Editing Anglo-Saxons (section)

=== Late Anglo-Saxon history (899–1066) ===
A framework for the momentous events of the 10th and 11th centuries is provided by the ''Anglo-Saxon Chronicle''. However charters, law-codes and coins supply detailed information on various aspects of royal government, and the surviving works of Anglo-Latin and vernacular literature, as well as the numerous manuscripts written in the 10th century, testify in their different ways to the vitality of ecclesiastical culture. Yet as Keynes suggests "it does not follow that the 10th century is better understood than more sparsely documented periods".<ref>Keynes, Simon. "England, 900–1016." New Cambridge Medieval History 3 (1999): 456–484.</ref>

==== Reform and formation of England (899–978) ====
[[File:Edward the Elder coin imitation silver brooch Rome Italy c 920.jpg|thumb|upright=1.1|Silver brooch imitating a coin of [[Edward the Elder]], c. 920, found in Rome, Italy. [[British Museum]].]]
During the course of the 10th century, the West Saxon kings extended their power first over Mercia, then into the southern Danelaw, and finally over Northumbria, thereby imposing a semblance of political unity on peoples, who nonetheless would remain conscious of their respective customs and their separate pasts. The prestige, and indeed the pretensions, of the monarchy increased, the institutions of government strengthened, and kings and their agents sought in various ways to establish social order.<ref name="Keynes, Simon 2001">Keynes, Simon. "Edward, King of the Anglo-Saxons."." Edward the Elder: 899 924 (2001): 40–66.</ref> This process started with [[Edward the Elder]] – who with his sister, [[Æthelflæd]], Lady of the Mercians, initially, charters reveal, encouraged people to purchase estates from the Danes, thereby to reassert some degree of English influence in territory which had fallen under Danish control. [[David Dumville]] suggests that Edward may have extended this policy by rewarding his supporters with grants of land in the territories newly conquered from the Danes and that any charters issued in respect of such grants have not survived.<ref>Dumville, David N. Wessex and England from Alfred to Edgar: six essays on political, cultural, and ecclesiastical revival. Boydell Press, 1992.</ref> When Athelflæd died, Mercia was absorbed by Wessex. From that point on there was no contest for the throne, so the house of Wessex became the ruling house of England.<ref name="Keynes, Simon 2001" />

Edward the Elder was succeeded by his son [[Æthelstan]], whom Keynes calls the "towering figure in the landscape of the tenth century".<ref>Keynes, Simon. King Athelstan's books. University Press, 1985.</ref> His victory over a coalition of his enemies – [[Constantine II of Scotland|Constantine]], King of the Scots; [[Owain ap Dyfnwal (fl. 934)|Owain ap Dyfnwal]], King of the Cumbrians; and [[Olaf Guthfrithson]], King of Dublin – at the [[battle of Brunanburh]], celebrated by a poem in the ''Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'', opened the way for him to be hailed as the first king of England.<ref>Hare, Kent G. "Athelstan of England: Christian king and hero." The Heroic Age 7 (2004).</ref> Æthelstan's legislation shows how the king drove his officials to do their respective duties. He was uncompromising in his insistence on respect for the law. However this legislation also reveals the persistent difficulties which confronted the king and his councillors in bringing a troublesome people under some form of control. His claim to be "king of the English" was by no means widely recognised.<ref>Keynes, Simon. "Edgar, King of the English 959–975 New Interpretations." (2008).</ref> The situation was complex: the [[Norse–Gaels|Hiberno-Norse]] rulers of Dublin still coveted their interests in the [[Scandinavian York|Danish kingdom of York]]; terms had to be made with the Scots, who had the capacity not merely to interfere in Northumbrian affairs, but also to block a line of communication between Dublin and York; and the inhabitants of northern Northumbria were considered a law unto themselves. It was only after twenty years of crucial developments following Æthelstan's death in 939 that a unified kingdom of England began to assume its familiar shape. However, the major political problem for [[Edmund I|Edmund]] and [[Eadred]], who succeeded Æthelstan, remained the difficulty of subjugating the north.<ref name="Dumville, David N 1992">Dumville, David N. "Between Alfred the Great and Edgar the Peacemaker: Æthelstan, First King of England." Wessex and England from Alfred to Edgar (1992): 141–171.</ref> In 959 [[Edgar, King of England|Edgar]] is said to have "succeeded to the kingdom both in Wessex and in Mercia and in Northumbria, and he was then 16 years old" (ASC, version 'B', 'C'), and is called "the Peacemaker".<ref name="Dumville, David N 1992" /> By the early 970s, after a decade of Edgar's 'peace', it may have seemed that the kingdom of England was indeed made whole. In his formal address to the gathering at Winchester the king urged his bishops, abbots and abbesses "to be of one mind as regards monastic usage . . . lest differing ways of observing the customs of one Rule and one country should bring their holy conversation into disrepute".<ref>Regularis concordia Anglicae nationis, ed. T. Symons (CCM 7/3), Siegburg (1984), p.2 (revised edition of Regularis concordia Anglicae nationis monachorum sanctimonialiumque: The Monastic Agreement of the Monks and Nuns of the English Nation, ed. with English trans. T. Symons, London (1953))</ref>

Athelstan's court had been an intellectual incubator. In that court were two young men named [[Dunstan]] and [[Æthelwold of Winchester|Æthelwold]] who were made priests, supposedly at the insistence of Athelstan, right at the end of his reign in 939.<ref name="Gretsch, Mechthild 2009">Gretsch, Mechthild. "Myth, Rulership, Church and Charters: Essays in Honour of Nicholas Brooks." The English Historical Review 124.510 (2009): 1136–1138.</ref> Between 970 and 973 a council was held, under the aegis of Edgar, where a set of rules were devised that would be applicable throughout England. This put all the monks and nuns in England under one set of detailed customs for the first time. In 973, Edgar received a special second, 'imperial coronation' at [[Bath, Somerset|Bath]], and from this point England was ruled by Edgar under the strong influence of Dunstan, Athelwold, and [[Oswald of Worcester|Oswald]], the Bishop of Worcester.

==== Æthelred and the return of the Scandinavians (978–1016) ====
The reign of King [[Æthelred the Unready]] witnessed the resumption of Viking raids on England, putting the country and its leadership under strains as severe as they were long sustained. Raids began on a relatively small scale in the 980s but became far more serious in the 990s, and brought the people to their knees in 1009–12, when a large part of the country was devastated by the army of [[Thorkell the Tall]]. It remained for [[Swein Forkbeard]], king of Denmark, to conquer the kingdom of England in 1013–14, and (after Æthelred's restoration) for his son Cnut to achieve the same in 1015–16. The tale of these years incorporated in the ''Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'' must be read in its own right,<ref>ASC, pp. 230–251</ref> and set beside other material which reflects in one way or another on the conduct of government and warfare during Æthelred's reign.<ref>See, e.g., EHD, no. 10 (the poem on the battle of Maldon), nos. 42–6 (law-codes), nos. 117–29 (charters, etc.), nos.230–1 (letters), and no. 240 (Archbishop Wulfstan's Sermo ad Anglos).</ref> It is this evidence which is the basis for Keynes's view that the king lacked the strength, judgement and resolve to give adequate leadership to his people in a time of grave national crisis; who soon found out that he could rely on little but the treachery of his military commanders; and who, throughout his reign, tasted nothing but the ignominy of defeat. The raids exposed tensions and weaknesses which went deep into the fabric of the late Anglo-Saxon state, and it is apparent that events proceeded against a background more complex than the chronicler probably knew. It seems, for example, that the death of Bishop Æthelwold in 984 had precipitated further reaction against certain ecclesiastical interests; that by 993 the king had come to regret the error of his ways, leading to a period when the internal affairs of the kingdom appear to have prospered.<ref>White, Stephen D. "Timothy Reuter, ed., The New Cambridge Medieval History, 3: C. 900–c. 1024. Cambridge, Eng.: Cambridge University Press, 1999. Pp. xxv." Speculum 77.01 (2002): pp455-485.</ref>
[[File:Londoncnut.jpg|thumb|upright=1.1|Cnut's 'Quatrefoil' type penny with the legend "CNUT REX ANGLORU[M]" (''Cnut, King of the English''), struck in London by the moneyer Edwin.]]

The increasingly difficult times brought on by the Viking attacks are reflected in both [[Ælfric of Eynsham|Ælfric]]'s and [[Wulfstan the Cantor|Wulfstan]]'s works, but most notably in Wulfstan's fierce rhetoric in the ''Sermo Lupi ad Anglos'', dated to 1014.<ref>Dorothy Whitelock, ed. Sermo Lupi ad Anglos, 2. ed., Methuen's Old English Library B. Prose selections (London: Methuen, 1952).</ref> Malcolm Godden suggests that ordinary people saw the return of the Vikings as the imminent "expectation of the apocalypse", and this was given voice in Ælfric and Wulfstan writings,<ref>Malcolm Godden, "Apocalypse and Invasion in Late Anglo-Saxon England," in From Anglo-Saxon to Early Middle English: Studies Presented to E. G. Stanley, ed. Malcolm Godden, Douglas Gray, and Terry Hoad (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1994).</ref> which is similar to that of Gildas and Bede. Raids were taken as signs of God punishing his people; Ælfric refers to people adopting the customs of the Danish and exhorts people not to abandon the native customs on behalf of the Danish ones, and then requests a "brother Edward" to try to put an end to a "shameful habit" of drinking and eating in the outhouse, which some of the countrywomen practised at beer parties.<ref>Mary Clayton, "An Edition of Ælfric's Letter to Brother Edward," in Early Medieval English Texts and Interpretations: Studies Presented to Donald G. Scragg, ed. Elaine Treharne and Susan Rosser (Tempe, Arizona: Arizona Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies, 2002), 280–283.</ref>

In April 1016, Æthelred died of illness, leaving his son and successor [[Edmund Ironside]] to defend the country. The final struggles were complicated by internal dissension, and especially by the treacherous acts of Ealdorman Eadric of Mercia, who opportunistically changed sides to Cnut's party. After the defeat of the English in the [[Battle of Assandun]] in October 1016, Edmund and Cnut agreed to divide the kingdom so that Edmund would rule Wessex and Cnut Mercia, but Edmund died soon after his defeat in November 1016, making it possible for Cnut to seize power over all England.<ref>Keynes, S. The Diplomas of King Æthelred "the Unready", 226–228.</ref>

==== Conquest of England: Danes, Norwegians and Normans (1016–1066) ====
In the 11th century, there were three conquests: one by Cnut on October 18, 1016; the second was an unsuccessful attempt of [[Battle of Stamford Bridge]] in September, 1066; and the third was conducted by [[William the Conqueror|William of Normandy]] in October, 1066 at Hastings. The consequences of each conquest changed the Anglo-Saxon culture. Politically and chronologically, the texts of this period are not Anglo-Saxon; linguistically, those written in English (as opposed to Latin or French, the other official written languages of the period) moved away from the late West Saxon standard that is called "Old English". Yet neither are they "Middle English"; moreover, as Treharne explains, for around three-quarters of this period, "there is barely any 'original' writing in English at all". These factors have led to a gap in scholarship, implying a discontinuity either side of the Norman Conquest, however this assumption is being challenged.<ref>Treharne, Elaine. Living Through Conquest: The Politics of Early English, 1020–1220. [[Oxford University Press]], 2012.</ref>

At first sight, there would seem little to debate. Cnut appeared to have adopted wholeheartedly the traditional role of Anglo-Saxon kingship.<ref>[[Robin Fleming]] ''Kings and lords in Conquest England''. Vol. 15. Cambridge University Press, 2004.</ref> However, an examination of the laws, homilies, wills, and charters dating from this period suggests that as a result of widespread aristocratic death and the fact that Cnut did not systematically introduce a new landholding class, major and permanent alterations occurred in the Saxon social and political structures.<ref>Mack, Katharin. "Changing thegns: Cnut's conquest and the English aristocracy." ''Albion: A Quarterly Journal Concerned with British Studies'' (1984): 375–387.</ref> Eric John remarks that for Cnut "the simple difficulty of exercising so wide and so unstable an empire made it necessary to practise a delegation of authority against every tradition of English kingship".<ref>Eric John, ''Orbis Britanniae'' (Leicester, 1966), p. 61.</ref> The disappearance of the aristocratic families which had traditionally played an active role in the governance of the realm, coupled with Cnut's choice of [[thegn]]ly advisors, put an end to the balanced relationship between monarchy and aristocracy so carefully forged by the West Saxon Kings.

[[Edward the Confessor|Edward]] became king in 1042, and given his upbringing might have been considered a Norman by those who lived across the English Channel. Following Cnut's reforms, excessive power was concentrated in the hands of the rival houses of [[Leofric, Earl of Mercia|Leofric of Mercia]] and [[Godwin, Earl of Wessex|Godwine of Wessex]]. Problems also came for Edward from the resentment caused by the king's introduction of Norman friends. A crisis arose in 1051 when Godwine defied the king's order to punish the men of Dover, who had resisted an attempt by [[Eustace II, Count of Boulogne|Eustace of Boulogne]] to quarter his men on them by force.<ref name="Maddicott, J. R. 2004">Maddicott, J. R. (2004). "Edward the Confessor's Return to England in 1041". English Historical Review (Oxford University Press) CXIX (482): 650–666.</ref> The support of Earl Leofric and [[Earl Siward]] enabled Edward to secure the outlawry of Godwine and [[House of Godwin|his sons]]; and William of Normandy paid Edward a visit during which Edward may have promised William succession to the English throne, although this Norman claim may have been mere propaganda. Godwine and his sons came back the following year with a strong force, and the magnates were not prepared to engage them in civil war but forced the king to make terms. Some unpopular Normans were driven out, including [[Robert of Jumièges|Archbishop Robert]], whose archbishopric was given to [[Stigand]]; this act supplied an excuse for the Papal support of William's cause.<ref name="Maddicott, J. R. 2004" />
[[File:Bayeux Tapestry WillelmDux.jpg|thumb|upright=1.25|Depiction of the [[Battle of Hastings]] (1066) on the [[Bayeux Tapestry]]]]

The fall of England and the Norman Conquest is a multi-generational, multi-family succession problem caused in great part by Athelred's incompetence. By the time William of Normandy, sensing an opportunity, landed his invading force in 1066, the elite of Anglo-Saxon England had changed, although much of the culture and society had stayed the same.

{{blockquote|''Ða com Wyllelm eorl of Normandige into Pefnesea on Sancte Michæles mæsseæfen, sona þæs hi fere wæron, worhton castel æt Hæstingaport. Þis wearð þa Harolde cynge gecydd, he gaderade þa mycelne here, com him togenes æt þære haran apuldran, Wyllelm him com ongean on unwær, ær þis folc gefylced wære. Ac se kyng þeah him swiðe heardlice wið feaht mid þam mannum þe him gelæstan woldon, þær wearð micel wæl geslægen on ægðre healfe. Ðær wearð ofslægen Harold kyng, Leofwine eorl his broðor, Gyrð eorl his broðor, fela godra manna, þa Frencyscan ahton wælstowe geweald.''}}

{{blockquote|Then came William, the Earl of Normandy, into Pevensey on the evening of St Michael's mass, and soon as his men were ready, they built a fortress at Hasting's port. This was told to King Harold, and he gathered then a great army and came towards them at the Hoary Apple Tree, and William came upon him unawares before his folk were ready. But the king nevertheless withstood him very strongly with fighting with those men who would follow him, and there was a great slaughter on either side. Then Harald the King was slain, and Leofwine the Earl, his brother, and Gyrth, and many good men, and the Frenchmen held the place of slaughter.<ref>Swanton, Michael (1996). ''The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle''. New York: [[Routledge]]. {{ISBN|978-0-415-92129-9}}</ref>}}