The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle

[SirCliveWolfe]

Hello my friends and gentle readers, this is a project that I have been working on for a long time and is something that I have always wanted to attempt. I do need the suspention of your disbelife, as I have decided to keep place names in the Anglo-Norman style, as I find it most vexing trying to translate them all and it is, I think, confusing as a reader. Similary I am writing this in our English, although I know that it would be nothing like a modern Anglo-Saxon English, I hope that these points do not detract from the story.

Some of you may have read this very same chapter in the EUIII forums, I was going to start a mega campaign there... but after getting addicted to CK... well I decided to start here... I am using the amazing Alternative Scenario Setup Mod find it here and starting with Edward the Confessor, for as much as I like Harold... anyone with the blood of Alfred 'The Great' just wins for me.​

 

[SirCliveWolfe]

Preface

I am here building upon the astonishing work of the late, great Arthur Lawton, his writing of "The annals of our History" is a almost legendary piece of translation of the ancient Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. It seemed almost absurd when he went to the publishers and said that he wanted to put the history into contemporary prose, but they ran with the idea and, as we all know, his first volumes up to the death of Canute was an instant best-seller. He died while still working on the next volumes, and so I have decided to take up his pen and continue his worthy work. I know that the Chronicle is still being written, now in our modern tongue, but I think that an entire translation is worthy of our time.​

 

[Qorten]

Great writing, Sir Clive!

 

[SirCliveWolfe]

Great writing, Sir Clive!

Thank you sir... I think you were the first to post in the EUIII thread as well

I hope you will enjoy the rest of the story as much...

 

[SirCliveWolfe]

With the death of the old and noble king Canute, in 1035, the succession fell to his son, Harthacanute or Canute the Hardy. He was able to command the throne of Denmark, but a vicious war with Magnus I of Norway disenfranchised him from his English claim until later. With Harthacanute stuck over the North Sea his half-brother, Harold Harefoot, was proclaimed regent to the absentee monarch and ruled in his place. Magnus was plagued by the insurgency of Svend Estridsen, the great nephew of Canute, who also claimed the lands of Denmark and Norway. Magnus won a great battle against the man, but his position to Harthacanute was mortally weakened. In the year 1039 Harthacanute and Magnus came to an uneasy peace and agreed that the kingdoms should be divided as they already were and upon the first one of their deaths the other should inherit and rule supreme. Thus now at peace Harthacanute travelled back to England to regain his throne. In 1041 Harthacanute invited his mother and half-brother Edward, son of Ethelred the Unready, back from their exile in Normandy, it was with this invitation that the unmarried and childless Harthacanute wished to pass on his succession. Tragedy followed the two travellers and a sudden storm tossed their transport into the murky depths of the English Channel, thus robbing Harthacanute of his elected heir. It was merely a year later that the king himself died in his sleep leaving the British Isles once again without a clear heir, his last good deed was that of outliving the brutally murdered Norwegian King Magnus.

King Canute, demonstrates that even he is not all powerful
​

It was then, with this grave matter in mind that the ancient Anglo-Saxon Witan sat in presumption of an answer. After weeks of intense debate and discussion still only one man was coming to the fore, but while he had absolute support of many he also had the hatred of a great host of the wise council sitting, they looked with jealousy upon the already considerable power of Godwin of Wessex. The decision was almost at once made, however, when a man gave leave to the great gathering that the thought lost Edward the Exile was still alive in Hungary. It took little time for a decision to be reached and so King Edward Aetheling, son of King Edmund Ironside was proclaimed in early 1043, with Godwin his regent until his return from Hungary.

Harald Hardrde, who had been disenfranchised by Magnus's death of what he believed his birthright, the Kingdom of Norway, would not let the throne of the Vikings be passed to a mere Saxon and so he raised his people in open revolt. Harald was a successful leader managing to throw the English from Scandinavian shores and dealing a mortal blow to the regent Godwin. With the death of the erstwhile warrior and the destruction of the English expeditionary force the two halfs of the great Canute's empire settled down to an uneasy peace with neither being able to gain a foothold upon the others shores.

The greatest irony of the happenings was that the new King of England was never to make landfall upon the shores of his new Kingdom, and in effect Godwin had been made king, the very thing that many in the Witan did not want. Edward, his wife and their young son were taken hostage by Henry III, Holy Roman Emperor, and they were only released in 1057. His last act was to die aboard a transport to the shores of Dover, his body and his six year old son were taken ashore and met by Harold Godwinson who had taken the regency upon the death of his own farther in battle. Harold recognised that he would never be able to reign on the throne of England while a member of the House of Wessex was still alive, but also knew that if anything happened to the boy he would fall to gossip of murder and intrigue. He then decided to adopt the boy almost as his own, he tutored the young King Edgar Aetheling in everything that he would need in his later years and even had him married to his daughter, Gytha. It was, however, in 1066 that Harold would do his greatest service to both the, now fifteen year old, boy and his country.

The younger brother of Harold, Tostig Godwinson, saw nothing but jealousy in both the position of his brother and his adopted liege. The man was nothing more than an ambitious hothead and even though he was given the title of Earl of Northumberland, he did it and his brother little service there. In October 1065 he provoked a northern rebellion against him. The tyrannical man had been thieving on the fortunes of abbeys and monasteries, using both monies and influence to create little more than his own private army. Harold was fearful of supporting his younger brother against the rebels, in that it may create a civil war and so he sided with the local nobles and Earl Morcar, throwing out his own kith and kin. His support unified England, a unity that would sorely be needed in the near future, but he also sowed the seeds of his own demise. After a bitter and dark winter, punctuated by great gales that tore trees up from the ground and destroyed house's of men and God alike did 1066 dawn. The year would be dark a worrying as the future of Anglo-Saxon England lay in the balance upon a precipice and great men and armies would arise and do battle.

William the bastard of Normandy​

William the bastard of Normandy was a man with lofty ambitions, his ancestors and their men had come from the north raiding and pillaging the northern French coast, but they had soon traded in their mighty long-ships for the majesty of grand warhorses. William, a distant claimant to the English throne, had been brought up in the same court as Edward son of the English kings, he had never forgotten the stories of the vast riches of the lands of the Angles and Saxons and he looked greedily upon them. With complete contempt for the truth he called upon the support of the pope, despoiling Edgar Aethelings reputation claiming that the man and his regent Harold were the raiders of the Celtic Church* and of wanting to bring the old pagan faith back to the shores of Britain. Only he, as he now professed, could bring back the right thinking. The story held, of course, little truth but the pope, thanks in no little part to an enomous'gift', was won over and gave his blessing to the crusade, knights from all of Europe flocked to the Papal banner and soon a vast invasion force a was ready. In England Harold went to work, proving his phenomenal military organising skill in the process, he could depend upon around 3,000 elite huscarls, professional soldiers able to loft a huge axe that could cleft horse and rider in two with only one skilful blow. The core of his army, as ever, was the noblemen of England, 5,000 Thanes in addition to 13,000 part-time soldiers, the fyrd, mobilised by their lords and obliged to give the king two months service each year. Both armies moved to their respective coasts and awaited, Harold for the Duke and William for a southerly wind that never came, by September the fyrd had served their time and were sent back to their homes for the harvest, if Harold felt uneasy and he had every right to.

Harald Hardrde had never forgotten his weak, if legitimate, claim, to the crown of England, and when a disenchanted Tostig fled to his court he was most welcoming. Just a week after Harold had sent his troops home, the two men landed in Northumbria with as many as 12,000 men intent upon conquest, the entire country felt and shared the regents dismay. Tostig had pulled off an impressive coup enlisting the support of Hardrde, quite simply the most feared warrior of the age. The two men seemed invincible, and they quickly marched to York where they dispatched the northern Earls, from here whether through carelessness or overconfidence the then travelled to Stamford Bridge with only one third of their army to take possession of 500 hostages. What awaited them there was no forlorn group of beaten men but a huge host of an army with, as the Viking bard put it, their weapons glittering like sheets of ice. The movement of Harold was impressive he travelled the 187 miles, picking up his army all the way, in only four short days managing an astonishing 37 to 45 miles a day. In the end the Battle of Stamford Bridge was one of the bloodiest in all of English history, Harold broke the Viking lines and the remaining Norsemen cowered around their chiefs, the great Hardrde swinging his immense axe under the Landvaster flag, sinking finally down with an arrow in his throat to be butchered by many blows of axe and sword leaving Tostig to hold up the Raven flag, before being just as cruelly cut down and destroyed. What carnage was created upon that day was seen in the returning fleet, what strong and jubilant force had taken a massive 300 ships to ferry across the sea, took only 24, full of the wounded and the sick, back to return a pitiful remnant of the great Norse army. The threat of Viking invasion was never to return to the shores of Britain, such was the bloody victory of that day, in a last show of brotherly affection and respect Harold sought out what pitiful remains there were of his brother and had them buried at York Minster. He could not grieve his brothers death for only a short 24 hours after the battle the knights in Normandy felt the wind change and set sail.

An artistic view of the Battle of Hastings​

William and his force landed at the sheltered harbours at Pevensey, an ancient and ruined Roman fort stood guarding the beach and within its shattered and bare area he built a prefabricated, wooden fort in the Norman style for his own, the first of many or so he thought. His troop's many forays inland were more raids, striking fear into the hearts of locals and burning whatever could not be seized. The journey to London, and the spoils that awaited the duke and his men there, would not be an easy one. The land behind the small town was waterlogged and crisscrossed with small streams and rivers all running into the mighty channel. There was only one rutted and ancient Anglo-Saxon trail that meandered its way up to the old Roman road, still the best thoroughfares in the country, which would take them north through Kent. It was for this seemingly insignificant track the most gruelling battle in English History would be fought, its like not seen again for hundreds of years. It must have seemed incomprehensible to Harold that he should have to fight the return leg on the south coast only a week or so after smashing the Vikings, he must have wondered what or who would come to his aid, his army already battered and beaten. Although now he may have thought that he could rely upon his gamblers luck, he was said to have thrown up his hands and invoking the ancient trial by ordeal he put his faith in God to decide the righteous and therefore who would prevail. He moved to a point along the trail to gather what there was of his army, he stood by an ancient and twisted grey apple tree eroded by time standing upon a hill. Planting his banner, The Dragon of Wessex, he rallied his men to the place the Normans would call the Senlach, meaning Lake of Blood.

The scene is set for the morning of Saturday 14th October, 1066 with vicious and viperous chanting assailing that battlefield from both sides. On the Saxon side spirits are high, they have survived Stamford Bridge and there position is perfect. Harold arrayed his troops on the brow of the hill looking down at the Norman positions; all that was needed was to stop the enemy breaking through to the London Road. With a thin band of the professional huscarls along the entire line making a seeming impregnable shield-wall and the fearsome axe-men scattered among them. Behind them are the part-time fyrd, men of strong constitution once roused, but needing time to fortify their indomitable courage. The Normans in contrast are gathered at the bottom of the hill, the average foot soldier fingering the rings on his hawberg, or coat of mail, wondering just how much use such a thing is against the scream of the bloodcurdling axes arranged against them. They knew that the papal banner was upon their side and must have taken heart; surly God was on their side. The battle was joined when the Norman cavalry rode upon the lines of Saxons, riding close to the lines and throwing their javelins into the densely packed men. Then came the archers advancing and unloosing there first arrows, because of the elevation of Harolds lines many just smacked into the immense shield wall as Saxon spears hailed down upon them, with a different aim the arrows just sailed over the heads of the men leaving little mark upon them. Finally the ground rumbles as the Norman foot men break into a run and charge the wall of wood and steel. All there is from then on is the murderous smash of flesh, both human and equine, against wood and steel as the battle degenerates from a tactical game of chess unto a bloody and sweaty mele. The initial success of the English army almost lead to their downfall, on the Duke's left flank his horsed knights stumbled and then retreated, many of the inexperienced fyrdmen looked to give chase, exuberant as they were with the successes they had wrought, but the call of the professionals cried out and the part-timers stood fast. William threw back his helm and showed that he was not lost in an attempt to rally his men, to some degree it worked, but men still fled. For six long hours the two sides remained in the mele, with the Norman forces trying time and again to break through the resolute ranks. The Norman army was eventually pushed back and very, very slowly ground down with Harold exploiting weak points in Williams lines, eventually the Normans broke into an uncontrolled route. The duke ordered a last salvo from his archers, with the Saxons now lower in the field they shot high into the air, arrows rained down upon the unprotected heads of men and one crucial fletch hit its target and Harold fell. The Saxon lines failed for just a moment with their leader down, but the Thanes bravely rushed forward carrying the melancholy men with them. This sudden charge did for the Normans and Williams own entourage was butchered, the duke stood tall and traded many a blow with the Thanes, but was struck from his horse whereupon he was cleaved in two by a Saxon axe.

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* The Saxon kings were never converted to the Catholic faith as in OTL, they were instead converted to the older Roman/Celtic church and the British Isles were given special dispensation by the Pope in Rome. This means that the organisation of the British Church is primarrily through the monasteries and their leaders, normally the local Lord, and not it the traditional Catholic way.​

 

[iain_a_wilson]

Ok, you've got yourself another reader!

 

[SirCliveWolfe]

Ok, you've got yourself another reader!

Thank you very much sir... I hope my absence has not put you off your reading

To All: Sorry about the wait, but I have been ill recently, still all sorted now, so on with the show!

 

[SirCliveWolfe]

Chapter Two ~ King Edgar Aetheling

In the days and month's after the cataclysmic Hastings the country slipped into a ubiquitous morning, the brave men of the fryd and staunch thanes returned to their lands full of pride, but overflowing with exhaustion and grief, their 'Great Warrior' had laid down his head and while the Norsemen and Normans had been dealt blows which would keep them from threatening the shores of England for ever, there were the clouds of winter on the horizon. King Edgar was just as distraught at his adopted father's demise as the brave men who had stood with Harold that day, but cunning will always out and though he was just old enough to be without his regent, he soon showed those who wondered how England would fair without its great martial leader, that he had the makings of a great king. There were many monkiers given to the young king through out his reign, but the one that our modern times would have given him was that of Edgar The Pragmatic. One of his first acts as King was to seek marriage with Agnes d'Aquitaine, the only daughter of the duke of Aquitaine. The marriage was purely political as he hoped that any son would succeed to not only the realm of England, but also that of Aquitaine[1].

While others were talking about the great feat of the 'shield-wall' Edgar was the one thinking of just how close a call the year had been, what he now reflected upon was that what the country needed was and extinguishing of internal and external threats. Harold's clan, now under the new patriarch of his brother Gyrth held the real power in the realm and while, like his brother, he was supportive for the moment, while the King's own demesne was painfully small, being only the lands of London and some of the surround area. Ever the polotician he decided that the best way to placate the powerful Earls, Gyrth and brothers Morcar & Edwin Leofricson, as well as the Pope was to launch a crusade against the Moors in Iberia. Thus a fleet of Royal Expedition sailed from England's shores with around three thousand professional soldiers, retainers and mercenaries, as they wisely left the Thanes behind to tend to their land.

The great fleet landed near the settlement of Lisbon, south of the river Tagus, that separated the northern Christian Kingdoms from the Moors to the south. King Edgar and his three great Earl's[2] found that the Muslim kingoms had been split by fighting against themselves and their professional force wasted no time in cutting down the heathens an capturing large swathes of Iberia. Politically southern Iberia was cut into two with the west being subsumed by three new Earldoms, Beja for Morcar, Badajoz for Edwin and Seville for Gyrth. The three powerful men settled to life in the south, with the blessing of the Catholic Church, they systematically drove the Muslims out of their Earldoms, murdering, raping and sometimes just paying the Moors leave, the Anglofication of Iberia had begun.

A fearsome Houscarl in action!​

What Edgar the Pragmatic had done in England was to leave a power vacuum in England. The three Earl's spent much, if not all, of their time in Iberia and so their lands and subjects started to forget their alegiances and many a opportunist saw the glory of power and plotted. Things culminated in 1070, the year that Edgar's bastard son, Harold, was born, when one of the local Thanes in Sussex rebelled against his Earl and sought Edgar out to petition. The King was wary of upsetting Gytha and so sent for him to come from Seville, but as the man never came he took the matter to the Witan and asked to sage institution for its opinion. The records of the meeting are lost to history, but what came from it is not. The law was ammended to show that any Thane, who's Earl was absentee could pettion the King and have the Shire Witan elect a new Earl for the area as long as the new Earl made a gift of land to the King. It was this master stroke[3] that allowed King Edgar to cement his power and that of the Cerdicson dynasty, for not only were the three powerful Earls now many leagues away, but in the absence their English lands were being being divided up between many lesser Earls and the Royal lands were growing.

This along with the birth, in 1071, of his first 'legitimate' son, Cuthbert who was now heir to both England and Aquatine, saw the steadying of the Cerdicson dynasty and promised to give internal stability. The only grim shadow on the horrion was the death of Queen Agnes who accidently slipped down a flight of steps[4], with the proper morning time given the King then took Ermengarde de Bourbon as his wife hoping that any child may inherit the French noblewoman's lands. It was also at around this time that, Gytha, the four year-old daughter of Harold Godwinson[5], was taken given a place in the King's household and although she was older than the young Prince a deep friendship was to develop.

In his mind already built was the glittering shield-wall of the sea, ever fearful that another William would come over the seas a great 'wall of wood' was constructed with much English wealth being poured into marine construction[6], not just warships but merchant and cargo ships as well. In the event there was little realisation of the threat perceived by the Edgar and so the fleets he commissioned were soon embarking upon quests to show their usefulness, trade centres in Ireland, Iceland and the continent were soon established and grown with the two former countries giving great dividends in the future, the 'maritime empire' of the Anglo-Saxon's was born in this age with great wealth flowing as the Saxon ships dominated north sea and Iberian trade.

A small trading vessel, used for trading on in-land waterways​

Another and much less talked about project of Edgar was the establishment of infrastructure for the country and the continuation of the reforms of previous kings helping to smooth out, at least for the moment, some of the perennial issues of taxation, corruption and good governance. England is traditionally seen as a never changing archaic country, and rightly thus it seems as the ancient institutions of the Angle's and Saxon's remain in stark contrast to those countries which have seen significant revolutionary movements in their time. The truth, of course, is much more convoluted and interesting that that with many of the 'new ideas' that so inflamed the continent during their time being assimilated into the ancient English framework over time, so that today although the Witan seems archaic it is actually a very different place to the one that elected King Edgar, and even the one which elected his grandson was by no means the same. And so the it seems that English governance and English empire are to their world what moss is the the horticultural, barley noticeable it creeps ever further not upsetting anything to a large degree and generally being accepted but slowly mixing in with the natural environment to cover everything.

Sad news befell the Kingdom again in 1084, when Edgar's second wife died suddenly in her sleep, and with surprising speed was married to Gytha in January of 1075 after she had been of marriageable age for only one week. The speed and coincidence of these happenings have lead to many indignent rumours, accusing the King of keeping Gytha as a mistress and of assassinating his old wife as soon as he could marry the girl, but there is little truth in these[7]. King Edgar, died in his sleep on the Wedding night, failing to consummate the marriage, leaving Cuthbert as a boy-King and his Queen as regent.

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[1] Yeah I know a cheap move...

[2] In CK they are modelled as Dukes, but the Anglo-Saxon tradition calls for them to be Earls, ut it seems that Count's would also be seen as Earls... can anyone help me on this?

[3] Actually when I gave these Earls land overseas, their peasants/counts revolted against them and I stepped in and took their lands...

[4] Oops!... just after he's got an heir, how strange...

[5] Born in 1067, he father never saw her, or even knew that she was pregnant as his wife was only to find out herself after the battle of Hastings

[6] Obviously this did not happen in game-terms, but is what I would think that an Anglo-Saxon kingdom would do from here.

[7] Really... what do ou think

[8] Probably becuse when he climbed on top of his new wife, she thrust a dagger at his heart....

NB. After getting a male heir, who was also heir to Aquatine, I tired to same trick with the de Bourbon lands... but after Prince Oswine was born, the Duke had a son meaning we could not inherit... so off the French woman went, and I married Gytha as her stats were excellent, when Edgar died, straight after the Marige Duty event I decided that Gytha should now marry Cuthbert.

As Edgar had assassinated his two previous wife's I decided that Gytha would get their first and made up the story of her being deeply infatuated with Cuthbert, who she looks on in a confused way as Brother and Lover!?!?​

 

[AllmyJames]

Very good sir! I have to appreciate any version of reality in which we see a King Edgar IV! I'll be following.

My two cents' on the question of titles:

It seems to me that 'earl' was used very loosely, and the idea of a Duke was introduced by the Normans. I suppose you could (a) use 'earl' for both titles, but this could be confusing, but I suspect the Saxons would have come up a new word eventually, as their society became more hierarchical. (b) 'Great Earl' might work, although it's not very distinctive; (c) since England is close to the continent, the title of 'Duke' might have been introduced eventually anyway, perhaps in a less Frankish form; (d) make something up

 

[Fookison]

Very interesting opening sequences Sir! I especially like the story line and the little twists that add to the overall effect! You have me captivated by this AAR. Looking forward to the next events. BTW: Are some of the dates you have shown previously correct? Twice you referred to the 1800's? Please advise.
THX

 

[Cecasander]

Good to see you have this going again. Couldn't have poor young Edgar hanging there too long Having him married with the heiress of Aquitaine seems to be suitable in a way, after all history tends to follow certain paterns no matter who's in charge.

Concerning the earls, I agree with AllmyJames that they are basically your average, run of the mill local/regional rulers and military commanders and thus could be either dukes or counts in the CK system. The only alternative I can think of is to think of the counties as shires, and the counts as shire reeves (sherrifs). However, their power was much more limited than that of the counts, and their position usually wasn't heriditary.

 

[Earl Uhtred]

All tr00 Saxons report in. OURRAH!

 

[Enewald]

I be no saxon, but I still shall subscribe.
Quite an interesting art of writing.

 

[SirCliveWolfe]

Very good sir! I have to appreciate any version of reality in which we see a King Edgar IV! I'll be following.

Thank you very much for your support and kind words

My two cents' on the question of titles:

It seems to me that 'earl' was used very loosely, and the idea of a Duke was introduced by the Normans. I suppose you could (a) use 'earl' for both titles, but this could be confusing, but I suspect the Saxons would have come up a new word eventually, as their society became more hierarchical. (b) 'Great Earl' might work, although it's not very distinctive; (c) since England is close to the continent, the title of 'Duke' might have been introduced eventually anyway, perhaps in a less Frankish form; (d) make something up

Thanks for the ideas, I think I'll plump for (d) and the'll be a short update to show what I've done, something almost historical anyways

Very interesting opening sequences Sir! I especially like the story line and the little twists that add to the overall effect! You have me captivated by this AAR. Looking forward to the next events.

Thank you very much, I hope I can keep up the standard

BTW: Are some of the dates you have shown previously correct? Twice you referred to the 1800's? Please advise.
THX

In the words of the great Homer Simpson "D'oh!"

This is what comes of starting a 10th century AAR after writing and thinking so much about 18th century Britain ...updated, thanks for the catch

Good to see you have this going again. Couldn't have poor young Edgar hanging there too long Having him married with the heiress of Aquitaine seems to be suitable in a way, after all history tends to follow certain paterns no matter who's in charge.

Thanks Yes! I'm blaming the elasticity of history (in that certain things will happen no matter what changes) and nothing to do with 'gamey' tactics

Concerning the earls, I agree with AllmyJames that they are basically your average, run of the mill local/regional rulers and military commanders and thus could be either dukes or counts in the CK system. The only alternative I can think of is to think of the counties as shires, and the counts as shire reeves (sherrifs). However, their power was much more limited than that of the counts, and their position usually wasn't heriditary.

I don't really like Duke, as it's too French.... and I don't like Reeve for the reasons you've stated. Stay tuned for a quick, non game/story, update to show what I've one and explain some stuff that might be of interest as well.

All tr00 Saxons report in. OURRAH!

OURRAH! Indeed... awa geleafful (Semper FI in Anglo-Saxon?)

Thank you for your support

I be no saxon, but I still shall subscribe.

Thank you sir

Quite an interesting art of writing.

Humm... not sure I like interesting

 

[SirCliveWolfe]

Amendum ~ Structure of English Military & Society

Before the reign of Edgar, the men of England were divided into five distinct groups. The Royal House, was composed of the King and his kinesmen who were bound by royal blood and expected to serve in any capasity that was found neccessary, including commanding armies in the filed and general administrative duties. These could be suspended if the many was given a shire to command. This brings us to the second layer of Englishmen, the Eorl [1] (now spelt Earl), this powerful noble was given land to control as the King's viceroy, normally consisting a shire but sometimes more or less hundreds [2]. As well as their administrative duteis, these men were expected to give great military service to the country and were the figure that would call and command the shire's fryd. The next tier were the Thanes, although Eorl's are also drawn from the thanes, they have been separated here for the purpose of clarity. These were the local nobility of the Shires, they could be more or less wealthy, but had to have holdings of at least five hides [3] and were expected to give military service in the fryd. Amongst the thanes, one for each shire would be appointed a Reeve who was responsible for keeping the peace [4].

Next came the first section of what the continentals call peasants, although unlike their Frankish colleagues, the English were either freemen or bondsmen and not necessarily tied to a feudal lord [5]. First came the three versions of the Ceorls (freemen) who were dependant, but not tied to their thane. The Geneatas (peasant aristocracy) were normally members of the a thanes family, they were presented with land and had to only pay rent for it and therefore, had more freedom than most and also tended to be richer. The Kotsetla came next, they paid no rent but had to give extensive service to his thane, and thus toiled the land selling what surplus they could. The bottom rung of freemen were the Gebur who although not officially tied to their lord were so bound by service that they may well have been. Even so they had vast rights as well as obligations and could, like all ceorls, through hard work move up to being their own thane.

An example of a shield wall​

The bottom rung of English society were the Etheow or bondsmen [6] who although they were tied to their lord, had many rights not found elsewhere in Christendom. For a thane, or anyone else, to have a an etheow they must provide basic provisions such as grain, meet (sheep of cow carcases) an acre of land to grow their own food as well as a part of the harvest [7] and extra provisions for Christmas and Easter. They could also earn money in their spare time and could pay their bond [8] or have it written off by their thane, which often happened on the lords deathbed.

The major change that began under King Edgar was that he understood the need for Earls on the edges and borders of his kingdom to be substantially stronger than those in the safer interior, so that they could more easily combat enemy and bandit incursions. As such, after dealing with the overly powerful Earls from before his reign, he looked to promote his friends and raise them above the other earls. As these men invariably were on the borders, the title of Mearc [9] slowly started to gain recognition and status as another level of lord above the others. The fringe benefit of this was that although the Mearcs held great power, they only drew their wealth from one shire as did the earls, but could raise armies from three or four shires [10], thus still being less powerful than the likes of the uber-powerful Godwinson's or Leofricson's.

A Huscarl relaxing​

The implication for the English military was such that extra flexibility was introduced to the system. The structure of the Anglo-Saxon army remained the same, it was primarily composed of the Huscarls and the fryd. Huscarls were, unlike the mercenary lithsmen and butecarles attached to the highest bidder, tied by the lordship bond and were basically a standing, professional army in their own right. At Senlac [11] Harold Godwinson could call upon around 3000, although many were not in attendance or had been killed at Stamford Bridge, under Edgar the number grew to a massive 5000 including his own and his lords. Next came the fryd, who were a mixture of the 'lower' thanes, those who were not earls or mearcs, and freemen and slaves. Unlike in their continental contemporaries, few of the fryd were simple 'peasants' with only scythes or pitchforks, but tended to be mainly well trained and equipped soldiers. The thanes job in essence was to be almost solely a professional soldier, their only other task was to administer their own lands, leaving them much time and wealth to give to the art of warfare. This was also true of the ceorls and etheow, but to lesser extent [12]. Every five hides, the minimum land needed to be a thane, had to provide between 15 and 25 men depending upon the time period, 20 was the norm during Edgar's reign. As such the army that Edgar would have lead can be seen to be both large and powerful.

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[1] The orignial spelling was Eoldermen, but by now would have been Eorl

[2] Land was divided into hides (see below) which were grouped into lots of 100, these made up shires (which are like our moden counties)

[3] A hide was defined as 'enough land to support one family' this changed from area to area but was worth about a mark and was on average about 120 acres.

[4] A Sheriff, the Normans would replace them with a Justice of the Peace some 200 years later.

[5] This is true, but you can see a clear anti-Frankish/French attitude in even this modern writing.

[6] Also known as a slave, but not in such a Anglo-Saxon centric text

[7] So I understand anyway

[8] This happened quite often apparently

[9] Decided upon this as the Anglo-Norman title of Marquess comes from this... seems like it could happen.

[10] Actually mu dukes tend to have two or three provinces in their demesne, but I don't think it would work this was in actuality

[11] The Norman name for Hastings, it means field of blood

[12] This is actually quite true, or so I'm lead to believe

A big thanks to Regia Anglorum, for a lot of the details contained in this update;

Find out more here!

​

 

[Enewald]

So what are all the ranks of the nobility?
From the king to the local poor noble?

 

[AllmyJames]

Nice update. I always like to see this kind of extra background information. Very cool.

Enewald: I think it's King -> Mearcs (Dukes) -> Eorls (Counts) -> Reeves (Sheriffs) -> Thanes (Barons) -> Geneatas -> Kotsetla -> Gebur -> Etheow (Serfs)

 

[Fookison]

Very interesting information indeed!! AllmyJames thanks for the extra bits to make it a bit clearer!!!

 

[unmerged(104889)]

I'm sorry, SirCliveWolfe, I do not quite understand. Is this an AAR based on your game or is it an AAR about real history or are you continuing Arthur Lawtons unfinished work? Sorry if this is a bit silly question .

 

[Rabid Bogling]

I'm sorry, SirCliveWolfe, I do not quite understand. Is this an AAR based on your game or is it an AAR about real history or are you continuing Arthur Lawtons unfinished work? Sorry if this is a bit silly question .

Such is the quality of SirClive's writing, clearly!