Saint Edward the Confessor: Last of the Saxon Kings?

if you asked british school children what happened in the year 1066 they will undoubtedly answer the battle of hastings fought on october the 14th it marked the successful invasion of england by the duke of normandy william the conqueror but earlier that year another pivotal event took place nine months earlier on january the 5th an elderly king died in the abbey that he had built westminster his reign had been largely peaceful stable and prosperous but he passed away without heirs leaving the kingdom in a chaotic mess with four different contenders laying claim to the throne this is the story of that king considered by supporters as a fair and pious monarch he was slandered by his critics as weak and ineffectual yet also prone to violence he went down in history as both a king and a saint edward the confessor the last saxon king of england [Music] if you know your history you know that william the conqueror defeated king harold godwin hastings so harold should be considered the last saxon king right well yes but also no as we'll learn later the legitimacy of harold's reign was contested from the very start and in any case his tenure on the throne lasted only 10 months so it may be more correct to say that edward was the last real saxon king of england whose legitimacy was not disputed and who sat on the throne for a more reasonable amount of time the claim of edward saxon king was upheld by none other than winston churchill in his history of the english-speaking people sir winston thus describes the final moment of edward the lights of saxon england were going out and in the gathering darkness a gentle gray-beard prophet foretold the end when on his deathbed edward spoke of a time of evil that was coming upon the land his inspired muttering struck terror into the hearers thus on january the 5th 1066 ended the line of the saxon kings churchill wrote this passage in april 1940 when britain faced the serious threat of a german invasion we can therefore understand if he foreshadows the norman conquest as a time of evil we can also forgive that he overlooked an important fact about edwards that he was a half norman by birth and culturally norman by his upbringing this is why we have placed a nice question mark in the title of this episode the last of the taxing kings question mark can also be read like this the last of the saxon kings [Music] edward was born sometime between 1002 and 1005 at islip in oxfordshire his parents were emma of normandy and king ethelred the second of england belonging to the noble house of wessex ethelred was christened as the unready styling that is more accurately interpreted as the unwise or the one without counsel as a king ethelred found it difficult to defend his lands from frequent raids by danish vikings ethered tried to keep the danes at bay by allying himself with the normans he cemented an alliance by virtue of his marriage to emma daughter of the duke of normandy this was ethelred's second marriage he had already fathered six children from a previous wife of which the eldest edmund was the next in line to the throne emma gave two children to the unready edward and alfred an early biography of edward claims that all english nobles already hailed him as their next king while he was still unborn the same text mentions that upon his birth edward was entrusted by his parents to the care of a monastic order this text may have been hagiographic or intentionally aimed at celebrating edward as a saint nonetheless it sets the tone for two important forces that drove edward's future life his desire to take the throne as a legitimate heir and his deep religious beliefs during edward's early childhood his father struggled to keep england free of danish rule he resorted to paying what we could define as protection money to the danes this was ultimately money that heather had extracted from his subjects via a heavy tax known as the danegeld the vikings pocketed the money of course but according to the anglo-saxon chronicle they went about as they pleased in other words the bribe money hadn't really altered their behavior all that much at all this was so true that in 1013 danish king sven forkbeard invaded england and laid siege to london ethered initially mounted a successful resistance but english nobles nevertheless took the occasion to oust him from power they had been exasperated by his ineffective rule and by the burden of the danegeld so why not give the throne to that danish bloke ethel read emma and their two children they fled to safety in normandy where edward was first exposed to norman cultural influence sven forkbeard was crowned king of england on christmas day 1013 but his reign was short-lived as he died just five weeks later ether read the unready he returned to the throne after he was recalled from normandy by the wittan the council of english noblemen ethelred centre had some ambassadors led by his son edward he couldn't have been more than 11 or 12 years old but he acted as a consummate diplomat reassuring the nobles that his father would rule them fairly and protect them against further danish offensives the unready returned during lent of 1014 and immediately had to prepare to face knut the son of sven who had very aggressive intentions the new king of the danes led raiding parties into much of southern england through 1015 and 10 16 plundering and slaying wiz gusto his army had grown stronger thanks to alliance with edrick the powerful earl of mercia which is roughly equivalent to today's midlands all the while ethel red lay ill in the town of cawsham and the marauding vikings were opposed by his son edmund nicknamed the ironside on april 23 1016 saint george's day ethel redd died his people shed few tears though as the anglo-saxon chronicle records that he ended his days having held his kingdom in much tribulation and difficulty as long as his life continued the wittan elected edmund as the king and the ironside continued the fight it appears that his half-brother edward was by his side at this point our protagonist must have been about 14 years old and he had displayed religious and diplomatic qualities so far but it didn't stop the young prince from proving himself as a beast of a warrior according to a scandinavian source during a battle with the danes for the control of london edward came within striking distance of king canute he then delivered a formidable downward blow with his sword one of canute's lieutenants thor called the tall shoved his king out of harm's way but the force of the blow was such that it smote asunder the saddle and the horse's back after a defeat at ashington in the county of essex edmund agreed to an alliance with knut under these terms the danes would retain control of mercia and much of the north of england while edmund would rule over wessex which corresponds to southwestern england from london to cornwall in november of the same year edmund died of natural causes and canoe declared himself king of the whole of england supported by a large part of the witan [Music] to ensure the stability of his throne canoe set about getting rid of his potential rivals first he ordered the killing of edwig younger brother of the late king edmund then he exiled the two infant sons of edmund to sweden arranging for them to be assassinated fortunately this didn't happen but the two princes would not return to england for decades the same fate could have befallen edward and his brother alfred so they left the country for a second voluntary exile in normandy while there edward learned that in july 1017 his mother emma had married canute this was a blow capable of breaking a horse in tow why had emma of normandy married a sworn enemy of their own family the marriage was in fact an astute power move aimed at smoothing the transition from the old rule of the wessex saxons to the new reign emma was also aware that her own children were too removed from the line of succession and that she risked deportation or even assassination if she did not accept the offer to marry knut lastly emma took the occasion to soften the otherwise harsh rule of canute especially in the first years of his reign while canoe traveled extensively back and forth between england and denmark emma acted as the de facto ruler of the country reducing when possible the heavy taxes imposed by her husband she also reimbursed church property out of her own pocket after it was damaged by the rowdy danish armies so all in all emma's second marriage was less an act of betrayal than a calculated move to protect herself and her adopted country however her distant teenage sons may have not understood this notion at the time edward spent his formative years in normandy gradually turning to the church and religion for comfort support and advice in keeping with his origin story the prince developed piety and devotion worthy of a bishop yet he maintained ambitions worthy of a king he vowed that he would return to england one day as its rightful ruler but succession was not an easy affair first of all canute already had a male heir earmarked to take his place this was his son harold hereford conceived from a previous marriage edward's ambitions were further frustrated when he learned that emma and canute had sired another son hartheknut as we say in england they had an heir and a spare leaving very little chance for edward to return to the throne as emma groom's prince harth connewed for succession no wonder then that edward turned to his more distant norman relatives for familiar comfort and support over the years edwards cemented his relationship with the norman aristocracy bringing them to his cause the duke of normandy himself robert the first attempted an invasion of england in 1034 with the goal of attempting to restore edward to his rightful position the expedition was thwarted by unfavorable winds and the whole project was abandoned when robert died the following year in november of 1035 another funeral took place on the other side of the channel king canute had died his son by emma hartknucht was declared king of denmark while harold hereford stood as regent in england now the de facto king harold had no reason to show any loyalty to his dad's second wife emma he could have gotten rid of her at any moment emma needed protection and it may be for this reason that she invited her two sons back to england from normandy shortly after their arrival alfred was quickly captured by an opportunistic godwin earl of wessex who wanted to ingratiate himself with hairfoot godwin slew most of alfred's party and then handed him over to harold the anglo-saxon chronicle describes what followed as such a deed more dreary none in this our land was done since englishmen gave place to hordes of danish race harold's men blinded poor alfred with red-hot pokers and then left him to die inside of a monastery edward had to escape back to normandy once again adding godwin to his list of enemies without support from her sons emma was eventually expelled by harold and forced to live in bruges modern-day belgium from there she once again appealed to edward begging for his help in securing the succession in harthannon's favor understandably edward refused to provide any help he was pious and religious and all of that but this was taking things just a bit too far in any case emma's wishes came true even without help from edward when harold heffett died in 1040 harthaknet was able to take the throne in england the following year harknett proved to be a more magnanimous monarch than his father he did not exile or assassinate potential threats to the throne actually he did the opposite upon him his insistence he invited edward back to england and designated him as his successor suddenly edward was just a few months away from the goal of a lifetime in fact on june the 8th 1042 hearth couldn't have died in a way befitting of such a turbulent time he died by poisoning alcohol poisoning to be exact in other words he totally drank himself to death even with haas canet's blessing edward still needed the wit and the council of nobles to support his ascension this was not a given but he did enjoy their support thanks to the lobbying of the three most powerful saxon earls leah frick c wood and wait for it godwin earl of wessex yeah the same guy who played lackey to harold hereford and who had caused the gruesome death of edward's brother alfred it may sound strange but edward and godwin did forge an uneasy alliance born out of political opportunism and of course thanks to the wit hand support edward was crowned king of england on april the 3rd 1043. one of the first recorded actions taken by the new king took place on november 16 1043 edward supported by godwin and his retinue paid a surprise visit to his mother emma in winchester in a swift action edward took revenge upon dear mother as i explained earlier her actions after the death of ethel redd may have been politically justifiable and she had insisted that herzknet invited edward back to england but on a personal level it is understandable if edward felt very little affection towards his mother the king seized all of her lambs properties and jewels he even had her evicted from her official residence at winchester castle emma died some nine years later in virtual poverty and obscurity after this incident edward's reign was fairly stable as described by biographer william of malmsbury there was no foreign war always calm and peaceable both at time and abroad he conducted himself so mildly that he would not even utter a word of reproach to the meanest person malnsbury clearly appreciated edward's rule as he praised his domestic policies in the execution of taxes he was sparing as he abominated the insolence of collectors this good king abrogated bad laws with his wittan established good ones and filled with joy all that britain over which he ruled nonetheless edward had to deal with internal conflict the same earls who had supported his claim soon grew suspicious of edward's pro-norman leanings these were reflected in his administrative and ruling style more visibly the norman influence was evident in the new abbey he ordered be built westminster abbey the first english church in the norman romanesque architectural style edward knew that of the earls of the witan the most powerful was godwin he sought to prevent any conspiracy by becoming a relative of his in january 1045 edward married godwin's daughter edith godwin may have twirled his moustache at the thought of becoming grandfather to a future king except edward constantly torn between political power and religious pursuits made a vow of chastity edward's demeanor was increasingly priest-like he was popular among his subjects for his piety and devotion soon developing a reputation he's a bit of a holy man according to several biographers god glorified king edward with the gift of miracles chronicler ospert of claire tells a story of how the king helped a blind man from lincoln to recover his sight or how about another anonymous biographer who wrote about a young woman who was plagued by a nasty infection of the throat and glands the disease worsened so much so that worms together with pus and blood came out of various holes one night the woman had a dream that she would be healed if the king washed her face edward heard about her and agreed to carry out the treatment hardly had she been at court a week when all foulness washed away the grace of god molded her with beauty the writer specifies that these prodigies left the english in awe but also that edward had been performing routinely similar miracles as a young man in normandy [Music] the normans haven't quite left the story just yet which seems like a bit of a recurring theme for the life of edward the confessor edward's mother was norman his upbringing was norman his most trusted advisors were norman and sometime during his exile he had even allegedly designated a norman heir duke william in 1051 edward appointed a norman roberto zhumajay as archbishop of canterbury against the direct wishes of his father-in-law godwin archbishop robert was not too keen on godwin either as he reported that the earl was plotting to assassinate the king the relationship was reaching a bit of a breaking point things went from bad to worse in september the townsfolk of dover attacked retinue of a norman visitor the count of bologne in retaliation the king ordered godwin to exact punishment on the town godwin refused he began raising an army with his eldest sons sven and harold the rebel l marched against the king who was taken by surprise the english crown could raise a national militia but it needed time only the most powerful nobles could rely on standing armies which they could mobilize in a short amount of time in this case edward was saved at the last moment by the earl's seward and leaffrick who led a powerful contingent against godwin the kingdom was spared a civil war though as both parties weren't really keen to fight and well who could really blame them edward and godwin agreed on a different way to settle their dispute they would convene a meeting of the witan in london by the end of 1051 which the earl of wessex and his sons would then their grievances against the king edward got wind that godwin sven and harold were coming to london all right but they were bringing along their army too the king now had more time to act and so he issued an order for the militia to be convened from all english lands most of the knights in godwin's service were more loyal to the king than to their earl and so they abandoned the wessex forces to join edward by the time goldwyn arrived in london his forces had just melted away king edward delivered the next blow by outlawing the earl and his family in a matter of days they had all left england harold and another brother had sought refuge in ireland godwin and his other sons exiled themselves to flanders next edward confiscated all of godwin's estates and riches before enacting the final stages of his revenge play you may remember that godwin was actually the king's father-in-law well edward decided he couldn't trust his own wife edith so he sent her away to a nunnery edward's advantage against godwin's family was short-lived though without the meddlesome father-in-law around edward took the occasion to invite more norman advisors to court this ill-advised decision irked some members of the witan who turned their sympathies towards the exiled earl of wessex in the summer of 1052 godwin returned to england landing in kent with a powerful fleet at the same time his son harold a competent military leader disembarked in devon the two armies converged near sandwich and from there launched an attack towards london the anglo-saxon chronicle describes how on this occasion edward's reaction was slow and indecisive many southern lords and knights had already sided with godwin due to their anti-norman sympathies as godwin's army swelled and marched to london it plundered burned and looted without restraint many landowners went to king edward to ask for help but when he failed to mount a timely counter-attack they were all too happy to switch sides when godwin and harold reached london edward's army and fleet were entirely surrounded by their enemies once again england was on the brink of a large-scale civil war and once again it was averted at the last minute when officers from both armies preferred to parlay rather than fight the truce was followed by another meeting of the witan in london which resulted in a humiliating defeat for edward at the council godwin and his sons were cleared of all charges that had been laid against them treason rebellion conspiracy to assassinate the king and even godwin's role in causing the death of alfred edward pressed by the majority of the nobles had to comply the witan also demanded for archbishop robert to be proclaimed an outlaw alongside other norman advisors godwin died the following year in quite a dramatic fashion evidently he choked on a piece of bread after swearing to the king let god who knows all things be my judge may this crust of bread which i hold in my hand pass through my throat and leave me unharmed to show that i was innocent of your brother's death despite the sean and freud of his death godwin and his family had emerged victorious from their duel with edward moreover the norman influence had been removed from court if duke william of normandy wanted to sit on the english throne he'd have to earn that right by force as king edward entered his sixth decade it became clear that he would die childless so who would succeed him we already know that he would have appointed william of normandy as his heir on a previous occasion but this choice was not palatable to the witten the council of nobles pressed for another alternative you remember the children of edmund ironside exiled to sweden well the eldest who was also called edward was still alive and kicking and hungry in 1056 the king decided to have him brought back to england he entrusted this difficult task to his old enemy harold son of godwin now earl harold godwinson after the death of godwin edward had learned to appreciate harold's qualities unlike his father harold had proven to be loyal to the king and he was also a successful military leader he had proven his skill by leading several victorious campaigns against a rebellious welsh leader harold succeeded on his mission returning with prince edward in the summer of 1057 but on august 31 the prince died of unknown causes had he been poisoned by harold well according to pro-norman sources oh yes more realistically though probably not if that was harold's intention why not just kill the prince during the long journey back from hungary it just doesn't make sense prince edward died leaving a young son behind edgar etheling or throneworthy he was considered by part of the witten as another possible candidate to the throne despite his young age a larger faction in the meanwhile started to consider harold as a more palatable successor he was an effective military leader brother-in-law to the king and ruler of the most powerful of the english elders harold star continued to rise in the early 1060s edward gradually withdrew from government matters preferring to dedicate his time to prayer religious studies in the completion of westminster abbey the king preferred to delegate his most serious matters to harold and other members of his family in 1063 harold's younger brother tostig quelled a rebellion in northumbria following which the two brothers crushed once overall prince gridiriag in north wales ever more dependent on harold in 1064 edward sent him on a diplomatic mission to normandy during which time he met duke william what happened in the meeting is disputed according to pro-norman sources the aim of harold's mission was to confirm to william that he was the designated successor to the english throne according to pro-saxon accounts harold was there to negotiate an alliance with the normans and the succession was not even discussed the already puzzling situation was made even more confusing by king edward himself at the end of 1065 the king fell ill and there was nothing that could be done as he lay on his death bed during the first calendar week of the new year he called for harold and pledged the crown to him as a reward for his services or at least that's harold's version king harold goldwinson rushed to have himself declared king the very same day of edward's death january the 5th 1066. harold's position was all but secure edgar zee etheling may not have been a credible contender but william of normandy was a fearsome rival if that wasn't enough there was a fourth claimant to the throne norwegian king harold haldrada now i'm not going to go into details of what happens next for those who can search for our biographics video on willian the conqueror i will instead consider king edward's legacy his record as a successful leader is criticized by some historians his reign was largely peaceful sure but he could have spared the country much infighting had he acted more decisively when dealing with godwin his predilection for norman customs and his own norman heritage was perceived positively by pro-norman chronicles in fact he could be considered the first of the norman kings rather than the last of the saxons however his unchecked bias towards advisers and bishops from that land eventually caused discontent amongst saxon noblemen over time memories of his piety and stories of his miracles took over his more earthly deeds in 1163 almost a century after his death edward was formally proclaimed a saint and styled the confessor this title indicates a saint who suffers for his faith but is one step short of martyrdom in 1269 edward's bones were laid in westminster abbey his abbey which back then was the most sumptuous shrine in the western world edward was england's patron saint until 1348 when he was replaced by saint george his cult remained alive for centuries though and sick pilgrims would sleep by his shrine in the hope of being cured so i really hope you found that video interesting if you did smash that like button below don't forget to subscribe and thank you for watching [Music]

Channel: Biographics

Views: 210,685

Keywords: biographics, biography, biographies, people, famous people, simon whistler

Id: lI9PtW5BLdw

Length: 24min 53sec (1493 seconds)

Published: Fri Sep 25 2020