The good, the bad and the downright ugly of Medieval History
Worcester Manuscript (D) 924: "Here King Edward died at Farndon in mercia; and very soon, 16 days after, his son Ælfweard died at Oxford; and their bodies lie at Winchester. And Æthelstan was chosen as king by the Mercians and consecrated at Kingston [Kingston-upon-Thames, Surrey]; and he gave his sister across the sea to the … Continue reading Æthelstan, King of the English
The twenty-two-year period that this post looks at were, I think it safe to say, not only years of extreme difficulty and hardship for William and Normandy, but perhaps years that while we cannot say for certain they shaped him completely, they must have helped forge him into the Conqueror of popular imagination: a hard … Continue reading The Survival of Duke William II in Normandy: 1035-57
‘This Hrolf was so big that no horse could carry him, which is why he was given the name Göngu-Hrolf. The earls of Rouen and the kings of England are descended from him.’ Orkneyinga Saga So in my last post (How do you solve a problem like Rollo?) I wrote a few very brief introductions to … Continue reading Rollo, first Count of Rouen: A saga of sorts
"Here died Alfred, Æthelwulf's offspring, six days before the Feast of All Hallows. He was king over all the English race except that part of which was under Danish control, and he held that kingdom twenty-eight-and-a-half years. And then Edward, his son, succeeded to the kingdom." Such is the entry for 899 in the A … Continue reading Edward the Elder, King of the Anglo-Saxons
"Then his brother Alfred, Æthelwulf's offspring, succeeded to the kingdom of Wessex. And one month later King Alfred with a small troop fought at Wilton against the whole raiding-army, and for long time in the day put them to flight, and the Danish had possession of the place of slaughter." It's part 7 of the … Continue reading Ælfrǣd the Great, King of Wessex
"...and Æthelwulf, Egbert's offspring, succeeded to the kingdom of Wessex, and he granted his son Æthelstan the kingdom of the inhabitants of Kent and the East Saxons and Surrey and South Saxons." Part 6 of our ramble through the monarchy of (geographically speaking at least) England, is finally here! This time it's all about Æthelwulf … Continue reading Æthelwulf, King of Wessex
As much as it pains me, we're leaving Mercia behind (at least for the time being) and heading south to Wessex. This time we're looking at possibly my third favourite figure from the show Vikings (if any of my former lecturers are reading this, please don't hate me): King Ecgberht, portrayed by the superb Linus … Continue reading Ecgberht of Wessex
Part 4 of the semi-regular posting of Monarchs has arrived (semi-regular because you know another one is on it's way, but not when I can be bothered to write one). This time it's all about everyone's favourite Mercian: Offa! Well maybe not the West Saxons, but honestly, sod those guys. I'll get around to them … Continue reading Offa
The first mention of our man in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle (E version) is under 716: 'And then Æthelbald succeeded to the kingdom in Mercia and held it 41 years'. That's right, we're keeping it local again because I feel personally affronted by everyone's obsession with Wessex over my home team. So why have I chosen … Continue reading Æthelbald of Mercia
My last post ended briefly mentioning Penda of Mercia taking over the Severn Valley and the minor kingdom of Hwicce in 628. But I thought it was time to give Penda himself some time in the spotlight. A quick warning, this is a slightly longer one! So who actually was Penda, and why is he … Continue reading Penda
Josue Wigornensis 