The Kings and Queens of Britain

Cath Senker

• Publisher: Arcturus
• Year: 2021
• ISBN:
  9781398809727
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: Historical Biographies
• Index: History

Who was the first king of England? Did Henry I assassinate his brother? How did 'Bloody Mary' reinstate Roman Catholicism? For more than 1, 000 years the British monarchy has dramatically shaped national and international history. Kings and queens have conquered territory, imposed religious change and extracted taxation, each with their own motivations and ambitions.In this fascinating book, Cath Senker delves into the extraordinary history of the British monarchy and its host of kings, queens and pretenders. There have been benevolent rulers, violent ones, religious fanatics, brilliant economists, masters of diplomacy and the power hungry. But whether they have abused their power or used it for good, each monarch has played a part in the rich tapestry of British history, coping with both international and civil wars, rebellions and criticism. The Kings & Queens of Britain introduces a thousand-year history, providing rich biographical detail of Britain's remarkable monarchs.

Chapter 1 Saxons and Danes

800s–1066

From the 5th to the 7th centuries, Angles, Saxons and Jutes from northern Germany established kingdoms in England. Traditionally, historians perceived their invasion as a violent takeover, but recently opinions have shifted. Although the native British people offered some resistance, many historians now see it as a less forceful conquest, marked by social integration and intermarriage with the local population. By 700, twelve main Anglo-Saxon kingdoms had formed and they fought among themselves for supremacy. It was not until the 10th century that England came under one ruler. Once in control, the Anglo-Saxon monarchs created administrative systems and laws to govern the land. In the 900s, Danish invaders persistently attacked England, raiding year after year; they finally seized the English throne the following century. In turn, their dominance was challenged by growing Norman influence.

TIMELINE OF KINGS 800s–1066

800s

Egbert (802–839)

Aethelwulf (839–858)

Aethelbald (858–860)

Aethelberht (860–865/866)

Aethelred I (865/866–871)

Alfred the Great (871–899)

900s

Edward the Elder (899–924)

Athelstan (924–939)

Edmund I (939–946)

Eadred (946–955)

Eadwig (955–959)

Edgar (959–975)

Edward the Martyr (975–978)

Aethelred II the Unready (978–1013)

1000s

Svein Forkbeard (1013–14)

Aethelred II the Unready (1014–16)

Edmund II Ironside (1016)

Cnut (1016–35)

Harold I Harefoot (1035–40)

Hardecanute (1040–42)

Edward the Confessor (1042–66)

Harold II (1066)

ALFRED THE GREAT (871–899)

The youngest of at least six children of an aristocratic family, Alfred emerged to become a powerful monarch and the best known of the Anglo-Saxon kings. The only English monarch known as ‘the great’, he mounted a fierce defence against the Danish invaders, constructed fortified towns and extensively revised Anglo-Saxon law. Alfred made steps towards the Crown’s control of England, and by the 890s, his charters and coins referred to him as ‘king of the English’. He is often considered the first king of England, although he ruled only part of the country.

The Danes – destructive and constructive

England was attractive to the Vikings of Denmark, for its fertile farmland and the riches of its monasteries – and their longboats allowed them to reach its shores. Alfred’s reign was dominated by struggles with the Danes to control England. In 871, Alfred defeated Danish forces at the Battle of Ashdown, in Berkshire, but they continued to launch attacks in Wessex. Following Alfred’s victory in 878 at the Battle of Edington, near Trowbridge in Wiltshire, they made peace. The Danish raids had been hugely destructive – they razed settlements and stole booty. Yet they brought advances too. The Danes introduced the axe, which was probably used for clearing forests, allowing the expansion of agriculture. They brought their sophisticated sailing technology and navigation techniques, using a sun compass to check the position of the sun, and skilful craftsmanship, making beads from melted coloured glass and elegant combs from animal bones.

Alfred burns the cakes

As author Rudyard Kipling once commented, ‘If history were taught in the form of stories, it would never be forgotten.’ Many people know of King Alfred from the tale of his poor baking skills. In January 878, the Vikings invaded Alfred’s base in Chippenham, and his forces were routed. The king and his men scattered around the Somerset Levels, relying on food and shelter from the locals. Alfred had taken refuge with a peasant woman, who asked him to keep an eye on her cakes baking by the fire. Consumed by his worries, he allowed the cakes to burn and was scolded by his hostess. Alfred subsequently regrouped his forces in Athelney – a tiny, low-lying village in the marshes, surrounded by reeds, woods and scrubland – where he planned the retaliatory assault against the Vikings in Edington.

The statue of Alfred the Great in Winchester. Winchester was the capital of the kingdom of Wessex.

Securing the kingdom

Once in control, King Alfred reorganized his army and introduced a military levy system. At any one time, half the militia were active, while the other half remained in reserve. To fight the Danes at sea, he built a naval fleet with superior ships: ‘full nigh twice as long as the others; some had sixty oars, and some had more; they were both swifter and steadier, and also higher than the others’.¹ In 884, Alfred sent a fleet against the Danes of East Anglia and he took London in 886. He realized he could not drive the Danes out of the whole country, so he made a partition treaty. England was divided – the north and east between the Rivers Thames and Tees became Danish territory, while Alfred controlled London, West Mercia and Kent. The main Danish settlements were Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, Nottinghamshire and Yorkshire; in the 11th century, the Danish area became known as the Danelaw.

For defence, King Alfred constructed around 25 burghs – fortified centres across southern England, guarded by professional soldiers. The burghs allowed people to live in peace; they developed into the medieval towns of the south, and the king encouraged the development of industries. The English were no longer purely rural folk.

Boroughs

Alfred rebuilt London, which the Danish raids had made almost uninhabitable, renovating the walls of the old Roman city of Londinium, and restoring the waterfront. He offered settlers plots of land called burghs, which they would defend in times of war. The burghs created in London in the 880s formed the basis of the city centre, between Cheapside and the Thames. The word ‘borough’ comes from ‘burgh’, meaning ‘fortress’.

Religion, education and law

King Alfred also turned his hand to the Church and education, restoring monasteries and convents that had been demolished in Viking raids. He introduced a school system for the sons of noblemen, believing that secular officials as well as churchmen should be educated. Alfred loved books, and was one of the few English monarchs to write books himself. He had ‘books most necessary for all men to know’ translated from Latin to English, and it is believed he commissioned the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle (see overleaf).

A map of England in 878. The country was split into the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of Wessex, Mercia and Northumbria, and the Danelaw.

The king established a legal code to form the body of Anglo-Saxon law. He explained his process:

I … collected these [laws] together and ordered to be written many of them which our forefathers observed, those which I liked; and many of those which I did not like I rejected with the advice of my councillors … For I dared not presume to set in writing at all many of my own, because it was unknown to me what would please those who should come after us …²

The Anglo-Saxons had a council of important nobles and bishops called the Witan, which they could call upon for advice. Alfred clearly accepted that it was necessary to seek advice from his councillors, one of the marks of a successful ruler. By consolidating his territory and developing the legal system, Alfred facilitated the extension of control over the whole of England by his successors.

THE ANGLO-SAXON CHRONICLE

A main source for our knowledge of Anglo-Saxon and Norman England, the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle provides a narrative of historical events, covering the breadth of English life, from agriculture, trade and coinage to religion, laws and wars. Its coverage is patchy, with more information about some eras than others; you won’t find much about King Cnut, but it is rich in detail for the hundred years from Edward the Confessor’s reign. The chronicle has survived to this day, although one of the seven manuscripts was destroyed in a fire in 1731.

EDWARD THE ELDER (899–924)

Described by William of Malmesbury as ‘much inferior to his father in the cultivation of letters’ yet ‘incomparably more glorious in the power of his rule,’³ Alfred’s eldest son Edward increased the territory of the English Crown and achieved the allegiance of the Danes, Scots and Britons (the indigenous pre-Anglo-Saxon people). His mil...

Table of contents

• Title
• Contents
• Introduction: The Impact of the Monarchy
• Chapter 1: Saxons and Danes – 800s to 1066
• Chapter 2: The Normans – 1066 to 1154
• Chapter 3: The Struggle for Power in Wales – 800 to 1536
• Chapter 4: The House of Anjou – 1154 to 1272
• Chapter 5: Scotland: From the Viking Invasions to Independence – 800 to 1424
• Chapter 6: The Plantagenets – 1272 to 1399
• Chapter 7: The Houses of Lancaster and York – 399 to 1485
• Chapter 8: The Tudors – 1485 to 1603
• Chapter 9: Renaissance Scotland – 1424 to 1625
• Chapter 10: The Stuarts – 1603 to 1714
• Chapter 11: The House of Hanover – 1714 to 1901
• Chapter 12: The Houses of Saxe-Coburg, Gotha and Windsor – 1901 to present day
• Chapter notes
• Bibliography
• Picture credits
• Copyright