After Hastings: A Weekly Report from England

[Judas Maccabeus]

THE KINGS OF WESSEX AND ENGLAND

THE HOUSE OF CERDIC (Cerdicingas) as Kings of Wessex

Cerdic Gewissa [519-534]
Cynric [534-560]
Cealwin [560-591]
Ceol [591-597]
Ceolwulf [597-611]
Cynegils [611-643] and Cwichelm [614-636]
Cenwalh [643-674]
Cenfus [674]
Aescwine [674-676]
Centwine [676-685]
[Caedwalla [685-688]]
Ine [688-726]
Aethelheard [726-740]
Cuthred [740-756]
Sigebert [756-757]
[Cynewulf [757-786]]
Beortric [786-802]
Egbert [802-839]
Aethelwulf (I) [839-856]
Aethelbald [856-860]
Aethelbert [860-865]
Aethelred (I) [865-871]


as Kings of England

Aelfred I Greata ("the Great") [871-899]
Edward I Ieldra ("the Elder") [899-924]
Aelfweard [924]
Aethelstan [924-939]
Edmund I Daedfruma ("the Deed-doer") [939-946]
Eadred [946-955]
Edwy Cyrten ("the Fair") [955-959]
Edgar I Lisslice ("the Peaceful") [959-975]
Edward II Cythere ("the Martyr") [975-978]
Aethelred II Unraed ("Ill-council") [978-1016]
Edmund II Isenside ("Ironside") [1016]
Edward III Geandettend ("the Confessor") [1042-1066]
Edgar II Aetheling ("Crown Prince") [1066-1091]



THE HOUSE OF ESSEX / SIWARD

Osric I Haligwar ("the Saint") [1091-1128]
Aethelwulf II [1128-1143]
Eanbert I [1143-1158]
Sigehelm Unhlise ("the Infamous") [1158-1174]
Osric II Ofersaewisc ("Over-the-sea") [1174-1193]
Sigeric Scottashamor ("Hammer of the Scots") [1193-1197]
Eanbert II [1197-1216]
Oswine Endere ("the Abolisher") [1216-1225]
Eadbert [1225-1233]
Harold II [1233-1234]
[Vassak I Turcas ("the Turk") - special April Fools Day episode]
Osric III Aeftresta ("the Last") [1234-1266]


THE HOUSE OF CONAN / CORNWALL

Alderic le Conquerant ("the Conqueror") [1266-1287]
Henri I le Vaillant ("the Brave") [1287-1299]
Renaud Étoiles mauvais ("the Ill-Starred") [1299-1309]
Amaury le Silencieux ("the Quiet") [1309-1321]
John I [1321-1354]
William I the Lionhearted [1354-1371]
Alfred II the Young King [1371-1378]
David I Llidiog ("the Angry") [1378-1418]


Yes, I'm back to AARing, after tearing myself to pieces before. No daily updates (weekly instead; maybe twice weekly if I'm lucky) here, no story style (just history-book like), and no twists.

Okay, one twist. Our king of England will not be William I of the line of Rollo the Viking, but Edgar II of the line of Cerdic the West Saxon, whom you might know as Edgar the Aetheling. (Why not Harold? Because I don't like Harold, that's why.)



And his older sister for good measure:



(Just ignore the ages)




The Battle of Hastings (14 October 1066)

...With Hardrade killed, Harold rushed his army southward to deal with the newly-landed William. He did so with amazing rapidity, reaching the area before the middle of October. The astounded William was not dismayed, however, and met the army on the slopes of Senlac hill, a short distance north of the coastal village of Hastings.

The Saxon army lined up in a dense shield wall, more than prepared for William's cavalry and archers. William made his way up the hill, pounding the wall with arrows and making cavalry charge after cavalry charge. Harold and his two remaining brothers looked down very happy with how it was working out. Finally, in one of the charges, William fell to the ground. While charging the Saxon lines his horse spooked, forcing his saddle's pommel into his stomach. The wound proved to be fatal (more due to the Saxons later capturing his body than anything else), and the Normans broke.

Odo, William's half-brother and bishop of Bayeux, attempted to rally the Norman forces. He succeded in doing so, and suddenly saw an opportunity: Harold and his brothers had overpursued, breaking the shield wall in an attempt to keep the Normans on the run. The result was that he could charge at the scattered group. Harold recieved an arrow to the eye from one of the Norman archers, and all three of the sons of Godwin were surrounded and killed.

By this point, it was too late for the Norman army. They fled back to Pevensey, not even attempting to defend the forts that had been prepared there and at Hastings, and boarded the ships as quickly as they could before the Saxons arrived. William's invasion had been a disaster, leaving his son Robert as the child-duke of Normandy, with Odo as his guardian.

However, the battle had been a disaster for the English as well. All four of Godwin's sons were now dead, with only Harold's twin sons and Tostig's two sons left alive. Edwin and Morcar, the earls of the north, could have taken the crown for themselves, but along with Archbishop Stigand of Canterbury supported the son of Edward the Exile, Edgar.

[Shuma]

Alternate history right from the start! Silly William charging a shieldwall like that!

Doesn't the story say that he burned those ships so his army can't retreat?

[Fiftypence]

Nice set up. I never really liked William the Bastard anyway.

[Olaus Petrus]

Saxon England interesting setup. I'll be following this.

[stnylan]

Interesting pair. Looks good.

[Judas Maccabeus]

[Shuma: Well, William was rather silly at charging shieldwalls in the real battle. He didn't get so lucky this time for the Saxons to break their wall before William was killed.

Oh, and the first post doesn't count as this week's. So:]

Edgar II Aetheling ("Crown Prince")

Born: 1053, Kiev
Married: Agnes d' Aquitaine (on 13 January 1069)
Died: 21 January 1091, Southampton

Edgar was the son of Edward the Exile, nephew of Edward the Confessor. He had been considered in the line for the throne after the Confessor's death, but the influence of Godwin's family in the witan resulted in Harold being elected instead of Edgar. The line of Cerdic of Wessex as kings of England might have ended there had it not been for the disastrous battles of Stamford Bridge and Hastings. With the three main claimants to the English throne (Harald Hardrade, Harold Godwinson, and William of Normandy) killed in less than a month, Edgar became king almost by default.

The choice of regent for the thirteen year old king was a difficult one. Edwin and Morcar in the north were too busy in their own lands, as was Stigand in Canterbury. His older sister, Margaret, was of age, but being a woman was never seriously considered. The choice eventually fell on Siward of Essex (no relation to the old Earl Siward of Northumbria, of Macbeth fame), who had fought at Stamford Bridge and who legend says was the one who killed the famed Norwegian guarding the bridge.



The coronation took place on Christmas Day, 1066; by the middle of 1067, England had begun to calm down. A pair of minor scandals involving less than honorable methods of collecting the kingdom's taxes struck Edgar's main financial advisors, but this was mostly ignored and they retained their positions. The most important event of the year occured on 1 August, when Siward and Margaret were married in Westminster.

As Edgar settled into his position as tititular ruler of England, he began to display considerable energy. That some of this energy appeared to be somewhat misplaced (he certainly displayed little patience with faults, and some say that his self-centered religious views became evident at this point) may have worried some, but we have no records of anyone voicing this.

The regency, combined with the ideas which had been trickling over from France since the time of Charlemagne, did eventually result in changes to the form of government, from the old semi-tribal traditions to a more Continental feudal system. There is considerable evidence that Edgar never agreed to any of this, but by the time he came into his majority it was already set and the nobility was too supportive of it for him to remove it.

By January of 1069, Edgar was able to assert his power. On January 13, Guillaume, Duke of Aquitaine allowed Edgar to marry his eldest daughter Agnes. Hastings had not created enough of an anti-French sentiment in England to prevent the king from marrying a French noble, and certainly not one who potentially was an heiress.

The first child of this union came in June of 1070, as a daughter, Aethelflaed. By this time, Edgar had joined with King Olaf of Norway in an invasion of pagan lands in the Baltic. The war turned out to be more difficult to put together, however; the ultimate result was merely a minor war with the chiefs of the Aland islands, which did not even begin to be fought until 1072, and the islands would not be taken until February 1075.

During this time Edgar began to improve the infrastructure of England. Fishing and forestry flourished, while royal roads began to reappear around London and especially to the south. The move to a stronger feudal system grated against the merchants of the kingdom, however, and Edgar had to put down a large number of revolts (Suffolk proved especially prone to this).

In July 1079, a Papal emissary arrived asking Edgar to join the ongoing crusade against the Muslims. The First Crusade was greatly bogged down at this point. Edgar, however, had little ability to send his armies over so long a distance; instead, he chose to go into Spain and North Africa.



[Next week: Edgar vs. the Moors, and also vs. someone considerably more powerful.]

[Olaus Petrus]

I hope that it will greater battle than conquest of Åland.
Why did you go there in a first place? It's dirt poor and far from the British Isles.

[Veldmaarschalk]

Duke of Aquitaine allowed Edgar to marry his eldest daughter Agnes

How could you ?

[Chief Ragusa]

How could you ?

It's that magic word "heiress".

Edgar is involved in wars in out of the way places because he doesn't know where they are. He thinks they're just off Scotland. His steward does not have a much better idea either.

[stnylan]

Well at least all this jaunting about keeps him busy

[CatKnight]

CK really should just take Agnes out of the game, or switch Aquitaine over to salic. She's too much of an exploit.


Judas: An interesting premise, and an interesting start! I wonder if Edgar would be wise just to ignore the Crusade. Spain can turn into a right mess really quickly.

[Olaus Petrus]

CK really should just take Agnes out of the game, or switch Aquitaine over to salic. She's too much of an exploit.

I don't agree. I don't marry her if I don't have good reason to do so. Historically she married Alfonso VI of Castile. If I'm playing as Spanish king I would love to be able to marry my historical bride. Only son of Guillaume VIII d'Aquitaine, Guillaume IX, was born in 1071. It's up to player himself does he want to marry her, besides her father often have son or two. It seems that historically our poor Guillaume had troubles to get heir. His first wife was childless and became nun after divorce. Second wife gave him only Agnes and they divorced in 1068. Third wife gave him son and another daughter named Agnes, who married Pedro I of Aragon.

[Shuma]

[Next week: Edgar vs. the Moors, and also vs. someone considerably more powerful.]

*creepy music in the background*

..... z germans? Who was the crusade called against anyway?

[Fulcrumvale]

Go Saxons!

[Judas Maccabeus]

Olaus Petrus [1]: My allies in Norway declared war on it, and I figured that they'd just conquer it and be done with it. But Norway never did anything with them, Aland started sending armies to England, and I realized I could have an army large enough to conquer them and still run a profit. So, some poor random Saxon is now Count of Aland.

Veldmaarschalk: Why couldn't I?

stnylan: I wouldn't exactly call Aland "busy".

CatKnight: I don't consider Agnes any more an exploit than any other heiress that might appear later in the game. After all, was Eleanor marrying Henry II an exploit? (The French king might have said so, but he was a bit biased. )

Olaus Petrus [2]: Two daughters named Agnes? Between that and the long line of Guillaumes, it appears the d'Aquitaine dynasty wasn't the most creative in the world.

Shuma: Jerusalem. But the Fatimids look absolutely crazy powerful in my game (and no, the Fatimids aren't the one I get in trouble with).

Fulcrumvale: Let's hope.

[Veldmaarschalk]

Veldmaarschalk: Why couldn't I?

It is to exploitive in my opinion, almost a 'cheat' that is why I put this behind my remark

[Judas Maccabeus]

[Veld.: Well, I don't consider it an exploit, so I guess we'll have to agree to disagree.]

On 19 March 1080, after a long voyage from Southampton to Iberia, landing at Faro in what is now Portugal. His large force was more than enough to sweep away the Muslim Emir of Sevilla, reduced to a small land holding on to the corner of Iberia. Faro was secured on 6 May and Silves on 27 June. Sevilla was small and weak, but Edgar meant it more as his first "base of operations", so to speak, against the larger Muslim powers in the area, especially the Emir of Badajoz.

After waiting half a year to recover and collect more money, Edgar then declared war on the Sheik of Tangiers. Again, this was a minor land but gave Edgar a place from which to attack the much larger kingdom of Yusuf the Murabitid. Edgar called for more men from England and prepared to attack Tangiers in late 1081.

While he was waiting for these reinforcements, however, disaster struck. Another envoy from the Pope arrived, this time demanding that Edgar deal with what was known as lay investiture. Medieval religion could be quite lax when money was involved, and many people rose through positions in the local church mainly because they had money to give a secular authority which could grant them a position. When the Pope gave his demand to Edgar, however, the king was in little mood to deal with it. There were two main reasons for this.

First, Edgar had cultivated a great support for the monasteries of England. Part of this was the use of lay investiture to place some of the monks he favored (and who thus proceeded to favor him) into positions of power. Edgar was afraid that if he gave into the Pope he would lose both a source of power and a source of income.

Second, Edgar had been strong-willed since youth. He was not about to allow any other ruler--even one who claimed to speak for Christ Himself--to determine any part of his kingdom.

With this in mind, he sent a definite refusal. The Pope, in response, excommunicated him on 5 October. This could have led to a major crisis in England, but his nobles, not inclined either to let a foreigner have control in England, supported him. Even the English clergy, all the way up to the Archbishop of Canterbury (who wasn't even English!), voiced their support for Edgar.

However, after Edgar dealt with Tangiers and Cebta by 9 August 1082, he was too busy making sure his nobles were in line and looking to his borders to continue the crusade in Iberia and Africa. Siward of Essex, the king's brother-in-law, became the Earl of Tangiers.

The excommunication did not deter Edgar from fighting closer to home, however. Later in 1082 Edgar declared war on pagans who had occupied the western half of Iceland. While he was dealing with them his commanders also fought off an attack from Scotland, who had hoped to gain Papal approval to take the English crown. The war lasted a full five months before Edgar was able to force a tribute from the Scots.

Dealing with the Pope and the Scots, however, took its toll on Edgar. The stress grew, and eventually he began to become depressed. The events were slowly taking their toll on both Edgar's mind and body. Furthermore, Edgar was having difficulty gaining an heir. Agnes had only given him the one daughter, and no sons. This did not seem to be the same problem with Edgar's predecessor Edward the Confessor; Edgar seemed to be attempting to gain an heir, but he had no luck doing so.

Edgar did manage to secure the loyalty, to an extent, of the important Earl of Wessex by marrying his daughter to Earl Skuli in October 1087. Had this union occured earlier it could have gone a long way to securing a new descendant of Godwin upon the English throne, but as it was it neither was in place long enough nor had produced a surviving son by Edgar's death, and so it did not.

Said death occured on January 21, 1091, as Edgar was preparing for yet another expedition in Southampton. The cause of death is not clear; some say that he committed suicide, others that he was murdered, yet more cite some otherwise unknown disease spreading through the gathering army, while the Pope and others of the time said it was God striking down someone who had dared to oppose the Church. Whatever the cause, the witan chose Edgar's nephew Osric of Essex, who had succeeded Siward as Earl of Tangiers, to become King Osric I of England, thus marking the end of the male line of Cerdic.

[Next week: How will a new ruler from a new dynasty guide England? And yes, I kind of cheated, skipping over to Tangiers so I could inherit England, but I didn't feel like making this a really short AAR.]

[stnylan]

So the line of Cedric did not last long.

The new dynasty has a lot to live up to.

[Fulcrumvale]

The king is dead, long live the king!

[kingmbutu]

Interesting so far... I'm in