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After the death of King Edgar, powerful court factions struggled for power by hiding behind his two sons, twelve-year-old Edward and his younger step-brother Ethelred.
Edward became King of England in 975, aged twelve. His stepmother Ælfthryth at once sidelined him, and sought to rule through her own boy Ethelred, barely eight. Edward’s party supported the revival of England’s monasteries whereas Ælfthryth campaigned to dissolve them, and in 978 his principles cost Edward his life. Roger of Wendover (?-1236) accused Ælfthryth of the murder, but there was a twist in the tale.
Picture: © Herbythyme, Wikimedia Commons. Licenc e: CC BY-SA 4.0.. Source.
Posted January 3 2021
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One Christmas Eve back in the twelfth century, a monk keeping midnight vigil in Lindisfarne priory watched spellbound as two great doors opened all by themselves.
During Viking raids in 793, the monastic community on Lindisfarne hastily exhumed the body of St Cuthbert (?635-687) and fled. After two hundred years of wandering they found a home for him at Durham, and in 1093 the Bishop of Durham re-established the priory on Lindisfarne. In the early days it was staffed by just a couple of Durham monks, but one Christmas, we are told, they received some visitors.
Picture: © Martin Cigler, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC BY-SA 3.0.. Source.
Posted December 31 2020
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Following a very grand coronation at Bath in 973, King Edgar travelled to Chester and showed his people that he had become a mighty lord indeed.
King Edgar (r. 959-975) was crowned at Bath in 973 after a frustrating delay while St Dunstan, Archbishop of Canterbury, satisfied himself that Edgar, a tearaway in his youth, had acquired sufficient maturity. That Edgar had now grown to be a king of great power and glory would have been acknowledged even by Kenneth II, King of Scots — through gritted teeth.
Picture: By James William Edmund Doyle (1822–1892), via Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.. Source.
Posted December 28 2020
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Edgar, King of England from 959 to 975, was surnamed ‘The Peaceful’ by a grateful public because of the care he took to defend person and property.
King Edgar ruled England from 959-975, following his uncle Edred and his brother Edwy. Edgar styled himself ‘Sovereign of all Albion, and of the Sea or Island kings dwelling around the same’; from his people he earned the nickname ‘the Peaceful’ for securing the borders of his kingdom, striking terror into evildoers, and bringing harmony between Englishman and Dane.
Picture: Westminster Charter of 966, via Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.. Source.
Posted December 28 2020
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Kenneth II, tenth-century King of Scots, once cracked a joke about Edgar, King of England, being on the short side. He very soon wished he hadn’t.
King Edgar, who ruled England from 959-975, was a mighty lord and warrior. Every year he patrolled the coastline of Great Britain in three large fleets, and travelled through the land to hear grievances and mete out justice to evil-doers. He garnered the nickname ‘the Peaceful’ from a grateful public, but there was one sure way to get him all worked up: call him Shorty.
Picture: From the British Library, via Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.. Source.
Posted December 28 2020
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Joseph Joachim was regarded by most people in Europe as the greatest violinist ever, but in the home of Sterndale Bennett there was a dissenting voice.
Pianist, composer and teacher Sir William Sterndale Bennett (1816-1875) enjoyed the friendship and respect of many illustrious figures in the world of music, including Felix Mendelssohn, Jenny Lind, Robert and Clara Schumann. Bennett appeared alongside supreme violinist Joseph Joachim on many occasions, but not everyone in the Bennett household shared Sterndale’s admiration for the great man.
Picture: By Adolph von Menzel (1815–1905), via Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.. Source.
Posted December 27 2020