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The invading Danes fought so fiercely that Edmund Ironside, the young English king, threw all caution to the wind.
In 1016, Cnut the Great, King of Denmark, attempted to build a North Sea empire that encompassed the British Isles. In a bruising series of battles, Cnut had learnt that Edmund, the young English king, was a steely warrior worthy of respect, and that English nobleman Edric, who had defected to Edmund’s side, could not be trusted. Both lessons were confirmed on October 18th that year.
Posted January 4 2022
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Edmund Ironside, King of England, and Cnut the Great, King of Denmark, fought hand-to-hand for one of European history’s richest purses.
In 1016, King Cnut of Denmark led a series of bruising attacks on King Edmund of England, hoping to add the English crown to the crowns of Denmark and Norway. Six times Edmund and Cnut had met in battle, and at the sixth attempt Cnut had captured the crown jewels. But whereas Edmund’s warrior-courage had earned Cnut’s abiding respect, the English nobles were anxious only to save their own skins.
Posted January 3 2022
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Edric’s treason handed the crown of England to Cnut the Great, but Cnut was not so poor a judge of character as to believe that a traitor could be trusted.
Henry of Huntingdon has told us how in the autumn of 1016, King Cnut of Denmark and Norway finally managed to subdue the English King, Edmund, thanks to repeated betrayals by Edmund’s treacherous counsellor, ealdorman Edric. Edmund agreed to be known henceforth as King of Wessex only, leaving Cnut as the more powerful King of Mercia, but the two warriors nevertheless cherished great mutual respect.
Posted January 2 2022
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William Pitt was a rising star of British politics in 1741, so much so that Horace Walpole MP felt he needed his wings clipped — an operation fraught with peril.
On March 10th, 1741, veteran MP Horace Walpole (1678-1757), the Prime Minister’s brother, fancied that he would silence that upstart William Pitt (1708-1778) by drawing attention to his inexperience, and scolding him for his theatrical manners of speech and gesture. He drew a reply of such withering sarcasm that it merely confirmed Pitt as the rising statesman of his generation.
Posted January 1 2022
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Imma claimed to be a harmless peasant, but there was something about him that Ecgfrith, King of Northumbria, found downright uncanny.
In 679, King Ecgfrith of Northumbria’s imperial ambitions were severely dented at the Battle of Trent, when he failed to defeat King Ethelred of Mercia somewhere near Lincoln, and lost control of the Kingdom of Lindsey. After telling us about this sorry business, Bede recalled hearing a story about one of Ethelred’s thegns (royal servants), told to him by friends who had it from the man himself.
Posted December 29 2021
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Queen Elizabeth I’s quick thinking and command of five European languages made her a dangerous enemy in a war of words.
In 1588, King Philip of Spain sent a vast Armada against England. As the husband of the late Queen Mary I, he thought the English crown should have gone to him and not to her half-sister Elizabeth, and now Elizabeth was supporting Protestant rebels in the Spanish Netherlands. Hoping to daunt this upstart Englishwoman, he threatened war in Latin verse, no less; but the Queen was not a novice in the art of verbal fencing.
Posted December 25 2021