The Arrival of In Britain of Hengist And Horsa

 

In 449, the Angles Saxons and Jutes were invited to Britain by King Vortigern who wanted help against the Picts, a vicious Northern tribe. Help had been sought elsewhere on the continent by the Britons but they found help was in short supply. A contributing factor in that was the increasingly menacing threat of Attila and the Huns. And so Vortigern turned to the Germanic tribes for assistance and, led by two brothers Hengist and Horsa, they heeded the call

In return for fighting the Picts, Vortigern offered his "guests" territories in which to settle. If he thought that would bring peace, he was badly mistaken. The Germanic tribes initially did as they were asked, attacking the Picts and defeating them in battle. But soon after, Hengist and Horsa turned on the Britons, rather predictably, and attacked them viciously. However, the Britons did fight back and Horsa was killed at the Battle of Aegelsthrep in 455.

After a period of relative calm in the mid to late 5th century, the Britons turned on each other in a series of civil wars and in the 470s, Hengist forced the Britons to surrender Kent before he turned his attentions Westward where he advanced ruthlessly. He was eventually defeated in battle and executed in the aftermath.

The Battle of Bannockburn: A Calamity for Edward II

 In 1314, at the Battle of Bannockburn, England and ,in particular, king Edward II suffered a humiliating defeat at the hands of Robert The Bruce and his Scottish army. The following is an extract taken from the Life of Edward II describing the English retreat; "Thus, while our people fled following in our king's footsteps, lo! A certain ditch entrapped many of them and a great many of our army perished in it.

The king came to the castle thinking to find refuge there, was repulsed by those inside as if he were the enemy. The drawbridge was raised and the gate closed." The retreat had proved to be as farcical as the battle itself for the English. The English army had heavily outnumbered the Scots but this had made very little difference as the English suffered catastrophic losses with the Scots comparatively unscathed.

Ultimately, Edward II would lose his throne in 1327, mainly due to his excessive favouritism of people like Piers Gaveston and then, in his final years, the Despensers who only had their interests in mind when it came to their relationship with the king. However, even though it was some years prior to the deposition, the military disaster at Bannockburn did nothing for Edward's reputation and can be viewed as a contributing factor towards his final fate.

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.Battle of Bannockburn 1314

In 1314, at the Battle of Bannockburn, England and ,in particular, king Edward II suffered a humiliating defeat at the hands of Robert The Bruce and his Scottish army. The following is an extract taken from the Life of Edward II describing the English retreat; "Thus, while our people fled following in our king's footsteps, lo! A certain ditch entrapped many of them and a great many of our army perished in it.
The king came to the castle thinking to find refuge there, was repulsed by those inside as if he were the enemy. The drawbridge was raised and the gate closed." The retreat had proved to be as farcical as the battle itself for the English. The English army had heavily outnumbered the Scots but this had made very little difference as the English suffered catastrophic losses with the Scots comparatively unscathed.
Ultimately, Edward II would lose his throne in 1327, mainly due to his excessive favouritism of people like Piers Gaveston and then, in his final years, the Despensers who only had their interests in mind when it came to their relationship with the king. However, even though it was some years prior to the deposition, the military disaster at Bannockburn did nothing for Edward's reputation and can be viewed as a contributing factor towards his final fate.

The Demon Countess of Anjou

 

According to legend, The Plantagenets, the dynasty that ruled England for more than 300 years, was descended from the devil. Gerald of Wales tells the colourful tale of the demon countess who the Plantagenets were descendants of...

"there was a certain countess of Anjou, of remarkable beauty, but of an unknown nation, whom the count married solely for beauty, who was in the habit of coming very seldom to church, and there manifested no devotion in it, she never remained in the church until the celebration the mass, but always went out immediately after the gospel.

she was eventually noticed by the count; and when she had come to the church, and was preparing to depart at her usual hour, she saw that she was kept back by four soldiers at the command of the count; leaving behind her two little sons, she took up under her arm the two others, and in the sight of all flew out through a lofty window. And so this woman, was never afterwards seen there."

This obviously ridiculous tale, however colourful it may be, is outdone by the dynasty that was supposedly spawned by this demon countess. The fact of the matter is that, no matter how imaginative medieval chroniclers were in their writing, and they were certainly imaginative, this was a case of the truth being stranger than fiction. The story of the Plantagenet kings, whether it be the sorrowful tale of Bad King John, the chivalric heroics of Edward III, the brilliance of Henry V and so on could never be outdone. In fairness to Gerald, he died in the first quarter of the 13th century so he would not be able to grasp how influential this dynasty would become. In his own time though, he bore witness to the horrors of John's reign and no doubt he must have seriously questioned, at the very least, what made John the man he was. Certainly, some of John's actions were demonic like.

King Aethelwulf: Father of Alfred The Great

 In the late 830s, Aethelwulf became king of Wessex, succeeding his father, Egbert. The Viking threat to the Anglo Saxon kingdoms during Aethelwulf's near two decade long reign was growing ever more sinister and Aethelwulf would suffer defeats in battle against them and areas like London and Kent would be ravaged by vicious Viking attacks. Aethelwulf, however, was surrounded by capable and proactive advisers including a bishop by the name of Swithun, who would later be made a saint. Wishing to ensure that the Vikings were kept at bay as much as physically possible, Swithun demanded that the king respond to the raids as swiftly as possible. Aethelwulf was described as being a mild mannered man and it would seem that warfare went against his natural instincts. He was certainly a man who preferred times of peace where he could perhaps enjoy more leisurely pursuits.

But for Bishop Swithun and the other advisers, they knew that the Viking threat had to be dealt with forcefully and they did their best to ensure that the king was kept on his toes by constant and firm reminders of what it took to govern a kingdom. Another man close to Aethelwulf, Ealstan, took it upon himself to not only ensure that the army was kept in good order as well making significant financial contributions to the crown. Ealstan was accused of being a greedy man but his contributions were vital nonetheless Aethelwulf may not have been perfect in terms of his character but he deserves credit for having advisers around him that could help provided strong resistance against the Vikings.

In the late 840s, around the half way point of Aethelwulf's reign, his youngest son Alfred was born who, on two occasions during his childhood, was sent to Rome. On the second occasion, Aethelwulf accompanied his son and ,on the way back, he would take back to Wessex Judith of Flanders, daughter of Charles The Bald, the king of West Francia and future Holy Roman Emperor. On his return to Wessex, Aethelwulf had found his son Aethelbald had gone into rebellion against him, with the assistance of Ealstan and others, and aimed to deprive his father of the crown. However, support for Aethelbald was in short supply and in the end Wessex was divided into two with father and son getting a half each. 

The episode with his son may have demonstrated that Aethelwulf was not an overly ruthless man. Aethelbald perhaps should have been put in his place a little bit more. But what it also demonstrated is that Aethelwulf had a reasonably unified nobility behind him, crucial in this day and age were the wars against the Vikings had only just begun. Aethelwulf was also praised for his treatment of the church and his general, day to day governance of his kingdom seems to have been sensible enough. So it was into this world that young Alfred was born. Things would be tougher during his reign then it had been during his father's rule but Aethelwulf had certainly set a good example of kingship to not only Alfred but to his other four sons, all kings themselves, as well. Even if it wasn't an example they wished to follow.