Hereward The Wake

 

Hereward The Wake was born in the mid-1030s in Bourne in Lincolnshire. His father was named Leofric and his mother Eadgyth. Hereward was described as a handsome young man with long blonde hair and robust in his physique. He had a lively spirit and was certainly courageous. In fact, it might be said he was too courageous. Growing up, his headstrong nature caused him to become embroiled in numerous fights with other young men in the local area and it wasn't long before Hereward's reputation began to catch up with him. His parents received complaint after complaint regarding their son's behaviour and, eventually, at the age of 18, Leofric, deciding he could no longer tolerate his son's misdemeanours, exiled Hereward. Hereward's behaviour had also reached the ears of King Edward The Confessor and he declared Hereward to be an outlaw.

Alienated from his family and friends, Hereward would spend the next part of his life travelling far and wide and some of the tales of his adventures are remarkable with some of them being almost certainly false. One of these stories has Hereward killing a polar bear, kept at a castle by a Northumbrian nobleman, that had escaped from it's cage and was now threatening the life of a young girl. Hereward charged the bear as it neared the girl and, just in the nick of time, killed the animal with his axe, saving the young girl's life. Among some of Hereward's other adventures including rescuing a young woman in Cornwall from an unwanted marriage and he also suffered shipwrecks in both Flanders and Scotland. The truth of these tales are highly questionable but it is safe to say Hereward's time in exile was certainly not boring.

In 1067, the year after the Norman Conquest, Hereward finally returned to England, after the death of the Count of Flanders who had been employing Hereward as a mercenary. But Hereward returned to a sorrowful scene. His brother had been murdered by Norman soldiers who had been attempting to steal the wealth of Hereward's father who had evidently recently died. Hereward's brother had been attempting to protect his mother and killed two of the Normans in the ensuing fight. He was then killed in turn and his head placed up high for all to see in a grisly act of oppression that would become commonplace in Norman England. Dismayed at this hideous tale, Hereward sought revenge and he got it swiftly too as he cut down a number of Normans as they were getting drunk at a party nearby. Hereward was now a symbol of Anglo Saxon defiance against their Norman occupiers.

More and more displaced and disgruntled members of the English population found themselves swarming to the side of Hereward. But with increasing prominence, came danger. But Frederick, the brother of William De Warenne, who had fought at the Battle of Hastings, was now seeking Hereward out in order to punish him for his act of revenge. But before he could carry out his plan, Frederick was preempted by Hereward and cut down by the English outlaw. After this, Hereward returned to Flanders to visit the woman he had married there. He returned soon after, accompanied by his wife and two nephews.

Not without good reason, Hereward had been concerned over what would happen to his lands while he was abroad but, on his return, found that William The Conqueror had left them untouched. Whilst Hereward had been away, many of his followers had gone into hiding but instantly rejoined Hereward's ranks as soon as they heard of his return. Among them included a man named Wulfric The Black who had earned his nickname by covering his face with charcoal, helping him to go undetected as he attacked a Norman garrison, on which he caused significant damage. Hereward's ranks were filled with men similar to Wulfric; brave, daring and willing to fight for their country.

William The Conqueror and his Normans didn't just face resistance in the North. They found it all across  England. This included the people of the Isle of Ely who were now holding out against King William. Hereward's reputation had spread far and wide and it was to him they turned. They promised Hereward that he would take prominence in their ranks and he duly agreed, making preparations for his journey south. However, it would not be a journey without some risk. After Hereward's murder of his brother, William De Warenne was determined to gain revenge and set a number of ambushes against Hereward and his men. However, De Warenne's plan didn't work and in fact Hereward came very close to killing him. Hereward, when he arrived at Ely, was greeted warmly.

King William knew this situation was becoming increasingly dangerous for him and he now focused his mind on taking Ely and dispersing the rebels. However, his initial hopes of taking Ely were thwarted by the difficult terrain with his soldiers quickly getting into trouble with the marshland. The king lost a large number of men in this fashion and realised he had to change his course of action. He left a portion of his men surrounding Ely to keep an eye on the rebels in case they caused further trouble in the surrounding areas while he himself retreated. While the king may have thought leaving a blockade might bring the people of Ely to heal, it would prove to be not as simple as that. Ely was, obviously, surrounded by water and it's grain and wildlife was plentiful so food was not in short supply. Starvation was a traditional way of bringing a successful end to a siege but it was not as straightforward as that for King William. 

But William was a determined man and he gradually increased the strength of the blockade of Ely, to the point where it became impossible to enter or leave. With this dramatic turn for the worse, Hereward took it upon himself to venture out of Ely, to find out what he could about the Normans plans for the siege. Cutting his hair and beard, changing his style of clothes and, after stealing some pots, he disguised himself as a potter and made for the king's court. However, Hereward became embroiled in a fight and had to make a daring escape. He was pursued through the forest until he chanced upon a member of the king's retinue. He told the man who he was before he returned to Ely. The man must have been amazed at this encounter.  He returned to William's court and told the king of this incredible meeting. The king declared Hereward to be a most remarkable knight.

The Normans appeared to become a little more desperate by this stage. They knew they faced a formidable and stubborn enemy. One of their more bizarre tactics was to use a witch who would cast spells and incantations at the people of Ely. And, when she had finished, she promptly decided to expose her backside to them on not once but three occasions. A fire was then started to try and flush the rebels out but only led to chaos in the Normans with the witch breaking her neck. However, Hereward's forces would find themselves seriously depleted when an Earl tricked a large number of the most important people in Ely into thinking he was going to make a bid for the crown. As a result, they left Hereward to stand alone against the king.

Hereward took his fight to the Normans elsewhere and where he would deep in the forests of Northamptonshire, emerging not only to attack Northampton but Cambridge, Lincoln, Leicester, Peterborough, Warwick and elsewhere. Hereward and his men captured the Abbot of Peterborough who was ransomed for a huge sum of money. But try as he might, Hereward's rebellion against the Normans, that had started with the murder of his brother, could not go on forever. William's eventual subjugation of the English nation was inevitable and despite proving time and again how formidable a warrior, he was, after all, only one man. Eventually, Hereward would make peace with the king who was undoubtedly impressed by this remarkable man. 

The rest of Hereward's life would be spent in relative peace, living on his father's land in Lincolnshire and serving the king when called upon. Which leaves us with one final question. Why was he called the wake? The best guess is that the term was coined centuries later and means "the watchful".  Whether "watchful" is quite the right term for this man of action is another matter. 

The Life And Reign of William Rufus

 

William II was the third born son of William The Conqueror. He was born around 1057 in Normandy, nearly a decade before his father conquered England. Throughout his early years, becoming a king would have been beyond William's expectations, even when his father launched his invasion of England in September 1066. The odds were heavily stacked against Duke William but overcome those odds he did at the Battle of Hastings and he was crowned king of England on Christmas Day 1066. But for the younger William, the chances of him becoming king were still remote. His older brothers Richard and Robert were ahead of him in the line of succession. But the prospects of a young prince could change rapidly in the Middle Ages and so it would prove for William. In 1070, his oldest brother Richard would die in a hunting accident in the New Forest in an almost eerie foreshadowing of later events. Richard was just 16 when he died. The next in line to the throne, Robert, blew his chances of succeeding William The Conqueror as king of England by going into repeated rebellions against his father. On one occasion, Robert had been angered by his younger brothers William and the youngest of the boys Henry when they decided to throw a chamber pot full of water over Robert's head in a boyish prank. Robert protested to his father who may have disregarded this incident as boys being boys but it's safe to say Robert didn't see it that way and not long after relations between he and William The Conqueror broke down with Robert perhaps being guilty of listening to people he shouldn't have been. Things got so serious between the king and Robert that Robert even got close to killing his father but lost his nerve and fled. Giving all this, it's hardly surprising the Conqueror only made Robert his heir to the Duchy of Normandy and the king of England would pass to the third son William. William The Conqueror died in 1087 and England had a new king, William II.

As a boy, William spent much of his time doing what was expected of a prince by learning the art of warfare and he would grow to be a very capable warrior. His education was overseen by Lanfranc who would become Archbishop of Canterbury. Growing up, William was, unlike Robert, loyal to his father. Famously, he had a ruddy complexion with redish hair and was, like his father, a strongly built man. It wasn't long before William faced challenges in his kingdom and it came in the shape of his uncle, Odo of Bayeux, half brother of William The Conqueror, who persuaded a number of nobles that the kingdom of England really should have been inherited by Robert. This grew to be a potentially serious problem for William but he acted swiftly and drove Odo overseas where he remained in the service of Robert in Normandy and would, like Robert, take the cross and join the First Crusade. Unfortunately for Odo, he died on the journey to the Holy Land. William, not without good reason, suspected Robert of being behind Odo's actions so William crossed the Channel and attempted to take revenge by stealing some of Robert's territories. However, this came to very little as William's attentions were required at home with both the Scots and Welsh posing a threat and so the king returned to England.

William's expeditions were not overly successful, particularly against the Welsh. He lost large numbers of his men and the weather and difficult Welsh terrain meant William accomplished very little militarily. William had a bit more tangible success with Scots and a peace was agreed in 1091. Interestingly, William's reign seem to coincide with extreme weather across England. Dramatic floods and storms were reported with a church at Salisbury having it's roof destroyed by a storm. In 1092, there was terrible lightning and a whirlwind which caused buildings to be uprooted and piled on top of other buildings leaving much destruction. And very early on in William's reign, most dramatically of all, an earthquake struck which led to a very slow harvest.

As his reign went on, William's reputation began to decline. Having previously been praised for being a liberal young man, as he reached middle age, he was accused of becoming cold. It was claimed that Archbishop Lanfranc  had a moderating effect on him but on the Archbishop's death in 1089, William supposedly began to change. William delayed appointing a new archbishop of Canterbury until 1093 when a man named Anselm was given the job.  However, Anselm and William clashed regularly which ultimately led to Anselm going into exile. With the chronicles of the time being written by men of religion, it was only natural William's reputation began to suffer in the light of these events. 

However, William also contributed to his declining reputation. In 1095, Pope Urban preached the First Crusade and, as I mentioned earlier, William's brother, Robert, Duke of Normandy, was one of the most prominent figures to take the Cross. However, Robert knew this was going to be an expensive venture and he turn to William for aid. Robert essentially pawned his duchy to William to raise the required finances but William himself needed money to make the agreement happen and as a result he imposed a brutal tax on the English people.which caused much dismay among rich and poor, clergy and laymen alike. Tensions rose across the country with the Earl of Northumberland banished out of the country having had a fierce argument.  Others were accused of plotting against William and his taxes with one man said to have been hanged naked.

 But William's reign was cut short in August 1100, whilst out hunting, he was struck by an arrow and killed, dying in the New Forest just as his oldest brother Richard had done 30 years earlier. Also in the New Forest that day was Henry, the youngest son of William The Conqueror and William II's youngest brother. Did he have the king murdered? It's possible. Henry had only inherited money on the death of The Conqueror in 1087 but with William II now dead, he suddenly had a convenient opportunity to elevate himself to the highest position in the land. But Henry had to act quickly with Robert soon to return to the west from Crusade and only 3 days after William's death, he was crowned king of England. On the surface, this looks like fairly damning evidence but it is purely circumstantial evidence all the same. Cast your mind back to the prank that William and Henry, as young boys, had played on Robert with the chamber pot. It does indicate a brotherly bond between the two. Would Henry really have his brother killed? It's anybody's guess.

What was William II's legacy? To be quite frank, he hasn't really left one. In his 13 year reign, he achieved very little. His military exploits did little good, he alienated his population and, by failing to marry and produce sons and heirs, he left himself vulnerable to potential plots. If Henry did have his eyes set on the throne, he knew his task was made easier by the fact William had no sons to succeed him which perhaps again points to William's death being brought about by murder. William II is one of our more forgotten kings and, to be honest, it's not hard to see why.

[

The Life and Reign of Henry VIII

 

Henry VIII was born on June 28th 1491. He was the second born son of Henry VII and Elizabeth of York. The first boy born to the royal couple was Arthur, born in 1486, a year after Henry VII had won the crown by defeating Richard III at the Battle of Bosworth which brought to an end the Plantagenet dynasty which had ruled over England for more than 300 years. Henry VII, was not the most colourful of English monarchs, especially when compared to his eventual successor, but charisma was not necessarily what England needed after decades of civil war, known as the Wars of the Roses, had torn the country apart since the mid 1450s. England and it's population needed stability and this is what Henry VII provided in his near quarter century reign. Henry had to be watchful throughout his reign due to various challenges to his authority from the likes of Lambert Simnel and Perkin Warbeck but he came through those difficulties and tried to show leniency when and where he could. In the case of Warbeck in particular, this would not always be successful as Warbeck repeatedly pushed his luck leading to his eventual execution. Henry was also known to be extremely careful with his finances and, when he died in 1509, he would leave a financially healthy country for his second son to inherit. 

Shortly after becoming king, Henry VII had married Elizabeth of York. Elizabeth was the daughter of Edward IV and the sister of "The Princes in the Tower", who had been murdered by their uncle Richard III in 1483. Henry's claim to the throne, albeit a weak one, came through the Lancastrian line of the royal family and by marrying Yorkist Elizabeth, he hoped to unite a terribly divided nation. Henry also needed to secure his position. By defeating and killing Richard III at Bosworth thereby taking the crown, Henry had not only made himself king but a usurping king. As English history had shown before, the life of a usurper was not an easy one and Henry would have been well aware of this. The best way to secure his position was to produce sons to succeed him. The arrival of Arthur in the Autumn of 1486 would have brought great joy to not only the royal couple but to the country at large. Stability appeared to be finally in sight.

Arthur's life however would be a short one. In late 1501, he married Catherine of Aragon, the daughter of Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabella of Castile, known to history as the Catholic Monarchs. But the young couple's marriage was a short one. Just a few short months later, in the early spring of 1502, Arthur died at the age of just 15. Various explanations have been put forward for the young prince's death including sweating sickness, TB and cancer. On hearing the news of their sons passing, both Henry and Elizabeth were devastated. At first, it was Elizabeth who tried to console her overcome husband. After she had succeeded in cheering Henry a little, she went to her own chamber where she too broke down in grief. The king was sent for and it was now Henry's turn to comfort his wife. These moving moments do show a side to Henry VII that's not always discussed. He is viewed as pragmatic, hard and even cold but his clear grief for the passing of his son, and future losses, show that Henry was more complex then that.

Aside from the obvious tragic aspect of losing his son, Arthur's passing could have presented Henry with another serious problem. Henry and Elizabeth now only had one surviving son, the future Henry VIII. Another boy that had been born to the royal couple, named Edmund, had died in infancy in 1500. Whilst this too would have been deeply upsetting for the king and queen, and indeed Henry paid for an expensive funeral for the tragic infant, it would have been viewed in more pragmatic terms at the time. Infant mortality was extremely high in the 16th century and even the most powerful of families were not exempt from the devastating loss of not only one child but in many cases, numbers of children in the early years of their life. However, the loss of Edmund would have unquestionably doubled the anguish of Arthur's death 2 years later. Having had three potential male heirs in the early summer of 1500, Henry VII was now down to just the one.

The following year of 1503, things took another brutal turn for the king. In early February, Elizabeth died giving birth to a daughter who would also die not long after. These latest bereavements proved too much to bear for the king and he was taken so seriously ill that it was thought he would not pull through. For his young, and now sole, heir Prince Henry, freshly made Prince of Wales, these events would have been traumatic for a boy not even 12. He had lost his mother and his father appeared to be on the brink of death. As far as young Henry knew he could be king any day now. He was also now betrothed to Catherine of Aragon, Arthur's widow, whom he'd marry in 1509. This marriage would prove controversial. Was it acceptable for a king to take his brother's widow in marriage? Had Arthur and Catherine consummated the marriage? These fateful questions would rear their ugly head in the decades to come. But for now Prince Henry could only focus his mind on the present.

As the years marched on, Henry VII gradually became more introverted and by the time of his death in 1509, England was ready for a new era.  The old king had served his kingdom nobly. And why wouldn't he when he had done so much to not only win the crown at Bosworth but also to keep hold of it in the face of challenges at both home and abroad. The chronicler Polydore Vergil called Henry " a champion of justice...and gave the common people a life free from harm". Due to his high taxes, Henry would have been far from universally popular but his son, now Henry VIII, inherited a country in a financially healthy state.

June 1509 was certainly an eventful month in the life of the new king. Early in June, Henry and Catherine finally married. Catherine had been left in limbo somewhat after her initial betrothal to Henry as Henry VII seemed to change his mind on whether he want the marriage between his son and the Spanish princess to go ahead. But finally, the two were married in a private ceremony. The reason for keeping the ceremony private was obvious. Just two weeks later, the king and his consort would be crowned on the 24th June, just a few days before Henry's 18th birthday. Among those in attendance at the coronation was Henry's remarkable grandmother, Margaret Beaufort. Margaret had been instrumental in helping her one son Henry VII become king against the odds and seeing her grandson crowned would have been a bittersweet moment for her as she had outlived her son albeit only by a couple of months. Just 5 days after the coronation, Margaret died.

In the new king, the English people would have been delighted in what they saw. He was vibrant, strong, energetic and he was eager to please. One of the most notable events early in Henry's reign was the execution of two men named Edmund Dudley and Richard Empson who had both been extremely unpopular during the reign of Henry's father. In January 1510, a parliament, Henry's first, had been held which essentially scapegoated both Dudley and Empson for the supposed problems caused by the previous reign. The two stood no chance and they were both dead within the year. Henry continued to bolster his reputation with his people by touring the country and hearing complaints harboured against his father's minsters. The king held tournaments and showed off his prowess in the joust. However, it wasn't all good news. Catherine had become pregnant towards the end of 1509 but sadly miscarried in early 1510 and then, even more shockingly for the king, she miscarried another child just months later. This clearly demonstrates one of the biggest hardships for queen consorts in the 16th century. Even after the trauma of her first failed pregnancy, Catherine was expected to recover quickly, emotionally and physically, in order to carry out her main duty in providing her husband with heirs and spares. And it appeared Catherine was finally successful in giving Henry a son. A boy was born to the royal couple on New Years Day 1511, to general delight. Tragically though, the baby only lived a few short weeks to Catherine's great distress. As for Henry, he attempted to put on a brave face and did his best to comfort his wife.

Henry certainly had his eyes set on greatness. Aside from the priority of producing sons in order to secure a long lasting Tudor dynasty, Henry also seemed to harbour hopes of resurrecting the Hundred Years War by laying claim to territories in France that had been held by the English up until the reign of Henry VI.  Over the years to come, Henry would seek alliances, including with the Holy Roman Empire, that would boost his chances of leading successful campaigns into France. And in 1513, Henry himself sailed for Calais, England's last possession in France, along with 13,000 men. One of his first objects was to capture a city called Therouanne which had been taken by Edward III in 1346 in a clearly symbolic move that emphasises Henry's desire to be talked about in the same breath as England's great medieval kings. Henry then met his potential ally, the Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian before he did capture Therouanne which promptly sacked.

But matters at home could not be neglected. Despite, so far, having to produce Henry a son, Catherine still clearly had the king's trust. When Henry set off for his continental campaign, he left Catherine to act as his regent in a great show of trust from a man who was only into his 4th year as king. And it was a good job he did trust her. Aside from the French, England's other age old enemy were the Scots and they chose this moment to attack the North of England. An English army had to be gathered and they met the Scots at the Battle of Flodden. The Scots were thoroughly routed and, even worse for them, their king James IV was killed and Catherine had his bloody coat sent to Henry. The good news kept on coming on for Henry as he now took Tournai which capitulated quickly and readily. In the Autumn of 1513, Henry returned to England

On his return to England, Henry rewarded those who aided his successful campaign in France which included making Thomas Wolsey Bishop of Lincoln. Henry then suffered a bout of illness which was probably measles in February 1514 but he made a quick recovery. In the Spring of that year, tensions between the English king and the Emperor Maximilian who appeared to be reneging on his alliance with Henry. Fearing the Emperor was now in cahoots with the French, Henry himself decided to make peace with the French king Louis XII. A favourable agreement was reached and Henry's sister Mary married Louis as a result although she would only be queen of France for a very brief period as Louis died early in 1515.

Like England, France now had a young king. He was Francis I and Henry was eager to find out more about his counterpart. On one occasion, Henry accosted a Venetian Ambassador who was visiting his court and, speaking in French, Henry made enquiries as to what Francis was like. He asked the Ambassador if the French king was as tall as Henry, was he as stout and he even made enquiries as to the strength of Francis' legs. As if to prove a point, Henry put one of his legs on show for the Ambassador to inspect and make comparisons. In this little exchange, we can see both egotism and insecurities in Henry. What would not have been helping these insecurities was the fact that Catherine had yet another miscarriage. Even though he was still a young man at this point, I think it's safe to say that this would have been playing heavily on Henry's mind by now. The miscarriages and still births were a blow both to Henry's dynastic hopes and also his pride and how he viewed himself.

What Henry's relations were going to be with the French king was uncertain. There was a renewal of the French English peace agreement made during Louis' reign but Francis then marched into Italy where he won a brilliant victory in battle just outside Milan. Henry was not to be outdone and he now conspired against the French king despite the fact that he had professed his affection for France when he was speaking to the Venetian Ambassador. Towards the end of 1515, Thomas Wolsey was made Chancellor, shortly after the pope had made him a Cardinal.

Finally, in February 1516, Catherine gave birth to a healthy baby. Henry's joy was limited due to the fact the baby was a girl and, in his eyes,  not suitable to be his successor (despite the fact that this baby would indeed grow up to rule over England as Queen Mary I) but the fact the child was healthy was a step in the right direction for the king and queen. Henry was now convinced that boys would follow. In the summer, an outbreak of Sweating Sickness, a type of Influenza, gripped London. The Sickness could come on suddenly with it said that victims could be healthy and happy one moment and dead a couple of hours later. The Royal Court had the privilege of escaping to the country whilst, of course, the lower classes had to remain in London.

In 1519, Charles V was elected Holy Roman Emperor although Francis I had designs on stopping him and even Henry himself had ideas of through his hat into the ring as a potential candidate. Also that year, a son was born to Henry. Unfortunately, this son was born to one of Henry's mistresses. He was named Henry Fitzroy and would, for a time, be considered a possibility of being made Henry's heir despite the fact he was illegitimate. The birth of Fitzroy proved in Henry's mind that he could indeed sire male heirs and it seems likely that now may have been the time when Henry started to have doubts about Catherine although it would still be some time yet before the relationship really hit the rocks. Another consideration Henry would have taken into account was the fact that Catherine was 5 years older than Henry. She was now 32 and although still certainly of childbearing age, time was starting to run out for her. Unfortunately for the royal couple, Catherine had already had her last pregnancy which ended with a daughter being born stillborn.

In May 1520, Henry hosted the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, meeting him when he landed at Dover and escorting him to Canterbury. Having spent some with Charles, Henry then sailed for France for discussions with Francis with Charles remaining in England. A summit was held between the English and French known as the Field of the Cloth of Gold. Here, the two kings did everything from jousting and wrestling to dining together and holding more serious discussion. In their wrestling match, Francis would get the better of Henry. Henry then returned to England where he would make a treaty of friendship.

In May 1521, Edward Stafford, Duke of Buckingham was executed for treason after suspicion had been aroused as Stafford attempted to gather a small force of men combined with rumours that he had been overheard talking about the possibility of taking the throne if Henry should die. Meanwhile, tensions were rising abroad between Francis and Charles with Henry sending Cardinal Wolsey to try and make peace between the two. Secretly, Henry, despite having an agreement with the French and the fact he was being paid an annual pension by them, aimed to side with Emperor Charles and Wolsey, in a somewhat secretive manner, excused himself from discussions with the French to visit the court of Charles where a treaty was signed that ensured Henry would enter the war on the side of Charles'.  The following year of 1522 Charles returned to England to discuss his and Henry's campaigns against the French and in May Henry officially declared war.

In the Spring of 1523, Henry asked Parliament to help fund his wars in France. But getting the required money proved to be difficult. Parliament were reluctant to grant the sums Henry and Cardinal Wolsey were looking for. There were understandable questions about the war. What was Henry's intentions? Did he really hope to claim the French Crown? Or did he merely hope to regain the territories that had once been held by the English in France? This war could very easily and very quickly become a quagmire that gradually became more and more expensive with little to no gain. Eventually, after extremely tense discussions, Parliament backed down somewhat and granted a generous sum. Henry launched an expedition led by Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk, Henry's close friend, who attacked Paris but achieved very little. Although Henry planned to try again the following year, misgivings among the king's ministers must have been growing. As a result Henry abandoned those plans, at least for the timing. He had been persuaded to do so by both the advise of Cardinal Wolsey, who was heavily involved in the planning of the campaigns, and by the fact that Emperor Charles was failing to cough up the money he had agreed to pay Henry. In 1525, Charles emphatically defeated Francis at the Battle of Pavia, taking the French king prisoner. Francis was eventually released, although not before he had suffered an illness that nearly killed him, but left his two sons as Charles' hostages. Although Henry was delighted by Charles' success, he had failed to grasp that his alliance was no longer of any real significance to the Emperor who now made it plain he could do perfectly well without the English king. It did eventually dawn on Henry that his campaigns in France were going nowhere. In late 1525, Henry made peace with the French and even lobbied for Francis' release.

There were also problems at home. Henry's relationship with Catherine was beginning to break down as the king realised the likelihood of her producing a son were now virtually nonexistent, a plague had broken out which killed large numbers of people in London and a tax called the Amicable Grant had gone down like a lead balloon with Henry's subjects and Henry was left with little choice but to abandon it. It was around 1526 that a young woman at Henry's court had taken his eye. Her name was Anne Boleyn and it wasn't long before Henry started to act like a lovestruck teenager.

Henry now began to consider his options in annulling his marriage to Catherine. Henry, conveniently from his point of view, brought up a passage in a bible that prohibited a man having relations with his brother's wife or, in this case, widow. Therefore it was God passing judgement on the marriage by denying Henry a son. Cardinal Wolsey also cast doubts over the Papal dispensation that had been granted that allowed Henry's marriage to Catherine. However, this was met with resistance from Bishop John Fisher who insisted that the dispensation was legal. But any hope Henry had of having his case heard soon by the Pope was dealt a significant blow when Emperor Charles, Catherine's nephew, sacked Rome forcing the Pope to flee.

Throughout 1528, there was no sign of a resolution to Henry's desire for an annulment. Catherine's strong religious beliefs meant she was determined to remain married to Henry and in her nephew Charles, she had a powerful ally. Catherine also rightly pointed out there was no question of the legality of the marriage at the time and both she and Henry had now been married for nearly 20 years. Whatsmore, Charles' actions in Italy meant the Pope's hands were tied. If he granted Henry's request, then he could expect to feel the wrath of the Emperor. However, despite these obvious obstacles, Henry's mind was now firmly made up. He still had a respect for Catherine and perhaps even still loved her but both his desire for a male heir and his increasingly passionate feelings for Anne Boleyn meant, in Henry's mind, he was left with little option. He would spend the Christmas of 1528 with Anne.

1529 was no better for Henry. Through the early summer, the case for Henry's annulment was heard. Catherine appeared in front of the king and court and protested strongly and passionately but her words had little effect. But a heavy blow came when the Pope and Emperor Charles agreed a peace treaty. With the Pope now certain not to do anything that would upset Charles, Henry's hopes of having an annulment granted were now going down the drain. As a result, it was Henry's Chancellor, Cardinal Wolsey, who would be the scapegoat. He was removed from the Chancellorship and would die a broken man the following year having been accused of Treason but dying before he could stand trial.. He would be succeeded by Thomas More.

More however would only be Chancellor for less than 3 years as he resigned his post with Henry becoming increasingly headstrong in his dealings with the church. Meanwhile, Anne Boleyn was becoming a steadily more prominent figure. In October 1532, she was made Marchioness of Pembroke and then accompanied Henry as he travelled across the English Channel to visit Francis I. The French king had expressed his support for Henry's annulment, something which would have been extremely welcome to Henry, and also promised to support England in case of a decline in relations with the Holy Roman Emperor. Anne was in attendance as Henry had dinner with the French king and made herself quite at home. Anne was comfortable in these surroundings as she had spent time in France in her earlier years.

Henry and Anne's relationship grew in intensity and it was soon evident that Anne was expecting a child. This made Henry's desire for an annulment with Catherine even more urgent. Henry and Anne married in a secret ceremony before Henry declared himself as the Supreme Head of the Church in England. In May, Archbishop of Canterbury Thomas Cranmer declared Henry's marriage to Catherine invalid and shortly after Henry's marriage to Anne was made public. On the first day of June, Anne was crowned. You can't help but feel sorry for Catherine. She had been cast aside totally. She had not even seen Henry for two years at the time of their official separation. Catherine had been a loyal queen to Henry for nearly 20 years before their relationship began to break down. Even then, she fought hard to remain Henry's wife and stood by her principals. Catherine's only real failing was to produce a son. She would die in early 1536, only a few months before her rival Anne's execution, and is buried at Peterborough Cathedral. As for Henry, his actions here were seismic. He had officially broken away from Rome all in the name of producing a male heir.  It would be ironic therefore that, having gone to all this trouble to marry Anne Boleyn, she too would fail to give Henry a son.

Anne gave birth in September 1533. But to Henry's disappointment, it was a girl. The baby was named Elizabeth and would grow up to be England's first successful female ruler (her half sister Mary being queen before her but can hardly be considered a success). Unrest at Henry's controversial marriage continued at the king relied on Thomas Cromwell, one of his most prominent ministers, to stamp out opposition when and where he found it. This included the hanging and beheading of a nun, named Elizabeth Barton, alongside 5 men. The 6 unfortunate people had their heads stuck on a spike on London Bridge with Barton's head being the only female one to ever receive that dishonour. An act of succession was passed that declared Henry's second marriage legitimate and also legitimised the right to succeed to the throne of any children produced from the marriage. It was required for all to take an oath accepting the act but men like Thomas More and John Fisher. Then Parliament passed the Act of Supremacy, making Henry officially the Supreme Head of the Church in England. Compliance was non-negotiable but More and Fisher refused to acknowledge the act and both men were executed. Henry's reign had now fully descended into tyranny.

In 1535, Thomas Cromwell began his investigation into the Monasteries which would eventually lead to Henry closing them in order to steal their wealth. Meanwhile, Henry was no further along in his quest for a son with Anne having a miscarriage in 1534 and then another shortly after Henry suffered a bad injury while jousting. Henry was unconscious for a significant period of time and it's speculated he suffered a brain injury as he became increasingly despotic in the years to come. After recovering from his injury, Henry began to take an interest in one of Anne's ladies in waiting, Jane Seymour. And, thanks to the machinations of Anne's rival Thomas Cromwell, it wasn't long before the king was able to rid himself of another wife. Rumours had spread of Anne committing adultery and, alongside 5 men including her brother George, were arrested and interrogated. Accusations against them included adultery, plotting against the king and, in Anne and George's case, incest. Their fate was sealed and all 6 were executed. Being a kind and loving man, Henry commuted Anne's execution from Burning to Beheading and, in another of "kindness", he ordered an expert French swordsman to carry out the act rather than the usual clumsy executions with the use of an axe. Anne was executed in May 1536. She was no Saint. She had positioned herself cleverly so that one day she would become queen but was she guilty of the accusations against her? Unlikely. She, like the 5 largely forgotten men that died with her, was just another victim of the increasingly brutal reign of Henry VIII.

Henry spent little time mourning for Anne and days later he married his third wife Jane Seymour. Jane would produce Henry a son, his successor Edward VI, but she would die only a couple of weeks after giving birth, leaving Henry distraught. Jane is sometimes portrayed as something of a shrinking violet but this was not necessarily the case. She proved on occasions that she could stand up to her husband and, had she lived longer, she may well have proved to have been a stabilising force in Henry's later years. Also in 1536, an uprising in protest against Henry and his government's actions over the previous few years took place, known as the Pilgrimage of Grace. The uprising was suppressed brutally and it's leaders, including a man named Robert Aske were executed.

Throughout 1538, Henry, aided by Cromwell, became increasingly oppressive. A friar named John Forrest was burned at the stake, relics and shrines were destroyed and there was a serious clampdown on pilgrimages. A woman named Margaret Pole,in her mid 60s, Countess of Salisbury and mother of a cardinal named Reginald, was arrested and imprisoned in the Tower of London. She would eventually be executed with her supposed crime a mystery to her. To make things even worse for the poor woman, her execution was carried out by a young man completely inexpert in his trade and he made a complete mess of it though Margaret perhaps didn't help by refusing to keep her head still in one last act of defiance.

In 1539, Henry ordered the country's defences to be strengthened, particularly along the coast and he also gathered a sizeable army. Henry's paranoia was not helped by a peace treaty being agreed by Francis I and Charles V. Henry V feared his actions against the Catholic Church would one day lead to a foreign superpower, or perhaps an alliance of superpowers, invading his country. Meanwhile, Henry was still without a wife and so he sent his court painter Hans Holbein The Younger to paint a portrait of a young woman named Anne of Cleves. On seeing the portrait, he agreed to marry her and, of course, this would prove to be a total disaster. And it would be Cromwell who paid the price. He was accused of numerous crimes including Treason and he would be executed. It's hard to feel sorry for him given how Cromwell had ensured Anne Boleyn would fall and given the role he played in the increasingly brutal nature of Henry's government. Ironically, Anne of Cleves probably fair better in allowing the divorce from Henry without having any objections and his next wife, a young girl named Katherine Howard, was not so fortunate.

By this stage, Henry was in a wretched state. Grossly overweight, no end of ailments afflicting him and incapable of performing in marital affairs, being married to such a man, especially one as brutish as Henry, would have been quite horrifying for a young girl not even out of her teens. It was no surprise that Katherine would seek comfort elsewhere and she, alongside her lover Thomas Culpeper and former lover Francis Dereham, would go to the block. In 1543, Henry married his sixth and final wife, Katherine Parr with whom he'd have a good relationship with. By the mid 1540s, Henry was at war with both Scotland and France and struggling both to finance the campaigns due to lack of money and also to lead due to his increasingly bad health. In 1546 Henry agreed a peace with the French and he would die in January 1547 aged 55.

So ended the life of a remarkable man. At the start of his reign, the English nation was hopeful. Here was an energetic, powerful young man eager to please his people. But beneath the surface, there were clearly troubling aspects to Henry's personality.  Henry clearly wanted to be a big player on the European stage hence why he considered making himself a candidate to be Holy Roman Emperor. He had visions of conquering France and reigniting England's glory days during the Hundred Years War. But this was all well beyond his capabilities and his foreign policies would prove to be enormously expensive. His reign at home became increasingly brutal and some estimates say as many as 72,000 people were executed during his 37 and a half year reign. An appalling number though possibly an exaggeration. Men and women died violent deaths with many being almost completely innocent of what they were accused of. And of course Henry's treatment of his wives was ghastly. It's not hard to see why history is so fascinated by this man, the most famous of all our kings...Henry VIII.

 

Heraclius : Byzantine Emperor 610-641

 

In the year  610, a man by the name of Heraclius took the Byzantine throne. The Byzantine people were more than happy to see the back of the man Heraclius had usurped, named Phocas. Phocas had usurped Maurice in 602 and executed a number of Maurice's sons in front of him before killing the emperor himself. This unbelievable act of cruelty was a sign of things to come from Phocas and his 8 year long reign was punctuated with similar acts of violence. Phocas lived by the sword and would ultimately die by the sword. In the months leading up to Phocas deposition, plots against him were rife. One plot that Phocas foiled led to the emperor having the commander of his bodyguard executed in a marketplace within the walls of Constantinople. But this did nothing to help Phocas' popularity and the plan now was to have the emperor killed whilst Games were being held. This plot failed after one of the participants began to have misgivings and informed Phocas. The informant probably regretted his decision however and the emperor had him, as well as the other conspirators, beheaded.

Whilst this had been going on, the Senate asked for help against Phocas from one of the Byzantine generals based in North Africa, Heraclius' father, of the same name. Heraclius the Elder agreed to the request and sent his son to depose Phocas. Another general, Gregoras, heeded the appeal also sent of his sons, Niketas, to depose Phocas. It was now essentially a race between Heraclius and Niketas to get to Constantinople first, remove Phocas from power and become emperor themselves. Knowing that Heraclius was on his way, Phocas seized both Heraclius' mother and his fiancee and kept them under armed guard. But ultimately this desperate act would not work. Heraclius arrived at the city walls and attacked Constantinople's harbour. Battle was joined but Phocas had run out of time and sympathisers. He was seized by a mob of irate citizens and brutally put to death. Heraclius was proclaimed Emperor soon after.

Early indicators of what was to come in Heraclius' reign came in May 610 as the Byzantines' erstwhile enemy the Persians infringed upon Byzantine territory, campaigning in Syria, taking Edessa and making it as far as Antioch. A Byzantine army was sent out to meet them but was thoroughly routed. Much of Heraclius' reign would be taken up by his dealings with the Persians. And to make matters worse for the new emperor, there was another threat to the Byzantines, this time coming from Europe in the shape of the Avars who were causing much devastation indeed. 

With Heraclius struggling to come to terms with the problems facing his empire, the Persians continued on their merry way, taking Damascus in 613. Desperately seeking to stop his enemies from advancing any further, Heraclius sent envoys to the Persian king Chosroes II, hoping for a peace agreement in order to stop the bloodshed of his people. To sweeten the deal, Heraclius offered to pay tribute but Chosroes sent the envoys away empty handed. He had no intentions of stopping his advance. And then Chosroes struck his biggest blow yet by capturing Jerusalem and with it, the Persians also took the True Cross, the cross on which Jesus was supposedly crucified. The Persians would then go on to take Egypt. His sense of desperation increasing, Heraclius again attempted to negotiate with Chosroes but again failed to make any headway.

In 618, Thrace came under attack by the Avars. Heraclius, again, attempted to use diplomacy to put an end to the trouble as his focus was on campaigning against the Persians. Initially, peace seemed to have been reached reasonably quickly but the Avars went back on their word and went back to plundering and pillaging. Unamused, Heraclius again brought them to terms and in 622, Heraclius moved against Chosroes and the Persians. To help fund his campaign, Heraclius used loans from the church as he was struggling financially. That wasn't his only problem. Heraclius was also not impressed by the condition of his army. He found them to be lazy and ill disciplined. The emperor trained his men as best as he could and set off on a long, difficult and dangerous mission. Heraclius took his men through Armenia where they won an early skirmish against the Persians and took as prisoner one of their generals. Another Persian then attempted to attack Heraclius' men but advancing down from a mountainside, but again the Byzantines were successful and plundered much of the Persians provisions. It was early days in the campaign but Heraclius had made a good start.

Heraclius once again wrote to Chosroes seeking peace but this time, he wrote with a more forceful tone. He threatened to invade Persia if Chosroes did not agree to come to terms. Confident in his own might, Chosroes dismissed the threat out of hand.and so in April 623, Heraclius led his men into the heart of Persia, sacking and plundering as they went. Heraclius got word that Chosroes was at a city called Gazakon and, without hesitation, marched his men to face down his enemy. Alarmed at this development, Chosroes fled. Heraclius would eventually spend the freezing winter in Albania.

Throughout, Chosroes sent out a number of his generals to harass and harry Heraclius and his army to prevent them from re-entering Persian territory but the Byzantines held their enemies off. They then headed towards Syria where they would rest but would continue to be tracked by the Persians with skirmishes breaking out and losses were sustained on both sides. Meanwhile, Chosroes came up with a plan. He put together a sizeable army which included recruits from foreign lands and sent them out to confront Heraclius. Hoping to distract the emperor, Chosroes sent another force to attack Constantinople. Heraclius got word of this and divided his army into three, sending one part of guard Constantinople. Another division of the army  routed a Persian force at Nineveh, striking a sizeable blow to a furious Chosroes.

The force that Chosroes had sent out to attack Constantinople was currently attacking Chalcedon where they would spend the winter. The Avars launched an ambitious plan to take Constantinople themselves but would fail.  Much to the shock of the Persian king, Heraclius invaded Persia in midwinter and sacked towns and cities and went in hot pursuit of Chosroes. Chosroes was obliged to leave a city called Dastagird and head for his capital, Ctesiphon which is where Chosroes would be deposed and executed. Peace was agreed between the Byzantines and the Persians and the war was at an end and Heraclius finally withdrew from Persia.

Heraclius returned to Constantinople where he would, unsurprisingly, decide to rest. Having brought an end to the Persian wars, it wouldn't be long before Heraclius faced another threat, this time from Arab forces. The Arabs marched onwards taking Damascus, Antioch and other lands. They would take Egypt and also completely overwhelm the Persians. In 641, Heraclius died, possibly of dropsy. His reign was a long one, especially in the context of Byzantine history, over 30 years. The start of his reign had been relatively tentative but he grew in stature as time went on. As a commander, he both fought and led bravely. He had also restored Christian honour by reclaiming the supposed True Cross and reinstating it in Jerusalem. However, it was unfortunate for Heraclius that, having overcome one major enemy, another would emerge, undoing much of the territorial gains he had made after the end of the Persian wars.

The Second Crusade

 50 years after the dramatically successful First Crusade, Europe was once again preparing itself for Holy War. Christian Crusader States in the East, which had been established in the aftermath of the First Crusade, were coming under attack. This is the story of the Second Crusade.

In 1144, the Crusader state of Edessa came under attack by the increasingly powerful Turkish ruler Zenghi. In the winter of that year, Zenghi besieged the city, demanding it's surrender by the Christians before he launched his assault and it wasn't long before Edessa fell into his hands. On breaching the city, the Turks wreaked havoc, killing young and old, monks and nuns alike. This was a bitter blow for Christianity. Word of the calamity soon reached the ears of Pope Eugenius III and he called for a new Crusade. In December 1145, he wrote to King Louis VII of France, imploring him to take the Cross. In return, Louis and whoever joined him, were promised full remission of their previous sins. Louis took the Cross in March 1146, having already held discussions with his nobility about the venture the previous Christmas, and preparations began for the long and difficult journey.

One of the most important figures in recruitment participants for the Crusade was Bernard of Clairvaux. Bernard was overwhelmingly successful in his mission as he preached not only across France but also in Germany and the Low Countries. Men and Women, Young and Old greeted his message with tremendous enthusiasm. Bernard even convinced Conrad III, King of Germany, to join the expedition. The Crusade was gathering momentum. But, as with the First Crusade, things took a dark and truly dreadful turn. Strictly against Bernard's message, innocent communities of Jewish people were brutally attacked. Jews were killed in violent uprisings across France and Germany. In Wurzburg, a brutal murder of a man, with his body hacked to pieces, was blamed on the Jews, completely without evidence, and men, women and children were murdered without discrimination. 

In 1147, a different type of Crusade, although intertwined with the Second Crusade, took place as men from Germany, with the approval of Bernard, launched an expedition to Christianise the Pagan Slavs. This is known as the Wendish Crusade and is the beginning of what is known as the Northern Crusades as parts of Europe remained stubbornly pagan. Also in 1147, men from England, France and the Low Countries took part in the siege of Lisbon. Their intended destination had been the East but were diverted towards Portugal. Centuries earlier, Iberia had been subject of Islamic conquest but now the Christian fightback in the peninsula was well and truly under way and the siege of Lisbon proved to be the most notable success for the Christians in its wars against Islam in the late 1140s.

On a hot June day, Louis VII would begin his journey. Among those travelling with him was his wife, the now infamous Eleanor of Aquitaine. Anticipation was high but Louis appeared to be in no particular hurry. At St Denis, he dined with some monks as members of his retinue were practically fainting from heat exhaustion which was exacerbated by high emotions. Finally Louis departed, lagging not too far behind Conrad III who would take ship at Regensburg. Conrad III would arrive at Constantinople, greeted by the Byzantine Emperor Manuel I Comnenus. Although Manuel greeted Conrad warmly, there would have been high suspicion of the Crusaders intentions.  During their journey, and having entered Byzantine territory, the Crusaders had caused something of a disturbance by plundering. Manuel sent out an army to keep an eye on these new arrivals into his empire and a battle broke out with the Byzantines besting the Crusaders, killing a number of Westerners. Conrad would have been glad to have reached Constantinople but tensions would certainly have existed.

Manuel, when he heard of Conrad's intentions to fight his Saracen enemies, was highly unconvinced. He warned his counterpart that they were heading into not only hostile territory but also into a terrain that was harsh and difficult. But Conrad remained steadfast in his determination to wage this Holy War and the Emperor provided him with ships and weaponry. However, it was not long before Conrad and his men got into difficulty. The Crusaders travelled onto Nicaea where they rested for three days.  They came to a Muslim city called Laodicea which they intended to capture but soon succumbed to devastating thirst and hunger. The Muslims, seeing their enemies fragility, fell upon without mercy, killing and enslaving huge numbers. The arrival of Louis did nothing to change matters as his army also suffered huge losses. On hearing of the Crusaders' plight, Manuel wrote to Conrad, urging him to return to Constantinople. With little other option, Conrad accepted the offer.

In March 1148, Louis and his wife Eleanor arrived in Northern Syria with the French king intent on Jerusalem. At Symeon, Louis was greeted by Prince Raymond of Antioch, who happened to be Eleanor's Uncle. Raymond, in the arrival of the Crusaders, saw an opportunity to expand his own power by capturing neighbouring cities including Aleppo. However, Louis was absolutely hellbent on continuing onto Jerusalem and would not be diverted from that. Frustrated, Raymond turned against the French king and rumours even began to circulate that he had an affair with Eleanor. Louis became aware of these rumours and the marriage with Eleanor would go into rapid decline.

In the summer of 1148, Louis and Conrad held a council with the king of Jerusalem Baldwin III in which the decision was taken to Damascus. This would prove to be a total failure as huge numbers of Crusaders were killed in the effort of taking the city. Various explanations for the failure were concocted with one Chronicler blaming the Templar knights whom he accused of accepting bribes from the Muslims. With food and supplies running low, the decision was taken by the leaders of the Crusading army to return home. The Second Crusade had proved to be a total disaster.

.

Emma of Normandy

 Emma of Normandy had the honour, if that's what you want to call it, of being married to two kings of England and mother to another two. The first of her husbands was Aethelred II, better known to history as Aethelred The Unready. His reign was a complete and utter disaster. Unlike previous Anglo Saxon kings who fought against Viking raiders valiantly, Aethelred was hopelessly out of his depth. Bribery was his main method of staving off further devastation in his kingdom which failed dismally. In 1002, Aethelred made an ill advised decision in a desperate attempt to show he could fight back. That year, he ordered an indiscriminate slaughter of Danes leaving peacefully in England. Men and women, young and old were killed. Among the victims was the sister of the Danish king Sweyn Forkbeard and her husband. Furious, Sweyn would make Aethelred's life a misery for the next decade until he eventually he deposed and exiled the English king in late 1013. Sweyn didn't enjoy power in England for long and in early February 1014, he died. Aethelred returned from exile but Sweyn's son Cnut took up his father's cause. On Aethelred's death in 1016, the throne of England would be up for grabs between Cnut and Aethelred's son Edmund Ironside. Emma was now widowed but not for long. In 1017, she married Cnut after he had successfully seen off the challenge of Edmund who had been murdered at the end of 1016.  Emma was now Queen of England for a second time.

With Aethelred, Emma had produced three children. Edward, who would be known to history as Edward The Confessor, Alfred, who would be murdered quite horribly in the mid 1030s and a daughter called Godgifu who became Countess of Bolougne. With Cnut, Emma produced two more children. A daughter, Gunhilda, who married the German king and would-be Holy Roman Emperor Henry III and a son named Harthacnut who, like his half brother Edward The Confessor, would also become king of England. Emma's father was Count of Rouen and her mother, a woman named Gunnor. During her lifetime, a book was written in praise of her called the Ecomniun Emmae Reginae which, as the image shows was actually presented to her. As one can imagine, it's lavish in it's praise of it's subject. Emma is described as being of the "greatest nobility and wealth" and praised her beauty. She was also apparently a shrewd woman as well.  When Cnut sent messengers seeking her hand in marriage, Emma played a canny game. She knew that Cnut had sons from an earlier relationship with another woman. This meant, if Emma was to produce more sons for the king of England,  then their's, as well as Emma's, futures would be very uncertain if Cnut died. Emma wanted guarantees for her and her offprings future before she accepted his marriage proposal. Cnut agreed to her terms and they were married.

According to the Ecomniun, there was great rejoicing at the marriage between Emma and Cnut. This may be a bit of an exaggeration. Cnut was, in effect, a conqueror and his popularity would have been far from universal with the Anglo Saxons. But over time, Cnut grew in confidence and, with sensible governance, he established his authority. He reigned for nearly 2 decades in England and his reign can be certainly considered a success, especially when stood in contrast with the reign of Aethelred The Unready. But with Cnut's death in 1035, came uncertainty for Emma. It was Harold Harefoot, Cnut's son from his first marriage, who seized power. The heavily biased Ecomniun accuses Harold of using threats of force to claim  the crown and the author also blames the nobility for abandoning Emma's sons. With Harthacnut preoccupied in Denmark, Emma wrote to her sons from her first marriage, Edward and Alfred, who had remained in Normandy after their father's deposition in 1013. Emma urged them, or at least one of them, to return to England and remove Harold Harefoot from power. Emma knew she faced political extinction if things carried on the way they were. Edward and Alfred though, would heed her call.

In 1036, Edward and Alfred arrived in England but disaster soon befell them. There are different versions of what happened. One is that Alfred and Edward were attacked almost as soon as they landed. Another is that they were brought to Guildford by Earl Godwine, the most powerful man in England at the time, where scores of Edward and Alfred's retinue were violently attacked by King Harold's men. Among the victims was Alfred who had been blinded in such hideous fashion he died of his injuries not long after.  Edward escaped the violence but, in keeping with Emma's sensible advice, he swiftly returned to Normandy. Emma too came to the realisation that England was becoming an increasingly dangerous place for her and she too crossed the Channel, making her way to Flanders. Emma was greeted with warmth by the Count of Flanders and here she could plot potential revenge on Harold Harefoot. 

Her first move was to write to Harthacnut to inform him of the great injustice that had befallen her, Edward and Alfred and she implored him to come to her aid. But in 1040, Harefoot died, leaving the path clear for Emma and Harthacnut to travel to England. In their eyes, Harefoot was a usurper. There were serious question marks over Harefoot's birth and even if he was really the son of Cnut. His brutal treatment of Alfred made him little more than a tyrant and Harthacnut showed the world what he thought of Harefoot by having his corpse dug up and thrown in a bog. Harthacnut had far more brotherly affection for Edward and the two had a good relationship during the former's brief reign. 

After years of turbulence, Emma may have looked forward to a period of stability. At the time of Harthacnut's death in 1042, she was well into her 50s but with the succession of her one remaining son,Edward,  further strife would befall her. The all too powerful Earl Godwine began to whisper false accusations about Emma to King Edward, even suggesting treason and, for a time, it worked. Emma lost lands and titles but she eventually came back into the king's favour. She died in 1052. The wife of two  kings of England, the mother of another two kings of England, Emma had been right at the centre of English politics for half a century.

The Life and Reign of Henry IV

 

Henry IV was born in 1367 in Bolingbroke, Lincolnshire. His parents were John of Gaunt, the third son of Edward III, and Blanche of Lancaster, Gaunt's first of three wives. It was through this marriage to Blanche that Gaunt would gain control of Lancaster, first as Earl and then as Duke. When John died in 1399, he would pass on the inheritance of the duchy of Lancaster to his son Henry. It was a dispute over this that would lead to Henry Bolingbroke becoming king. But for Henry growing up, the opportunity to become king would have seemed remote. Up until 1376, Edward III's heir was his oldest son, Edward, The Black Prince. And The Prince too had an heir; a boy by the name of Richard who was born in the same year as his cousin Henry. However, when the Black Prince died in 1376, the throne moved that bit closer to Henry. It was Richard, though, who succeeded Edward III in 1377 as Richard II.

John of Gaunt was not a popular man. He was the richest and most powerful man in England and there was civil unrest. In 1381, the Peasants Revolt exploded in a fire of rage and fury of discontented lower class men and women, outraged at the burdens of taxation that was being thrust upon them. They marched on London, destroying and killing as they went. Powerful figures like the chancellor and treasurer met their grisly ends at the hands of the peasants. John was lucky, in a fashion, as he was on campaign in the north and escaped much of the wrath. He would have been one of the first on the rebels hit list if he had been in reach. His palace at Savoy was destroyed though. But Gaunt's son Henry was not so fortunate. He was in London, holed up at the Tower of London whilst the revolt was taking place, alongside the king. But once the rebels had made their way into the Tower, the fourteen year old Henry was in serious danger. If the rebels couldn't get their hands on the despised Gaunt, then they well might target his son and heir. There are a couple of versions of events that describe Henry's narrow escape. One is that, with the rebels closing in on him, Henry was hastily shoved into a closet to hide by a soldier guarding the Tower. Another was that a guard pleaded for the young boy's life and succeeded. Either way, Henry was saved by the quick thinking of a tower guard.

Despite successfully seeing off the Peasants Revolt before the whole country went up in flames, Richard II's reign soon descended into chaos and largely because of the young king's over inflated ego. In 1385, Richard, now 18, plotted against John of Gaunt and wanted him done away with. Richard was threatened by his over-mighty uncle. Gaunt, rather sensibly, took himself out of harm's way and placed himself in Pontefract Castle and made sure he had plenty of men and provisions to see out this crisis. Relations between he and his nephew were at an all time low. Another welcome distraction for Gaunt was Castile. After his first wife Blanche had died, he'd married again, a woman by the name of Constance of Castile, and he now claimed the title of King of Castile through right of this marriage. He made preparations for his expedition.

 Meanwhile, discontent at Richard's reign was growing. Henry, and other members of the nobility, accused members of Richard's government of treason, a most grave charge. The discontented noblemen became known as the Lords Appellant. Matters continued to decline and there was a skirmish at a place called Radcot Bridge. It's given the title of battle but it really was no more than a skirmish. From Radcot Bridge one of the men who had most irked the Lords Appellant, Robert De Vere, was forced to flee. Only a tiny handful of men were killed. But in the Merciless Parliament of 1388, a number of close advisers to the king were executed after they had been formally accused of Treason. To make matters worse, the men accused were not given proper trials and died a traitors death. Richard was not a man who forgave easily and the shadow of this parliament would hang over England for the years to come.

Whilst the situation in England remained grim, Henry decided to go on Crusade on two occasions in the 1390s. Henry took part in the Northern Crusades, an effort to Christianise the parts of Northern Europe that remained Pagan. Whilst Henry's efforts were not overly successful, he made something of a name for himself through his deeds and he also made a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. But whilst these adventures would have been tremendously exciting for a young man in his 20s, the political reality of England could not be delayed forever. Rather than forgiving the Lords and attempting to bring some desperately needed stability to England, Richard sought revenge. Among those to die were the Earl of Arundel and Thomas of Woodstock, his own uncle. Then, after Henry had fallen into dispute with a man by the name of Thomas Mowbray, Richard had them prepare to joust to solve the matter. Before the two came to blows, Richard, in an act full of drama, stood up and sentenced the pair to exile. Henry for 10 years, Mowbray for life. Mowbray died in 1399 of the plague but Henry, as we now know, would return. Richard had descended into tyranny. There was no legal basis for him to act this way but his ego was still bruised from a decade earlier. Gaunt died in 1399 and the Duchy of Lancaster, the wealthiest in the land, should now have passed to Henry. But with Henry now in exile, Richard decided to enrich himself and keep the duchy. Fortunately Richard wasn't very bright and chose this moment in time to go to Ireland, leaving his kingdom vulnerable. Henry seized his chance. He landed at Ravenspur in Yorkshire to seize his inheritance. But Richard had alienated a lot of people. The crown was there for the taking and so Henry, after capturing Richard in Wales, took his cousin to the Tower of London, formally deposed him and sent Richard to Ponterfract castle. He starved to death the following year. Bolingbroke was now Henry IV.

Henry is praised for his kingly qualities. Wise and prudent, he is said to have had good judgement. If this is indeed the case then Henry must have known, as a usurper, that he had set a precedent and that if he could depose a king, then he too would be vulnerable. A plot to assassinate Henry at Windsor Castle and restore Richard was soon unearthed. The perpetrators were caught and executed and this would have confirmed to Henry the necessity to remove Richard for good, cousin or not. What might have especially concerned Henry is the range of men behind the plot. Not just knights but also members of the clergy too. The most persistent of problems for Henry came from Wales and a man by the name of Owain Glyndwr. Glyndwr claimed lands that were rightfully his were being denied to him and so he went into open rebellion. Henry marched into Wales and put down these first flames of revolt but Glyndwr would remain a nuisance for the entirety of Henry's reign. Henry then received at his court a most remarkable visitor. This was Manuel II, the Byzantine Emperor. Manuel was the only Eastern Roman Emperor to ever visit England which shows the desperate nature of his plight. The Byzantine empire was in decline and at constant danger from the Ottomans. He came seeking aid, which Henry provided and whom treated Manuel with the hospitality a man of his stature demanded. But for all the assistance Henry and other western rulers provided for Manuel, there was, by this stage, no long term hope for the Byzantine empire and it would fall just over half a century later.

Henry, at this stage, was unmarried. His first wife Mary, mother of his eventual successor Henry V, had died some years earlier. His second wife, and now queen, was Joan of Navarre, whom he married in 1403. That same year, Henry faced his next serious rebellion. This came in the form of a powerful nobleman in the north, a man called Henry Percy. He is better known to history as Harry Hotspur. Hotspur's forces engaged the King's men in battle at Shrewsbury. Perhaps trying to live up to his name, Hotspur charged into battle and was cut down and the king's army was victorious. More worryingly for Henry though was the injury suffered by his son, Prince Henry. The 16 year old had taken an arrow to the face. He survived but was permanently scarred. Henry's reign continued to be dogged by revolts. Hotspur's successor, another Henry Percy, stirred up trouble in the North of England and Henry even had to execute his Archbishop of York. Despite being quite successful in the North, Henry had far greater difficulty in subduing Wales. Glyndwr continued to pester him and, to add insult to injury, Henry lost vast treasure during thunderstorms, including his crowns. Wales had always been a difficult country to keep in line and Henry was finding that out for himself. In 1406, the Scottish king, the 12 year old James I, was captured on his way to France and brought to Henry IV. If the Scots now wished to cause trouble, Henry had a powerful weapon to use. Also that year was the long parliament where after a painstaking amount of time, an unpopular tax was passed. As the reign went on, Henry IV's health gradually grew worse and worse and his heir Prince Henry became more influential. The king is said to have suffered from leprosy. Whatever his condition was, it's clear that it became so severe that it was beginning to affect his rule and Prince Henry, with the backing of other members of the nobility, asked the king to abdicate in favour of himself. In a last statement of defiance, Henry refused his son's request and, as if to prove a point, went on a tour of the country. But his health failed him soon after and he died in 1413. It's not really a surprise Henry IV's reign was a short one. Constant rebellions must have taken a tremendous toll on the king's health and try as he might, his kingdom never had true peace under his kingship.

Edgar The Peaceful

 

Edgar is a king who perhaps does not get the credit that is due to him. Edgar became king in 959 on the death of Eadwig. In the previous century, there had been a number of highly capable rulers who were vital in laying the foundations for Modern England. The most notable are Alfred The Great, Edward The Elder and Aethelstan. Some though, including Alfred's father Aethelwulf, have been almost ignored despite them laying the groundwork for the achievements of Alfred and his immediate successors. Edgar's case is slightly different. His reign is best remembered for relative stability in a troubled time. Following him though was the calamitous reign of Aethelred II. And it's largely because of that Edgar is very often ignored. 

 Edgar was born in the mid 940s which means he was only about 15 or 16 when he became king after the death of Eadwig. Eadwig himself died young, around the age of 19. Eadwig's reign got off to a terrible start He was discovered alone with two noblewomen at his coronation feast by Abbot Dunstan who was not impressed and separated the trio. Eadwig didn't forget this and he soon banished Dunstan from his kingdom. Eadwig's reign didn't improve and his rule proved to be unpopular. It could only be hoped that his successor Edgar would do a better job. And it became clear fairly quickly into Edgar's reign that he was indeed more suited for kingship. The Anglo Saxon Chronicle praises him quite lavishly. Nobility and rulers of other kingdoms were happy to pay homage to him. He is praised for having good judgement and he ensured peace throughout the kingdom. What undoubtedly helped Edgar is that there seems to have been a tailing off, during his reign, of Viking activity. For the time being, Viking raids were being directed elsewhere but Edgar took advantage of that to bring prosperity to his kingdom. His laws and the justice he brought to England are impressive and admirable. In fact, just over 40 years after Edgar died, King Cnut made reference to the laws that had been passed during the reign of Edgar and he swore to uphold them. 

No doubt this was Cnut's attempts to appease the Anglo Saxons who were not impressed by being ruled by a Dane. What this indicates is the impressive authority Edgar had as king. Edgar recalled the wise Dunstan, who would become a saint, from exile and made him Archbishop of Canterbury, Between them, Dunstan and Edgar reorganised the church. First by driving out corrupt members of the clergy and then by rebuilding the monasteries that had been devastated by the Vikings.

Edgar is believed to have been married three times, the most important of these relationships were the first and third. His first marriage, with a woman named Aethelflaed, produced a son and heir, Edward The Martyr. His third marriage was to a woman named Elfrida. With her, he'd have two more sons. One died young, but the other would go on to become king Aethelred II in 978 after Elfrida had murdered her own stepson Edward The Martyr, three years after he had succeeded his father, Edgar. It wasn't all blissful peace throughout Edgar's reign. In 966, a noble raised an army and caused considerable damage. And, in the South, Edgar seems to have felt obliged to retaliate to a revolt in Kent, which he did so, in heavy handed fashion. Both crises though ended relatively quickly. Edgar, in 973, was crowned alongside his queen Elfrida. He would have been declared king in a formal ceremony after he succeeded to the throne but this was the first major ceremony. In attendance at the ceremony, was the king of Scots, Kenneth II, who swore loyalty to the king. This again demonstrates the stability of Edgar's reign. This ceremony indicates that Edgar probably thought he had a lot more time left. But just two years after this coronation at Bath, Edgar died aged 31 or 32. So ended Edgar The Peaceful. He ruled justly, wisely and fairly. But little did he know, his premature death would be followed by decades of turmoil. And Edgar's queen had no little part to play in that. It's an interesting thought to ponder if Edgar could have handled a sustained period of Viking rai

The History of Anglo Saxon England

 

For me, the easiest way of portraying life after the departure of the Romans is to walk through the reigns of key and prominent figures, what actions they took and, if possible, to discuss what repercussions they had. My plan is to give a brief overview of some of the kings in the 6th and 7th centuries and it won’t be until the late 8th century until a bit more flesh can be put on the bones. To begin with, we have king Cerdic who ruled over Wessex from 519 to 534. From the Anglo Saxon Chronicles, we can tell that Cerdic spent much of his reign fighting, particularly against the Britons. In the year he succeeded to the kingdom of Wessex, Cerdic, alongside Cynric fought against the Britons at Cerdicesford.in modern Salisbury in their first encounter. 8 years later, Cerdic and his son again engaged the Britons, this time at Cerdiceslea in Somerset where they were victorious. In 530, they captured the Isle of Wight. 4 years later, on the death of Cerdic, Cynric succeeded his father to the throne. Cynric reigned as king of Wessex for a total of 26 years and his career is most notable for his successes in battle, defeating the Britons in battle in 552. Unlike later kings of England, he seems to have been comfortable handing power to family letting Stuf and Wihtgar rule the Isle of Wight. That’s a quite notable gesture to relinquish some power in those times as he could have been creating potential rivals for his kingdom. He seems to have been confident in his own position enough and trusting of Stuf and Wihtgar enough to be able to do that. His reign is largely uneventful so it can be seen that Cynric was a strong and capable ruler. In the north, in 565, Columba was sent to convert the picts to Christianity and built his monastery on Iona. In 568, the king of Wessex,Ceawlin fought against the king of Kent, Aethelbryt and defeated him in a skirmish. In 577, Ceawlin continued the Wessex success and captured three cities from the Britons, Gloucester, Cirencester and Bath. Although one of his allies was killed a few years later, Ceawlin continued his dominance and captured more and more towns, expanding his kingdom. His run was to come to an end in 592 where he suffered heavy losses in battle at a site in Wiltshire and was driven back. Ceawlin died one year later. Despite that defeat, he had continued Wessex’s military successes and expanded the kingdom. In 597, probably the most significant event in early Anglo Saxon history saw the arrival of Augustine in England to convert the pagan Saxon Kingdoms. The first notable conversion was the king of Northumbria in 601. There seems to have been strong resistance among the Welsh to heed Augustine’s message and as a result many were killed by Saxon tribes who were converting. The Welsh continued to resist and some 200 priests were killed when they were sent there to pray for the Welsh. Augustine died not long after his event but thanks to him, there was now a church in England. He was buried at his abbey in Canterbury. In 617, Northumbria had a new king called Edwin who seems to have been a formidable and forceful king as he defeated all the other major Saxon kingdoms except for Kent. After a failed assination attempt on him, Edwin retaliated against Wessex by launch a brutal attack on the kingdom and forcing them into submission. After being converted in 627, Edwin ruled for a further 6 years before he and his heir were killed in battle. Edwin was one of the most formidable warrior kings of his time and a early fore runner to later kings who sought to unite the country.

Over the course of the next century, life continued in pretty much the same with the kingdoms fighting among themselves with Kent suffering particularly extensive damage in the late seventh century. In 757, the most famous of all Anglo Saxon kings before Alfred the Great, Offa, became king of Mercia. Unsurprisingly, his route to the crown was not straightforward and he had to fight to win it but he reigned eventually for nearly 40 years. Offa's main rival was a Cynewulf, a king of Wessex, who he engaged in battle in 779. Offa's main legacy and one of Anglo Saxon's most famous legacies, is Offa's Dyke which was probably built in around the 780s. It is probable, though not absolutely certain, that is was his construction. It was during the last few years of Offa's reign that a sense of foreboding swept the land and ominous signs were being spotted. In 793, the monastery at Lindisfarne was sacked. This was the beginning of the Viking raids. England's relationship with the Norsemen would last up until 1066 when Harald Hardrada was killed at the Battle of Stamford Bridge. The Danes attacked again in 836 where they were victorious at the Battle of Carhampton from whereon the attacks became more sustained though they were not entirely invincible and were driven back in 838 although that was only temporary respite and they were to come again. They gained several victories although in 851 they suffered a couple of major setbacks as they sustained dramatic casualties in battles in the South West and then when they retreated towards Surrey, they were hammered in battle by King Aethelwulf. What we have seen here is that although the Vikings were indeed might warriors, the Anglo Saxons were very much capable of uniting against them and, not only just driving them back, but inflicting heavy damage upon. It's this evidence of military success for the Saxons that made Aethelred II failures in the late 10th and early 11th centuries all the more dismal. The aforementioned Aethelwulf is a key figure in Saxon England. Although he was assisted in victory by one of his sons Aethelbald, it was one of his other sons that would go on to become one of England's greatest kings. He was called Alfred who was born approximately 843 and would go on to be known as the great. Aethelwulf had also made a prestigious second marriage, after Alfred's mother had died, with daughter of the Holy Roman Emperor. Her name was Judith of Flanders. We are now set up nicely for the next part of this story. The Vikings had arrived on English soil and caused altogether a lot of damage. Much suffering was felt across the country as it was in other parts of Europe. However, the situation was not lost. The Saxons had shown they were capable of unifying and fighting back against a formidable enemy despite a long history that might have indicated otherwise. And under Aethelwulf's son, Alfred, the first steps towards a fully united England would be made.

The situation in England in the 850s was dire but not without hope. As mentioned in part 3, there had been some signs of attempted unification against the Viking threat which, after several centuries of fighting amongst the Saxon kingdoms, was no mean feat. Aethelwulf died in 855 and a new leader was needed. That was to come in the shape of his youngest son Alfred. In 865, the Vikings settled in England for the first time and not just their usual destructive raids. Violence and pillaging continued all the same and the famous story of King Edmund being tied to a tree and shot to death with a volley of arrows went down in history thought possibly not true. Edmund was later made a saint. In 871, Alfred, alongside his brother Aethelred i (not to be confused with Aethelred II 'The Unready) met the Vikings at the Battle of Ashdown where they were victorious after a fierce battle. Not long after the battle Aethelred died and Alfred became king of Wessex. One thing that does emerge from the Anglo Saxon Chronicle is how widespread the Vikings movement were. They did not leave one area of the country untouched. They moved swiftly from region to region only halting when the winter weather set in, In 878, the Vikings marched into Wessex and overran it. In response Alfred roused the men of Hampshire, Wiltshire and Somerset and together they forced the Vikings to retreat. After they were hunted down and besieged by Alfred's force, the Vikings left Wessex after their king had been baptised. The following years went in much the same vein. The Danes went from place to place with the Saxons scrambling to respond. In 882, Alfred engaged them in a sea battle where he wiped out the Danish force by sinking their ships and either capturing, wounding or killing the Danes.

His feats against the Danes were not the only reason Alfred became known as the Great. He was a huge believer in education and had books translated from Latin to English for the benefit of the general population. It was also thanks to him that the main source for our knowledge of the Anglo Saxon period, the Anglo Saxon Chronicle, was compiled. In 893, the Saxons and the Danes were again engaged in battle, this time at Farnham, and again Alfred's men put them to flight and stole their provisions. Time and again, Alfred forced the Vikings to retreat. He built defensive structures known as burhs, mimicking the Danes in that regard. He even built the first real English navy although his main successes remained on land. When he did in 899 at the age of about 56, he left behind a legacy of young, educated noblemen who had been schooled thanks to his patronage. He had put in place a network of defensive buildings to enable his son and successor to continue to defy the Vikings and unify the country. He had encouraged literacy throughout the general English population and thanks to him, we have the Chronicle which shines a light on his deeds and on an otherwise distant and murky time. On the death of his father Alfred, Edward, known as the Elder, succeeded him as king of Wessex. Although he was not as inclined towards reading and learning as Alfred had been, Edward would go on to become an extremely capable ruler and continue the work his father had started and added to it. Whilst Alfred's main successes had lain in driving the Viking invaders into retreat, Edward built up the size of his kingdom by reviving regions that had suffered terrible damage. Areas like East Anglia, Essex and Northumbria were brought back to life. Mercia was snatched back from Viking control. Under Edward, the forging of England as a unified kingdom had truly begun.

Defeats for the Vikings continued early into the early 10th century. The men of Kent were victorious against them in battle and at Stafford in 907 the English were once again victorious. Edward made a marriage for his daughter with the king of Northumbria in a further move to bring unity to the country. If and when the Northern king died, Edward could lay claim to that particular region. He added prestige to his slowly blossoming kingdom by marrying his daughter to Charles the Simple, king of France. One of his other daughterS went on to marry the future Holy Roman Emperor Otto I although that took place after his death. Although Mercia was not initially under his control, Edward's sister Aethelflaed ruled it and ruled it quite capably. She rebuilt Tamworth and laid siege to Brecknock castle which was in the hands of the Britons. She claimed possession of Derby and Leicester and when she died in 918, the Mercia which Edward became ruler of had been expanded through her both her will and her guile. Aethelflaed was a remarkable woman and her part in the forging of England should not be underestimated. Edward continued to move across the country and adding to his kingdom. Buckingham and Bedford were taken and fortified. Although the Vikings continued to be problematic attacking, what had been peaceful for a short period, places like Leicester and the new fortifications at Maldon, Edward steadfastly continued on his building programme. Nottingham was also further strengthened. Edward's legacy is possibly slightly overlooked by the fact he was successor to Alfred the Great. But without him, and Aethelflaed, the unification of England may have taken many centuries more and quite possibly made for a different and distinctly more Danish country. Between he and his sister, Edward, through a combination of will, force and diplomacy began to built a more distinctive England. While Alfred's biggest contribution to history was literacy and more specifically the Anglo Saxon Chronicle, Edward had changed the shape of the country geographically. Most of the country was under his possession by the time of his death and whilst he probably can't be called the first king of England, that opportunity would be left to his son Aethelstan. Whilst he maybe overshadowed, it is arguable that Edward had the greater impact on English history when compared with Alfred. On the death of his father in 924, Aethelstan became king of an expanding territory although still not the fully unified England as we know it today. One of his first actions as king was dealing with the Scots and their king, Constantine, who had reneged on a peace agreement. After seeking divine inspiration, Aethelstan marched into Scotland and brutally restored peace. Constantine's son was brought down to Wessex to ensure the Scottish didn't go back on their word. In 927, Aethelstan brought Northumbria into his possession and he was effect overlord of all the British kings, including Constantine. Evidently that fact didn't count for too much with the Scottish king and Aethelstan again was obliged to march into Scotland in 934 and lay waste to the countryside. It is evident from the ASC that Scotland was proving particularly troublesome at this time and that the relationship between England and the Scots has not always been defined by English oppression of the Scots. Constantine infringed upon English territory time and again through sheer opportunism. Perhaps he saw the expansion of the Wessex kingdom and thought he could claim further territory for himself. Aethelstan was a piou man and frequently made gifts to places of worship whenever he was on campaign. It's also said he had a piece of the cross Jesus was crucified on although how many people claimed to have such a fragment throughout the Middle Ages makes this seem quite dubious. Aethelstan seemed to have a good reputation around Europe and accordingly received gifts from other monarchs and people of stature.

The defining moment of not only Aethelstan's reign but one of the most important in Anglo Saxon History came toward the latter end of his reign, in 937. The security of his kingdom faced it's biggest threat at the Battle of Brunnanburh where a combined force of Danes, Irish and, unsurprisingly, Scots attacked the kingdom. The Anglo Saxon Chronicle tells of an emphatic victory for Aethelstan as the Wessex men took no pity on the enemy. The Scots fell, the Danes were forced to flee back to their ships and the Irish headed back to Ireland. Never was there seen to have been a bloodier battle on the Island and effectively established Aethelstan as king of all England although after his death, his successors would continue to have some trouble bringing Northumbria back into line. By the time of his death in 939, Aethelstan was what can be considered the first true king of England. He had subdued his enemies with the single greatest victory for the Anglo Saxons at Brunnanburgh, he had brought Northumbria into his kingdom and had established himself as overlord of rival kings although that didn't count for much as the Scots in particular rebelled time and again. Although it would be left to kings after to him to put out the last flames of resistance to a unified English kingdom, Aethelstan had finished the job started by his father and grandfather.

On the death of Aethelstan, his son Edmund succeeded as king. He was a young man, born in the 920s and not out of his teens when he became king. Edmund soon developed a good reputation and was as capable militarily as his predecessors. He took back control of Leicester, Lincoln, Derby and Nottingham which had been under Danish control before before besieging the Danish King Olaf after his raid on Tamworth where he eventually allied with the Dane and converted him to Christianity. In 945, after the trouble the Scots had caused Aethelstan during his reign, Edmund took a prudent step and gave lands to the Scottish king, Malcolm I, in order to stop further opportunistic raids from up north. Just a year later, Edmund I met a violent end when he was stabbed to death. It had only been a short reign but Edmund had shown great potential and the fact that the Scots swore loyalty to his brother who succeeded him showed his diplomatic skills in 945 had not gone unrewarded. Edmund was succeeded by his brother Eadred. His reign got off to a good start with oaths being sworn to him by the Scottish. In 948, the Northumbrians continued to be problematic and would not acknowledge Eadred as their king and instead supported a Dane, by the name of Eric. Eadred responded to this by marching North and laying waste to Northumbria. Believing he had subdued the rebellion and on his way home, Eadred's forces were attacked from behind by the Danes. Threatened with retaliation and perhaps realising Eadred would unleash a fearful attack upon them, the Northerners gave up and in 954 they drove out Eric who had evidently not given up hope of becoming king in that region. Eadred's reign seems to have followed a similar path to his brother's reign and showed himself to be extremely capable in dealing with uprisings. In 952, he had ruthlessly put down a rebellion in Thetford. Again, his reign was short and he died in 955, having ruled for less than a decade.

Eadred would be followed as king by his nephew Eadwig whose reign would be shorter than either his father's or his uncle's. His time as king was too short to be altogether too remarkable but is probably best known for the story surrounding his feud with Abbot Dunstan, later made a saint. It was alleged Eadwig was forced to go back to his coronation feast after Dunstan had discovered him with a noblewoman. Dunstan was sent over the channel into exile. Eadwig died in 959 at around the age of 19. He was succeeded by his brother Edgar who would leave a better legacy and earn himself the title of "the peaceful". Eadwig did not seem to have been a popular king with his administration being strongly criticised. Edgar was more successful and the Anglo Saxon Chronicle is lavish with it's praise of his kingship; It praises Edgar for his ability to bring peace and stability to a realm better than any regime that had gone before and that he ensured strong laws throughout the country. He took on board good counsel and he had good judgement. He is criticised by the ASC for his being influenced by Danish customs but that does not appear to have damaged in any way his reputation with the author. One of his first acts was to bring back the exiled Dunstan who he eventually made Archbishop of Canterbury. In 963, Edgar and Aethelwold, Bishop of Winchester, began a programme of monastery building and in the process, drove out corruption from the clergy. Such was Aethelwold's work to that he too was later made a saint. In 965, Edgar would marry Aelfthryth who would later be shown to be a woman of some ruthlessness. She is the chief suspect in the murder of Edgar's son from a previous marriage, Edward, in 978 in order for her and Edgar's son Aethelred to become king. Given the troubled reign of Aethelred, Aelfthryth's legacy to history is not a good one. Overall, Edgar's reign, through what the sources, is noticeably stable. There were, as with all kingdoms at that time, periods of unrest but Edgar appears to have dealt with them with the minimum of fuss. Given what was to happen over the course of the next hundred years after his death, his reign of nearly 16 years looks like almost bliss for Anglo Saxon England

On the death of Edgar the Peaceful in 975, he was succeeded by his son, Edward the Martyr who was barely a teenager when he came to the throne. He had a lot to live up to. But it wasn't meant to be for Edward. In 978, he earned his nickname as he was brutally murdered. The blame, as i touched upon in my last blog, has fallen on his stepmother Aelfthryth, more commonly known as Elfrida today. The young king was slain and dumped without ceremony and Elfrida's biological son Aethelred became king on his death. I am not going to go into too much detail about Aethelred's reign as I have done a piece on him in my Top 5 worst monarchs segment and I'll be going into much greater detail when i do a fuller history of England at some point in the near future. As a king, he seemed to have the right qualities to rule. A genial personality and a grace befitting someone of his stature. Unfortunately, as time would prove, these stood for very little. Utterly incapable of repressing the Viking raids, an inability to grasp his tactic of paying them off, Danegeld, was an utter failure and heeding the advice of counsellors who were no more intelligent then he, his reign proved a neigh on calamity. The St Brice's Day massacre in 1002 is one of the most pointless and brutal massacres in Anglo Saxon History and ultimately led to his deposition in 1013 by Sweyn Forkbeard and then from 1016, Danish rule over England for a little over a quarter of a century. Aethelred, only returned in 1014 on the death of Sweyn as the English nobles had no appetite for another Danish king but Sweyn's son Cnut claimed the throne in 1016 on the death of Aethelred.

Cnut was not initially the chosen successor however. That was Aethelred's oldest son Edmund, who would later become known as Ironside, a formidable warrior and quite unlike his hapless father. Edmund claimed early successes against Cnut, defeating the Danes in battle near Somerset. Cnut and the Danes were clearly well aware by now of Edmund's warrior reputation and at a site in Kent, they scattered before him which led to a brutal slaughter of many Vikings. However, push finally came to shove at the battle of Ashingdon towards the end of 1016, where the tide turned against Edmund and towards Cnut thanks to the treachery of an English noble by the name of Eadric who falsely told the English soldiers that Edmund had been killed which led to panic in the ranks. This led to a decisive victory for Cnut. An initial peace was brokered which saw the country split in two for Edmund and Cnut to rule but it's safe to say that he had no intention of sharing the kingdom and so not long after, Edmund died in mysterious circumstances, supposedly murdered whilst going to the toilet and dying in very horrible fashion, leading the whole kingdom to falling into the hands of the king of Denmark. Cnut had won the day through a combination of luck, ruthlessness and treacherous Eadric. Cnut clearly didn't think too much of Eadric's actions as he had him beheaded after he had served his purpose. Whilst this had ushered in a period of foreign rule in England, the story was not over yet for the Anglo Saxons. Aethelred's other sons, Alfred and the future Edward the confessor, were still in exile in Normandy and the infant son of Edmund Ironside, another Edward, who would become known as the exile, would also follow them into exile and would become extremely well travelled. Another person who had been abroad had been Emma, the widow of Aethelred who had been with her sons in her homeland of Normandy. She would return to marry Cnut and her son with him would become king before her son, Edward, with Aethelred would.

Even though Cnut now ruled England by himself, the prospects for him building a long Danish Dynasty in England were by no means guaranteed. As i mentioned in my last blog, the infant son of Edmund Ironside was sent to Sweden on the death of his father and the sons of Aethelred the Unready were still alive in Normandy. Cnut had one son from his first marriage, Harold who would become known as Harefoot, His first wife died so he now took as his wife, Emma. the widow of Aethelred and the mother of Edward and Alfred. With her, he produced another son who, like Harold, would become king. He was called Harthacnut. Perhaps in recognition of how difficult it had been in subduing the kingdom, Cnut delegated power to three nobles. Turkill would preside over East Anglia, Eadric would take Mercia and Eric in Northumbria. Cnut himself would concentrate on Wessex. Ultimately, Eadric was put to death and Eric forced to flee. Cnut had also been advised to dispose of the sons of Edmund Ironside, the little Edward, now known as the Exile and not to be confused with the Edward in Normandy who would become known as the Confessor, and his brother Edmund. Apparently, the Danish king didn't want to carry out the act himself, perhaps in order not to stain his reputation in England so brief into his reign and sent the boys back to Scandinavia were the deed would be carried out. The king of Sweden however refused to kill the boys and they eventually ended up in the court of the Hungarian king.

Meanwhile, Cnut continued to suppress rebellion by stamping out English nobles uprisings and using his army to extract huge sums of money from places where he was still being given a lot of trouble, including London. Around 1019 however, the English and Danes seemed to have come to an agreement of sorts and Cnut now seemed secure enough to go back to his homeland where he'd spend an entire Winter. Cnut's authority continued to grow stronger and Thurkil, who had been overseeing matters in East Anglia, was exiled from the country altogether, although a year or so later they were reconciled and Thurkil now looked after matters in Denmark. Cnut however would have to return to Denmark in 1026 with a combined force of English and Danes in order to repel an attack from two Swedes by the name of Eeglaf and Ulf. Cnut however would be defeated in battle and suffered significant losses. That setback aside, prospects for Cnut's English realm were good. He received an oath of loyalty from the Scottish king, Malcolm II also from the future king of Scots, Macbeth. In 1028, Cnut defeated the king of Norway, Olaf II, who, when he tried to return to Norway after being exiled, was killed by his own subjects. Cnut was now king of England, Denmark and Norway. On the death of Cnut in 1035, he was succeeded by his oldest son Harold in England and his son by his marriage to Emma, Harthacnut, in Denmark . As a ruler, Cnut was a strong king. He predictably favoured his fellow countrymen when he became king of England, handing over to them English lands and property. He was wise enough to delegate power to others as from 1028 onwards, he was king of 3 countries and ruling over them single handedly would have been no mean feat. However, his legacy in England is ultimately limited. There would be no long lasting Danish dynasty and in 1042, on the death of Harthacnut, there would be no more Scandinavians kings of England again although Hardrada would attempt to seize the throne in 1066.

On the death of his father, Harold, known as Harefoot, became king of England ahead of his brother Harthacnut who remained in Denmark. The name Harefoot isn't recorded until much later but likely refers to his fleetness of foot.The succession did not go altogether undisputed. The most powerful man in England at that time was a man by the name of Godwine who was the father of another Harold who would famously die at the Battle of Hastings. Godwine and other nobles attempted to resist the succession but to no avail. Emma, the mother of Harthacnut and step mother of Harold Harefoot, initially went to Winchester to hold Wessex on behalf of her son but was soon driven into exile by the king. Harold Harefoot now held control over all England. In 1036, Godwine carried out a particularly brutal act. The sons of Aethelred the Unready who had remained in exile for over 20 years returned to England in order to see their mother, Emma . who was still in Winchester at the time. Supposedly in an act of loyalty to the king, Godwine and his men attacked Edward and Alfred's retinue, blinding, mutilating and killing many of them. The Anglo Saxon Chronicle says that Alfred was blinded as soon as he step off the ship. So brutal was the act, that Alfred died of his injuries, being tended upon by a group of monks til his death. It is an act wholly unjustifiable and is worth remembering for later on. What Earl Godwine had demonstrated was a ruthlessness to protect the interests of not only the king of England but his own too. These young men were sons of a former king of England and a very real counter claimant to the throne. If they'd been united with their mother, a plot could have been formed to put one of them on the throne and Earl Godwine, most powerful noble in the country, would be in serious jeopardy as someone that'd not only been loyal to a previous regime but a completely foreign dynasty. Edward and Alfred were the sons of an English king, an albeit hapless one, which would have made them a distinctly preferable alternative to a Danish monarchy. These instincts for political survival would seem to have been passed on to Godwine's son.

This act of political savagery was the most significant event of a reign which would end when Harold Harefoot died in March 1040 in Oxford and his body being dumped in a bog by his half brother, Harthacnut. Harthacnut's reign was mostly memorable for how he died. At a feast, he was drinking heavily, in the Viking fashion, when he crashed down to the ground suddenly. I've seen a few different theories for the king's death but the most obvious answer is he simply drank himself to death. With that, ended the 27 year Danish rule over England. The crown was now to return to the hands of the Anglo Saxons and the new king was Edward, son of Aethelred II and brother of the unfortunate Alfred. Edward had escaped the brutality of 1036 by returning to exile. His reign would cast the last two Danish kings into basically complete obscurity and his death would alter the course of English history forever.

Edward The Confessor was a pious man, indicated by the fact he is known to history as The Confessor. It has been suggested that his piety is the chief cause of his marriage remaining childless although some historians have discounted that. Nonetheless, his marriage was a fateful one and no heirs from it made it all the more so. His wife was a woman by the name of Edith, daughter of Earl Godwine, a man mentioned in my previous blog on Harefoot and Harthacanute, and sister to the future king Harold II who'd use his status to pinch the throne ahead of William of Normandy on the death of Edward on the 6th January 1066. Edward;s reign was a notably long one for an 11th century monarch, over 23 years. His lack of heirs is an interest issue to ponder. He had plenty of time to sire more than enough. Even if his marriage to Edith, who ended up in a nunnery was barren, a king of his time could have been expected to try with another woman. It's possible Edward may not have wanted or believed in divorce. It's also possible Edward needed to remain on the good side of Godwine. Divorcing his daughter would have alienated the powerful Godwine family and giving the king a major problem and possibly one that may have led to his deposition. Edward and Godwine's relationship was not always an easy or amicable one. In the early 1050s, rumours that Godwine and Harold were plotting against the king reached Edward. They were both sent into exile but didn't remain there long and were soon back, plundering on the south coast. It is an indication of how formidable a power the Godwines that they were not out in the cold for long and were soon reconciled to Edward. Godwine died in 1053 and was succeeded by his son Harold.

Harold soon became Edward's main man, restoring peace after an uprising had broken out in 1055. Again, in the 1060s, Harold dealt with a rebellion, this time in Wales. Through a combination of military strength and diplomacy, Harold soon restored order. Although Harold remained loyal to the king, his brother Tostig was altogether a different proposition. He was not a popular man. He had been outlawed and then exiled from his own earldom and it was his through his treachery that England was invaded by Harald Hardrada, perhaps indirectly changing the course of history although that is purely guesswork. So, when Edward the Confessor died in 1066 without heirs, who was to succeed him. William of Normandy, whom i've not mentioned prior to this deliberately as he'll be the first subject of my next series of blogs, claimed he had been promised the crown by Edward when he visited England. But Harold Godewinsson looked altogether a better candidate. He had demonstrated first hand the kingly skills needed. A strong military leader, diplomatic when needed and, what would have been preferable to most nobles if not all, English. There was also a third claimant. A giant of a man from Norway, Harald III Hardrada. In my mind Edward's preferred candidate to throne, if it wasn't to be a son or blood relative, would have been Harold Godwinesson. I find it hard to believe , he would have made a promise to leave his kingdom to a foreign ruler without categorically reaffirming it. He also would have known it would have been a tremendously unpopular decision and would lead to anarchy. A pious would have wanted to leave behind a stable country. It's possible that he had a change of heart but Harold must have looked to him to be the most obvious successor.