Hosting the king: hospitality and the royal iter in tenth-century England

Aethelread the Unready

Hosting the king: hospitality and the royal iter  in tenth-century England Levi Roach (Trinity College, Cambridge) The Journal of Medieval History, 37.1 (March 2011), 34-46 Abstract Traditional studies of royal itinerancy have depended on locating the king’s progress through his kingdom(s) as precisely as possible and it should therefore not surprise that the iter regis […]

Book Review: Shadow on the Crown

Shadow on the Crown

A review of Patricia Bracewell’s book: Shadow on the Crown.

Aelfthryth, Queen of England

king Edgar and his descendants: Edward Martyr, Edith (or Eadgyth), Edmund and Aethelred

In researching medieval queens, I came across the story of a queen having all the elements of a fairy tale. Her name is Aelfthryth, the wife of King Edgar the Peaceable

The speaking cross, the persecuted princess and the murdered earl: the early history of Romsey Abbey

Romsey Abbey

The Old-English note may have begun life as an endorsement, either to the grant of privileges or (what is perhaps more likely) to the agreement about the woodland belonging to Romsey, a notice of which has become attached to it; it was not uncommon when diplomas were collected into cartularies for such endorsements to be used as ‘headings’ for the text.

The Danish attacks on London and Southwark in ‘1016’

Matthew Paris's (early 13th-century) impression of the Battle of Assandun, depicting Edmund Ironside (left) and Cnut (right)

This incident has been fatally embroidered by many local historians, taking their cue from various sources, so that the popular accounts have distorted what was already a confusing set of events.

Aethelred the Unready

Aethelred the Unready

Calling Aethelred ‘Unraed’ could mean he was given bad counsel, he did not take advice from his counselors or that he himself was unwise. Perhaps all were true. Let’s look at the story and see.

THE MINT OF AYLESBURY

Anglo-Norman coin - reign of Cnut

As these numbers suggest, Aylesbury seems to have made a comparatively minor contribution to the Late Saxon coinage pool. Basing his calculations on a total of some 44,350 English coins, Petersson estimated that, in each issue for which its coins were known, Aylesbury was responsible for only 0.1% or 0.2% of the recorded coins of the issue…

Cultural Changes in England resulting from the Battle of Hastings

Death of Harold Godwinson in the Battle of Hastings

This paper, in examining the reigns of the Ethelred, Canute, Harold Harefoot and Hardicanute, and Edward the Confessor, will show how they came to power, the legacy each left – if any — and how the events during each reign ultimately led to the Battle of Hastings, with William the Conqueror’s victory changing England forever.

Talking about history in eleventh century England: the Encomium Emmae Reginae and the court of Harthacnut

Queen Emma receiving the Encomium Emmae

Talking about history in eleventh century England: the Encomium Emmae Reginae and the court of Harthacnut Tyler, Elizabeth M. Early Medieval Europe, 13 (4) (2005)  Abstract The Encomium Emmae Reginae was written in the early 1040s to support the interests of Queen Emma amidst the factionalism which marked the end of the period of Danish […]

The Justification of the Conquest Chapter 1 of Conquered England: Kingship, Succession, and Tenure 1066-1166

Anglo-Saxon Chronicle

The Justification of the Conquest Chapter 1 of Conquered England: Kingship, Succession, and Tenure 1066-1166 Garnett, George Abstract The author of the D manuscript of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle was almost certainly a member of Archbishop Ealdred of York’s household. He was, therefore, probably at the centre of events during 1066, and his testimony deserves to be […]

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