Did this mean that William was England’s new king? To English minds, the answer must have been yes. As we’ve seen, English kingship was elective: a ruler’s reign began the moment he was accepted by the magnates. This means, of course, that the ætheling must have been regarded as king as well. Although the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle is understandably very coy about saying so, Edgar’s rule had clearly been proclaimed in the days immediately after Hastings. We are told, for example, that after the death of their abbot from wounds sustained in the battle, the monks of Peterborough had sent his successor to Edgar for confirmation, and – more to the point – Edgar had ‘gladly consented’. William of Poitiers is even more explicit: ‘They had chosen Edgar Ætheling, of the noble stock of King Edward, as king.’ Evidently Edgar, like the Confessor before him, had not been crowned in the early days of his reign, but in English eyes this did not matter. Coronation, to repeat, was simply confirmation – it conferred God’s blessing, but not the kingship itself.15 The Normans, however, saw matters differently. On the Continent, a king was created at the moment of his coronation, not before. The Edgar episode, of course, gave them good reason for insisting on this point: the boy had not been crowned; ergo he was not king. The English may have thought this was rather irregular, but they were clearly in no position to debate constitutional practice, and so fell quickly into line with Norman thinking.
Bayeux İşlemesinde Harold’un Ölümü
On many occasions we can see that the Tapestry includes images which are not truly original, but which have been copied and adapted from other illustrated manuscripts that the artist had to hand, and it looks very much like this process was at work in Harold’s death scene. Immediately before the king dies, we see a Norman soldier about to decapitate an unarmed Englishman. This otherwise inexplicable image seems to have been lifted more or less unaltered from an illustrated version of an Old Testament story, namely the fate of King Zedekiah and his sons, one of whom is shown being beheaded in exactly this manner. This artist may have lighted on this particular image because of the resonance of the story – Zedekiah and his family were punished because he had broken his oath of fealty to his overlord, and Zedekiah’s own punishment was blinding. It could well be, therefore, that the arrow in Harold’s eye is simply a piece of artistic licence based on nothing more than an allusion to this particular Bible story, and that blinding was felt to be a fitting end for a king who was similarly foresworn.
William’ın Normanlara Ganimet Vaadi
According to William of Poitiers, the duke pointed out that Harold could offer his men nothing in victory, whereas he, William, was promising those who followed him a share of the spoils. This may explain why, in the end, the Normans agreed to having the terms of their service written down, for the greater the service rendered, the greater the eventual reward.
Kuzey İngiltere’nin Coğrafi ve Siyasi İzolasyonu
Such was the situation in northern England at the time of Siward’s death in 1055. Divided culturally and politically, it was at the same time largely left to its own devices, for the good reason that it was a long way away and hard to reach. Thanks to the wide Humber Estuary and the bogs and swamps of Yorkshire and Cheshire, only a few roads linked the north to the south, and none of them were good: the 200-mile journey from London to York usually took a fortnight or more, assuming the roads were passable and that no robbers were encountered en route; by far the quickest and safest way to reach York from southern England was by ship. For this reason Northumbria was only subject to the lightest of royal supervision.
Haçlı Vaaz Zamanlaması
the sermons be preached to potential crusaders on key dates in the church calendar, such as Good Friday – the day was chosen because religious feeling should be high and the churches would be full.
Haçlı Seferlerinin Siyasi Amaçlarla Kullanımı
Throughout the twelfth century, the language of crusading and the idea of just conflict arose in the political arena. In 1135, when Roger II of Sicily supported the antipope Anacletus II, Pope Innocent II declared that anyone fighting against Christianity’s enemies (i.e., Roger) would gain the same indulgence as those who had taken part in the First Crusade. It was, though, under the pontificate of Innocent III that the papacy began to call crusades to fight against political opponents within Europe on the grounds that they were threatening the papal states.7 This politicisation of the crusade was made clear in 1198, when Innocent III declared a crusade against Markward of Anweiler, opponent of the papal claim to hold the regency of Sicily. The dispute between Markward and the pope was largely political, though Innocent was trying to organise a crusade at the time and felt that Markward was hindering this, making a crusade against him justifiable.
Kral David I’in İskoçya’yı Avrupalılaştırması
from the reign of David I (1113–24) to that of Alexander III, the Scottish court also enjoyed several periods of favourable relations with England. This allowed the king to expand his authority. Part of this expansion involved the ‘Europeanization’ of Scotland. David I in particular, who spent several years at the English court, was singled out as favouring the Norman French at his court, and he made grants to Anglo-Normans (the Norman settlers in England) and the new international orders of Templars and Hospitallers, as well as other orders such as the Augustinians and Cistercians. He introduced the first royal coinage struck in his name, which helped to move Scotland from a barter-based to a cash economy. David’s decision to embrace European changes reflected his links to England and the continent.
Kral Edward’ın Haçlı Seferi ve Galler Savaşı
Henry III (1216–72) was not militarily skilled or ruthless like his father, but he was a very pious king – a fact reflected in his reverence for St Edward and Westminster Abbey as well as his interest in the crusades.4 This interest in crusading partially fuelled disaffection among his barons in the 1260s; they rebelled against him and established alternative rule under Simon de Montfort. His son and heir, Edward, however, ably supported Henry, and after the defeat of Simon de Montfort peace was restored. Although the peace was not perfect, it was sufficient for Edward and his brother Edmund to join the crusade of Louis IX in 1270. It was while on crusade, in 1272, that Edward learned that his father had died. As Edward I, he was quick to stamp his authority on England and the rulers of Wales and Scotland, demanding the submission of the Welsh prince Llywelyn ap Gruffydd. The prince’s refusal sparked a war between Edward and the prince of Gwynedd. Although this first war did not see all-out conquest by Edward, a second war sparked by Dafydd ap Gruffydd’s attack on Hawarden Castle in 1282 brought about the end of Welsh independence.
Britanya’nın Haçlı Tutumu
However, for the most part, these crusades were not popular in Britain and Ireland, and the Holy Land continued to exert the strongest pull, perhaps because people in Britain and Ireland did not have to face enemies of Christianity within or along their own borders, unlike those in France, Spain, Hungary and Scandinavia, where Muslims or pagans lived in near proximity. In these areas there was perhaps a broader appreciation of what a crusade actually was, how it could be employed, and what it might achieve, and as a result there may have been an increased willingness to engage with a wider selection of crusading ‘areas’ than there was among the people from Britain and Ireland.
Ecgberht ile Wessex’in Yükselişi
A new dynasty of overlords was about to appear, this time West Saxon. In 825 Ecgberht of Wessex won a decisive victory near Swindon, expelled a Mercian under-king from Kent, and annexed Kent, Essex, Surrey, and Sussex. Four years later, Mercia itself fell to Ecgberht, and even Northumbria acknowledged his lordship. This spectacular reversal, and the sudden rise of Wessex to the position of leading player, need some explanation. Two main factors may be suggested: the growing wealth of the West Saxon monarchy, fuelled by the mineral resources of recently conquered Cornwall; and the capacity of Ecgberht’s family to determine inheritance and royal succession by agreement rather than by bloodshed, which obviated one of the crippling weaknesses of earlier English kingship.