Category: 11th Century - Meandering Through Time

Death of Macbeth

15/8/2018

Macbeth or mac Bethad mac Findláich was a Scottish warrior, a clan leader from Moray in the north of Scotland, the son, as his name states, of Findlaech of Moray. It was on this day in 1057 he was killed by the son of Duncan I, the very man he had killed in battle on the 14th August in 1040 - fourteen years and one day later.

There are no images of Macbeth, however, in the Prophecy of Berchan, an ancient Irish poem on the history of early Scotland, Macbeth is called "the red, tall, golden-haired one"

The real Macbeth is overshadowed by the Macbeth of Shakespeare's play which is a tale of ambition, a desire cleverly planted in Macbeth's mind by the 'weird sisters' who we know as the three witches.

As mentioned in a blog on the death of King Duncan of Scotland Shakespeare source is the Chronicles of Raphael Holinshed, to which he is known to have referred for many of his other historical dramas.

meanderingthroughtime.weebly.com/history-blog/king-duncan-i-and-macbeth

King Duncan I and Macbeth

12/8/2018

The numerous clans of Scotland had been fighting each other for centuries and would continue to do so right up to the 18th century. One of these battles, in the middle of the 11th century, saw the death of King Duncan I at the hands of one Macbeth.

Duncan, who had a claim to the throne through his mother was king for just six years and Macbeth or mac Bethad mac Findlaich to give him his true name, was a clan leader from the north of Scotland. Like many a monarch in history, Duncan's time as king lasted as long as he could hold onto the crown before another with what they considered an equal claim ripped it from his head. In Duncan's case, his forays into the lands held by Macbeth at Moray cost him his life.

It was on this day that the aforementioned Duncan was slain in battle by Macbeth's forces at Bothnagowan or Pitgaveny near Elgin in Moray.

If you think of Macbeth then your mind automatically thinks of William Shakespeare who used Raphael Holinshed's Chronicle of Scottish History as a basis of his famous play and it is from his work that we, on the whole, view Duncan and Macbeth. Holinshed's work and Shakespeare play should be taken with a pinch of salt, they were written over five hundred years after the event. Shakespeare wrote Macbeth when James I of Scotland was on sitting on the English throne.

There is a painting of a dark-haired bearded Duncan depicted as one, among ninety-three other paintings, of Scotland's heroic kings, it has him wearing a red cloak over his armoured shoulders (the image below is probably based on this work)

The original painting is by a Dutch artist and dates to the reign of Charles II and forms part of the aforedmentioned set commissioned to decorate the Great Gallery at Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh. The inscription on the painting reads - Duncanvs I. The inscriptions on each of the paintings are taken from the work of a 16th-century Scottish historian and together they are an attempt to represent the 'symbolic power' of Scottish kingship.

Duncan's portrait has the following inscription -

'Son of Beatrix, daughter of Malcolm II a good and modest Prince. He was slain by Macbeth, traitorously, in the 6th Year of his Reign’ Duncan I is number eighty-four in the series.

Duncan I's body is stated to be buried on the island of Iona.

Lincoln Cathedral in 1092

7/5/2018

I have always held and am prepared against all evidence to maintain that the cathedral of Lincoln is out and the most precious piece of architecture in the British Isles and roughly speaking worth any two other cathedrals we have.-- John Ruskin

In the late spring of 1092, after twenty years of building work, Bishop of Lincoln Remigius de Fecamp's cathedral was completed.

Remigius de Fecamp was a Benedictine monk who held the position of almoner at Fecamp Abbey in Normandy. He is said to have been a supporter of the conqueror's invasion of England contributing a ship and twenty knights to William's cause, his name appears on a document that listed vessels used in the invasion.

There are many facts that allude to Remigius's early life but no real evidence, however there is a suggestion that he had family connections with the Lincolnshire D'aincourt's whose main residence was Blankney, a village to the south of the city and who held over fifteen manors in the county at this time. An epitaph on a plaque found in the grave of William D'aincourt hints that he was a kinsman of one Remi or Remigius and this is used to justify a connection with no other evidence to back it up, however it is possible that Remigius granted some of the thirteen manors in Lincolnshire to William's father Walter D'aincourt to add to those he held in four other counties.

Bishop Remigius, as he would later be known, had some association with the old Saxon church that now lies under Lincoln Cathedral's foundations, exactly what this was in not known. When this old church was demolished those who once worshiped there were granted the right to hold services in the Morning Chapel of the Cathedral, that is dedicated to St Mary Magdalene. Interestingly this ancient tradition continues today. On Patronal Festival Day those worshiping in the present day St Mary Magdalene walk from the church, across the courtyard, and through the west door of the Cathedral to hold Festival Evensong in the Morning Chapel.

Henry of Huntingdon described Remigius as 'short but great-hearted and very charming' and William of Malmesbury implied that he was a dwarf. However, what he lacked in height he made up for in achievements.

In 1067 Remigius was given the post as Bishop of Dorchester on Thames that was once the capital of Wessex until it was displaced by Winchester. It was the first to become vacant after the conquest - taking up this position would make Remigius the first Norman to be appointed to an English ecclesiastical post.

In the mid 11th century Lincoln was the largest diocese in England and in 1073 Remigius received papal approval to take up his position in the city, and as we have seen his authority and influence may have already preceded him. He was a powerful man, controlling Dorchester as mentioned, Leicester and Lindsey, also included in his portfolio were a number of monasteries, the most wealthy being Ely and Peterborough.

The year 1072 Remigius began work on the construction of Lincoln's Cathedral. The plans of the cathedral are based partly on the design of the Cathedral at Rouen and the Church of St Etienne and it took twenty years to complete. The date set for the consecration was planned for the second week in May 1092, both the 9th and the 11th are said to have been the exact day. According to William of Malmesbury, the astrological horoscope of Robert Bloet, who succeeded Remigius as Bishop of Lincoln, predicted that his predecessor would die prior to the cathedral's consecration, strangely Remigius de Fecamp did indeed pass away as predicted, just under a week before its consecration, on the 7th May in 1092.

Remigius was buried in his cathedral at Lincoln, probably under the Nave, his grave is not marked.

You can see Remigius's tower in the centre in the west front of the Cathedral

What of Bishop Remigius's cathedral today? There is very little remains of what he would have seen from his deathbed. However, Remigius's tower forms part of the west front of the Cathedral that stands magnificently on what is called Lincoln Edge.

For a time Lincoln Cathedral would be the tallest building in the world, today is the third largest English Cathedral and a splendid example of Gothic architecture.

St Aelfheath

19/4/2018

Sometimes when you read about events in history you have to wonder whether the tale that is told is true or has to be taken with a pinch of salt. The story of the martyrdom of Aelfheah, the 11th-century Archbishop of Canterbury and the link with the murder of Thomas Becket is one of them.

In 1170 Thomas Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury was murdered as he prayed before the alter Canterbury Cathedral. The story goes that it was to St Aelfheah that his prayer was directed before he was hacked to death by four rebellious knights. For this to be true Becket had to be praying aloud, and maybe he was, but it's a bit too much of a coincidence for me - you see Aelfheah was murdered in the exact same way as poor Becket just 158 years before by a band of marauding Vikings.

Like Becket, Aelfheah is considered a saint and a martyr, he is usually portrayed in art with an axe. The images we see of Becket's death and Aelfheah's are similar, both are in prayer and behind them are their armed murders ready to pounce.

We all know Thomas Becket's story, but what was Aelfheah's?

Aelfheah was a West Country hermit and later a monk who was Prior at Glastonbury Abbey - he liked to build new churches and liked music, when played a church organ he commissioned could be heard over a mile away. He became Archbishop of Canterbury in 1006 - strangely, he had arrived at his new position with the head of St Swithun neatly packed in his bag! - What's that all about?

Aelfheah had been Archbishop in Canterbury for five years when in 1011 the Vikings arrived, they ransacked the town, took Aelfeah prisoner and demanded money with menaces. Aelfeah was held captive for seven months. Despite the willingness of the people of Canterbury to dig deep into the pockets to pay the ransom Aelfheah, in true martyr fashion, told them to keep it. On the 19th April in 1012 Aelfheah was bashed over the head by an axe-wielding Norseman and according to a chronicler of the time
 ‘his holy blood fell on the ground and his holy soul was sent forth to God’s kingdom’.

Aelfheah's body was originally buried in the church of St Pauls in London but in 1023 reinterred in Canterbury to rest along side St Swithun's head.

Death of King Cnut

12/11/2017

12th November in 1035 the death of King Cnut.

Edmund Ironside had fought a number of battles against the Danish army, but they ended in his defeat on the 18th October 1016 at the Battle of Assandun in Essex, the signing of a peace treaty gave Edmund control of lands south of the River Thames and Cnut ruled north of the Thames. On Edmund's death, despite leaving two sons, Cnut gained control of all of England.

Taking the English throne was the very beginning of a conquest that saw Cnut rule most of Northern Europe, by the time of his death he controlled England, Denmark, Norway and parts of Sweden, yet the one event he is only ever remembered for is his attempt at controlling an incoming tide, Cnut probably didn’t paddle in the sea but what he is thought to have said was:

“Let all inhabiting the world know the power of kings to be empty and worthless and that there is no other king worthy of the name but He at whose will heaven earth, sea obey by the eternal laws.”

Not the words of arrogant and powerful foreign invader, just man suggesting that kings were human.

Cnut controlled much of Scandinavia, under his rule Viking raids on England’s coastline lessened, the economy improved, and by marrying Emma, Ethelred the Unready’s Norman widow, he consolidated his power. He was king of England from 1018 until 1035.

Cnut died at Shaftesbury in Dorset and was buried in the Old Minster, Winchester. During the English Civil war, the mortuary chest in which his bones were placed was ransacked, his remains were scattered on the floor and mixed with those of other English kings.

All the bones were eventually gathered and replaced in chests - but not necessarily in the right order!

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 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.