Category: 11th Century - Meandering Through Time

Edgar Aetheling Proclaimed King

15/10/2017

After his victory at the Hasting William the Conqueror headed for London. He left behind, among the dead, the mutilated body of the defeated English king Harold Godwinson.

The following day, the 15th October 1066 as the mighty conqueror's army made their way to the capital, Edgar Aetheling, one of three claimants to English throne was proclaimed king. Aetheling had the support of both the Ealdred, Archbishop of York, Stigand Archbishop of Canterbury and the Earls of Northumbria Edwin and Morcar.

If Edgar Aetheling could take on the Norman army, his future, as king, would be secured.

However, as the noise of the approaching Norman army headed their way Edgar's cause was abandoned and the men, who initially supported him, began frantically feathering their own nests.

Edgar Aetheling was taken as a captive to Normandy from where he escaped. By 1068 he was in the Scottish court of King Malcolm III, who was his sister's husband. However, by 1097 Edgar was leading an English invasion against Scotland.

Eighteen years later it was reported by William of Malmesbury that Aetheling was still alive in 1125 Malmesbury wrote
‘he now grows old in the country in privacy and quiet.’

Battle of Fulford

19/9/2017

20th of September 1066

Harold Godwinson's succession to the throne of England was confirmed by the Witan, Edward the Confessors council, and following this the crown of England passed from the third great grandson of King Alfred to the son of a Saxon thegn, seemingly without any trouble at all! However, as the crown was placed on Harold's head, others who considered that it was their rightful place to sit on the throne of England were preparing to stake their claim.

In the 10th century Aelfric of Eynsham had written of Saxon kingship:

“No man can make himself king, but the people have the choice to choose as king whom they please; but
after he is consecrated as king, he then has dominion over the people, and they cannot shake his yoke off their necks”

Harold was king, but Edgar Aethling, Harald Hardrada and William of Normandy had every intention of holding that title themselves.

Edgar Aethling’s claim was by descent from Alfred the Great, having Ethelred the Unready as his great grandfather. He had the support of both the Archbishop of York and Stigand, who had taken over from the ousted Robert of Jumieges as Archbishop of Canterbury, plus the Earls Edwin and Morcar, but his cause was abandoned when the Norman conqueror arrived in the capital. Norway’s king, Harald Hardrada’s claim was by way of a promise made by the younger of king Canute's son Hardicnut. William of Normandy claim was based on promises too and he would invoke Edward the Confessors's promise and a promise made by King Harold himself.

The law of succession followed the laws of primogeniture. However, in the 11th century, on the death of a king with no heir, the Witan had the right to choose the king from among the royal family. Edward had made his choice known to the Witan and all had agreed, therefore Harold’s claim to the throne was valid, but this made no difference when rule by the right of conquest was just as lawful.

So on hearing the news that England's crown had been placed on Harold Godwinson's head, the first of these claimants made plans for an invasion. Hardrada's force, consisting of about 300 long ships and a total of about six thousand men, were joined by his new ally, the vengeful and treacherous Tostig Godwinson. Hardrada landed in the Humber Estuary on the 18th September and met the northern forces of Edwin and Morcar on a marshy area at the River Ouse near the village of Fulford. The Norwegian army defeated the Saxon army on the 20th September 1066 at the what is known as the Battle of Fulford.

At Fulford England's northern army sustained substantial losses, and together with the Battle of Stamford Bridge just six days later, despite that being an English victory, resulted in a depleted and weakened English army who faced the third and ultimately successful claimant to the throne - William the Conqueror.

The Royal Derriere

28/11/2016

The medieval bottom is not what most of you will be thinking about this morning while you get ready for work, or are waving at your nearest and dearest as they disappear from the end of the drive, no certainly not! However, now that you have turned onto
my page it is the royal posterior that I am writing about today.

You will be surprised to find that many a monarch has died from problems related to the royal rear end. Alfred the Great died from an inflammatory bowel disease, Eadred and Harold Harefoot, King John, Edward I, Henry V and James I all died from dysentery and King Stephen died from some stomach disorder. It is not surprising these people went this way, under cooked food, bad hygiene and contaminated water was the scourge of the time. Poor old King George II's death in 1760 relates to the drinking of hot chocolate (although I don't quite know what that has to do with it) after which he felt the need to rush to the loo where he died form ‘overexertion on the privy’ and in 1769 Catherine the Great went the same way, she was found collapsed on the floor of her toilet on which she suffered a stoke.

No doubt you'll be thinking of Edward II and his awful death at Berkeley Castle which is attributed to a red hot poker, a lot of nonsense of course, that was an attempt by his enemies to use his alleged sexuality to blacken his name.

Edmund in the early fourteenth century Genealogical Roll of the Kings of England

Another king who is said to have died in a similar way was Edmund Ironside, king of England for seven months in 1016.
His death is also attributed to being stabbed from below whilst visiting the smallest room in the house, this again is nonsense, for a start who in their right minds is going to volunteer to prostrate themselves in the royal loo for hours just in case his king might need to spend a penny. What is more than likely that he died from battle wounds or on the order of a Mercian earl.

Well, that's it about bottoms for today, you're all looking a bit pale, have nice cup of weak tea, you feel better in no time.

William the Conqueror

14/10/2016

Villain or Hero

William the Conqueror has been described as ruthless, a hard man, a ferocious warrior, harsh ruler, driving administrator and man of vigorous principles. He was also said to have had a fearsome temper and the will power that enabled him to strengthened Edward the Confessor's legal system and create a feudal society in England. The years 1085 to 1086 he
ordered England's first census, this we know as the Domesday Book, so called because it was likened to the Day of Judgement, where there was no appeal against what it contained. The new king also saw to it that much of our countries land was given to Norman barons and when the Saxon resisted he put them down with relentless severity. Villain or hero, what do you think?

Here to get you started are two opposing views on the king.

Edward Augustus Freeman 19th century English historiane to edit.

"As far as mortal men can guide the course of things when he is gone, the course of our national history since William's
has been the result of William's character and of William's acts. Well may we restore to him the surname that men gave
him in his own day. He may worthily take his place as William the Great alongside of Alexander, Constantine, and Charles."

Thomas Paine 18th century English author and political activist

"A French bastard landing with an armed banditti and establishing himself King of England against the consent of the
natives is, in plain terms, a very paltry rascally original. The antiquity of the English monarchy will not bear looking at."

Battle of Northam

26/6/2016

Soon after Hastings William the Conqueror was quick to realise the importance of securing the West Country, the first step in achieving this was to take Exeter, the fourth largest city in the country.

Exeter was still controlled by the Godwin family. Harold’s son had fled to Ireland but his mother, Gytha, who still lived within the city walls, held out against the Norman forces during William’s return to Normandy, however on his return to England he made the city his first port of call. Exeter’s city walls withstood an eighteen month winter siege, many of the Norman soldiers succumbed to the cold, eventually though Exeter fell and Gytha escaped with her granddaughters to island of Flatholme in the Bristol Channel. There is no mention of Harold's son’s at the Siege of Exeter and it may well be that they were already in Ireland.

Gytha’s stand at Exeter in 1068 wasn’t the last effort by the Godwin's to take back some control of their father's country. Inevitably though, Devon would submit to Norman control, but before that Harold’s sons would give the invaders a run for their money.

On the 26th June 1069, in the lush green fields that look over the Taw estuary, Godwine and Edmund landed with an invading force in what could be actually be a rematch of the Battle of Hastings. New evidence has recently come to light that this battle took place in the fields that lie in between the villages of Northam and Appledore. The Godwin’s forces arrived from Ireland on board sixty four longs ships given to them by the Irish king of Leinster. The defending army was made up of Normans, Breton's and English headed by Brian of Brittany who had fought with the Conqueror at Hasting. Following the battle it is thought that a total more than 3,000 men died in this clash. Brian of Brittany was rewarded with lands in Cornwall, however the fates of the sons Harold is not known.

Waltheof, Earl of Huntingdon and Northhampton.

31/5/2016

wIn the bottom left of my photograph taken at Crowland Abbey in Lincolnshire, you can see a representation of Waltheof.

Following the Harrowing of the North, William the Conqueror set his sights on East Anglia, where men like Waltheof and Hereward the Wake were resisting Norman forces, eventually though, Waltheof accepted Norman authority and was rewarded for this with an advantageous marriage to the Conqueror's niece, Judith of Lens.

Five years later, Waltheof was suspected of being involved in what has come to be known as the Revolt of the Earls.

Historians differ over what exactly his involvement was, the Anglo Saxon Chronicle state that he one of its ringleaders, while Orderic Vitalis and William of Malmesbury suggest that he knew of the revolt but had sworn an oath to keep quiet. It was inevitable though, that news of Waltheof's actions would come to the Conquerors attentions, and when it did Waltheof confessed his guilt to the conqueror in person.

Ignoring the Earl's words, William the Conqueror ordered that he be tried, he was found guilty and sentenced to death.

Following a year in prison Waltheof was executed on the 31st May 1076 at St. Giles's Hill, near Winchester. His decapitated body was thrown in a ditch, however it was later recovered and buried in the chapter house of Crowland Abbey where it lay, untouched, for sixteen years until in 1092.

That year a fire in the chapter house forced Ingulph, Abbot of Crowland, to have Waltheof’s body moved elsewhere. On
opening the coffin it was said that the Earl's corpse was found to be intact, his severed head re-joined to the trunk.

Uta of Naumburg

13/3/2016

'The Most Beautiful Woman of the German Middle Ages'

Not so long ago I came across this beautiful face and I thought

"This is probably the prettiest face I have ever seen carved in stone."

So taken by her was I, that I was eager to find out who exactly she was.

Eventually I found out that she was Uta of Naumburg.

I then looked up the word beauty in the dictionary and one definition was
"a form that pleases the aesthetic senses, esp. the sight."
Didn't the master craftsman who created this image of Uta get that right.

Uta of Naumburg was probably born around the turn of the 10th century, she was the daughter of Count Adalbert
of Ballenstedt and his wife Hidda, daughter of Hodo I. She was a member of the House of Ascanisan, whose lands covered what today is Saxony and Brandenburg. Her ancestors, the Ascanians, name derives from a medieval Latin variant of the
name Castle Aschersleben, which was a hilltop castle in Wolfsberg Germany.

Uta had married Ekkehard II of Messen, a nobleman in the court of Henry III the Holy Roman Emperor who reigned
from 1046 to 1056. Ekkehard was responsible for securing the German boarder against attacks from Poland and
Bohemia. Uta's marriage was childless, on their deaths the couple left their estates to Henry III and their great wealth to Naumburg Cathedral in order to help with the construction of a chapel. Uta and her husband are two of twelve nobles who were the founders of the cathedral and in the 13th century, twelve life sized 'donor portraits' were placed on pillars at one end of the cathedral in their honour.

Uta died sometime before 1046.

Many people over the centuries have noticed Uta's beauty, the late Umberto Eco was asked what woman from European
art he would most like to spend the evening, he answered:

“In first place, ahead of all others, with Uta von Naumburg.”

Walt Disney also was taken with her beauty, look closely at this image of Uta, look first at her face and her clothing see how her collar is raised, and how one hand is supporting a fold in her cloak. Doe's she remind you of any one?

Disney used Uta's face in his 1937 film Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, he took her face, her crown and cloak and used them to create two characters. He changed Uta's face slightly to give us the evil, yet stunning medieval enchantresses, that is the wicked stepmother, and he used her sweet innocent look to create Snow White herself.

Uta is said to be the 'most beautiful woman of the German Middle Ages'

Eight centuries ago a stone mason captured Uta's beauty and carved it in limestone for all to see, today there have been numerous photographs taken of her, her image appears in art books and magazines, on postcards and calendars.

William the Conqueror: Villain or Hero ?

1/10/2015

William the Conqueror has been described as ruthless, a hard man, a ferocious warrior, harsh ruler, driving administrator and man of vigorous principles. He was also said to have had a fearsome temper and the will power that enabled him to strengthened Edward the Confessor's legal system and create a feudal society in England. The years 1085 to 1086 he ordered England's first census, this we know as the Domesday Book, so called because it was likened to the Day of Judgement, where there was no appeal against what it contained. The new king also saw to it that much of our countries land was given to Norman barons and when the Saxon resisted he put them down with relentless severity.

Villain or hero...What do you think?

Here to get you started are two opposing views on the king.

Edward Augustus Freeman 19th century English historian

"As far as mortal men can guide the course of things when he is gone, the course of our national history since William's day has been the result of William's character and of William's acts. Well may we restore to him the surname that men gave him in his own day. He may worthily take his place as William the Great alongside of Alexander, Constantine, and Charles."

Thomas Paine 18th century English author and political activist,

"A French bastard landing with an armed banditti and establishing himself King of England against the consent
of the natives is, in plain terms, a very paltry rascally original. The antiquity of the English monarchy will not bear looking at."

1066: Bits and Bobs with William the Conqueror

28/9/2015

1066, the 27th of September

At last the wind has shifted, William the Conqueror's invasion force set sail for England.

1066, the 28th of September

William the Conqueror lands at Pevensey Bay this day in 1066.
As he sets foot on the beach he stumbles and falls, a collective gasp is heard, the Conqueror, knowing that his men believe this is a bad omen he shouts

“See I already have England in my hands.”

Changing the New Year

19/7/2015

Here in England, the date of the beginning of the new year has changed many times during our history.

When William the Conqueror first placed his Norman boots on English soil, he decided to do away with the old Anglo Saxon New Year celebration of the Winter Solstice on the 25th December, he forced us to celebrate it on the 1st of January, so it would fit in nicely with the organisation of his coronation.

No doubt the king went around shouting that it was his idea, but it wasn't, in fact it was Julius Caesar's. Caesar decided that the God Janus, represented the New Year very well seeing as he could look into the past and the future at the same time. So everyone dressed up fancy clothes, (togas were a big favourite,) went around being nice to one another, doing as little work as possible, and consuming large amount of wine, dates, figs and honey.
Sounds familiar.

Janus didn't spot poor Caesar downfall though did he? You know what happened to him.

No more spiced wine and figs after that!

In the year 567, the Council of Tours decided that the New Years should not be celebrated, prayers were to be said instead and there was to be no dancing whatsoever .

This new law wouldn't have concerned the clergy that much, they were worried about other changes the council was making. The bishop, for instance, had to treat his wife as a sister, monks worried that if there was more than one of them in a cell they each had to take turns in staying awake and reading to the rest, and no women were allowed in religious houses at all.

What a load of party poopers!

On the whole people of the secular community were less worried, the medieval Europeans considered the New Year to be a Pagan festival, and therefore couldn't care less. The only ones to care were the party organisers, now they would have been up in arms about the date change, think about all that printed stationary and party balloons gone to waste!

However, they need not have worried, it took another 550 years for the date to be changed again. As time passed England went along with the rest of Europe and we moved our New Year to the 25th of March, it remained at this date until 1752 when we decided that Caesar's idea was a good idea after all and we reverted back to using the 1st of January as the beginning of the year.

And on that note I would like to wish you all a very

Happy New Year