Tag Archives: Hastings

A Year of Five Kings

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Warning – lots of words, no photos and lots of boring historical details.

The medallion in the header picture is quite small in real life, about an inch across, but it caught my eye when sifting through a junk box looking for items to fill my 20th Century Medallion Collection. The aim of that collection is to document the century by selecting 101 medallions to demonstrate aspects of history.

It is aluminium, shiny and the portrait is based on a silver penny of the time. And it was, of course, reasonably priced. One of the advantages of this collection is that I can revert to childhood and collect cheap things that catch my eye. I really bought it to fit 1965 – the 900th anniversary of Westminster Abbey (as pictured on the reverse). However, I ended up searching a story about 1066, which turned out to be more interesting.

You may have heard of the Year of the Three Kings, which is  a favourite event for modern manufacturers of commemoratives. There are far more modern medallions to commemorate it than there were contemporary ones. I can only think of one contemporary set of three medallions, but have listed at least half a dozen modern examples, even one in gold. The three Kings are George V (died 20th January 1936), Edward VIII (abdicated 11th December 1936) and George VI became King. It was a close run thing – if George had died three weeks sooner or Edward had held out three weeks longer. However, it isn’t the only time we have had more than two Kings in a year.

Go back to 1483 . . .

No, not our most notable of years, It’s mainly famous for being two years before the Battle of Bosworth in 1485. But in 1483 we had three Kings – Edward IV, Edward V and Richard III. It went like this – Edward IV died, his infant son Edward V became King, and then Richard, brother of Edward IV and uncle of Edward V seized power. Richard became King Richard III and Edward V, who was declared illegitimate by a vote of parliament (his parents being married bigamously) became one of the Princes in the Tower. Richard, of course, only lasted until 1485. Politics was a tough business back then.

And then there’s 1066.

Edward the Confessor (they had much more interesting names for Kings in those days) died on 5th January 1066. This is in the current style of dating, which starts the year on 1st January. In the old method, the new year started on 25th March (Lady Day).

The succession of Kings in 1066 was more an art than a science, and his heir, his great nephew Edgar the Atheling, was considered too young to be King in these troubled times, so the Kingship was offered to the King’s brother-in-law Harold Godwinson. This was really just a recognition of reality, as Harold would probably have taken the throne anyway. He is the second King.

The third is, according to some sources, Harold Hardrada of Norway, who landed in the Tyne late in the year, and defeated an English Army on 20th September at Fulford near York. His success didn’t last long as Harold Godwinson’s army arrived on 25th after a hard forced march, and defeated the invaders at Stamford Bridge. Harold Hardrada was killed in the battle, which brought an end to invasion, and is often seen as the end of the Viking Age.

That’s three kings. Harold marched south again and, with an army of exhausted men, faced the Normans at Hastings on 14th October. Sports stars in these effete days, complain of exhaustion if they feel they are being asked to hit too many tennis balls. In 1066 they marched North, defeated a Viking army, marched back and had a crack at the Normans.  It was a complicated series of decisions, and it led to the loss at Hastings, a battle that could have been won if Harold had shown more patience. As it was, Harold died, possibly from an arrow to the eye as the legend has it, but probably not.

Kings in those days were more than mere figureheads, as the attrition rate shows.

That left the Saxons with a decisions to make and they decided that they would now accept Edgar the Atheling as King, as they were rapidly running out of choices.  However, his support melted away and William was eventually crowned on 25th December. Edgar drifted  around, interfering in politics until he died, probably around 1125.

And that is how William the Conqueror became the 5th King of 1066.

Shortage of suitable pictures today, so I stuck with just the header picture.

 

 

 

The Kings we Never Had (Part 1)

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We’ll start in 1066 for this one, just like Sad Stories of the Death of Kings Part 1 and Part 2.

First up is Edgar the Aethling. Grandson of Edmund Ironside (who was so named for his exploits in fighting the Danes) and son of Edward the Exile (who was called this because he was exiled after the death of his father). Naming was a simpler process in those days, and in some ways is easier to remember than numbering. An Aethling, by the way, denotes a royal prince who is in the line of succession, a bit like Prince of Wales.

He was passed over for kingship when the King’s Council selected Harold Godwinson as a better candidate for King in light of the turbulent times ahead. Edgar was only 15 at the time, so it did make sense. It was a different matter after Hastings, when they were all too keen for him to take the crown. They didn’t actually back him up in the end, and as his supporters deserted him the council pretended the election had never happened. That is why he was never crowned and is a King we never had.

The rest of his life was passed plotting against the Normans with the Scots, Danes and William the Conqueror’s son Robert Curthose. He may have been in the First Crusade and definitely made a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. History can sometimes be disappointingly vague.

William Adelin (a Normanised version of Aethling) was the son of Henry I and, through his mother was related to Edmund Ironside and Edgar the Aethling. A pampered child, he was drowned with his brother when the White Ship sank. This brought about The Anarchy, an 18 year period of civil war to settle the succession. Thus, although he was never King, he did have quite an influence on British history.

Next we have a bit of a surprise, with a Frenchman on the throne, Louis the Lion,  later numbered Louis VIII of France, or (in theory) Louis I of England.  He was invited to take the throne by the rebellious Barons fighting King John.  In 1216 he was proclaimed King, but not crowned, and ruled about half the country for just over a year. When John died and his young son, Henry III, came to the throne the rebel barons started to drift back to the English King. After a couple of defeats and a generous payment Louis went home,  conceding he had never been legitimate King of England.

We came close to having a King Alphonso after Edward I. It isn’t a normal British royal name: he was named after his uncle, Alphonso X of Castille. Although he was the heir to the throne after the deaths of his two older brothers he died at the age of 11, leaving his four-month-old brother to become Edward II. And we all know how that turned out.

The son of Edward III was the well-known Black Prince. He didn’t live to be King but was celebrated as a military leader, with success at Crecy and Poitiers, and was a founding Knight of the Garter. He died after suffering 10 years of ill health after first falling ill on campaign in Spain.

Later, his name would be given to five Royal Navy ships (the most famous probably being the one that sank at Jutland with the loss of all hands) and an experimental tank in WW2. After his death his son Richard became the heir to the throne, and his unfortunate royal career has already been covered.

To be continued