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The Saxon Church
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The power of the Church - and
in particular of the monasteries - increased during the 10th Century,
while that of the monarch declined. |
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Edgar the Peaceful (942-975) was aged only
sixteen when his elder brother, Eadwig (Edwy) died in 959 leaving him
sole ruler. King Edgar lavishly endowed the monasteries and promoted
monks to positions of power.
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Dunstan, Archbishop of Canterbury
from 960 to 988, had been exiled by Eadwig, but Edgar recalled
and promoted him. Dunstan was an important royal advisor in
secular as well as ecclesiastical matters. |
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"This writing has been copied,
letter by letter, from the writing which Archbishop Dunstan
gave our lord at Kingston on the day that he was consecrated
as king, forbidding him to make an promise save this, which at
the bishop's bidding he laid on Christ's altar:
In the name of the Holy Trinity I promise three things to
the Christian people my subjects: first, that God's
Church and all Christian people of my realm shall enjoy true
peace; second, that I forbid to all ranks of men
robbery and all wrongful deeds; third, that I urge and
command justice and mercy in all judgments, so that the
gracious and compassionate God who lives and reigns may
grant us all his everlasting mercy."
(The Coronation Oath of Edgar, 973) |
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Unlike in other parts of Europe, monks were
given a part in the election of bishops, and many monks became bishops: 116 bishops were
appointed to English sees between 960 and 1066; of these 67 were
monks. |
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After Edgar's death, the resentment at the
power of the monks felt by laymen and secular clergy erupted; the backlash was led by
Ælfhere, ealdorman of Mercia. |
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Edward the Martyr and Ethelred
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On Edgar's death the
succession to the crown was disputed between Edward (aged c.
thirteen, his son by Æthelflaed who was known as the "White Duck") and
Ethelred (aged c. nine, Edgar's son by Ælfthryth). |
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Edward's supporters proved the
more powerful and he acceded in 975. Edward (who had a very bad temper)
increased the power of some ealdormen at the expense of others. He
also supported the anti-monastic party. |
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In March 978, Edward visited
Ethelred and Ælfthryth at their home in Corfe, Dorset. As he
dismounted from his horse, their retainers seized and stabbed him to
death.
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Edward's remains were
taken to a convent of nuns at Shaftesbury - supposedly the
corpse did not decay and miracles abounded. Edward became
venerated as a martyr despite his non-saintly life and death.
(He was canonized in 1001). |
| Ethelred (978-1016) was a mere child on his accession and
ruled basically on the
advice of his mother
Ælfthryth, of
Æthelwold Bishop of Winchester, and of Oswald Archbishop of
York.
Ethelred was a great patron of monasticism; during his reign art,
music and literature flourished. Leading writers included
Wulfstan of Winchester and
Byrhtferth of Ramsey. Ethelred framed a number of law
codes and instituted sheriffs as the rulers of shires; ealdormen now came
to control regions consisting of several shires. |
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Renewed Viking Raids
| The Vikings had continued to raid northern Britain throughout
the ninth and early tenth centuries. During the 980s they again attacked the south. |
| In 991 Olaf Tryggvason,
an exiled Norse prince, raided Kent and East Anglia extorting money.
He defeated Brihtnoth, earl of Essex, at Maldon. This defeat is
described in a famous poem on the
Battle of Maldon. Olaf's forces plundered and killed until
bribed to leave. |
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In 994, Swein
Forkbeard (son of Harold Bluetooth) mounted a similar raid on Wessex.
He too was bought off, and left to assert his
claim to the Danish throne.
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A coin from Danish East Anglia - commemorating St Edmund,
whom the Danes had killed when they had been pagans, but whom they
venerated after they became Christian. |
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Ethelred
made a treaty in 991 with Richard,
Duke of Normandy (who was himself descended from Vikings) and in
1002 Ethelred married Richard's daughter Emma. |
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Despite (or rather because of)
the payment of extortion money - "Danegeld" - Viking raids continued. |
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Ethelred ordered the execution
of Danish hostages and traitors on Saint Brice's Day, 13 November
1002. Exaggeration has represented this as an order to murder all the
Danes in England. |
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One of those killed was
Gunhild - the sister of Swein Forkbeard - who returned in 1003
on a punitive expedition. Swein had not only gained the throne of
Denmark, he had also defeated Olaf Tryggvason and seized control of
Norway. For the next ten years, Swein attacked England repeatedly -
sacking Norwich in 1004 and murdering Ælfheah, Archbishop of
Canterbury in 1012. |
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So disgusted was Thorkell the
Tall, one of Swein's generals, by this murder that he defected to
Ethelred. In 1013, Swein landed in the North of England and marched
south.
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Swein was rapidly accepted as
king in the Danelaw. He captured Oxford, Winchester &
London and Ethelred with his queen Emma fled to Normandy. |
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Swein died suddenly in 1014
and Ethelred returned to England driving out Swein's son, Cnut. |
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In 1015, Ethelred's son,
Edmund Ironside rebelled against his father and established himself as an
independent ruler. Cnut invaded once more in the
same year and Ethelred died in 1016. Edmund and Cnut agreed to divide the
country between them, but Edmund died shortly afterwards and Cnut was King of
England. |
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