century. The baronial revolt at the end of (ohn/s reign led to the signing of the "agna Carta, a document often considered to be an early step in the evolution of the constitution of the Anited -ingdom.

65<

(ohn, the youngest of five sons of -ing Henry the second and ,leanor of !quitaine, was at first not e$pected to inherit significant lands. 4ollowing the failed rebellion of his elder brothers between 66'< and 66'3, however, (ohn became Henry/s favourite child. He was appointed the *ord of Ireland in 66'' and given lands in ,ngland and on the continent. Three of (ohn/s elder brothers illiam, Henry and Geoffrey died hile his brother .ichard the young and by the time the second eldest brother .ichard became .ichard the first in 662:, (ohn already was a potential heir to the throne. first was participating in the third crusade (ohn unsuccessfully attempted a rebellion against his brother .ichard/s royal administrators. 0espite this, after .ichard died in 66::, (ohn was still proclaimed -ing of ,ngland, and he came to an agreement with Dhilip the second for 4rance to recognise (ohn/s possession of the !ngevin lands at the peace treaty of *e Goulet in 6755. hen war with 4rance broke out again in 6757, -ing (ohn achieved early victories, but shortages of military resources and his treatment of ?orman, >reton and !nHou nobles resulted in the collapse of his empire in northern 4rance in 6753. (ohn spent much of the ne$t decade attempting to regain these lands, raising huge revenues, reforming his armed forces and rebuilding continental alliances. (ohn/s Hudicial reforms had a lasting, positive impact on the ,nglish common law system, as well as providing an additional source of revenue. !n argument with Dope Innocent III led to (ohn/s e$communication in 675:, a dispute finally settled by -ing (ohn in 676<. (ohn/s attempt to defeat -ing Dhilip 66 in 6763 failed due to the 4rench victory over (ohn/s allies at the battle of >ouvines. hen he returned to ,ngland, -ing (ohn faced a rebellion by many of his barons, who were unhappy with his fiscal policies and his treatment of many of ,ngland/s most powerful nobles. !lthough both (ohn and the barons agreed to the "agna Carta peace treaty in 6761, neither side complied with its conditions. Civil war broke out shortly afterwards, with the barons aided by -ing *ouis 66 of 4rance. It soon descended into a stalemate. (ohn died of dysentery contracted whilst on campaign in eastern ,ngland during late 676&. He was succeeded by his son who became Henry the third. #upporters of -ing (ohn and his son Henry the third went on to achieve victory over -ing *ouis66 and the rebel barons in the following year.

653

THE MAGNA CARTA M.&%. C.,t. 8*atin for G,#.t C".,t#,=, also called M.&%. C.,t. L$/#,t.t2( or T"# G,#.t C".,t#, ) t"# L$/#,t$#* ) E%&0.%' , is an !ngevin charter originally issued in *atin in (une of 6761. It was signed and sealed under oath by -ing (ohn at .unnymede, near *ondon, ,ngland. )agna Carta was the first document forced on to a -ing of ,ngland by a group of his subHects, the feudal barons, in an attempt to limit the -ings powers by law and protect their rights. The charter was an important part of the protracted historical process that led to the rule of constitutional law in the ,nglish speaking world. It has become a source of inspiration throughout the world. The 6761 charter required -ing (ohn of ,ngland to proclaim certain liberties and accept that the -ings will, was not absolute. +ne e$ample of this is9 The -ing e$plicitly accepts that no CfreemanC 8in the sense of non"serf= can be punished e$cept through the law of the land and not by the will of the -ing. ! right that still e$ists today. The name .unnymede may be derived from the !nglo"#a$on, describing a place in the meadows used to hold regular meetings. The itan, itenagemot or Council of the !nglo"#a$on -ings of the 'th to 66th centuries was held from time to time at .unnymede during the reign of !lfred the Great. The Council met usually in the open air. This changed in succeeding years, and influenced the creation of ,ngland/s 6<th century parliament.

651

The water"meadow at .unnymede is the most likely location at which, in 6761, -ing (ohn sealed the )agna Carta. The charter indicates .unnymede by name. The )agna Carta had an impact on common and constitutional law as well as political representation also affecting the development of parliament. .unnymede/s association with ideals of democracy, limitation of power, equality and freedom under law has attracted placement there of monuments and commemorative symbols. The )agna Carta was preceded and directly influenced by the Charter of *iberties in 6655, in which -ing Henry the first had specified particular areas wherein his powers would be limited. )agna Carta was important in the coloniBation of !merica as ,ngland/s legal system was used as a model for many of the colonies as they developed their own legal systems. The )agna Carta was translated into vernacular 4rench as early as 676:, and was reissued later in the 6<th century in modified versions. The later versions however, e$cluded the most direct challenges to the monarch/s authority that had been present in the 6761 charter The charter first passed into law in 6771. The 67:' version with the long title 8originally in *atin= CThe Great Charter of the *iberties of ,ngland, and of the *iberties of the 4orestF still remains on the statute books of ,ngland and ales.

0espite its recognised importance, by the second half of the 6:th century nearly all of its clauses had been repealed in their original form and only three clauses currently remain part of the law of ,ngland and ales. However, and it is generally considered part of the uncodified constitution. *ord 0enning described it as Cthe greatest constitutional document of all times, the foundation of the freedom of the individual against the arbitrary authority of the despotF. In a speech in 7551, *ord oolf described the )agna Carta as Ethe Cfirst of a series of instruments that now are recognised as having a special constitutional statusC. The other instruments being the Habeas Corpus !ct of 6&':, the Detition of .ight !ct of 6&72, the >ill of .ights !ct of 6&2:, and the !ct of #ettlement !ct of 6'56. It was )agna Carta, and not the other early concessions by the monarch, which has survived to become a Csacred te$tC. In practice, )agna Carta in the medieval period did not generally limit the power of -ings, but by the time of the ,nglish Civil ar it had become an important symbol for those who wished to show that the -ing was 65&

bound by the law. It influenced the early settlers in ?ew ,ngland and inspired later constitutional documents, including the Anited #tates Constitution.

H#%,1 III 86 +ctober 675' ; 6& ?ovember 67'7=, also known as H#%,1

W$%-"#*t#,, was -ing of ,ngland, *ord of Ireland and 0uke of !quitaine from 676& until his death. He was the son of -ing (ohn and Isabella of !ngoul`me. Henry assumed the throne when he was only nine in the middle of the 4irst >arons/ Henry the third%s forces, led by ar. Cardinal Guala declared the war against the rebel barons to be a religious crusade and illiam )arshal, defeated the rebels at the battles of *incoln and #andwich in 676'. Henry the third promised to abide by the Great Charter of 6771, which limited royal power and protected the rights of the maHor barons. His early rule was dominated first by Hubert de >urgh and then Deter des .oches, who reestablished royal authority after the war. In 67<5 Henry the third attempted to re"conquer the Drovinces in 4rance that had once belonged to his father, but the invasion was a debacle. ! revolt led by illiam )arshal/s son, .ichard, broke out in 67<7, ending in a peace settlement negotiated by the Church. 4ollowing the revolt in 67<7, Henry the third ruled ,ngland personally, rather than governing through senior ministers. He travelled far less than previous monarchs, investing heavily in a handful of his favourite palaces and castles. He married ,leanor of Drovence, with whom he had five children. Henry was known for his piety, holding lavish religious ceremonies and giving generously to charities9 the -ing was particularly devoted to the figure of ,dward the Confessor, whom he adopted as his patron saint. He e$tracted huge sums of money from the (ewish population in ,ngland, ultimately crippling their ability to do business, and as attitudes towards the (ews hardened, he introduced the #tatute of (ewry, attempting to segregate the community. In a fresh 65'

attempt to reclaim his family/s lands in 4rance, he invaded Doitou in 6737, leading to the disastrous >attle of Taillebourg. !fter this, Henry relied on diplomacy, cultivating an alliance with Holy .oman ,mperor 4rederick II. Henry supported his brother .ichard in his bid to become -ing of the .omans in 671&, but was unable to place his own son ,dmund on the throne of #icily, despite investing large amounts of money. He planned to go on crusade to the *evant, but was prevented from doing so by rebellions in Gascony.

>y 6712, Henry/s rule was increasingly unpopular, the result of the failure of his e$pensive foreign policies and the notoriety of his half"brothers as well as the role of his local officials in collecting ta$es and debts. ! coalition of his barons, initially probably backed by Henry%s wife ,leanor of Drovence, seiBed power in a coup d/^tat reforming the royal government through a process called the Drovisions of +$ford. Henry and the baronial government enacted a peace with 4rance in 671:, under which Henry gave up his rights to his other lands in 4rance in return for -ing *ouis IP of 4rance recognising him as the rightful ruler of Gascony. The baronial regime collapsed but Henry was unable to reform a stable government and instability across ,ngland continued. In 67&< one of the more radical barons, #imon de )ontfort, seiBed power, resulting in the #econd >arons/ ar . Henry successfully persuaded -ing *ouis 6P to support his cause and Henry proceeded to mobilise an army. The >attle of *ewes took place in 67&3, and Henry was defeated and taken prisoner. Henry/s eldest son, ,dward, escaped and went on to defeat >aron #imon de )ontfort at the >attle of ,vesham the following year. Henry%s son ,dward freed his father. Henry initially enacted a harsh revenge on the remaining rebels, but was persuaded by the Church to mollify his policies through the 0ictum of -enilworth. .econstruction was slow and Henry had to acquiesce to various measures, one of which was to include further suppression of the (ewish population to maintain baronial and popular support. Henry died in 67'7, leaving his son ,dward as his successor. He was buried in estminster !bbey, which he had rebuilt in the second half of his reign, and was moved to his current tomb in 67:5. #ome miracles were declared after his death but

652

he was not canonised. Henry/s 1&"year reign makes him the fifth longest reigning monarch in ,nglish history.

E'4.,' I 86' (une 67<: ; ' (uly 6<5'=, also known as E'4.,' L %&*".%8* and the H.((#, ) t"# S- t*. He was -ing of ,ngland from 67'7 to 6<5'. The first son of Henry the third, ,dward was involved early in the political intrigues of his father/s reign, which included an outright rebellion by the ,nglish barons. In 671:, he briefly sided with a baronial reform movement, supporting the Drovisions of +$ford. !fter reconciliation with his father, however, he remained loyal throughout the subsequent armed conflict, known as the #econd >arons/ ar. !fter the >attle of *ewes, ,dward was hostage to the rebellious barons, but escaped after a few months and Hoined the fight against #imon de )ontfort. )ontfort was defeated at the >attle of ,vesham in 67&1, and within two years the rebellion was e$tinguished. ith ,ngland pacified, ,dward left on a crusade to the Holy *and. The crusade accomplished little, and in 67'7 when ,dward was on his way home in he was informed that his father had died. )aking a slow return, ,dward eventually reached ,ngland in 67'3, and he was crowned king at estminster on 6: !ugust 67'3.

,dward the first spent much of his reign reforming royal administration and common law. Through an e$tensive legal inquiry, ,dward investigated the tenure of various feudal liberties, while the law was reformed through a series of statutes regulating criminal and property law. Increasingly, however, ,dward/s attention was drawn towards military affairs. !fter suppressing a minor rebellion in !fter a successful campaign, ,dward subHected ales in 67'&;'', ,dward responded to a second rebellion in 6727;2< with a full"scale war of conquest. ales to ,nglish rule, built a series of castles and towns in the countryside and settled them with ,nglishmen. ?e$t, his efforts were directed towards #cotland. Initially #cotland was invited to arbitrate a succession dispute. ,dward claimed feudal control over the kingdom but #cotland did 65:

not agree. In the war that followed, one of the

ars of #cottish Independence the

#cots eventually persevered. The ,nglish however did seem victorious at several points. !t the same time there were problems at home. In the mid"67:5s, e$tensive military campaigns required high levels of ta$ation, and ,dward the first met with both lay and ecclesiastical opposition.

S$, W$00$.( W.00.-# 8died 7< !ugust 6<51= was a #cottish landowner who became one of the main leaders during the !long with !ndrew )oray, ars of #cottish Independence.

allace defeated an ,nglish army at the >attle of #tirling allace was captured in

>ridge in #eptember 67:', and was appointed Guardian of #cotland, serving until his defeat at the >attle of 4alkirk in (uly 67:2. In !ugust 6<51 .obroyston near Glasgow and handed over to -ing ,dward I of ,ngland. ,dward the first had him hanged, drawn, and quartered for high treason and additional crimes against ,nglish civilians. #ince his death, Wallace, by >lind Harry. unsettled. ,dward the first was a tall man for his era, hence the nickname C*ongshanksC. He was temperamental, and this, along with his height, made him an intimidating man, and he often instilled fear in his contemporaries. ?evertheless, he held the respect of his subHects for the way he embodied the medieval ideal of kingship, as a soldier, an administrator and a man of faith. The St.t2t#* ) M ,t(.$% were two enactments introduced by ,dward the first in 67': and 67:5. They were aimed at preserving the kingdom/s revenues by preventing land from passing into the possession of the Church. Dossession of property by a corporation such as the church was known as mortmain. In )edieval ,ngland, feudal estates generated ta$es 8in the form of incidents= upon the inheritance or granting of the estate. If an estate was owned by a religious corporation that never died, attained maHority, or became attainted for treason, these ta$es were never paid. The #tatutes of allace has obtained an iconic status far alter beyond his homeland. He is the protagonist of the 61th"century epic poem %he allace is also the subHect of literary works by #ir #cott and (ane Dorter .These #cottish situation was not settled and the issues remained

665

)ortmain were meant to re"establish the prohibition against donating land to the Church for purposes of avoiding feudal services which had been hinted at in the )agna Carta in 6761 and further defined in the Great Charter of 676'. (ohn of ,ngland died shortly after )agna Carta was signed. Henry III of ,ngland, the son of (ohn, did not enforce these laws, and he showed great deference to the Church.

His son, ,dward I of ,ngland however, was interested in re"establishing the precedent set in the )agna Carta and the Great Charter of 676', and so introduced the #tatutes of )ortmain which provided that no estate should be granted to a corporation without royal assent. The problem of Church lands however persisted. It was finally brought to a close when Henry IIII of ,ngland disbanded the monasteries and confiscated Church lands.

)odern historians are divided on their assessment of the ,dward the firstG while some have praised him for his contribution to the law and administration, others have criticised him for his uncompromising attitude towards his nobility. Currently, ,dward the first is credited with many accomplishments during his reign, including restoring royal authority after the reign of Henry the third, establishing Darliament as a permanent institution and thereby also a functional system for raising ta$es, and reforming the law through statutes. !t the same time, he is also often criticised for other actions, such as his brutal conduct towards the #cots, and issuing the ,dict of ,$pulsion in 67:5, by which the (ewish population were e$pelled from ,ngland. The ,dict of ,$pulsion remained in effect for the rest of the )iddle !ges, and it would be over <15 years until it was formally overturned under +liver Cromwell in 6&1&. ,dward the first married ,leanor of Castile in 6713 and had several children, however only four of them survived to adulthood, three of the daughters and one son ,dward,, who eventually succeeded him as ,dward the second. )arguerite with whom he had several more sons. hen ,dward the first, died in 6<5', he left to his son, ,dward the second an ongoing war with #cotland and many financial and political problems. hen ,leanor died, he married

666

5(!!N !%!#N'-3 *I)! ') !"*#-" T ! )I-$T ,leanor was born in #pain 8the e$act location is unknown=9 she was the daughter of -ing 4erdinand III of Castile and (oan, Countess of Donthieu. Her Castilian name, L# % ,, became A0$#% , or A0$.% , in ,ngland, and ,leanor in modern ,nglish. #he was named after her great"grandmother, ,leanor of ,ngland. ,leanor of Castille was the second of five children born to 4erdinand and (oan. Her elder brother 4erdinand was born in 67<:K35, her younger brother *ouis in 6737K3<9 two sons born after *ouis died young. 4or the ceremonies in 67:6 marking the first anniversary of ,leanor/s death, 3: candle bearers were paid to walk in the public procession to commemorate each year of her life. This would date her birth to the year 6736. #ince her parents were apart from each other for 6< months while -ing 4erdinand conducted a military campaign in !ndalusia from which he returned to the north of #pain only in 4ebruary 6736, ,leanor was probably born toward the end of that year. >oth the court of her father and her half"brother !lfonso P of Castile were known for its literary atmosphere. Growing up in such an environment probably influenced her later literary activities as Jueen. #he was said to have been at her father/s deathbed in #eville in 6717 ,leanor/s marriage in 6713 to the future ,dward the first of ,ngland was not the first marriage her family planned for her. The -ings of Castile had long made the tenuous claim to be paramount lords of the -ingdom of ?avarre in the Dyrenees, and from 6715 4erdinand III and his heir, ,leanor/s half"brother !lfonso P of Castile, hoped she would marry Theobald II of ?avarre. To avoid Castilian control, )argaret of >ourbon mother of Theobald II, in 6717 allied with (ames I of !ragon instead, and as part of that treaty solemnly promised that Theobald would never marry ,leanor.

667

hen, in 6717, !lfonso P resurrected another flimsy ancestral claim, this time to the 0uchy of Gascony, in the south of !quitaine, the last possession of the -ings of ,ngland in 4rance. Henry the third of ,ngland swiftly countered !lfonso/s claims with both diplomatic and military moves.

,arly in 6713 the two kings began to negotiate9 after haggling over the financial provision for ,leanor, Henry and !lfonso agreed she would marry Henry the third%s son ,dward, and !lfonso would transfer his Gascon claims to ,dward. Henry was so an$ious for the marriage to take place that he willingly abandoned elaborate preparations already made for ,dward/s knighting in ,ngland, and agreed that !lfonso would knight ,dward before the wedding took place. The young couple married at the monastery of *as Huelgas, >urgos, on 6 ?ovember 6713. ,dward and ,leanor were second cousins once removed, as ,dward/s grandfather -ing (ohn of ,ngland and ,leanor/s great"grandmother ,leanor of ,ngland were the son and daughter of -ing Henry the second and ,leanor of !quitaine. Henry the third took pride in resolving the Gascon crisis so decisively, but his ,nglish subHects feared that the marriage would bring ,leanor/s kinfolk and countrymen to live off Henry the third%s ruinous generosity. #everal of her relatives did come to ,ngland soon after her marriage. #he was too young to stop them or prevent Henry the third from paying for them, but she was blamed anyway and her marriage was unpopular. Interestingly enough, ,leanor/s mother had been spurned in marriage by Henry the third and her great"grandmother, !lys, Countess of the Ie$in, had been spurned in marriage by .ichard the first. However, the presence of more ,nglish, 4rench and ?orman soldiers of fortune and opportunists in the recently re" conquered #eville and Cordoba )oorish -ingdoms would be increased, thanks to this alliance between royal houses, until the advent of the later Hundred Nears for peninsular support. ar when it would be symptomatic of e$tended hostilities between the 4rench and the ,nglish

66<

There is little record of ,leanor/s life in ,ngland until the 67&5s, when the #econd >arons/ ar, between Henry the third and his barons, divided the kingdom. 0uring this time ,leanor actively supported ,dward/s interests, importing archers from her mother/s county of Donthieu in 4rance. It is untrue, however, that she was sent to 4rance to escape danger during the war9 she was in ,ngland all through the struggle. .umours that she was seeking fresh troops from Castile led the baronial leader, #imon de )ontfort, to order her removal from indsor Castle in (une 67&3 after the royalist army had been defeated at the >attle of *ewes.

,dward was captured at *ewes and imprisoned, and ,leanor was honourably confined at estminster Dalace. !fter ,dward and Henry the third%s army defeated the baronial army at the >attle of ,vesham in 67&1, ,dward took a maHor role in reforming the government and ,leanor rose to prominence at his side. Her position was greatly improved in (uly 67&& when, after she had borne three short"lived daughters, she finally gave birth to a son, (ohn, who was followed by a second, Henry, in the spring of 67&2, and in 67&: by a healthy daughter, ,leanor. >y 67'5, the kingdom was pacified and ,dward and ,leanor left to Hoin his uncle *ouis IP of 4rance on the ,ighth Crusade. However, *ouis died at Carthage before they arrived. !fter they spent the winter in #icily, the couple went on to !cre in Dalestine, where they arrived in )ay 67'6. ,leanor gave birth to a daughter, known as C(oanna of !creC for her birthplace. The crusade was militarily unsuccessful, but >aibars of the >ahri dynasty was worried enough by ,dward/s presence at !cre that an assassination attempt was made on the ,nglish heir in (une 67'7. He was wounded in the arm by a dagger that was thought to be poisoned. The wound soon became seriously inflamed, and an ,nglish surgeon saved him by cutting away the diseased flesh, but only after ,leanor was led from his bed, Cweeping and wailing. *ater storytellers embellished this incident, claiming ,leanor sucked poison from the wound, but this fanciful tale has no foundation. They left Dalestine in #eptember 67'7 and in #icily that 0ecember they learned of Henry the third%s death 8on 6& ?ovember 67'7=. ,dward and ,leanor returned to

663

,ngland and were crowned ,dward the first and Jueen ,leanor together on 6: !ugust 67'3. !rranged royal marriages in the )iddle !ges were not always happy, but available evidence indicates that ,leanor and ,dward were devoted to each other. ,dward is among the few medieval ,nglish kings not known to have conducted e$tramarital affairs or fathered children out of wedlock. The couple were rarely apart9 she accompanied him on military campaigns in construction of Caernarfon Castle. Their household records witness incidents that imply a comfortable, even humorous, relationship. ,ach year on ,aster )onday, ,dward the first let ,leanor/s ladies trap him in his bed and paid them a token ransom so he could go to her bedroom on the first day after *ent9 so important was this custom to him that in 67:6, on the first ,aster )onday after ,leanor/s death, he gave her ladies the money he would have given them had she been alive. !fter ,leanor%s death ,dward the first remained single until he wed )arguerite of 4rance in 67:: and this is often cited to prove he cherished ,leanor/s memory. In fact he considered a second marriage as early as 67:<, but this does not mean he did not mourn ,leanor. ,loquent testimony is found in his letter to the !bbot of Cluny in 4rance 8(anuary 67:6=, seeking prayers for the soul of the wife Cwhom living we dearly cherished, and whom dead we cannot cease to love.C In her memory, ,dward the first ordered the construction of twelve elaborate stone crosses between 67:6 and 67:3. The crosses mark the route of her funeral procession between *incoln and *ondon. Three survive of the crosses almost intact survive. However, only one of ,leanor/s four sons survived childhood and, even before she died, ,dward the first worried over the successionG if that son died, their daughters/ husbands might cause a succession war. 0espite personal grief, ,dward the first faced his duty and married again. He delighted in the sons his new wife bore, but attended memorial services for ,leanor to the end of his life. ,leanor is warmly remembered by history as the queen who inspired the ,leanor crosses, but she was not so loved in her own time. The ,nglish saw her as a greedy foreigner. In fact ,dward The first allowed her little political influence, and in other 661 ales, famously giving birth to their son ,dward on 71 !pril 6723 in a temporary dwelling erected for her amid the

words, the ,leanor was made to wear the king/s unpopular mask. It was always safer to blame a foreign"born queen than to criticise a king, and easier to believe he was misled by a meddling wife. ,leanor was neither the first queen nor the last to be blamed for a king/s actions.

Contemporary evidence shows clearly that ,leanor had no impact on the political history of ,dward/s reign. ,ven in diplomatic matters her role was minor, though ,dward did heed her advice on the age at which their daughters could marry foreign rulers. +therwise she merely bestowed gifts on visiting princes or envoys. ,dward always honoured his obligations to !lfonso P, but even when !lfonso/s need was desperate in the early 6725s, ,dward the first did not send ,nglish knights to Castile9 he sent only knights from Gascony, which was closer to Castile. In ,ngland, ,leanor did mediate disputes of a minor nature between ,dward/s subHects, but only with ,dward/s consent and only with the help of ranking members of his council. ,dward was prepared to resist her demands, or to stop her, if he felt she was going too far in any of her activities, and he e$pected his ministers to do likewise. If she was allowed no effective official role, ,leanor was an intelligent and cultured woman and found other satisfying outlets for her energies. #he was an active patroness of literature, with scribes and an illuminator in her household to copy books for her. #ome of these were apparently romances and saints/ lives, but ,leanor/s tastes ranged far more widely than that. The number and variety of new works written for her, show that her interests were broad and very sophisticated. !fter she succeeded her mother as countess of Donthieu in 67':, a romance was written for her about the life of a supposed :th century count of Donthieu. In the 6725s, !rchbishop Deckham wrote a work for her to e$plain what angels were and what they did. In (anuary 672& she thanked the !bbot of Cerne for lending her a book, possibly a treatise on chess known to have been written at Cerne in the late thirteenth century, and her accounts reveal that in 67:5 she corresponding with an +$ford master about one of her books.

66&

The queen was a devoted patron of the 0ominican +rder, and founding several priories in ,ngland and supporting their work at the Aniversity of +$ford and the Aniversity of Cambridge. ?ot surprisingly, ,leanor/s piety was of an intellectual stamp9 apart from her religious foundations she was not given to good works, and she left it to her chaplains to distribute alms for her. #he patronised many relatives, though given that foreigners/ were popular in ,ngland and the criticism of Henry the third and queen ,leanor of Drovence/s generosity to them. #he was cautious as queen to choose which cousins to support. .ather than marry her male cousins to ,nglish heiresses, which would put ,nglish wealth in foreign hands, she arranged marriages for her female cousins to ,nglish barons. ,dward strongly supported her in these endeavors, which provided him and his family with an additional network of potential supporters. ,leanor was presumably a healthy woman for most of her life9 that she survived si$teen pregnancies does not suggest that she was frail. #hortly after the birth of her last child, however, financial accounts from ,dward/s household and her own begin to record frequent payments for medicines for the queen/s use. The nature of the medicines is not specified, so it is impossible to know what ailments were troubling her until, later in 672' while she was in Gascony with ,dward, a letter to ,ngland from a member of the royal entourage states that the queen had a fever, probably a strain of malaria. The disease is not fatal in itself, but leaves its victims weak and vulnerable to opportunistic infections. !mong other complications, the liver and spleen become enlarged, brittle, and highly susceptible to inHury which may cause death from internal bleeding. In the autumn of 67:5, news reached ,dward the first that )argaret, the )aid of ?orway, heiress of #cotland, had died. He had Hust held a parliament at Clipstone in 66'

?ottinghamshire, and continued to linger in those parts, presumably to await news of developments in #cotland. ,leanor followed him at a leisurely pace. #he was unwell with what one contemporary chronicler describes as a feverish illness, quite likely an infection brought on by malaria that was reported in 672'. !fter the couple left Clipstone they travelled slowly toward the city of *incoln, a destination ,leanor would never reach.

Her condition worsened as they reached the village of Harby, ?ottinghamshire, less than 77 miles from *incoln. The Hourney was abandoned, and the queen was lodged in the house of .ichard de eston, the foundations of which can still be seen near Harby/s parish church. !fter piously receiving the Church/s last rites, she died there on the evening of the 72 ?ovember 67:5, aged 3: and after <& years of marriage. ,dward was at her bedside to hear her final requests. 4or three days afterward, the machinery of government came to a halt and no writs were sealed. ,dward the first followed her body to burial in estminster !bbey, and erected estminster.

memorial crosses at the site of each overnight stop between *incoln and

>ased on crosses in 4rance marking *ouis IP/s funeral procession, these artistically significant monuments enhanced the image of ,dward the first%s kingship as well as witnessing his grief. The C,leanor crossesC stood at *incoln, Grantham, #tamford, Geddington, ?orthampton, #tony #tratford, oburn, 0unstable, #t !lbans, altham, estcheap, and Charing. +nly three survive, none in entirety. The best preserved is that at Geddington. !ll three have lost the crosses Cof immense heightC that originally surmounted them9 only the lower stages remain. The altham cross has been heavily altham and ?orthampton restored and to prevent further deterioration, its original statues of the queen are now in the Iictoria and !lbert )useum in *ondon. The crosses have been moved to locations different from their original sites. The monument now known as CCharing CrossC in *ondon, in front of the railway station of that name, was built in 62&1 to publicise the railway hotel at Charing station. The original Charing Cross was at the top of the first. hitehall, on the south side of Trafalgar #quare, but was destroyed in 6&3' and later replaced by a statue of Charles

662

,leanor/s funeral took place in

estminster !bbey on 6' 0ecember 67:5. Her body

was placed in a grave near the high altar that had originally contained the coffin of ,dward the Confessor and, more recently, that of -ing Henry the third until his remains were removed to his new tomb in 67:5. ,leanor/s body remained in this grave until the completion of her own tomb.

#he had probably ordered that tomb before her death. It consists of a marble chest with carved mouldings and shields 8originally painted= of the arms of ,ngland, Castile, and Donthieu. The chest is surmounted by a /superb gilt"bronBe effigy, showing ,leanor in the same pose as the image on her great seal. hen ,dward remarried a decade after her death, he and his second wife )argaret of 4rance, named their only daughter ,leanor in honour of her. ,leanor of Castile/s queenship is significant in ,nglish history for the evolution of a stable financial system for the king/s wife, and for the honing this process gave the queen"consort/s prerogatives. The estates ,leanor assembled became the nucleus for dower assignments made to later queens of ,ngland into the 61th century, and her involvement in this process solidly established a queen"consort/s freedom to engage in such transactions. 4ew later queens e$erted themselves in economic activity to the e$tent ,leanor did, but their ability to do so rested on the precedents settled in her lifetime.

66:

E'4.,' II 871 !pril 6723 ; 76 #eptember 6<7'=, also called E'4.,'

C.#,%.,) %, was -ing of ,ngland from 6<5' until he was deposed by his wife Isabella in (anuary 6<7' and succeeded by their son ,dward the third. ,dward the second was the son of ,dward the first and his first wife ,leanor of Castille, and he was the si$th Dlantagenet king, in a line that began with the reign of Henry the second >etween the strong reigns of his father ,dward the first and later his own son ,dward the third, the reign of ,dward the second was considered by some to be disastrous for ,ngland. It was marked by alleged incompetence, political squabbling and military defeats. hile ,dward the second fathered at least five children by two women, he was rumoured by some to have been bise$ual His inability to deny even the most grandiose favours to his male favourites, first a Gascon knight named Diers Gaveston, and later a young ,nglish lord named Hugh 0espenser, led to constant speculation and political unrest, and eventually his final deposition. His father, ,dward the first had pacified Gwynedd and some other parts of ales and

the #cottish lowlands, but never e$erted a comprehensive conquest. However, the army of ,dward the second was devastatingly defeated at >annockburn, which freed #cotland from ,nglish control and allowed #cottish forces to raid unchecked throughout the north of ,ngland. In addition to these disasters, ,dward the second is remembered for his probable death in >erkeley Castle, allegedly by murder, and also for being the first monarch to establish colleges at +$ford and CambridgeG +riel College at +$ford and -ing/s Hall, a predecessor of Trinity College, at Cambridge.

675

In 6<71 a dispute between 4rance and ,ngland broke out over ,dward the second%s refusal to pay homage to the 4rench king for the territory of Gascony. !fter several bungled attempts to regain the territory, ,dward the second sent his wife, Isabella, to negotiate peace terms. +verHoyed, Isabella arrived in 4rance in )arch 6<71. #he was now able to visit her family and native land as well as escape from her husband, ,dward the second, whom she now detested, presumably because of his bise$uality.

+n <6 )ay 6<71, Isabella agreed to a peace treaty favouring 4rance and requiring ,dward the second to pay homage in 4rance to Isabella%s brother, -ing Charles of 4rance. ,dward the second decided to send his son to 4rance to pay the homage. This proved to be a gross tactical error, and helped to bring about the ruination of ,dward the second. Isabella, ,dward the second%s wife now that she had her son with her in 4rance, declared that she would not return to ,ngland. Isabella/s retinue, who were loyal to ,dward the second, were ordered back to ,ngland by Isabella. hen they returned to the ,nglish Court on 7< 0ecember, they brought shocking news for ,dward the second. Isabella had formed a liaison with .oger )ortimer in Daris and they were now plotting an invasion of ,ngland. ,dward the second prepared for the invasion but his son ,dward of indsor refused

to leave his mother, claiming he wanted to remain with her during her unease and unhappiness. ,dward the second%s half"brother, the ,arl of -ent, who had married .oger )ortimer/s cousin, )argaret Jueen Isabella.. In #eptember 6<7&, .oger )ortimer and Isabella invaded ,ngland. ,dward the second was amaBed by their small numbers of soldiers, and immediately attempted to gather an immense army to crush them. However, a large number of men refused to fight .oger )ortimer and Isabella, they regarded Isabella as the Jueen of ,ngland. Henry of *ancaster, for e$ample, was not even summoned by the king, and he showed his loyalties by raising an army, seiBing a cache of treasure from *eicester !bbey, and marching south to Hoin .oger )ortimer. ak, and some other nobles, such as (ohn de Cromwell and the ,arl of .ichmond, also chose to support .oger )ortimer and

676

The invasion soon had gathered too much force and support, to be stemmed. !s a result, the army ,dward the second had attempted to gather failed to emerge and ,dward the second was left isolated. ,dward the second abandoned *ondon on 7 +ctober, leaving the city to fall into disorder.

,dward the second first took refuge in Gloucester where he arrived on : +ctober. He then fled to #outh ales in order to try to put together an army and to retaliate. ith a small force, Henry of However, ,dward was unable to rally an army, and on <6 +ctober, he was abandoned by his servants, leaving him with only a few retainers. *ancaster was sent to ales to capture ,dward the second. He did this on 6&

?ovember when ,dward the second was caught in the open country near Tonyrefail. ! plaque now commemorates the event. Henry of *ancaster took ,dward the second to -enilworth Castle where he was imprisoned. .eprisals against the allies of ,dward the second began immediately thereafter. The ,arl of !rundel, #ir ,dmund 4itB !lan, an old enemy of .oger )ortimer, was beheaded on 6' ?ovember, together with two of the ,arl/s retainers, (ohn 0aniel and Thomas de )icheldever. Hugh 0espenser the Nounger was brutally e$ecuted and a huge crowd gathered in anticipation at seeing him die, a spectacle for public entertainment. They dragged him from his horse, stripped him, and scrawled >iblical verses against corruption and arrogance on his skin. They then dragged him into the city, presenting him in the market square to Jueen Isabella, .oger )ortimer, and Henry of *ancaster. He was then condemned to hang as a thief, to be castrated, and then to be drawn and quartered as a traitor. His body parts to be dispersed throughout ,ngland. Hugh 0espenser/s trusty servant, #imon of .eading was also hanged ne$t to him, on charges of insulting Jueen Isabella. ,dward the second%s Chancellor, .obert >aldock, was placed under house arrest in *ondon, ! *ondon mob later broke into the house, severely beat him,

677

and threw him into ?ewgate Drison. In ?ewgate Drison he was murdered by some of the inmates. ith ,dward the second imprisoned, .oger )ortimer and Jueen Isabella the wife of ,dward the second, faced the problem of what to do with him. The simplest solution would be an e$ecution. His titles would then pass to his and Isabella%s son ,dward of indsor, whom Isabella believed she could control. ,$ecution would also prevent the possibility of him being restored to the throne.

,$ecution however would require that ,dward the second be tried and convicted of treasonG and while most agreed that ,dward had failed to show due attention to his country, several argued that, appointed by God, he could not be legally deposed or e$ecuted. If this happened, they said, God would punish the country. It was therefore decided to have ,dward the second imprisoned for life instead. However, the fact remained that the legality of power still lay with ,dward the second as -ing. His wife Isabella had been given the Great #ea of ,ngland, and she was using it to rule in the name of the king, in the name of herself, and in the name of their son ,dward of indsor, as appropriate. ?onetheless, all these actions were illegal, and could at any moment be challenged. In these circumstances, Darliament chose to act as an authority above the king. .epresentatives of the House of Commons were summoned, and debates began. The !rchbishop of Nork, illiam )elton and others declared themselve%s fearful of the *ondon mobs, who were loyal to .oger )ortimer and Jueen Isabella. +thers wanted ,dward the second to speak in Darliament and openly abdicate from the throne, rather than be deposed. .oger )ortimer responded to this by commanding the *ord )ayor of *ondon, .ichard de >etoyne, to write to Darliament, asking them to go to the Guildhall to swear an oath to protect Jueen Isabella and her son Drince ,dward of indsor, and to depose her husband ,dward the second. .oger )ortimer then called the *ords to a secret meeting that night, at which they gave their unanimous support to the deposing of ,dward the second. ,ventually Darliament agreed to the removal of ,dward the second from the throne. hat they had actually agreed was

67<

that ,dward the second should no longer rule, but they had not deposed him. ,dward the second was asked to accept parliament%s decision.

+n 75 (anuary 6<7', ,dward the second was informed at -enilworth Castle of the charges brought against him. The charges were as follows. 6..The king was guilty of incompetence allowing others to govern him to the detriment of the people and Church. 7..The king had not listened to good advice and had pursued occupations unbecoming to a monarch. <..The king had lost #cotland and lands in Gascony and Ireland through failure of effective governance. 3..The king had damaged the Church, and imprisoned its representatives. 1..The king had allowed nobles to be killed, disinherited, imprisoned and e$iled. &..The king had failed to ensure fair Hustice instead he governed for profit and allowed others to do likewise. '..The king had fled in the company of a notorious enemy of the realm, leaving it without government, and thereby losing the faith and trust of his people.

,dward the second was profoundly shocked by these charges, and he wept while listening to them. He was then offered a choiceG he might abdicate in favour of his and Isabella%s son Drince ,dward of indsor9 or he might resist, and relinquish the throne to one of not royal blood, but who was e$perienced in government, this, presumably was a reference to .oger )ortimer. The king, lamenting that his people

673

had so hated his rule, eventually agreed that if the people would accept his son, he would abdicate in his favour. The lords, through the person of #ir illiam Trussell, then renounced their homage to him, and the reign of ,dward the second ended. The abdication was announced and recorded in *ondon on 73 (anuary 6<7', and the following day was proclaimed the first of the reign of his son ,dward the third, who, at 63 years of age was still controlled by his mother Isabella and .oger )ortimer. ,dward the second, remained in prison.

The government of Isabella and )ortimer was so precarious that they dared not leave the deposed king in the hands of their political enemies. +n the < !pril 6<7' ,dward the second was removed from -enilworth Castle and entrusted to the custody of two subordinates of .oger )ortimer. ,dward the second was then later imprisoned at >erkeley Castle in Gloucestershire. +n 7< #eptember 6<7' ,dward the third was informed by his mother Isabella that her husband, and ,dward%s father, the deposed ,dward the second had died on 76 #eptember 6<7'. )ost sources agree that ,dward the second died on that date at >erkeley Castle. +ne chronicle, however, states that ,dward died at Corfe Castle. The causes given for his death vary. ! number of chroniclers give no cause of death at all. #ome state that he was suffocated, or strangled, and a few state that he was both suffocated and killed by the insertion of a red hot poker or other long metal obHect into his anus. This last e$planation is the one usually associated with ,dward the second. >ut it may be a later addition, designed to denigrate ,dward the second%s reputation. Thomas de la )oore wrote the poker account of ,dward/s murder in 6<17 but it is uncorroborated by any other contemporary sources. It was not until the relevant sections of the longer >rut chronicle were composed by an anti .oger )ortimer *ancastrian in the mid 63<5s was the story widely circulated. The historian )ichael Drestwich states that most of the poker story belongs to the world of romance rather than of history

671

E'4.,' III 86< ?ovember 6<67 ; 76 (une 6<''= was -ing of ,ngland from 6<7' until his death9 he is noted for his military success and for restoring royal authority after the disastrous reign of his father, ,dward II. ,dward the third transformed the -ingdom of ,ngland into one of the most formidable military powers in ,urope9 his reign also saw vital developments in legislation and government, in particular the evolution of the ,nglish parliament, as well as the ravages of the >lack 0eath which first arrived in ,ngland in 6<32 and re"appeared in ,ngland on several occasions through to the Great Dlague 6&&1. He is one of only si$ >ritish monarchs to have ruled ,ngland or its successor kingdoms for more than fifty years. ,dward the third married Dhillipa and had eight sons, the descendants of whom contributed to the ars of the .oses using their titles E0uke of *ancaster and 0uke of NorkF and their conflicting ancestry from ,dward the third as their claim to the throne. ,dward the third%s sons wereG ,dward the >lack Drince 86<<5"6<'&= he was also the Drince of illiam of Hatfield 86<<'"6<<'= *ionel of !ntwerp 86<<2"6<&2= the 0uke of Clarence (ohn of Gaunt 86<35"6<::= the 0uke of *ancaster ,dmund of *angley 86<36"6357= the 0uke of Nork Thomas of illiam of Thomas of indsor 86<3'"6<3'= indsor 86<32"6<32= oodstock 86<11"6<:'= the 0uke of Gloucester ales

67&

,dward the third was crowned in 6<7' at age fourteen after his father was deposed by his mother Isabella and her consort .oger )ortimer. Three years later in 6<<5 at age seventeen he led a successful coup against .oger )ortimer, who up until then was the de facto ruler of the country. The year 6<<5 began ,dward the third%s personal reign. !fter a successful campaign in #cotland in 6<<', he declared himself to be the rightful heir to the 4rench throne, starting what would become known as the Hundred Nears/ ar between ,ngland and 4rance.

4ollowing some initial setbacks the war against the 4rench went e$ceptionally well for ,ngland9 victories at Cr^cy and Doitiers led to the highly favourable Treaty of >r^tigny. ,dward/s later years, however, were marked by international failure and domestic strife, largely as a result of his inactivity and poor health. )ilitary failure abroad, and the associated fiscal pressure of constant campaigns, led to political discontent at home. The problems came to a head in the parliament of 6<'&, the so"called Good Darliament. The parliament was called to grant ta$ation, but the House of Commons took the opportunity to address other specific grievances. In particular, criticism was directed at some of the king/s closest advisors. This resulted in the Chamberlain illiam *atimer and the #teward of the Household, (ohn ?eville ,dward the third%s mistress, !lice Derrers, being dismissed from their positions..

who was seen to hold far too much power over the ageing king, was banished from court. >ut the real adversary of the Commons, and supported by powerful men such as ykeham and ,dmund de )ortimer, the ,arl of )arch, was (ohn of Gaunt the fourth son of ,dward the third. >oth the -ing and his elder son ,dward known as the >lack Drince were by this time incapacitated by illness, leaving (ohn of Gaunt in virtual control of government. Gaunt was forced to give in to the demands of parliament, but at its ne$t convocation, in 6<'', most of the achievements of the Good Darliament were reversed. ,dward the third however, did not have much to do with any of this and after around 6<'1 he played a limited role in the government of the realm. !round 7: #eptember 6<'& he fell ill with a large abscess. !fter a brief period of recovery, ,dward the third died of a stroke at #heen on 76 (une 6<''. He was succeeded by his ten"year"old

67'

grandson .ichard who was the son of Drince ,dward the >lack Drince, since the >lack Drince himself had died on 2 (une 6<'&. ,dward the third was a temperamental man but capable of unusual clemency. He was in many ways a conventional king whose main interest was warfare. !dmired in his own time and for centuries after, ,dward was however denounced as an irresponsible adventurer by later achievements R$-".,' II 8& (anuary 6<&' ; ca. 63 4ebruary 6355= was -ing of ,ngland from 6<'' until he was deposed on <5 #eptember 6<::. .ichard, the son of Drince ,dward, the >lack Drince, was born during the reign of his grandfather ,dward III. .ichard was the younger brother of ,dward of !ngoul`me. Apon the death of his older brother ,dward of !ngouleme, .ichard, at four years of age, became second in line to the throne after his father. Apon the death of his father prior to the death of ,dward the third, .ichard became the first in line for the throne. 6<'' .ichard succeeded to the throne at the age of ten. 0uring .ichard the second%s early years as king, government was in the hands of a series of councils. The political community preferred the series of councils to a .egency which would have led to rule by .ichard the second%s uncle, (ohn of Gaunt. (ohn of Gaunt however did remain highly influential. The first maHor challenge of the reign was the Deasants/ .evolt in 6<26. The young king .ichard the second played a maHor part in the successful suppression of this crisis. In the following years, however, the king/s dependence on a small number of courtiers caused discontent in the political community, and in 6<2' control of government was taken over by a group of noblemen known as the *ords !ppellant. >y 6<2: .ichard the second had regained control of the government, and for the ne$t eight years he governed in relative harmony with his former opponents. Isabelle of 4rance 86<2:"635:=, the oldest daughter of -ing Charles I6 of 4rance, was not quite seven years old when she married .ichard the second as his second wife in 6<:&. In 6<:', .ichard the second, took his revenge on the *ords !ppellants, and many of them were e$ecuted or e$iled. The ne$t two years have been described by historians as .ichard/s CtyrannyC. ith ,dward the third s death in hig historians such as illiam #tubbs. This view has been challenged recently and modern historians credit him with some significant

672

In 6<::, after (ohn of Gaunt died, .ichard the second disinherited (ohn of Gaunt/s son, Henry of >olingbroke. Henry of >olingbroke had previously been e$iled. *ater that year in 6<:: Henry of >olingbroke invaded ,ngland with a small force that quickly grew in numbers. Claiming initially that his goal was only to reclaim his patrimony, it soon became clear that he intended to claim the ,nglish throne for himself. )eeting little resistance, Henry of >olingbroke deposed .ichard the second who was childless and he had himself crowned as -ing Henry II. .ichard the second died in prison early the ne$t year9 he was probably murdered. !s an individual, .ichard was said to have been tall, good"looking and intelligent. Though probably not insane, as earlier historians used to believe, he may have suffered from a personality disorder towards the end of his reign. *ess of a warrior than either his father or grandfather, he sought to bring an end to the Hundred Nears/ ar that ,dward the third had started. He was a firm believer in the royal prerogative, something which led him to restrain the power of his nobility, and to rely on a private retinue for military protection instead. He also cultivated a courtly atmosphere in which the king was an elevated figure, and art and culture were at the centre, in contrast to the fraternal, martial court of his grandfather. .ichard/s posthumous reputation has to a large e$tent been shaped by #hakespeare, whose play 4ichard 11 portrayed .ichard/s misrule and his deposition by >olingbroke as responsible for the fifteenth"century ars of the .oses. Dresent day historians do not accept this interpretation, while not e$onerating .ichard from responsibility for his own deposition. )ost authorities agree that, even though his policies were not unprecedented or entirely unrealistic, the way in which he carried them out was unacceptable to the political establishment, and this led to his eventual downfall

67:

6' N ') 7#(NT A "% ) G.2%t, 1*t D28# ) L.%-.*t#, , -G 8& )arch 6<35 ; < 4ebruary 6<::= was a member of the House of Dlantagenet. He was the third surviving son of -ing ,dward III of ,ngland and Dhilippa of Hainault. ,dward the >lack Drince was the first son of ,dward the third, illiam of Hatfield was the second son who died shortly after birth *ionel of !ntwerp was the third son of ,dward the third and (ohn of Gaunt was the fourth son. He was called C(ohn of GauntC because he was born in Ghent, then rendered in ,nglish as .aunt. hen he became unpopular later in life, scurrilous rumours and lampoons circulated that he was actually the son of a Ghent butcher, perhaps because ,dward the third was not present at his birth. This story always drove him to fury. (ohn of Gaunt was a younger brother of ,dward, Drince of ales 8,dward, the >lack

Drince=, and (ohn e$ercised great influence over the ,nglish throne during the minority rule of the >lack Drince%s son .ichard the second. >ut he was not thought to have been among the opponents of the king. (ohn of Gaunt the 0uke of *ancaster%s legitimate male heirs, from the house of *ancaster, included Henry the fourth, Henry the fifth , and Henry the si$th. +ther legitimate descendants by his first wife, >lanche ,were his daughters Jueen Dhilippa of Dortugal and ,liBabeth, 0uchess of ,$eter9 and by his second wife, Constance, his daughter Jueen Catherine of Castile. (ohn of Gaunt also fathered five children outside marriage, one early in life by a lady"in"waiting to his mother, and four surnamed C>eaufortC 8after a former 4rench possession= by -atherine #wynford, (ohn of Gaunt/s long"term mistress and who eventually became his third wife.

6<5

The illegitimate >eaufort children, three sons and a daughter were legitimised by royal and papal decrees after (ohn and -atherine #wynford married in 6<:&. ! later proviso that they were specifically barred from inheriting the throne, the phrase excepta regali dignitate 8,nglishG e$cept royal status=, was inserted with dubious authority by their half"brother Henry the fourth. *ater the legitimate descendants of (ohn of Gaunt%s marriage to -atherine #wynford included Henry >eaufort the >ishop of inchester9 Cardinal (oan >eaufort the Countess of estmorland, the grandmother of ,dward the fourth and .ichard the third9 (ohn >eaufort the first ,arl of #omerset, the grandfather of )argret >eaufort, the mother of -ing Henry the seventh9 and (oan >eaufort, Jueen of #cots, from whom are descended all subsequent sovereigns of #cotland from 63<', and all the sovereigns of ,ngland, of Great >ritain and Ireland, and of the Anited -ingdom from 6&5< to the present day. The three succeeding houses of ,nglish sovereigns from 6<::, the Houses of *ancaster, Nork and Tudor, were descended from (ohn of Gaunt via his legitimate children Henry >olingbroke, (oan >eaufort and (ohn >eaufort, respectively. (ohn of Gaunt%s eldest son and heir, Henry >olingbroke, 0uke of Hereford, was e$iled for ten years by -ing .ichard the second in 6<:2 as resolution to a dispute between the 0uke of Hereford and Thomas de )owbray the 0uke of ?orfolk. hen (ohn of Gaunt died in 6<::, Gaunt%s estates and titles were declared forfeit to the crown, and .ichard the second named Gaunt%s eldest son Henry >ollingbroke the 0uke of Hereford as a traitor and changed his e$ile sentence to one of life. Henry >olingbroke however, returned from e$ile to reclaim his inheritance and he eventually deposed .ichard the second. >olingbroke then took the crown and reigned as -ing Henry the fourth of ,ngland 86<::;636<=, the first of the descendants of (ohn of Gaunt to hold the throne of ,ngland. 0ue to some generous land grants, (ohn of 6<6

Gaunt was not only one of the richest men in his time, but also one of the wealthiest men to have ever lived. Taking into account inflation rates, (ohn was worth a modern equivalent of a665 billion, making him the si$teenth richest man in history.

(ohn of Gaunt was the fourth son of -ing ,dward the third of ,ngland. Gaunt%s first wife, >lanche, was also his third cousin9 they were both great great grandchildren of Henry the third. They married in 6<1: at .eading !bbey, ,dward the third always arranged matches for his sons with wealthy heiresses. Apon the death of his father"in" law in 6<&6, (ohn of Gaunt inherited half his lands, the title ,arl of *ancaster, and the distinction of being the greatest landowner in the north of ,ngland. He also became the 63th >aron of Halton and 66th *ord of >owland. (ohn inherited the rest when his wife >lanche/s sister, )aud, Countess of *eicester who was married to Count of Hainaut, died on 65 !pril 6<&7. (ohn received the title C0uke of *ancasterC from his father ,dward the third on 6< ?ovember 6<&7. He was by then well established, owning at least thirty castles and estates across ,ngland and 4rance. His household was comparable in scale and organiBation to that of a monarch. He owned land in almost every county in ,ngland, producing a net income of between \2,555 and \65,555 a year, several millions in today/s terms. !fter the death of his older brother ,dward of oodstock 8also known as the >lack ycliffe, illiam I,

Drince=, (ohn of Gaunt contrived to protect the religious reformer (ohn

possibly to counteract the growing secular power of the .oman Catholic Church. However, (ohn of Gaunt%s ascendancy to political power coincided with widespread resentment of his influence. !t a time when ,nglish forces encountered setbacks in the Hundred Nears/ ar against 4rance, and ,dward the third%s rule was becoming unpopular due to high ta$ation and his affair with !lice Derrers, political opinion closely associated the 0uke of *ancaster with the failing government of the 6<'5s. 4urthermore, while ,dward the third and his son the Drince of ales, were popular heroes due to their successes on the battlefield, (ohn of Gaunt the 0uke of *ancaster

6<7

had not won equivalent military renown that could have bolstered his reputation. !lthough he fought in the >attle of ?QHera, for e$ample, his later military proHects however were unsuccessful.

hen ,dward the third died in 6<'' and (ohn of Gaunt%s ten"year"old nephew succeeded as .ichard the second of ,ngland, Gaunt%s influence strengthened. However, mistrust remained, and some suspected him of wanting to seiBe the throne himself. (ohn of Gaunt took great pains to ensure that he never became associated with the opposition to .ichard the second%s kingship. !s a virtual ruler during .ichard/s minority, Gaunt made some unwise decisions on ta$ation that led to the Deasants/ .evolt in 6<26. The rebels destroyed Gaunt%s #avoy Dalace in *ondon. Anlike some of .ichard the second%s other unpopular advisors, (ohn of Gaunt however was away from *ondon at the time of the uprising and thus avoided the wrath of the rebels. In 6<2&, (ohn of Gaunt left ,ngland to claim the throne of Castile9 his claim was through his marriage to his second wife, Constance of Castille. However, crisis in ,ngland ensued almost immediately thereafter, when in 6<2' .ichard the second%s misrule brought ,ngland to the brink of civil war. +nly (ohn of Gaunt, on his return to ,ngland in 6<2:, was able to persuade the *ords !ppellant and .ichard the second to compromise. The compromise led to a period of relative stability and during the 6<:5s, (ohn/s reputation of devotion to the well"being of the kingdom was largely restored. (ohn died of natural causes on < 4ebruary 6<:: at *eicester Castle, with his third wife -atherine by his side. >ecause of his rank (ohn of Gaunt was one of ,ngland/s principal military commanders in the 6<'5s and 6<25s, though his enterprises were never rewarded with the kind of daBBling success that had made his elder brother the ,dward the >lack Drince such a charismatic war leader. +n the resumption of war with 4rance in 6<&:, (ohn of Gaunt was sent to Calais with the ,arl of Hereford and a small ,nglish army with which he raided into northern

6<<

4rance. +n 7< !ugust he was confronted by a much larger 4rench army under Dhilip, 0uke of >urgundy.

,$ercising his first command, Gaunt dared not attack such a superior force and the two armies faced each other across a marsh for several weeks until the ,nglish were reinforced by the ,arl of offering battle. Gaunt and arwick, at which time the 4rench withdrew without arwick then decided to strike Harfleur, the base of the

4rench fleet on the #eine. 4urther reinforced by German mercenaries, they marched on Harfleur but were delayed by 4rench guerilla operations while the town prepared for a siege. Gaunt and arwick sieged Harfleur for four days in +ctober, but they were losing so many men to dysentery and bubonic plague that he decided to abandon the siege and return to Calais. 0uring this retreat the army had to fight its way across the #omme at the ford of >lanchetaque against a 4rench army led by Hugh de Chbtillon. Hugh de Chatillon was captured and sold to ,dward the third. The arwick died of survivors of the sickly army returned to Calais, where the ,arl of

plague, by the middle of ?ovember. Though it seemed an inglorious conclusion to the campaign, (ohn of Gaunt had forced the 4rench king, Charles I, to abandon his plans to invade ,ngland that autumn. In the summer of 6<'5 (ohn of Gaunt was sent with a small army to !quitaine to reinforce his ailing elder brother, ,dward the >lack Drince and his younger brother ,dmund of *angley the ,arl of Cambridge. . ith them he participated in the siege and sacking of *imoges in #eptember 6<'5, taking charge of the siege operations and at one point engaging in hand"to"hand fighting in the undermining tunnels. !fter this event ,dward the >lack Drince surrendered his lordship of !quitaine and sailed for ,ngland, leaving his brother (ohn of Gaunt in charge. Though Gaunt attempted to defend the 0uchy of !quitiane against the 4rench encroachment for nearly a year, a lack of resources and money meant he could do little but rule over what little territory the ,nglish still controlled, and he resigned the command in #eptember 6<'6 and

6<3

returned to ,ngland. (ust before leaving !quitaine, on 76 #eptember 6<'6 (ohn of Gaunt married Infanta Constance of Castile at .oquefort, near >ordeau$, Guienne. The following year he took part with his father, ,dward the third in an abortive attempt to invade 4rance with a large army, which was frustrated by three months of unfavourable winds.

Drobably Gaunt%s most notable feat of arms occurred in !ugust;0ecember 6<'<, when he attempted to relieve !quitaine by the landward route. Gaunt led an army of some :,555 mounted men from Calais on a great ride from north"eastern to south" western 4rance on a :55 kilometer raid. This four"month ride through enemy territory, evading 4rench armies on the way, was a bold stroke which impressed many contemporaries but Gaunt achieved virtually nothing. >eset on all sides by 4rench ambushes and plagued by disease and starvation, (ohn of Gaunt and his raiders battled their way through Champagne, east of Daris, into >urgundy, across the Central Dlain, and finally down into 0ordogne. Anable to attack any strongly fortified forts and cities, the raiders plundered the countryside, raiding towns and villages, weakening the 4rench infrastructure, but the military value of the damage was only temporary. )arching in winter across the *imousin plateau, with stragglers being picked off by the 4rench, huge numbers of the army, and even larger numbers of the horses, died of cold, disease or starvation. The army reached ,nglish"occupied >ordeau$ on 73 0ecember 6<'<, severely weakened in numbers and capacity having lost at least one" third of their force in action and another third to disease, and many more succumbed to the bubonic plague that was raging in the city. #ick, demoraliBed and mutinous, the army was in no shape to defend !quitaine, and soldiers began to desert. Gaunt had no funds with which to pay them, and despite his entreaties none were sent from ,ngland, so in !pril 6<'3 Gaunt abandoned the enterprise, and sailed for home.

(ohn of Gaunt%s final campaign in 4rance was in 6<'29 he planned a /great e$pedition/ of mounted men in a large armada of ships to land at >rest and take control of >rittany. ?ot enough ships could be found to transport the horses, and the e$pedition was tasked with the more limited obHective of capturing #t. )alo. The ,nglish destroyed the shipping in #t. )alo harbour and began to assault the town by land on

6<1

63 !ugust, but Gaunt was soon hampered by the siBe of his army, which was unable to forage because 4rench armies under +livier de Clisson and >ertrand du Guesclin occupied the surrounding countryside, and were harrying the edges of his force. In #eptember the siege was simply abandoned and the army returned ingloriously to ,ngland. (ohn of Gaunt received most of the blame for the debacle.

Dartly as a result of these failures, and those of other ,nglish commanders at this period, (ohn of Gaunt was one of the first important figures in ,ngland to conclude that the war with 4rance was unwinnable because of 4rance/s greater resources of wealth and manpower. He began to advocate peace negotiations]indeed as early as 6<'<, during his great raid through 4rance, he made contact with Guillaume .oger, brother and political adviser of Dope Gregory PI, to let the Dope know he would be interested in a diplomatic conference under papal auspices. This approach led indirectly to the !nglo"4rench Congress of >ruges in 6<'3;'', which resulted in a short"lived truce between ,ngland and 4rance. Gaunt was a delegate to the various conferences that eventually resulted in the Truce of *eulinghem in 6<2:. The fact that he became identified with the attempts to make peace added to his unpopularity at a period when the maHority of ,nglishmen believed victory would be in their grasp if the 4rench could be roundly defeated as they had been in the 6<15s. !nother motive was (ohn of Gaunt%s conviction that it was only by making peace with 4rance that it would be possible to release sufficient manpower for him to enforce his claim to the throne of Castile. +n his return from 4rance in 6<'3, (ohn took a more decisive and persistent role in the direction of ,nglish foreign policy, and from then until 6<'' because his father and elder brother were both ill and unable to e$ercise their authority, he was effectively the head of the ,nglish government. Through his vast estates he was the richest man in ,ngland, and his great wealth, ostentatious display of it, autocratic manner and attitudes, enormous *ondon mansion, the #avoy Dalace on the #trand and association with the failed peace process at >ruges combined to make him the most visible target of social resentments. Gaunt%s time at the head of government was marked by the so"called Good Darliament of 6<'& and the >ad Darliament of 6<''. This turned into a parliamentary revolution,

6<&

with the Commons 8supported to some e$tent by the *ords= venting their grievances at decades of crippling ta$ation, misgovernment and suspected endemic corruption among the ruling classes.

(ohn of Gaunt was left isolated 8even the ,dward the >lack Drince supported the need for reform= and the Commons refused to grant money for the war unless most of the great officers of state were dismissed, and the -ing/s mistress !lice Derrers, another focus of popular resentment, was barred from any further association with him. ,ven after the government acceded to virtually all their demands, the Commons then refused to authoriBe any finance for the war, losing the sympathy of the *ords as a result. The death of the >lack Drince on 2 (une 6<'& and the onset of ,dward the third%s last illness at the closing of Darliament on 65 (uly left Gaunt with all the reins of power. He immediately had the ailing -ing grant pardons to all the officials impeached by the Darliament9 !lice Derrers too was reinstated at the heart of the -ing/s household. Gaunt impeached illiam of ykeham and other leaders of the reform movement, and secured their conviction, on old or trumped"up charges. The parliament of 6<'' was Gaunt%s counter"coup. Crucially, the *ords no longer supported the Commons and Gaunt was able to have most of the acts of 6<'& annulled. He also succeeded in forcing the Commons to agree to the imposition of the first Doll Ta$ in ,nglish history, a viciously regressive measure that bore hardest on the poorest members of society. There was organiBed opposition to his measures, and rioting in *ondonG (ohn of Gaunt/s arms were reversed or defaced wherever they were displayed, and protestors pasted up lampoons on his supposedly dubious birth. !t one point he was forced to take refuge across the river Thames, while his #avoy Dalace only Hust escaped looting. It was rumoured and believed by many people in ,ngland and 4rance that Gaunt intended to seiBe the throne for himself and supplant the rightful heir, his nephew .ichard, who was ,dward the >lack Drince/s son, but there seems to have been no truth in this and on the death of ,dward the third and the accession of the child .ichard the second, Gaunt sought no position of regency for himself and withdrew to his estates.

6<'

His personal unpopularity persisted, however, and the failure of his e$pedition to #aint")alo in 6<'2 did nothing for his reputation. >y this time, some of his possessions were taken from him by the Crown. His ship, the ieulagarde, for e$ample, was seiBed and bundled with other royal ships to be sold to pay off the debts of #ir .obert de Crull who had advanced monies to pay for -ing ,dward the third%s ships during the latter part of his reign 0uring the Deasants/ .evolt of 6<26, (ohn of Gaunt was far from the centre of events, but he was among those named by the rebels as a traitor to be beheaded as soon as he could be found. Gaunt%s #avoy Dalace was systematically destroyed by the mob, and burned to the ground. *ords who were normally friendly to him and even his own fortresses closed their gates to him, and (ohn was forced to flee into #cotland with a handful of retainers and throw himself on the charity of the #cottish -ing .obert II until the crisis was over. +n (ohn of Gaunt%s marriage to Infanta Constance of Castile in 6<'6, (ohn assumed 8officially from 7: (anuary 6<'7= the title of -ing of Castile and *ecn in the right of his wife. Gaunt insisted his fellow ,nglish nobles henceforth address him as /)y lord of #pain./ He incorporated his arms with those of the #panish kingdom. 4rom 6<'7 (ohn gathered around himself a small court of refugee Castilian knights and ladies and set up a Castilian chancery which prepared documents in his name according to the style of Deter of Castile. These were dated by the Castilian era and signed by himself and with the #panish pre cursor /No ,l .ey/ 8I, the -ing=. He hatched several schemes to make good his claim with an army, but for many years these were not fruitful due to lack of finance or the conflicting claims of war in 4rance or with #cotland. It was only in 6<2&, after Dortugal under its new king (ohn of !vis had entered into full alliance with ,ngland, that Gaunt was actually able to land with an army in #pain and mount an ultimately unsuccessful campaign for the throne of Castile. (ohn sailed from ,ngland on : (uly 6<2& with a huge !nglo"Dortuguese fleet, carrying an army of about 1,555 men plus an e$tensive /royal/ household and his wife and daughters. Dausing on the Hourney to use his army to drive off the 4rench forces who were then besieging >rest, he landed at Corunna in northern #pain on 7: (uly. The Castilian king, (ohn of TrastQmara, had e$pected Gaunt would land in Dortugal and had concentrated his forces on the Dortuguese border9 he was therefore wrong"

6<2

footed by Gaunt/s decision to invade Galicia in northern #pain, the most distant and disaffected of Castile/s provinces.

4rom !ugust to +ctober, (ohn of Gaunt set up a rudimentary court and chancery at +urense and received the submission of most of the towns of Galicia, though they made their homage to him conditional on his being recogniBed as king by the rest of Castile. hile (ohn of Gaunt had gambled on an early decisive battle, the Castilians were in no hurry to Hoin battle, and he began to e$perience difficulties keeping his army together and paying it. In ?ovember he met (oao I of Dortugal at Donte do )ouro on the south side of the )inho .iver and concluded an agreement with him to make a Hoint !nglo"Dortuguese invasion of central Castile early in 6<2'. The treaty was sealed by the marriage of (ohn/s eldest daughter Dhilippa to the Dortuguese -ing. ! large part of Gaunt%s army had succumbed to sickness, however, and when the invasion was mounted they were far outnumbered by their Dortuguese allies. The campaign 8!pril;(une 6<2'= was an ignominious failure. The Castilians refused to offer battle and the !nglo"Dortuguese troops, apart from time"wasting sieges of fortified towns9 they were reduced to foraging for food in the arid #panish landscape. They were harried mainly by 4rench mercenaries of the Castilian -ing. )any hundreds of ,nglish, including close friends and retainers of (ohn of Gaunt, died of disease or e$haustion. )any deserted or abandoned the army to ride north under 4rench safe"conducts. #hortly after the army returned to Dortugal, (ohn of Gaunt concluded a secret treaty with (ohn of TrastQmara under which he and his wife renounced all claim to the Castilian throne in return for a large annual payment and the marriage of their daughter Catherine to (ohn of TrastQmara/s son Henry. Gaunt left Dortugal for !quitaine, and he remained in that province until he returned to ,ngland in ?ovember 6<2:. This effectively kept him off the scene while ,ngland endured the maHor political crisis of the conflict between .ichard the second and the *ords !ppellant, who were led by (ohn of Gaunt/s younger brother Thomas of

6<:

oodstock, 0uke of Gloucester. +nly four months after his return to ,ngland, in )arch 6<:5, .ichard the second formally invested Gaunt with the 0uchy of !quitaine, thus providing him with the overseas territory he had long desired. However Gaunt did not immediately return to !quitaine, but remained in ,ngland and mainly ruled !quitaine as an absentee 0uke. His administration of the province was a disappointment, and his appointment as 0uke was much resented by the Gascons, since !quitaine had previously always been held directly by the -ing of ,ngland or his heir. In 6<:3;:1, Gaunt was forced to spend nearly a year in Gascony to shore up his position in the face of threats of secession by the Gascon nobles. He was one of ,ngland/s principal negotiators in the diplomatic e$changes with 4rance that led to the Truce of *eulingham in 6<:&, and he initially agreed to Hoin the 4rench"led Crusade that ended in the disastrous >attle of ?icopolis, but withdrew due to ill"health and the political problems in Gascony and ,ngland 4or the remainder of his life (ohn of Gaunt occupied the role of valued counselor of .ichard the second and loyal supporter of the Crown. He did not even protest, it seems, when his younger brother Thomas was murdered at .ichard the second%s behest. It may be that he felt he had to maintain this posture of loyalty to the .ichard the second in order to protect his son Henry >olingbroke 8the future Henry the fourth=, from .ichard the second%s wrath. >ut in 6<:2 .ichard the second had Henry >olingbroke e$iled, +n (ohn of Gaunt/s death in 6<::, .ichard the second disinherited >olingbroke completely, seiBing Gaunt/s vast estates for the Crown.

635

THE PLANTAGENET 5LANCASTRIAN= LINE

H#%,1 IV 861 !pril 6<&' ; 75 )arch 636<= was -ing of ,ngland and *ord of Ireland 86<::;636<=. He was the ninth -ing of ,ngland of the House of Dlantagenet and also asserted his grandfather/s claim to the title -ing of 4rance. He was born at >olingbroke Castle in *incolnshire, hence his other name, H#%,1 ) < 0$%&/, 8#. His father, (ohn of Gaunt, the 0uke of *ancaster was the fourth son of ,dward the third and Henry enHoyed a position of considerable influence during much of the reign of his cousin .ichard the second whom he eventually deposed and had imprisoned. Henry the fourth%s mother was >lanche, (ohn of Gaunt%s first wife and heiress to the considerable *ancaster estates, and thus Henry the 4ourth became the first -ing of ,ngland from the *ancaster branch of the Dlantagenets. .ichard the second who was the son of the ,dward the third%s oldest son the >lack Drince was forced to abdicate the throne in 6<::. !ccording to ,dward the third%s entailment of 6<:&, Henry >olingbroke, the fourth the son of (ohn of Gaunt was deemed to be ne$t in line to the throne. This was because ,dward the third%s second son had died soon after birth, ,dward the third%s third son *ionel of !ntwerp was dead and he left only a daughter, Dhillipa, and which left Henry >olingbroke the son of (ohn of Gaunt ,dward the third%s fourth son as successors to the crown However, .ichard the second is believed to have made a further entailment in 6<:: which superseded ,dward the third%s previous entailment. In .ichard%s entailment the heir to .ichard the second, was ,dmund )ortimer, the ,arl of )arch, who was the son of Dhillipa the daughter of *ionel of !ntwerp. *ionel of !ntwerp was the third son of ,dward the third and had a superior claim because Henry of >ollingbroke had descended from (ohn of Gaunt who was the fourth son of ,dward the third.

636

The problem was solved by emphasiBing Henry/s descent in a direct male line, whereas ,dmund )ortimer%s descent had been through his mother, Dhillipa. The official account of events claims that .ichard the second voluntarily agreed to resign his crown to Henry the fourth on 7: #eptember. The country had rallied behind Henry and supported his claim in parliament. However, the question of the succession never went away. The problem lay in the fact that Henry the fourth who was the most prominent male heir, but he was not the most senior heir in terms of descent from ,dward the third. He was heir to the throne according to ,dward the third/s entailment to the crown of 6<'&, but, as this entailment could have been supplanted by an entailment made by .ichard the second in 6<::. Henry therefore had to overcome the superior claims of ,dmund )ortimer. This difficulty was further compounded when the ,dmund )ortimer claim to the throne was merged with the Norkist claim in the person of .ichard Dlantagenet, 0uke of Nork. In 6<:: Henry >olingbroke met with the e$iled Thomas !rundel, former !rchbishop of Canterbury, who had lost his position because of his involvement with the *ords !ppellant. Henry >olingbroke and !rundel returned to ,ngland while .ichard was on a military campaign in Ireland. ith !rundel as his advisor, Henry began a military campaign, confiscating land from those who opposed him and ordered his soldiers to destroy much of Cheshire. Henry quickly gained enough power and support and he had .ichard the second imprisoned. .ichard the second later died in prison under mysterious circumstances, and Henry >olingbroke was able to bypass .ichard the second%s seven"year"old heir"presumptive, ,dmund )ortimer and to declare himself Henry the fourth. Henry/s coronation, on 6< +ctober 6<::, may have marked the first time following the ?orman Conquest when the monarch made an address in ,nglish. Henry the fourth consulted with Darliament frequently, but was sometimes at odds with the members, especially over ecclesiastical matters. +n !rundel/s advice, Henry obtained from Darliament the enactment of e heretico co)burendo in 6356, which prescribed the burning of heretics. This was done mainly to suppress the *ollard movement, which was a political and religious movement that e$isted from the mid" 63th century to the ,nglish .eformation. The term C*ollardC refers to the followers of

637

(ohn

ycliffe, a prominent theologian who was dismissed from the Aniversity of

+$ford in 6<26 for criticism of the Church, especially in his doctrine on the ,ucharist.

The *ollards/ demands were primarily for reform of

estern Christianity. *ollard was

the popular derogatory nickname given to those without an academic background, educated if at all only in ,nglish, who were reputed to follow the teachings of (ohn ycliffe in particular, and were certainly considerably energiBed by the translation of the >ible into the ,nglish language. >y the mid"61th century the term lollard had come to mean a heretic in general. The alternative, C ycliffiteC, is generally accepted to be a more neutral term covering those of similar opinions, but having an academic background. Darliament suggested in 6365 that church land should be confiscated. Henry the fourth refused to attack the Church that had helped him to power, and the bill was struck of the records by the House of Commons. Henry the fourth%s first maHor problem as monarch was what to do with the deposed .ichard the second. !fter an early assassination plot, the ,piphany .ising was foiled in (anuary 6355, and .ichard the second died in prison of starvation. He was thirty" three years old. Though Henry the fourth is often suspected of having his predecessor murdered, there is no substantial evidence to prove that claim. #ome chroniclers claimed that the despondent .ichard had starved himself. place. Though some records indicate that provisions were made for the transportation of the deposed king/s body on 6' 4ebruary, there is no reason to believe that he did not die on 63 4ebruary. It can be positively said that he did not suffer a violent death, for his skeleton, upon later e$amination, bore no signs of violence9 whether he did indeed starve himself or whether that starvation was forced upon him are matters for historical speculation. !fter his death, .ichard the second%s body was put on public display in the old #t Daul/s Cathedral to prove to his supporters that he was truly dead. ith what is known of .ichard the second%s character this is a scenario that would not have been out of

63<

This however did not stop rumours from circulating for many years after, that he was still alive and waiting to take back his throne. Henry the fourth had .ichard the second%s body discreetly buried in the 0ominican Driory at -ing/s *angley in Hertfordshire, where he remained until Henry the fifth brought his body back to *ondon and buried him in the tomb that .ichard had commissioned for himself in estminster !bbey

The later years of Henry the fourth%s reign were marked by serious health problems. He had a disfiguring skin disease and, more seriously, he suffered acute attacks of some grave illness in (une 63519 in !pril 635&9 in (une 63529 during the winter of 6352;5:9 in 0ecember 63679 and finally a bout in )arch 636< from which he died. )edical historians have long debated the nature of this affliction or afflictions. The skin disease might have been leprosy which did not necessarily mean precisely the same thing in the 61th century as it does to modern medicine, it could have been psoriasis, or some other skin disease. The acute attacks have been given a wide range of e$planations, from epilepsy to some form of cardiovascular disease. #ome medieval writers felt that he was struck with leprosy as a punishment for his treatment of .ichard le #crope the !rchbishop of Nork, who was e$ecuted in (une 6351 on Henry the fourth%s orders after a failed coup !ccording to some sources it was predicted that Henry the fourth would die in (erusalem, and #hakespeare/s play restates this prophecy. Henry the fourth took this to mean that he would die on crusade. In reality however, he died in the (erusalem chamber of the house of the !bbot of estminster, on 75 )arch 636<.

0espite the e$ample set by most of his recent predecessors, Henry the fourth and his second wife, (oan of ?avarre, Jueen of ,ngland, were buried not at estminster !bbey but at Canterbury Cathedral, on the north side of Trinity Chapel and directly adHacent to the shrine of #aint Thomas >ecket. >ecket/s cult was then still thriving, as evidenced in the monastic accounts and in literary works such as Chaucer/s /Canterbury Tales/, and Henry the fourth seemed particularly devoted to it, or at least keen to be associated with it. The reasons for his interment in Canterbury are debatable, but it is highly likely that Henry the fourth deliberately associated himself with Thomas >ecket, the martyr saint for reasons of political e$pediency. ?amely, the legitimiBation of his dynasty after 633

seiBing the throne from .ichard the second. #ignificantly, at his coronation, he was anointed with holy oil that had reportedly been given to Thomas >ecket by the Iirgin )ary. This oil was placed inside a distinct eagle"shaped container of gold. !ccording to one version of the tale, the oil had then passed to Henry/s maternal grandfather, Henry of Grosmont, 4irst 0uke of *ancaster.

The proof of Henry/s deliberate connection to #aint Thomas >ecket lies partially in the structure of Henry the fourth%s tomb. The wooden panel at the western end of his tomb bears a painting of the )artyrdom of >ecket. The Tester, or wooden canopy, above the tomb is painted with Henry/s personal motto, /#overayne/, alternated by crowned golden eagles. *ikewise, the three large coats of arms that dominate the painting on the Tester are surrounded by collars of ##, a golden eagle enclosed in each tiret. The presence of eagle motifs points directly to Henry/s coronation oil and his ideological association with #aint Thomas >ecket. #ometime after the -ing/s death, this imposing tomb was built for him and his wife Jueen (oan. This was most likely commissioned and paid for by Jueen (oan herself. +n top the tomb chest lie detailed alabaster effigies of the -ing and Jueen, crowned and dressed in their ceremonial robes. Henry/s body was evidently well"embalmed, as an e$humation in 62<7 established, allowing historians to state with reasonable certainty that the effigies do represent accurate portraiture. Henry the fourth was succeeded by his eldest son by his first wife )ary de >ohun, who became Henry the fifth

K$%&* L.%&0#1 is a historic town and civil parish in Hertfordshire, ,ngland, 76 miles northwest of central *ondon to the south of the Chiltern Hills It was once the location of -ings *angley Dalace, a royal palace of the Dlantagenet kings of ,ngland. The 67th century parish church of !ll #aints/ houses the tomb of ,dmund of *angley 86<36; 6357=, the fourth son of ,dward the third and also the first 0uke of Nork. The place" name Langley is first attested here in a #a$on charter of circa 6515, where it appears as Langalega. It is spelt Langelai in the 0omesday >ook of 652&, and is recorded as

631

Langel5 4egis in 6713. The name means /long wood or clearing/. The Church of !ll #aints was built during the 63th century on the site of an earlier church. The body of -ing .ichard II was buried here for a time after his probable murder at Dontefract Castle in 6355. It was later removed to estminster !bbey.

H#%,1 V 86& #eptember 6<2& ; <6 !ugust 6377 was -ing of ,ngland from 636< until his death at the age of <1 in 6377. He was the second ,nglish monarch who came from the House of *ancaster. !fter military e$perience fighting various lords who rebelled against his father, Henry the fourth, Henry came into political conflict with the increasingly unwell king. !fter his father/s death, Henry rapidly assumed control of the country and embarked on a war with 4rance in the ongoing Hundred Nears/ ar 86<<' to 631<= between the two nations. His military successes culminated in his famous victory at the >attle of !gincourt and saw him come very close to conquering 4rance. !fter months of negotiation with Charles II of 4rance, the Treaty of Troyes recogniBed Henry I as regent and heir"apparent to the 4rench throne, and he was subsequently married to Charles I6%s daughter, Catherine of Ialois. 4ollowing Henry the fifth%s sudden and une$pected death in 6377 in 4rance, he was succeeded by his infant son who was his only son with Catherine of Ialois and who reigned as Henry II Henry the fifth features in three plays by decisive leader in the Henry I play. illiam #hakespeare. He is shown as a

young scapegrace who redeems himself in battle in the two Henry II plays and as a

63&

T ! /#TT%! ') #7IN1'(-T The <.tt0# ) A&$%- 2,t was a maHor ,nglish victory in the Hundred Nears/ ar.

The battle occurred on 4riday, 71 +ctober 6361 on #aint Crispin/s 0ay, near modern" day !Bincourt, in northern 4rance. Henry the fifth%s victory at !gincourt, against a numerically superior 4rench army, crippled 4rance and started a new period in the war during which Henry the 4ifth married the 4rench king/s daughter Catherine of Ialois, and Henry/s son, who became Henry the si$th was made heir to the throne of 4rance. Henry the fifth led his troops into battle and participated in the hand"to"hand fighting. The 4rench king of the time, Charles II, did not command the 4rench army himself as he suffered from severe, repeating illnesses and moderate mental incapacitation. Instead, the 4rench were commanded by Constable Charles d/!lbret and various prominent 4rench noblemen of the !rmagnac party. The battle is notable for the use of the ,nglish longbow, which Henry the fifth used in very large numbers, with ,nglish and elsh archers forming most of his army. illiam #hakespeare

The battle is the centrepiece of the play ,enry 6, by

63'

H#%,1 VI 8& 0ecember 6376 ; 76 )ay 63'6= was -ing of ,ngland from 6377 to 63&6 and again from 63'5 to 63'6, he also was the disputed -ing of 4rance from 6377 to 631<. He was the only son of Henry the fifth and Catherine of Ialois and until 63<', because he was under age. his realm was governed by .egents. Contemporary accounts described him as peaceful and pious, not suited for the dynastic wars, such as the ars of the .oses, which commenced during his reign. His periods of insanity and his inherent benevolence eventually required his wife, )argaret of !nHou, to assume control of his kingdom, which eventually contributed to his own downfall, the collapse of the House of *ancaster, and the rise of the House of Nork Henry was the only child and heir of -ing Henry the fifth and Catherine of Ialois. He was born on & 0ecember 6376 at indsor Castle, and was named H#%,1 ) W$%'* ,9 He succeeded to the throne at the age of nine months as -ing of ,ngland on <6 !ugust 6377 when his father died, thus making him the youngest person ever to succeed to the ,nglish throne. Two months later, on 76 +ctober 6377, he became titular -ing of 4rance upon his grandfather Charles II of 4rance%s death. This was in accordance with the Treaty of Troyes in 6375. His mother, Catherine of Ialois, was then 75 years old and because she was Charles II/s daughter, she was viewed with considerable suspicion by ,nglish nobles who prevented her from having a full role in her son/s upbringing. +n 72 #eptember 637<, the nobles swore loyalty to Henry the si$th, the two year old -ing. They summoned Darliament in the -ing/s name and established a regency council until the -ing should come of age. +ne of Henry I/s surviving brothers, (ohn, 0uke of >edford, was appointed senior regent of the realm and he was also in charge of the ongoing war in 4rance. 0uring the 0uke of >edford/s absence, the government of ,ngland was headed by Henry the fifth/s other surviving brother, Humphrey, 0uke

632

of Gloucester, who was appointed Drotector and 0efender of the .ealm. His duties were limited to keeping the peace and summoning Darliament. Henry the fifth%s half uncle Henry >eaufort, >ishop of inchester also had an important place on the Council. !fter the 0uke of >edford died in 63<1, the 0uke of Gloucester claimed control of the senior regency for himself, but this was contested in this by the other members of the council. 4rom 6372, the infant king%s tutor was .ichard de >eauchamp, ,arl of arwick,

whose father had been instrumental in the opposition to .ichard the second%s reign. Henry/s half"brothers, ,dmund Tudor and (asper Tudor, the sons of his widowed mother/s previous relationship with +wen Tudor, were later given earldoms. ,dmund Tudor was the father of Henry Tudor, who was later to gain the throne as Henry III. Henry was crowned Henry the si$th, -ing of ,ngland at estminster !bbey on &

?ovember 637:. This was followed by his coronation as -ing of 4rance at ?otre 0ame de Daris on 6& 0ecember 63<6. !lthough it was not until a month before his si$teenth birthday on 6< ?ovember in 63<', that he obtained some measure of independent authority. Indications of a growing willingness to involve himself in administration were apparent in 63<3 when writs temporarily changed their dating from estminster, where the Drivy Council was, to Cirencester, where the king was. He finally assumed full royal powers when he came of age in 63<' Henry was declared of age in 63<' when he was si$teen years of age. This was also the year in which his mother Catherine of Ialois died. He assumed the reins of government. Henry, shy and pious, averse to deceit and bloodshed, immediately allowed his court to be dominated by a few noble favourites who clashed on the matter of the 4rench war. !fter the death of -ing Henry I, ,ngland had lost momentum in the Hundred Nears/ ar, and beginning with (oan of !rc/s military victories, the Ialois family in 4rance had gained ground. Henry the si$rh, now in full control, came to favour a policy of peace in 4rance, and thus favoured the faction around Cardinal >eaufort and illiam de la Dole, ,arl of #uffolk, who also were of this opinion. +n the other hand, Humphrey, 0uke of Gloucester, and .ichard, 0uke of Nork, argued for a continuation of the war. >ut they were ignored.

63:

Cardinal >eaufort and the ,arl of #uffolk persuaded the king that the best way of pursuing peace with 4rance was through a marriage with )argaret of !nHou, who was the niece of -ing Charles III. Henry agreed, especially when he heard reports of )argaret/s stunning beauty. He sent the ,arl of #uffolk to negotiate with Charles. Charles agreed to the marriage on condition that he would not have to provide the customary dowry and instead would receive the lands of )aine and !nHou from the ,nglish. These conditions were agreed to in the Treaty of Tours, but the loss of )aine and !nHou was kept secret from parliament, as it was known that this would be hugely unpopular with the ,nglish population. The marriage took place at Titchfield !bbey on 7< !pril 6331, one month after )argaret of !nHou%s 61th birthday. #he had arrived with an entire household, composed primarily, not of !ngevins, but of members of Henry the si$th%s s .oyal servants. This increase in the siBe of the royal household and a further increase, on the birth of their son in 631<, led to proportionately greater e$pense and also to greater patronage opportunities at Court. Henry the si$th had wavered in the yielding the lands of )aine and !nHou to Charles He knew that the move was unpopular and it would be opposed by the 0ukes of Gloucester and Nork. However, )argaret of !nHou, now Henry%s wife was determined to make him see it through. !s the Treaty of Tours became public knowledge in 633&, public anger focused on the 0uke of #uffolk, but Henry the si$th and his wife )argaret of !nHou determined to protect him. In 633', Henry the si$th and his Jueen )argaret summoned the 0uke of Gloucester before parliament on the charge of treason. This move was instigated by Gloucester/s enemies, the ,arl of #uffolk, the ageing Cardinal >eaufort and his nephew, ,dmund >eaufort, ,arl of #omerset. The 0uke of Gloucester was put in custody in >ury #t ,dmunds, where he died, probably of a heart attack, although there were rumours of poisoning. .ichard the 0uke of Nork, now Henry/s heir presumptive was sent to govern Ireland, while his opponents, the ,arls of #uffolk and #omerset were promoted to 0ukes. ! title at that time still normally reserved for immediate relatives of the monarch. The new 0uke of #omerset was sent to 4rance to lead the war. In the later years of Henry the si$th%s reign, the monarchy became increasingly unpopular. This was due to a breakdown in law and order, corruption, the distribution

615

of royal land to the king/s court favourites, the troubled state of the crown/s finances, and the steady loss of territories in 4rance. In 633', this unpopularity took the form of a Commons campaign against the 0uke of #uffolk.

#uffolk was the most unpopular of the entire -ing/s entourage and was widely seen as a traitor. He was impeached by Darliament to a background that has been called C the baying for Suffol*7s blood8 to the e$tent that #uffolk admitted his alarm to the king. Altimately, Henry the si$th was forced to send #uffolk into e$ile. #uffolk%s ship however, was intercepted in the ,nglish Channel and his murdered body was found on the beach at 0over. In 633:, the 0uke of #omerset, leading the campaign in 4rance, re"opened hostilities in ?ormandy, but by the autumn had been pushed back to Caen. >y 6315, the 4rench forces had retaken the whole province of ?ormandy, which had been so hard won by Henry the fifth. .eturning troops, who had often not been paid, added to the lawlessness in the southern counties of ,ngland. (ack Cade led a rebellion in -ent in 6315, calling himself C(ohn )ortimerC, apparently in sympathy with the 0uke of Nork. He set up residence at the hite Hart Inn in #outhwark, the hite Hart had been the symbol of the deposed -ing .ichard the second. Henry the si$th came to *ondon with an army to crush the rebellion, but on finding that (ack Cade had fled he kept most of his troops behind while a small force followed the rebels and eventually caught up with them at #evenoaks. The flight by Cade proved to have been tactical and Cade successfully ambushed Henry the si$th%s force and beat them in the >attle of #olefields. Cade then returned to occupy *ondon. In the end, the rebellion achieved nothing, and *ondon was retaken after a few days of disorder9 but this was principally because of the efforts of the *ondon residents rather than the army. However, Cade%s rebellion did show that feelings of discontent were running high. In 6316, the 0uchy of Guyenne in 4rance, which had been held since Henry the second%s time, was also lost. In +ctober 6317, an ,nglish advance in Guyenne retook >ordeau$ and was having some success but by 631<, >ordeau$ was lost again. This left Calais as ,ngland/s only remaining territory on the continent.

616

In 6317, the 0uke of Nork was persuaded to return from Ireland and claim his rightful place on the council and put an end to bad government. His cause was a popular one, and he soon raised an army at #hrewsbury.

The court party, meanwhile, raised their own similar"siBed force in *ondon. ! stand" off took place south of *ondon, with the 0uke of Nork presenting a list of grievances and demands to the court circle, +ne such demand was the arrest of ,dmund >eaufort, 7nd 0uke of #omerset. Henry the si$th initially agreed, but his wife, )argaret of !nHou, intervened to prevent the arrest of >eaufort. >y 631< the 0uke of #omerset%s influence had been restored, and the 0uke of Nork was again isolated. The court party was also strengthened by an announcement by the Jueen, )argaret of !nHou that she was pregnant.

However, on hearing of the final loss of >ordeau$ in !ugust 631<, Henry the si$th had slipped into a mental breakdown and became completely unaware of everything that was going on around him. This was to last for more than a year, and Henry failed even to respond to the birth of his own son and heir, who was christened ,dward. Henry possibly inherited his illness from Charles II of 4rance, his maternal grandfather, who was struck by intermittent periods of insanity over the last thirty years of his life. The 0uke of Nork, meanwhile, had gained a very important ally in the person of .ichard ?eville, the ,arl of arwick, who was one of the most influential magnates and possibly richer than the 0uke of Nork himself. 0ue to Henry the si$th%s inability to discharge his duties in 6313 The 0uke of Nork was named regent as Drotector of the .ealm. )argaret of !nHou, the Jueen was e$cluded from this decision completely, and ,dmund >eaufort, the 0uke of #omerset was detained in the Tower of *ondon, while many of the 0uke of Nork/s supporters spread rumours that the king/s child by )argaret of !nHou was not his, but ,dmund >eaufort/s. +ther than that, the 0uke of Nork/s months as regent were spent tackling the problem of government overspending.

617

+n Christmas 0ay of 6313, Henry the si$th regained his senses. The ,arls of arwick and #alisbury openly backed the claims of the House of Nork, the first claim was to the .egency, and the second claim was to the throne itself.

The 0uke of Nork%s family was descended from ,dmund of *angley who was the fifth son of ,dward the third. 4urthermore, descendants of the third son of ,dward the third, *ionel of !ntwerp and his wife Dhillipa had married into the Norkist house and which strengthened the 0uke of Nork%s claim to the throne. It was agreed that the 0uke of Nork rather than Henry the si$th%s son by )argaret of !nHou would become Henry the si$th%s successor, despite the 0uke of Nork being older. !fter a violent struggle between the houses of *ancaster and Nork, during which the 0uke of Nork was killed by Jueen )argaret/s forces on <5 0ecember 63&5, Henry the si$th was deposed and imprisoned on 3 )arch 63&6 by the 0uke of Nork/s son, ,dward of Nork. ,dward of Nork pronounced himself -ing ,dward the fourth. !t this time Henry the si$th was suffering such a bout of madness that he was apparently laughing and singing while the #econd >attle of #t !lbans raged, and which secured his release. >ut ,dward of Nork was still able to take the throne, though he failed to capture Henry the si$th and )argaret of !nHou his queen, who had fled to #cotland. 0uring the first period of ,dward the fourth%s reign, *ancastrian resistance continued mainly under the leadership of Henry the si$th%s Jueen )argaret of !nHou and the few nobles still loyal to her in the northern counties of ,ngland and ales. Henry the si$th, who had been safely hidden by allies in #cotland, ?orthumberland and Norkshire was captured by -ing ,dward the fourth in 63&1 and subsequently held captive in the Tower of *ondon. Jueen )argaret of !nHou, who was e$iled in #cotland and later in 4rance, was determined to win back the throne on behalf of her husband and their son. >y herself, there was little she could do. However, eventually ,dward the fourth had a falling"out with two of his main supportersG .ichard ?eville, ,arl of arwick, and his own younger brother George, 0uke of Clarence. !t the urging of -ing *ouis PI of 4rance they both formed a secret alliance with Jueen )argaret of !nHou. The ,arl of

61<

arwick%s daughter was now married to ,dward who was Henry the si$th and )argaret of !nHou/s son, and who held the title the ,dward of estminster.

The ,arl

arwick then returned to ,ngland, and forced ,dward the fourth into e$ile,

restoring Henry the si$th to the throne on <5 +ctober 63'5. However, by this time, years in hiding followed by years in captivity had taken their toll on Henry the si$th. The ,arl of arwick and the 0uke of Clarence effectively ruled in his name arwick soon

Henry/s return to the throne lasted less than si$ months. The ,arl of

overreached himself by declaring war on >urgundy, whose ruler responded by giving ,dward the fourth the assistance he needed to win back his throne by force. ,dward the fourth returned to ,ngland in early 63'6, after which he was reconciled with the 0uke of Clarence and killed the ,arl of where ,dward of was killed. Henry the #i$th was imprisoned in the Tower of *ondon, in whose akefield Tower arwick at the >attle of >arnet. The Norkist%s won a final decisive victory at the >attle of Tewkesbury on 3 )ay 63'6, estminister the son of Henry the si$th and )argaret of !nHou%s

he died during the night in )ay of 63'6. It is thought that Henry died of melancholy on hearing news of the Norkist victory at the >attle of Tewkesbury and of his son ,dward%s death. It is widely suspected, however, that the Norkist ,dward the fourth who was re"crowned the morning following Henry/s death, had in fact ordered his murder -ing Henry the si$th was originally buried in Chertsey !bbey9 then, in 6321, his body was moved to #t George/s Chapel, indsor Castle, by .ichard the third.

Henry the si$th%s one lasting achievement was his fostering of education9 he founded both ,ton College and -ing/s College, Cambridge. Continuing a career of architectural patronage begun by his father. -ing/s College Chapel and ,ton College Chapel respectively and most of his other architectural commissions like his completion of his father/s foundation of #yon !bbey each consisted of a late Gothic or Derpendicular"style church with a monastic andKor educational foundation attached. ,ach year on the anniversary of Henry the si$th%s death, the Drovosts of ,ton and -ing/s College, Cambridge lay white lilies and roses, the floral emblems of those colleges, on the spot in the akefield Tower at the Tower of *ondon where the imprisoned Henry the si$th was according to tradition, murdered as he knelt at prayer. 613

THE PLANTAGENET 5YORKIST= LINE

E'4.,' IV 872 !pril 6337 ; : !pril 632<= was -ing of ,ngland from 3 )arch 63&6 until < +ctober 63'5 and again from 66 !pril 63'6 until his death in 632<. He was the first Norkist -ing of ,ngland The first half of his rule was marred by the violence associated with the ars of the .oses, but he overcame the *ancastrian challenge to the throne at Tewkesbury in 63'6. He then reigned in peace until his sudden death in 632<. >efore becoming king he was the 4ourth 0uke of Nork, the #eventh ,arl of )arch, the fifth ,arl of Cambridge and the ninth ,arl of Alster. He was also the si$tyfifth -night of the +rder of the Golden 4leece. ,dward of Nork was born at .ouen in 4rance, he was the second child of .ichard who was the third 0uke of Nork and who had a strong genealogical claim to the throne of ,ngland. He was the eldest of the four sons who survived to adulthood. His younger brother ,dmund, ,arl of .utland, died along with his father at on 0ecember <5, 63&5. ith the support of his cousin .ichard ?eville, the si$teenth ,arl of as the -ing )aker, arwick known akefield

,dward the fourth%s father, 0uke of Nork had routed the

*ancastrians at the 4irst >attle of #t. !lbans on )ay 77, 6311. !t this battle, several prominent *ancastrians including ,dmund, 0uke of #omerset, Henry Dercy and *ord of Clifford were killed. !dditionally, the duke of #omerset/s son Henry >eaufort, ,arl of 0orset, Thomas, ,arl of 0evon and >uckingham were all wounded. This was the first battle of the conflict that became known as the ar of the .oses.

The 0uke of Nork/s assertion of his claim to the crown in 63&5 was the key escalation of the ars of the .oses. hen the 0uke of Nork was killed during the >attle of akefield on 0ecember <5, 63&5, his claim to the throne of ,ngland did not die with him. Instead it passed to his son ,dward who succeeded to the title 0uke of Nork. ,dward who was now the 0uke of Nork and the ,arl of arwick united to defeat the at

*ancastrians in a succession of battles9 at ?orthampton on (uly ', 63&5,

)ortimer/s Cross on 4ebruary 7;<, 63&6 and at Towton on )arch 7:, 63&6. !t the >attle of ?orthampton, the Norkist forces captured Henry the si$th and held him as a prisoner.

611

ith -ing Henry the si$th in captivity, his wife and Jueen, )argaret of !nHou, led a *ancastrian army north into the )idlands to fight against uprisings there. )eanwhile in the south ,dward, the 0uke of Nork and the ,arl of arwick/s Norkist forces had ar of the .oses united and occupied *ondon on 4ebruary 7&, 63&6. !lthough the

would continue until the >attle of Tewksbury on )ay 3, 63'6, control of the capital at *ondon with its departments of state and its financial power and symbolic prestige, gave the Norkist forces under ,dward the 0uke of Nork a powerful advantage in the war against the *ancastrians. +n 4ebruary 6', 63&6, *ancastrian forces attacked the Norkist forces once again at #t. !lbans. In the ensuing battle, Henry the si$th was freed from captivity by the *ancastrians. However, even though #t. !lbans is only 77 miles from *ondon, the *ancastrians did not retake the capital city. Thus, in the eyes of the public they forfeited to the Norkists all their remaining legitimacy to the throne of ,ngland. )eanwhile in *ondon, the ,arl of arwick had ,dward 0uke of Nork declared -ing

,dward the fourth in )arch of 63&6. ,dward strengthened his claim to the throne by virtually wiping out the *ancastrian army over the course of 63&6. 0efeat of the *ancastrians and the decimation of their army at the >attle of He$ham on )ay 61, 63&3 spelled the end of the *ancastrian resistance to the Norks. -ing Henry the si$th escaped from the battle field and disappeared into the remote Dennine )ountains in northern ,ngland, Henry was hidden for an entire year by devoted *ancastrians !fter spending a year in hiding Henry the si$th was finally caught and imprisoned in the Tower of *ondon. ,ven at the age of nineteen, ,dward the 0uke of Nork and now -ing ,dward the fourth e$hibited remarkable military acumen. He also had a notable physique and was described as handsome and affable. His height is estimated at & ft 3 in 86.:< m=, making him the tallest among all ,nglish, #cottish and >ritish monarchs to date. The ,arl of Indeed, arwick, believing that he could rule ,ngland through ,dward the

fourth, pressed ,dward to enter into a marital alliance with a maHor ,uropean power. arwick had already made preliminary arrangements with -ing *ouis PI of arwick by secretly marrying ,liBabeth oodville, the widow 4rance for ,dward to marry -ing *ouis/ daughter, !nne of 4rance. ,dward the fourth then alienated of a *ancastrian sympathiser, in 63&3

61&

,liBabeth

oodville%s mother was (acquetta of *u$embourg, widow of Henry the oodville,

si$th%s uncle, (ohn of *ancaster, 0uke of >edford, but her father, .ichard

the first ,arl .ivers, was a newly created baron. However, ,liBabeth/s marriage to ,dward the fourth suddenly made the unmarried among her twelve sibling%s desirable matrimonial catches. This new found prestige of the oodville family created much arwick. Healousy among the nobility of ,ngland, but nowhere did it create as much Healousy as with -ing ,dward the fourth%s closest advisor, .ichard ?eville, ,arl of !lthough the oodville%s posed no immediate threat to arwick resented the influence they had over ,dward the fourth. ,dward/s disaffected younger brother George, 0uke of Clarence, arwick/s own power, ith the aid of arwick led an

army which defeated ,dward the fourth%s army at the >attle of ,dgecote )oor on (uly 7&, 63&:. ,dward the fourth was subsequently captured at +lney. The ,arl of arwick then attempted to rule in ,dward/s name, but the nobility, many of whom owed their preferment%s to the king, were restive, and with the emergence of a counter"rebellion, arwick was forced to release ,dward the fourth on #eptember 65, arwick or Clarence but 63&:. ,dward the fourth did not seek to destroy either

instead sought reconciliation. ?evertheless, when a few months later in )arch of 63'5, a private feud in *incolnshire broke out between #ir Thomas >urgh of Gainesville in *incolnshire and *ord elles also of *incolnshire. arwick and Clarence chose this opportunity to rebel against ,dward the fourth once again. The *incolnshire .ebellion against ,dward the fourth was defeated and the 0uke of arwick was forced to flee to 4rance on )ay 6, 63'5. There, he made an alliance with the former *ancastrian Jueen, )argaret of !nHou who was the wife of Henry the si$th. *ouis PI had Hust come to the throne of 4rance after the death of his father, -ing Charles III on (uly 71, 63&6. The 0uke of arwick had been looking for a way to cause trouble for ,dward the fourth by reinvigorating the *ancastrian claim to the throne of ,ngland. In an accord between *ouis P6, )argaret of !nHou and the 0uke of arwick,

61'

The 0uke of The 0uke of :, 63'5.

arwick agreed to restore )argaret of !nHou%s husband Henry the si$th arwick/s invasion fleet set sail from 4rance for ,ngland on #eptember arwick/s brother, (ohn ?eville, 6st

to the ,nglish throne in return for 4rench support for a military invasion of ,ngland. hen ,dward the fourth learned that

)arquess of )ontagu, had also switched to the *ancastrian side, this made ,dward the fourth%s military position untenable, and ,dward the fourth was forced to flee to Holland Henry the si$th was briefly restored to the throne in 63'5 in an event known as the .edemption of Henry the si$th, and ,dward took refuge in >urgundy, accompanied by his younger brother .ichard, 0uke of Gloucester. The rulers of >urgundy were his brother"in"law Charles, 0uke of >urgundy, and his sister )argaret of Nork. 0espite the fact that Charles was initially unwilling to help ,dward, the 4rench declared war on >urgundy. This prompted Charles to give his aid to ,dward, and from >urgundy ,dward the fourth raised an army to win back his kingdom. hen ,dward the fourth returned to ,ngland with a relatively small force, he avoided capture. The city of Nork opened its gates to him only after he promised that he had Hust come to reclaim his dukedom, Hust as Henry >olingbroke had done seventy years earlier. !s ,dward marched southwards he began to gather support, and Clarence who had realised that his fortunes would be better off as brother to a king rather than under Henry the si$th, reunited with him. ,dward the fourth entered *ondon unopposed, where he took Henry the si$th prisoner. ,dward the fourth and his brothers then defeated the 0uke of arwick at the >attle of >arnet, and with arwick dead, ales, ,dward the fourth eliminated the remaining *ancastrian resistance at the >attle of Tewkesbury in 63'6. The *ancastrian heir, ,dward of estminster, Drince of the son of Henry the si$th and )argaret of !nHou, was killed on the battlefield. ! few days later, on the night that ,dward the fourth re"entered *ondon, Henry the si$th died. +ne contemporary chronicle claimed that his death was due to Cmelancholy,C but it is widely suspected that ,dward ordered Henry/s murder in order to remove the *ancastrian opposition completely.

612

,dward the fourth%s two younger brothers, George, 0uke of Clarence, and .ichard, 0uke of Gloucester 8later to become -ing .ichard the third of ,ngland=, were married to Isabel ?eville and !nne ?eville. Isabel and !nne were both daughters of the 0uke of arwick by !nne >eauchamp who were rival heirs to the considerable inheritance of their still"living mother. This led to a dispute between the brothers, George and .ichard. In 63'2, George the 0uke of Clarence was eventually found guilty of plotting against ,dward the fourth and was imprisoned in the Tower of *ondon and privately e$ecuted on 62 4ebruary 63'2. ,dward the fourth did not face any further rebellions after his restoration, as the *ancastrian line had virtually been e$tinguished, and the only rival left was Henry Tudor, who was living in e$ile. In 63'1, ,dward the fourth declared war on 4rance, landing at Calais in (une. However, the failure of his ally Charles the 0uke of >urgundy, to provide any significant military assistance led him to undertake negotiations with the 4rench. He came to terms with the Treaty of Dicquigny, which provided him with an immediate payment of '1,555 crowns and a yearly pension of 15,555 crowns. He also backed an attempt by !le$ander #tewart, 6st 0uke of !lbany, the brother of -ing (ames III of #cotland, to take the #cottish throne in 6327. The 0uke of Gloucester led an invasion of #cotland that resulted in the capture of ,dinburgh and the king of the #cots himself, but the 0uke of !lbany reneged on his agreement with ,dward the fourth and Gloucester decided to withdraw from his position of strength in ,dinburgh. However, Gloucester did recover >erwick"upon" Tweed. ,dward the fourth%s health began to fail, and he became subHect to an increasing number of ailments. He fell fatally ill at ,aster of 632<, but lingered on long enough to add some codicils to his will, the most important being his naming of his brother .ichard, 0uke of Gloucester, as Drotector after his death. He died on : !pril 632< and was buried in #t George/s Chapel, ,liBabeth indsor Castle. He was succeeded by his and oodville%s twelve"year"old son, ,dward I of ,ngland 8who was never

crowned= and then by his brother, .ichard the 0uke of Gloucester. It is not known what actually caused ,dward the fourth/s death. Dneumonia and typhoid have both been conHectured, as well as poison. #ome attributed his death to an unhealthy lifestyle, as he had become stout and inactive in the years before his death

61:

E'4.,' V 87 ?ovember 63'5 ; 632<T= was -ing of ,ngland from his father ,dward the fourth%s death on : !pril 632< until 7& (une of the same year. However he was never crowned, and his 2&"day reign was dominated by the influence of his uncle and *ord Drotector, .ichard, 0uke of Gloucester, who succeeded him as .ichard the third on 7& (une 632<9 this was confirmed by the !ct entitled Titulus .egius, which denounced any further claims through his father/s heirs. ,dward the fifth and his younger brother .ichard of #hrewsbury, 0uke of Nork were the Drinces in the Tower who disappeared after being sent to heavily guarded royal lodgings in the Tower of *ondon. .esponsibility for their deaths is widely attributed to .ichard the third, but the events have controversial and conflicting contemporary accounts suggesting there were other suspects. ,dward the fifth was born on 7 ?ovember 63'5 in ,liBabeth his father ,dward the fourth during the course of the created Drince of throne% In 63'< the Drince of estminster !bbey. His mother, ars of the .oses. ,dward was elsh

oodville, had sought sanctuary there from *ancastrians who had deposed ales in (une 63'6, following ,dward the fourth%s restoration to the ales was established at *udlow Castle on the ales and the )arches.

)arches as nominal president of a newly created Council of

Drince ,dward was placed under the supervision of the queen/s brother !nthony, ,arl .ivers, a noted scholar, and in a letter to .ivers, ,dward the fourth set down precise conditions for the upbringing of his son and the management of his household. The prince was to Carise every morning at a convenient hour, according to his ageC. His day would begin with matins and then )ass, which he was to receive uninterrupted. !fter breakfast, the business of educating the prince began with Cvirtuous learningC. 0inner was served from ten in the morning, and then the prince was to be read Cnoble stories of virtue, honour, cunning, wisdom, and of deeds of worship but of nothing that should move or stir him to vice. Derhaps aware of his own vices, the king was keen to safeguard his son/s morals, and instructed .ivers to ensure that no one in the prince/s household was a habitual Cswearer, brawler, backbiter, common haBarder, adulterer, or user of words of ribaldry. !fter further study, in the afternoon the prince was to engage in sporting activities suitable for his class, before evensong. #upper was served from four, and curtains were to be drawn at eight. 4ollowing this, the prince/s attendants were to Cenforce themselves to make him merry and Hoyous towards his bedC. They would then watch over him as he slept.

6&5

-ing ,dward/s diligence appeared to bear fruit, as 0ominic )ancini reported of the young ,dward the fifth. In word and deed he gave so many proofs of his liberal education, of polite nay rather scholarly, attainments far beyond his age9 his special knowledge of literature ... enabled him to discourse elegantly, to understand fully, and to declaim most e$cellently from any work whether in verse or prose that came into his hands, unless it were from the more abstruse authors. He had such dignity in his whole person, and in his face such charm, that however much they might gaBe, he never wearied the eyes of beholders. !s with several of his other children, ,dward the fourth planned a prestigious ,uropean marriage for his eldest son, and in 6325 concluded an alliance with the 0uke of >rittany, 4rancis II, whereby Drince ,dward, the Drince of ales became betrothed to the duke/s four"year"old heir, !nne. The two were to be married upon their maHority, and the devolution of >rittany would have been given to the second child to be born, the first child to become the ne$t Drince of disappeared together along with ,dward the fifth himself. It was at *udlow that the 67"year"old Drince of ales received news, on )onday 63 ales. These plans all

!pril 632<, of his father/s sudden death five days before ,dward the fourth%s will, which has not survived, nominated his trusted brother .ichard, 0uke of Gloucester, as Drotector during the minority of his son. >oth the new king and his party from the west, and .ichard from the north, set out for *ondon, converging in #tony #tratford, in >uckinghamshire +n the night of 7: !pril .ichard met and dined with ,arl .ivers and ,dward/s half"brother, .ichard Grey, but the following morning .ivers and Grey, along with the king/s chamberlain, Thomas Iaughan, were arrested and sent north. !ll three were all subsequently e$ecuted. 0omenico )ancini, an Italian who visited ,ngland in the 6325s, reports that ,dward the Drince of ales and heir apparent, had protested, but the remainder of his entourage was dismissed and .ichard escorted )ancini to *ondon. +n 6: )ay 632<, the new king, ,dward the fifth took up residence in the Tower of *ondon, where, on 6& (une, he was Hoined by his younger brother .ichard, 0uke of Nork.

6&6

The council had originally hoped for an immediate coronation to avoid the need for a protectorate. This had previously happened with .ichard the second, who had become king at the age of ten. !nother precedent was Henry the si$th whose protectorate which started when he inherited the crown aged : months had ended with his coronation aged seven. His uncle .ichard, ,dward the fourth%s brother however, repeatedly postponed the coronation. +n 77 (une 632<, .alph #haa preached a sermon declaring that ,dward the fourth who was ,dward the 4ifth%s father had already been under contract to marry *ady ,leanor >utler when he married in fact ,liBabeth marriage to ,liBabeth oodville, thereby rendering his oodville invalid and their children together illegitimate. The

children of, ,dward the fourth%s older brother, .ichard the 0uke of Gloucester who was *ord Drotector, were barred from the throne by their father and therefore, on 71 (une 632<an assembly of *ords and Commons declared .ichard the 0uke of Gloucester to be the legitimate king this was later confirmed by the act of parliament. The following day .ichard, ,dward the fourth%s brother acceded to the throne as -ing .ichard the third. !fter .ichard the third%s accession, the two princes were gradually seen less and less within the Tower, and by the end of the summer of 632< they had disappeared from public view altogether. 0ominic )ancini recorded that after .ichard the third had seiBed the throne9 The Drinces ,dward and .ichard were taken into the inner apartments of the Tower and then were seen less and less until they disappeared altogether. 0uring this period )ancini records Drince ,dward was regularly visited by a doctor, who reported that ,dward, like a victim prepared for sacrifice, sought remission of his sins by daily confession and penance, because he believed that death was facing him. Drince ,dward and his brother Drince .ichard/s fate after their disappearance remain unknown, but many believe that they were murdered. There is however no proof that the Drinces were killed by anyone.

6&7

>ones belonging to two children were discovered in 6&'3 by workmen rebuilding a stairway in the Tower. +n the orders of -ing Charles the second, these were subsequently placed in estminster !bbey, in an urn bearing the names of Drince ,dward and Drince .ichard. The bones were re"e$amined in 6:<< at which time it was discovered the skeletons were incomplete and had been mi$ed with animal bones. It has never been proven that the bones belonged to the princes. In 6'2:, workmen carrying out repairs in #t George/s Chapel, indsor, rediscovered oodville.

and accidentally broke into the vault of ,dward the fourth and ,liBabeth

!dHoining this was another vault, which was found to contain the coffins of two children. This tomb was inscribed with the names of two of ,dward the fourth%s childrenG George, 6st 0uke of >edford, who had died at the age of 79 and )ary of Nork who had died at the age of 63. >oth had predeceased the -ing. However, the remains of these two named children were later found elsewhere in the chapel, leaving the occupants of the children/s coffins within this tomb unknown.. ith the disappearance of Drince ,dward, the Drince of ales and heir apparent to

the throne together with his younger brother Drince .ichard. The crown of ,ngland passed to the brother of ,dward the fourth, .ichard 0uke of Gloucester who was also the designated *ord Drotector and uncle of the two princes. Gloucester became .ichard the third on 7& (une 632< .ichard, 0uke of

6&<

R$-".,' III 87 +ctober 6317 ; 77 !ugust 6321= was -ing of ,ngland for two years, from 632< until his death in 6321 in the >attle of >osworth 4ield. He was the last king of the House of Nork and the last of the Dlantagenet dynasty. His defeat at >osworth 4ield, the last decisive battle of the of the )iddle !ges in ,ngland. hen his brother ,dward the fourth died in !pril 632<, .ichard was named *ord Drotector of the .ealm for ,dward/s son and successor, the 67"year"old -ing ,dward the fifth. !s the young king travelled to *ondon from *udlow, .ichard met and escorted him to lodgings in the Tower of *ondon where ,dward the fifth%s brother .ichard Hoined him shortly afterwards. !rrangements were made for ,dward/s coronation on 77 (une 632<, but before the young king could be crowned, his father/s marriage to his mother ,liBabeth oodville was declared invalid, making their children illegitimate and ineligible for the throne. +n 71 (une, an assembly of lords and commoners endorsed the claims. The following day, ,dward and .ichard%s uncle .ichard the third began his reign, and he was crowned on & (uly 632<. The young princes ,dward and .ichard were not seen in public after !ugust, and a number of accusations circulated that the boys had been murdered on .ichard the third%s orders, giving rise to the legend of the Drinces in the Tower. There were two maHor rebellions against .ichard the Third. The first was in +ctober 632<, and was led by staunch allies of ,dward the fourth and also by .ichard the third%s former ally, Henry #tafford, the second 0uke of >uckingham, his first cousin once removed. The revolt collapsed and #tafford was e$ecuted at #alisbury near the >ull/s Head Inn. In !ugust 6321, another rebellion against .ichard the third was led by Henry Tudor and his uncle, (asper Tudor. Henry Tudor landed in his birthplace, Dembrokeshire, with a small contingent of 4rench troops, and marched through ales recruiting foot soldiers and skilled archers. .ichard the third died during the ensuing >attle of >osworth 4ield, making him the last ,nglish king to die in battle and the last and only one to have been killed on home soil since Harold the second was killed at the >attle of Hastings in 65&&. ars of the .oses, symbolises the end

6&3

.ichard the third%s remains received burial without pomp, but the original tomb is believed to have been destroyed during the .eformation, and the remains were lost for more than five centuries. In 7567, an archaeological e$cavation was conducted on a city council car park using ground"penetrating radar on the site once occupied by Greyfriars, *eicester. The Aniversity of *eicester confirmed on 3 4ebruary 756< that a skeleton found in the e$cavation was, beyond reasonable doubt, that of .ichard the third This conclusion was based on a combination of evidence from radiocarbon dating, comparison with contemporary reports of his appearance, and a comparison of his 0?! with that of two descendants of .ichard the third%s eldest sister, !nne of Nork .ichard the third and his wife !nne had one son, born in 63'<, ,dward of )iddleham, who died in !pril 6323 not long after being created Drince of known as C(ohn of DontefractC, and a daughter -atherine who married Herbert, 7nd ,arl of Dembroke, in 6323. It has been suggested that -atherine/s mother may have been -atherine Haute, on the basis of the grant of .ichard the third making an annual payment of 655 shillings to her in 63''. The Haute family was related to the ,liBabeth oodville/s aunt, (oan oodvilles through the marriage of illiam Haute. +ne of their oodville to #ir ales. illiam .ichard also had two acknowledged illegitimate childrenG (ohn of Gloucester, also

children was .ichard Haute, Controller of the Drince/s Household. Their daughter, !lice, married #ir (ohn 4ogge and they were ancestors of queen consort Catherine Darr, the si$th wife of -ing Henry IIII. It is also suggested that (ohn/s mother may have been !lice >urgh. .ichard who visited Dontefract in !pril of 63'6 and +ctober 63'<, and again in early )arch 63'3 for a week and on 6 )arch 63'3, .ichard the third granted !lice >urgh \75 a year for life Cfor certain special causes and considerationsC. #he later received another allowance, apparently for being engaged as nurse for Clarence/s son, ,dward of he became king. arwick. .ichard continued her annuity when

6&1

>oth of .ichard/s illegitimate children survived him, but they seem to have died without issue. (ohn may have been e$ecuted in 63::, though no real record of this e$ists, -atherine apparently died before her cousin ,liBabeth of Nork/s coronation on 71 ?ovember 632'. The mysterious .ichard Dlantagenet is also a possible illegitimate child of .ichard the third and is sometimes referred to as C.ichard the )aster" >uilderC. He died in 6115. !t the time of his last stand against the *ancastrians, .ichard the third was therefore a widower without a legitimate son. !fter his legitimate son/s death in 6323, he had initially named his nephew ,dward, ,arl of arwick, Clarence/s young son and the nephew of Jueen !nne, as his heir. !fter !nne/s death, however, .ichard named another nephew, (ohn de la Dole, ,arl of *incoln, the son of his older sister ,liBabeth. However, he was also negotiating with (ohn II of Dortugal to marry his sister, (oanna, a pious young woman who had already turned down several suitors because of her preference for the religious life. In the event however, .ichard the third was succeeded by Henry Tudor after .ichard was killed and defeated by Henry at the >attle of >osworth 4ield in 6321.

6&&

T ! *#-$ ') T ! -'$!$ The name C ars of the .osesC refers to the Heraldic badges associated with the two royal houses, the hite .ose of Nork and the .ed .ose of *ancaster. The Norkist faction used the symbol of the white rose from early in the conflict, but the *ancastrian red rose was apparently introduced only after the victory of Henry Tudor at the >attle of >osworth. The *ancastrian red rose was then combined with the Norkist white rose to form the Tudor rose, which symbolised the union of the two houses. Though the names of the rival royal houses derive from the cities of Nork and *ancaster, the corresponding duchies had little to do with these cities. The lands and offices attached to the 0uchy of *ancaster were mainly in Gloucestershire, ?orth ales and Cheshire, while the estates and castles that were part of the 0uchy of Nork were spread throughout ,ngland, though many were in the ales.

The *ancastrian claim to the throne descended from (ohn of Gaunt, the first 0uke of *ancaster, who was the fourth surviving son of ,dward the third. The son of (ohn of Gaunt was Henry of >olingbroke, and who eventually became Henry the fourth and established the House of *ancaster on the throne of ,ngland. Henry the fourth%s son Henry the fifth maintained the family/s hold on the crown, but when Henry the fifth died in 6377, his heir was the infant Henry the si$th. The succession of Henry the fourth and his son Henry the 4ifth and his son Henry the #i$th was later challenged by a descendant of a younger brother of (ohn of Gaunt who was now .ichard, 0uke of Nork. >y marriage, .ichard 0uke of Nork could also claim descent from Gaunt%s older brother ,dward the third%s third son, *ionel of !ntwerp. !lthough armed clashes had occurred previously between supporters of Nork and *ancaster, the first open fighting broke out in 6311 at the 4irst >attle of #t !lbans. #everal prominent *ancastrians died, but their heirs continued a deadly feud with .ichard the 0uke of Nork. !lthough peace was temporarily restored, the *ancastrians were inspired by )argaret of !nHou to contest Nork/s influence. 4ighting resumed more violently in 631:. The 0uke of Nork and his supporters were forced to flee the country, but one of his most prominent supporters, the ,arl of arwick, invaded ,ngland from Calais and captured Henry the si$th at the >attle of ?orthampton. 6&'

.ichard the 0uke of Nork eventually returned to ,ngland, and was appointed Drotector of ,ngland during the reign of the infant king, Henry the si$th, but he was dissuaded from claiming the throne. )argaret and the irreconcilable *ancastrian nobles gathered their forces in the north of ,ngland, and when the 0uke of Nork moved north to suppress them, he and his second son ,dmund were killed at the >attle of akefield in 0ecember 63&5.

The *ancastrian army advanced south and released Henry the si$th at the #econd >attle of #t !lbans, but they failed to occupy *ondon, and subsequently retreated once again to the north. The Norkist%s still controlled *ondon and the 0uke of Nork/s eldest son, ,dward, the ,arl of )arch, was proclaimed -ing ,dward the fourth. He was the first -ing from the House of Nork. He eventually gathered the Norkist armies and won a crushing victory over the *ancastrians at the >attle of Towton in )arch 63&6. !fter *ancastrian revolts in the north were suppressed in 63&3 and Henry was captured once again, ,dward the fourth fell out with his chief supporter and advisor, the ,arl of ,liBabeth ,arl of arwick who was known as the C-ingmaker, and he also alienated many oodville, whom he had married in secret, and against the wishes of the arwick. The ,arl of arwick tried first to supplant ,dward the fourth with friends and even family members by favouring the family of his wife and queen,

his younger brother George, 0uke of Clarence, and then he tried to restore Henry the si$th to the throne. This resulted in two years of rapid changes of fortune, before ,dward the fourth once again won victories at >arnet in !pril 63'6, where Drince of arwick was killed, and at Tewkesbury in )ay 63'6 where the *ancastrian heir, ,dward, ales, the son of Henry the si$th was e$ecuted. !fter the battle, Henry the si$th was also murdered in the Tower of *ondon several days later, thus ending the direct *ancastrian line of succession. ! period of comparative peace followed, but ,dward the fourth died une$pectedly in 632<. His surviving brother, .ichard of Gloucester, moved to prevent the unpopular oodville family of ,dward/s widow from participating in the government during the minority of ,dward/s son who had became ,dward the fifth. He then seiBed the throne for himself, becoming .ichard the third, using the suspect legitimacy of ,dward the fourth%s marriage as prete$t.

6&2

Henry Tudor, a distant relative of the *ancastrian kings who had inherited the *ancastrian claim to the throne, defeated .ichard the third at >osworth in 6321. He was crowned Henry the seventh and to unite the two houses of *ancaster and Nork he married ,liBabeth of Nork, the daughter of ,dward the fourth. Norkist revolts, directed by (ohn de la Dole, the first ,arl of *incoln and others, flared up in 632' under the banner of the pretender *ambert #imnel, who claimed to be ,dward, ,arl of arwick 8son of George of Clarence=, resulting in the last pitched arbeck, who battles. !lthough most of the surviving descendants of .ichard of Nork were imprisoned, sporadic rebellions continued until 63:' when Derkin Drinces in the Tower, was imprisoned and later e$ecuted. claimed to be a younger brother of ,dward the fifth, one of the two disappeared

6&:

THE HOUSE OF TUDOR

H#%,1 VII 872 (anuary 631' ; 76 !pril 615:= was -ing of ,ngland and *ord of Ireland from his seiBing the crown from .ichard the third after the >attle of >osworth on 77 !ugust 6321 until his death on 76 !pril 615:, as the first monarch of the House of Tudor. Henry won the throne when his forces defeated .ichard the third at the >attle of >osworth 4ield. Henry was the last king of ,ngland to win his throne on the field of battle. Henry had cemented his claim to the ,nglish throne by marrying ,liBabeth of Nork, the daughter of ,dward the fourth and niece of .ichard the third. Henry was successful in restoring the power and stability of the ,nglish monarchy after the political upheavals of the civil wars known as the ars of the .oses. !lthough Henry the seventh can be credited with the restoration of political stability in ,ngland, and a number of commendable administrative, economic and diplomatic initiatives, the latter part of his reign was characterised by a financial crisis which stretched the bounds of legality. The capriciousness and lack of due process which indebted many in ,ngland were soon ended upon Henry the seventh%s death after a commission revealed widespread abuses. !ccording to the contemporary historian Dolydore Iergil, simple CgreedC in large part underscored the means by which royal control was over"asserted in Henry/s final years. Henry/s paternal grandfather, +wen Tudor, originally from the Tudors of Denmynydd, Isle of !nglesey in ales, and had been a page in the court of Henry I. He rose to become one of the C#quires to the >ody to the -ingC after military service at !gincourt +wen Tudor is said to have secretly married the widow of Henry I, Catherine of Ialois. +ne of their sons was ,dmund Tudor, the father of Henry the seventh. ,dmund was created ,arl of .ichmond in 6317, and formally declared legitimate by Darliament. Henry the seventh was born at Dembroke Castle on 72 (anuary 631' to the 6<"year"old )argaret >eaufort, Countess of .ichmond. In 631&, Henry/s Tudor%s father ,dmund Tudor was captured while fighting for Henry the si$th in #outh ales against the Norkists.

6'5

,dmund Tudor died in Carmarthen Castle, three months before Henry was born. Henry/s uncle (asper Tudor, the ,arl of Dembroke and ,dmund/s younger brother, undertook to protect the young widow, who was 6< years old when she gave birth to Henry Tudor. the Norkist hen ,dward the fourth became -ing in 63&6, (asper Tudor went into illiam Herbert, who also assumed the guardianship of )argaret e$ile abroad. Dembroke Castle, and later the ,arldom of Dembroke, were granted to >eaufort and the young Henry. Tudor. Henry lived in the Herbert household until 63&:, when .ichard ?eville, ,arl of arwick 8the -ingmaker=, went over to the *ancastrians. the ,arl of arwick. hen the ,arl of illiam Herbert who was Henry Tudor%s guardian, was captured fighting for the Norkists and was e$ecuted by arwick restored Henry the si$th in 63'5, hen the Norkist (asper Tudor returned from e$ile and brought Henry Tudor to court. *ancastrians to >rittany, where he spent most of the ne$t 63 years !part from the defeat and death in battle of .ichard the third. Henry/s main claim to the ,nglish throne derived from his mother through the House of >eaufort. Henry/s mother, *ady )argaret >eaufort, was a great"granddaughter of (ohn of Gaunt the 0uke of *ancaster and his third wife -atherine #wynford. (ohn of Gaunt was the fourth son of ,dward the third. -atherine #wynford was (ohn of Gaunt/s mistress for about 71 years and when (ohn of Gaunt and -atherine eventually married in 6<:&, they already had four illegitimate children, including Henry/s great"grandfather (ohn >eaufort. Thus Henry/s claim was somewhat tenuous, it was from the female line, and it was by an illegitimate descent. In actual fact, the Dortuguese and #panish royal families had a better claim to the ,nglish throne as far as ClegitimacyF is concerned as they were legitimate descendants of Catherine of *ancaster, the daughter of (ohn of Gaunt and his second wife Constance of Castile.

,dward the fourth regained the throne in 63'6, Henry Tudor fled with other

6'6

In 6<:', and by *etters Datent, (ohn of Gaunt%s nephew .ichard the second had legitimised (ohn of Gaunt%s four illegitimate children by -atherine #wynford. !nd in 635', Henry the fourth who was (ohn of Gaunt/s legitimate son by his first wife, issued a new *etters Datent to confirm the legitimacy of his half"siblings, but at the same time he also declared them ineligible for the throne. Henry the fourth%s action was of doubtful legality, as the >eauforts were previously legitimised by an !ct of Darliament, but the uncertainty weakened Henry Tudor%s claim to the throne ?onetheless, by 632< Henry Tudor was the senior male *ancastrian claimant remaining, after the deaths in battle or by murder or e$ecution of Henry the si$th, his son ,dward of estminster, Drince of ales, and the other >eaufort line of descent through *ady )argaret/s uncle, the second 0uke of >eaufort.. Henry Tudor also made some political capital out of his its way to the >attle of >osworth. elsh ancestry. 4or e$ample ales on

in attracting military support and safeguarding his army/s passage through

He associated himself to an old"established

!nglesey family which claimed descent from Cadwaladr 8in legend, the last ancient >ritish king= and on occasions, Henry Tudor displayed the red dragon of Cadwaladr. He took it, as well as the standard of #t George, on his procession through *ondon after victory at >osworth. In reality, however, his hereditary connections to elsh aristocracy were not strong. He was descended by the paternal line, through several generations, from ,dnyfed 4ychan, the steward of Gwynedd and through the steward%s wife from .hys ap Tewdwr, the -ing of 0eheubarth in #outh ?otwithstanding this lineage, to the bards of ales.

ales, Henry was a candidate for N )ab elsh from oppression.

0arogan , EThe #on of DrophecyC who would free the

>y 632<, Henry Tudor%s mother, despite being married to a Norkist 8*ord #tanley=, was actively promoting Henry as an alternative to .ichard the third. !t .ennes Cathedral on Christmas 0ay 632<, two years before the >attle of >osworth, Henry Tudor who was of *ancastrian descent pledged to marry ,dward the fourth%s eldest daughter, ,liBabeth of Nork, who was also ,dward/s heir since the presumed death of her brothers, the Drinces in the Tower 8-ing ,dward I and his brother .ichard=. 4ollowing the marriage Henry Tudor then received the homage of her Norkist supporters.

6'7

ith money and supplies borrowed from his host 4rancis II, 0uke of >rittany, Henry Tudor tried to land in ,ngland, but his conspiracy became unraveled and resulted in the e$ecution of his primary co"conspirator, the 0uke of >uckingham. ?ow supported by 4rancis II/s prime"minister Dierre *andais, .ichard the third attempted to e$tradite Henry from >rittany, but Henry Tudor escaped to 4rance. He was welcomed by the 4rench, who readily supplied him with troops and equipment for a second invasion. Having now gained the support of the oodvilles, the in"laws of the late ,dward the

fourth, Henry Tudor sailed with a small 4rench and #cottish force. He landed in )ill >ay, Dembrokeshire, close to his birthplace. He marched towards ,ngland accompanied by his uncle (asper and the ,arl of +$ford. ales was traditionally a elsh birth *ancastrian stronghold, and Henry owed the support he gathered to his He amassed an army of around 1,555 soldiers. Henry Tudor was aware that his best chance to seiBe the throne was to engage .ichard the third quickly and defeat him immediately. .ichard had reinforcements in ?ottingham and *eicester. #o .ichard the third only needed to avoid being killed in order to keep his throne. !lthough outnumbered, Henry Tudor%s *ancastrian forces decisively defeated .ichard the third%s Norkist army at the >attle of >osworth 4ield on 77 !ugust 6321. #everal of .ichard/s key allies, such as the ,arl of ?orthumberland and illiam and Thomas #tanley, crucially switched sides or left the ars of battlefield. .ichard the third%s death at >osworth 4ield effectively ended the the .oses, although it was not the last battle that Henry Tudor had to fight. hen Henry the seventh took the crown of ,ngland he was the first -ing of the Tudor dynasty and, after a reign of nearly 73 years, he was peacefully succeeded by his son Henry who was born to his wife ,liBabeth of Nork. Henry the son became Henry the eighth in 615:.

and ancestry, being directly descended, through his father, from .hys ap Gruffydd.

6'<

CHRISTOPHER COLUM<US
C",$*t ;"#, C 02(/2* 8ItalianG Cristoforo Colo)bo9 #panishG Crist9bal Col9n9 DortugueseG Crist9$:o Colo)bo9 8born between +ctober <6, 6315 and +ctober <5, 6316 ; 75 )ay 615&= was an Italian e$plorer, navigator, and coloniBer. He was certainly not ,nglish, nor was he of ,nglish descent, but because of his important Carribean and other discoveries he is included in this document to e$plain why #pain was such a dominant country in the #out !merica%s Cristopher Columbus was born in the .epublic of Genoa in Italy. ith the blessing

and support of the Catholic )onarchs of #pain, he completed four voyages across the !tlantic +cean that led to a general ,uropean awareness of the !merican continents. Those voyages, and his efforts to establish permanent settlements on the island of Hispaniola, initiated the #panish coloniBation of the ?ew orld. In the conte$t of emerging western imperialism and economic competition between those ,uropean kingdoms who were seeking wealth through the establishment of trade routes and colonies, Columbus%s speculative proposal, to reach the ,ast Indies by sailing westward, eventually received the support of the #panish crown. The #panish king saw in it a chance to gain the upper hand over his rival powers for the lucrative spice trade with !sia. 0uring Columbus%s first voyage in 63:7, instead of reaching (apan as he had intended, Columbus landed in the >ahamas archipelago at a locale he named San Sal$ador. +ver the course of three more voyages, Columbus visited the Greater and *esser !ntilles, as well as the Caribbean coast of IeneBuela and Central !merica. Columbus claimed them all for the #panish Crown. Columbus was not the first ,uropean e$plorer to reach the !mericas. Columbus%s 63:7 voyage had been preceded by a ?orse e$pedition led by *eif ,ricson in the 66th century. Columbus%s voyages however led to the first lasting ,uropean contact with the !mericas, and which heralded the start of a period of ,uropean e$ploration, conquest, and coloniBation that lasted for several centuries. The Columbus voyages had, therefore, an enormous impact in the historical development of the modern estern world. Columbus himself saw his accomplishments primarily as a means to spread Catholicism.

6'3

Columbus never admitted that he had reached a continent previously unknown to ,uropeans, rather than the ,ast Indies which he had set out for. Columbus called the inhabitants of the lands he visited indios which is #panish for CIndiansC. In 6155, Columbus%s strained relationship with the #panish crown and the colonial administrators #pain had appointed in !merica eventually led to his arrest and dismissal as governor of the settlements on the island of Hispaniola. Columbus then entered into a period of protracted litigation with the #panish Crown over the benefits which he and his heirs claimed were owed to them by the #panish Crown. Columbus had always given the conversion of non"believers as the prime reason for his e$plorations, and he grew increasingly more religious in his later years. This was probably due to the influence of his son 0iego and his son%s friend the Carthusian monk Gaspar Gorricio. Columbus produced two books during his later yearsG a &oo* of #ri$ileges in 6157, detailing and documenting the rewards from the #panish Crown to which he believed he and his heirs were entitled, and a &oo* of #rophecies in 6151, in which passages from the >ible were used to place his achievements as an e$plorer in the conte$t of Christian doctrine. In his later years, Columbus demanded that the #panish Crown give him 65U of all the profits made in the new lands. )ainly because he had been relieved of his duties as governor, the #panish Crown completely reHected his demands, and after his death, his heirs sued the Crown for a part of the profits from trade with !merica, as well as other rewards. This law suit led to a protracted series of legal disputes known as the Columbian lawsuits. 0uring a violent storm on his last voyage, Columbus, then appro$imately 36, suffered an attack of what was believed at the time to be gout. In subsequent years, he was plagued with what was thought to be influenBa and other fevers, bleeding from the eyes, and prolonged attacks of gout. The suspected attacks increased in duration and severity, sometimes leaving Columbus bedridden for months at a time, and eventually culminated in his death fourteen years later in 615&.

6'1

>ased on Columbus%s lifestyle and the described symptoms, modern doctors suspect that he suffered from .eiter/s #yndrome, rather than gout. .eiter/s #yndrome is a common presentation of reactive arthritis. ! Hoint inflammation caused by intestinal bacterial infections or after acquiring certain se$ually transmitted diseases primarily Chlamydia or gonorrhea. It seems likely that Columbus acquired reactive arthritis from food poisoning on one of his ocean voyages because of poor sanitation and improper food preparation. +n 75 )ay 615&, aged probably 13, Christopher Columbus died in Ialladolid, #pain. His remains were first interred at Ialladolid, and then they were removed to the monastery of *a CartuHa in #eville in #outhern #pain. In 6137, at the request of his son 0iego the remains were transferred to the cathedral at #anto 0omingo, in the present"day 0ominican .epublic. In 6':1, when 4rance took over the entire island of Hispaniola, Columbus%s remains were moved to Havana, in Cuba. !fter Cuba became independent following the #panish"!merican ar in 62:2, the remains were moved back to #pain, to the Cathedral of #eville, where they were placed on an elaborate catafalque. However, a lead bo$ bearing an inscription identifying C0on Christopher ColumbusC and containing bone fragments and a bullet was discovered at #anto 0omingo in 62''. To lay to rest claims that the wrong relics had been moved to Havana and that Columbus/ remains had been left buried in the cathedral at #anto 0omingo, 0?! samples of the corpse resting in #eville were taken in (une 755< as well as other 0?! samples from the remains of his brother 0iego and younger son 4ernando Colcn. Initial observations suggested that the bones did not appear to belong to somebody with the physique or age at death associated with Columbus. 0?! e$traction proved difficult, and only short fragments of 0?! could be isolated. The 0?! fragments however, matched corresponding 0?! from Columbus/s brother, giving support that both individuals had shared the same mother. #uch evidence, together with historic analyses led the researchers to conclude that the remains in #eville did belong to Christopher Columbus. The authorities in #anto 0omingo have never allowed the remains there to be e$humed, so it is unknown if any of those remains could be from Columbus/ body as well. The location of the 0ominican remains is in The Columbus *ighthouse in #anto 0omingo.

6'&

Historians have traditionally argued that Columbus remained convinced to the very end that his Hourneys had been along the east coast of !sia, but it is argued that a document in the &oo* of #ri$ileges indicates Columbus knew he had found a new continent. +n the other hand, his other writings continued to claim that he had reached !sia, such as in a 6157 letter to Dope !le$ander II where he asserted that the landfall of Cuba was in fact the east coast of !sia. Thus, it remains unclear what his true beliefs were.

6''