Anglo-Viking England

Harold Godwinson's descendants?

2013-05-30T13:44:00.002+01:00

As we know, Harold Godwinson- alledged to relate distantly to King Athelred I (older brother of Alfred the Great)- had several sons and daughters by Edith Swanneck, a mysterious English noble lady who was his handfast wife. Two or three of their sons tried to invade England in 1068 only to be bloodily repulsed (ironically) by men who had served their father. Another child (son?) was in the

Atheling Athelstan's will, 1014

2013-05-30T13:38:00.001+01:00

Drawn up on June 25th 1014, the will of aethling Athelstan stresses the atheling’s legitimacy to the title of his estates in that he was either given them by the king (his father) or by senior nobles. There are clues to some tension between him and his father, the king (Ethelred II), in that it makes a direct appeal to the witan and nobles to ensure that the king kept his word. In other words,

2013-02-24T16:49:00.001+00:00

Sign the Petition! Save the 'Hastings' battlesite... http://www.englistory.com/t1239-sign-the-petition "English Heritage begins process to review 1066 battlefield registration Local resident starts legal action against ESCC to preserve battlefield Legal action update: 28th January 2013 Today, Michael's solicitor wrote again to ESCC to say that tree works alone are affecting over 6.3 hectares

History: What inspired you initially?

2011-11-18T21:31:00.000+00:00

I was musing about several things recently, and wondered what my inspirations were regarding history. It transpired that both Michael Wood's unreleased "In Search of the Dark Ages" 1979-81 BBC documentary series, ie. Offa; Alfred; Athelstan (and five other subjects) and also ITV's 1983-6 drama "Robin of Sherwood" (starring Ray Winstone and Clive Mantle) struck the nail on the head to inspire me!

Bloody Immigrants!

2011-05-26T17:54:00.001+01:00

Waves of persistent immigrants hopped off the battered boats and made their way into the nearest towns in the south, initially unchecked at the coast by the residents, merchants and churchmen and aimed to claim whatever they could from their strange new home, the fertile land of Britain. They looked, acted and sounded different- a major threat to established, age-old societies and customs,

The "fleeing" Fyrdsmen?

2011-01-25T20:05:00.000+00:00

The fyrdsmen that fatally broke rank from the English shieldwall at Senlac, 14th October 1066, chasing the 'broken' Norman-French-Breton army, weakened the English defence and frittered away a victory for Harold, who was slain that day. Was it really this simple? Or were they later arrivals who had not been present to hear King Harold's strict orders to hold formation at all costs? And why was

Anglo-Saxons:- "Lumbering about in pot-bellied equanimity"?

2010-12-25T21:54:00.000+00:00

Guiscard, a member of my website (and who runs his own, Norman, message board)started off an interesting thread on his forum, which set me thinking- who uttered the infamous phrase that the Anglo-saxons would have been "Pot-bellied, amiable and drunk" as Michael Wood described in his 'In Search of the Dark Ages' series (1981)? Some have suggested elsewhere that it was none other than Monty (

Brunanburh, where was it fought?

2010-12-25T21:50:00.000+00:00

Over 41 sites in mainland Britain have been proposed (listed in Hill's Age of Athelstan), ranging from Cornwall to Scotland, 20 in England alone. Fought in 937ad between King Athelstan's 16,000 Wessex/Mercian army (numbers suggested by A.H.Burne) against an alliance of 18,000 Scots(under King Constantine); 'Britons' of Strathclyde(under King Owain); Irish and Jorvik Norsemen(under King Olaf

1066: Why did the fyrdsmen break rank from the shield wall?

2010-09-29T16:39:00.000+01:00

The fyrdsmen that broke rank from the English shieldwall at Senlac, 14th October 1066- were they later arrivals who had not been present to hear King Harold's strict orders to hold formation at all costs? We know from the sources that more Anglo-Saxons came trickling in from the southern shires throughout the day, as their king had bade them days before. So, were the men who fatally broke rank

"Thor's Hammer" Found in Viking Graves

2010-08-31T20:46:00.000+01:00

Long dismissed as accidental additions to Viking graves, prehistoric "thunderstones"—fist-size stone tools resembling the Norse god Thor's hammerhead—were actually purposely placed as good-luck talismans, archaeologists say. http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2010/08/100810-thor-thors-hammer-viking-graves-thunderstones-science/ (National Geographic)

Edward/Aethelflaed & the refortifying of burhs

2010-08-06T22:10:00.001+01:00

In the early 10thC Chester, a former Roman town on the river Dee in N.W.England, which they called Deva, was a vitally important burh -it was a prosperous Royal mint lying on the river Dee, a noted and major Mercian stronghold and was geographically crucial to England's defence- being sited near to the northernmost tip of Mercia and near to E.Wales/S.Cumbria/S.W.Northumbria. It also was sited

The Bayeux Tapestry & it's oddities?

2010-05-17T21:47:00.001+01:00