A famous story from medieval England tells of a monk who strapped on wings and launched himself from a tower. New research published in Notes and Queries suggests this remarkable flight may have taken place decades later than historians have traditionally believed.
According to the twelfth-century historian William of Malmesbury, a monk named Eilmer attempted one of the most extraordinary feats of the Middle Ages. As William recounted in his Gesta Regum Anglorum, Eilmer “fixed wings to his hands and feet, hoping to fly like Daedalus, whose fable he took to be true. Catching the breeze from the top of a tower, he flew for the space of a stade [approximately 200 yards] and more”.
The experiment ended badly. William adds that Eilmer crash-landed and was injured so severely that “ever thereafter he was an invalid and his legs were crippled.”
James Aitcheson, a Research Associate in Humanity and Space at the University of Leicester, describes it as “a remarkable tale that has captured the imagination of many.” Now, in this new article he examines the question of when Eilmer made his attempt.
Some of the ruins of Malmesbury Abbey – photo by Medievalists.net
The traditional view places the flight sometime between 1000 and 1010. That dating is based largely on another episode recorded by William of Malmesbury. He reports that Eilmer saw the comet that appeared in 1066 and remarked that it had been a long time since he had last seen it. Historians have generally assumed he was referring to the previous appearance of Halley’s Comet in 989. Aitcheson argues that the evidence is less clear than often assumed.
While Halley’s Comet is the usual candidate, another bright comet appeared over Britain and Ireland in 1018. If this was the comet Eilmer remembered from his youth, then he may have been born much later than historians have believed. That, in turn, would push the date of his famous flight forward by several decades.
Aitcheson argues that historians may have placed too much confidence in identifying the comet Eilmer saw as a child. As he notes, “it is not clear that sky-watchers in the Early Middle Ages were able to tell one comet apart from another.”
If Eilmer’s earlier sighting was the comet of 1018 rather than Halley’s Comet, he could have been born around the turn of the eleventh century or even later. William describes him as being in his “first youth” when he attempted flight, which would place the event not around 1000 but potentially in the 1020s, 1030s, or even the early 1040s.
Stained glass in Malmesbury depicting Eilmar and his flying machine – photo by Radicalrobbo / Wikimedia Commons
Such a revision would place Eilmer’s experiment in a very different historical setting. Rather than occurring during the final years of King Æthelred II’s reign, it may have taken place after the Danish conquest of England and during the rule of King Cnut and his successors.
Aitcheson also urges caution regarding recent claims that Eilmer understood the periodic nature of Halley’s Comet centuries before the astronomer Edmond Halley. While such a possibility cannot be completely ruled out, the surviving evidence does not demonstrate that Eilmer recognized the comet’s orbital cycle.
The article does not provide a definitive new date for Eilmer’s flight. Instead, it challenges assumptions that have become widely accepted and highlights how much uncertainty remains. More than a thousand years after a monk launched himself from a tower in pursuit of flight, historians are still debating exactly when the remarkable event took place.
The article, “The Date of Eilmer of Malmesbury’s Flight,” by James Aitcheson, was published in Notes and Queries. Click here to read it.
A famous story from medieval England tells of a monk who strapped on wings and launched himself from a tower. New research published in Notes and Queries suggests this remarkable flight may have taken place decades later than historians have traditionally believed.
According to the twelfth-century historian William of Malmesbury, a monk named Eilmer attempted one of the most extraordinary feats of the Middle Ages. As William recounted in his Gesta Regum Anglorum, Eilmer “fixed wings to his hands and feet, hoping to fly like Daedalus, whose fable he took to be true. Catching the breeze from the top of a tower, he flew for the space of a stade [approximately 200 yards] and more”.
The experiment ended badly. William adds that Eilmer crash-landed and was injured so severely that “ever thereafter he was an invalid and his legs were crippled.”
James Aitcheson, a Research Associate in Humanity and Space at the University of Leicester, describes it as “a remarkable tale that has captured the imagination of many.” Now, in this new article he examines the question of when Eilmer made his attempt.
The traditional view places the flight sometime between 1000 and 1010. That dating is based largely on another episode recorded by William of Malmesbury. He reports that Eilmer saw the comet that appeared in 1066 and remarked that it had been a long time since he had last seen it. Historians have generally assumed he was referring to the previous appearance of Halley’s Comet in 989. Aitcheson argues that the evidence is less clear than often assumed.
While Halley’s Comet is the usual candidate, another bright comet appeared over Britain and Ireland in 1018. If this was the comet Eilmer remembered from his youth, then he may have been born much later than historians have believed. That, in turn, would push the date of his famous flight forward by several decades.
Aitcheson argues that historians may have placed too much confidence in identifying the comet Eilmer saw as a child. As he notes, “it is not clear that sky-watchers in the Early Middle Ages were able to tell one comet apart from another.”
If Eilmer’s earlier sighting was the comet of 1018 rather than Halley’s Comet, he could have been born around the turn of the eleventh century or even later. William describes him as being in his “first youth” when he attempted flight, which would place the event not around 1000 but potentially in the 1020s, 1030s, or even the early 1040s.
Such a revision would place Eilmer’s experiment in a very different historical setting. Rather than occurring during the final years of King Æthelred II’s reign, it may have taken place after the Danish conquest of England and during the rule of King Cnut and his successors.
Aitcheson also urges caution regarding recent claims that Eilmer understood the periodic nature of Halley’s Comet centuries before the astronomer Edmond Halley. While such a possibility cannot be completely ruled out, the surviving evidence does not demonstrate that Eilmer recognized the comet’s orbital cycle.
The article does not provide a definitive new date for Eilmer’s flight. Instead, it challenges assumptions that have become widely accepted and highlights how much uncertainty remains. More than a thousand years after a monk launched himself from a tower in pursuit of flight, historians are still debating exactly when the remarkable event took place.
The article, “The Date of Eilmer of Malmesbury’s Flight,” by James Aitcheson, was published in Notes and Queries. Click here to read it.
James Aitcheson is also a novelist and literary and consultant. Check out his website or his books on Amazon.
See also: Flying in the Middle Ages: Legends, Inventions, and Daredevil Attempts
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