How Did Godwin Rise To Power

Asser looked up to Einhard and had a copy of Einhard’s, The Life of Charlemagne. He used it to help inspire him on how to be successful in writing The Life of King Alfred. Opposed to Einhard, Asser wrote his book about Alfred when Alfred was alive. Alfred was King of Wessex reigning from 871-899. Alfred endured many obstacles dealing with the war, however, he never gave up. Alfred became King in the middle of war. He defeated the Vikings in April of 878. Vikings were Scandinavian people who left homes to raid, pillage, trade, settle or all of the above. Many nations were paying tribute to the Vikings so that they could stop their attacks. Gunthrum, in charge of half of the Great Army led a surprise attack on Wessex, Alfred’s men were repulsed. Alfred secured his loyalty of his men by defeating the Vikings. Alfred was also a religious King, he prayed every night; certain psalms; and he learnt the daily course. He was not wasteful in which he gave money to the church. Unlike Charlemagne, Alfred the Great was a very literate person. He was big on education. He created education reforms, educated his sons and his royal court, tried to learn how to translate Latin into old English was always wanting to learn more. Alfred was deemed pious because he took care of the poor. Alfred was an active

However, even though Edward had got one up on Godwine, Godwine was still responsible for the murder of his brother Alfred. Godwine had arrested Alfred and killed some of his followers, he was then taken out of Godwine’s hands and but on board a ship where soon afterwards he soon died. In 1046, Godwin’s eldest son Sweyn abducted a nun and used her as a sex slave, when this was put to light he was sent into exile to Flaunders and Denmark and his land was shared between his brother Harold and his cousin Beorn. As Godwine was unable to prevent this, its shows how King

Catharine of Aragon was Arthur’s widow, and seven years after his death Henry VIII married her on June 11, 1509 when he was seventeen years old . The new prince, Henry VIII, did not waste any time in experimenting with his new found power. He quickly found two ministers his father greatly disliked when he was alive, and he had them arrested and then executed. Execution soon became Henry VIII’s standard way of punishing anyone who crossed his path.

Clovis I, son of Childeric I of the Salian Franks, unified the Frankish people under one king. He ruled from 481 CE to his death in 511. In 496, he became the first Germanic king to convert to Catholicism. Other Germanic rulers had converted to Christianity before Clovis, but the majority of them held the Arian doctrine, condemned as heresy by the Catholic Church during the Council of Nicaea in 325. This led to widespread conversion among the Frankish people of Gaul. Although labelled a model for Christian kingship by Gregory of Tours, Clovis’ conversion had less to do with newfound Christian devotion and more to do with the potential political advantages of being part of the Church.

He was the fifth son of the West Saxon King Ethelwulf. Known as the only Anglo-Saxon Kingdom who had not fallen into the Vikings, he was one of the successful Kings. Alfred defended his kingdom against the Vikings successfully who attempted at conquest which made him successful. Also, Alfred led Aethelred (brother) to the throne of Wessex. In 868 AD Alfred married Ealhswith and had five children named Edward the Elder, Ethelflaed, Elfthryth, Countess of Flanders, and Ethelweard. Known as the father of English prose Alfred the Great had died in October 26, 899.

However, Edward did something very odd—he promised the crown to William, Duke of Normandy—a cousin through Edward’s mother, Emma. This perplexingly odd promise was made even stranger when, according to the Bayeux Tapestry, Harold was shipwrecked off the coast of Normandy and brought to stay at the court of William. There he supposedly swore an unbreakable oath, giving William his loyalty and support in his path to the crown. He returned to England. Yet when the king died, his dying words seemed to be appointing Harold “protector” of England, which was interpreted as “king”. So Harold was named the king, breaking his supposed promise to William. Furious, William invaded England. Freshly crowned, Harold was not only dealing with this Norman threat, but also an invading Norwegian Viking army, led by Harald Hardrada, who, like William, also believed he had a claim to the throne. Harold easily defeated Harald’s forces at the Battle of Stamford Bridge (near York), but then was forced to drive his tired, bedraggled army to Hastings to confront the invading Norman troops. There, at the famed Battle of Hastings, William became William the Conqueror, decisively defeating the English, killing Harold, and winning the crown.

Of William I’s (1066-1087) sons, William the II (1087-1100) was a better king than his younger brother Henry I (1100-1135). William I’s was the first Norman king to rule England. He split his heritance between his three living sons. Robert received the rule of Normandy, William II received England and Henry I received five thousand pounds. In early medieval England a good king was a heroic soldier and a strong leader who was fair but enforced the law. It was also important that they were Christian and unsinful. William II “The Rufus”-because of his red face or temper, was true to himself and what he believed in while Henry I “Beauclerc”-because of his high level of education, was a brutal and selfish king, not only to his people, but also

Years after the battles with Grendel and his mother Beowulf has aged. He is now the king of the

King Henry the VIII was born in 1491 to Henry Tudor VII and Elizabeth of York, making him their third child, but second son. He was named after his father, Henry VII, and since he was the second son, he was not expected to be King. King Henry VII eldest son Arthur, Prince of Wales was to take the thrown and become King of England, that is until his death unexpected death. When little Henry was ten years old, he attended Arthur and his bride Catherine of Argon’s wedding. Four months after the marriage began, it ended, with Arthur 's death. There was a signed treaty that stated Catherine would be allow to marry the next heir to the throne – Prince Henry. It was considered necessary for a papal exemption to be issued permitting Henry to wed Catherine because she was his dead brother’s wife, and this marriage was restricted in Leviticus. At the time, and for the duration of her life, Catherine denied that her marriage to Arthur had even been fulfilled, so no agreement was required. In any case, both the gatherings in Spain and England needed to make certain of the authenticity of the marriage, so consent from the pope was looked for and got. The marriage did not take place however. Henry became King Henry the VIII of England when Henry VII passed on April 22, 1509, which changed his life forever.

Atheling actually means 'throne worthy' and was the title given to the most legitimate heir; but a legitimate blood claim was only part of the issue. The crown would go to the claimant who could muster most support amongst the 'great and the good' of England. In January 1066, Edgar Atheling was a minor, and with the wolves breathing at the door, the English magnates could not afford to risk the kingdom in such inexperienced hands. So they turned to Harold, the obvious power behind the throne, who, as we have seen, had prepared his ground

William believed he would be welcomed with open arms as the new king, but he severely misinterpreted the situation. The throne of England was far from that of Normandy. It was beyond Edward’s ability to promise the throne to William auspiciously and conclusively. However, a similar situation occurred with Harold Earl of Wessex. As he lay dying Edward’s dying word left the care of his wife and kingdom in the hands of Harold. Howard mentions that this could have been misinterpreted as well. Harold’s dying words of, “I commend this woman and all the kingdom to your protection” does not explicitly label Harold as the King. Edward’s dying words did give Harold a higher leverage in that early English laws labeled The King as ruler and protector of the people and not the actual territory. Harold’s claim to the throne is made more legitimate because The Witan later chooses him.

Beowulf is believed to have been written somewhere between the years 700-1000 AD. During this period, Anglo-Saxon society provided women with a relative amount of freedom. According to Christine Clark, “Anglo-Saxon women had a high level of self-determination” (Clark 218). During this time, women were allowed to own land and to choose who they married. This is not to say that they were socially and economically equal. Men still retained much control over their female counterparts . Although women did not give up land ownership to their husband’s upon marriage, it became the husband’s role to maintain it and do as he wished with it. The only limitation being transferring permanent ownership to himself (Clark 214). In reality these political and social

He was the son of Tryggve Olafsson and the great grandson of the first king of Norway, Harold Fairhair. Olaf had two siblings, Astrid Tryggvesdatter (named after his mother) and Ingeborg Tryggvasdotter.

The papacy of Roman Catholic Church reached its zenith in the thirteenth century. But there was a decline of the papacy in the fourteenth century due to disaster like the Black Death, The Great Schism, and many other evolutions in Europe. Many new ideas and advanced technologies were developed after series of changes. These ideas influenced the lives of many normal people in the Medieval Ages.

Little is known about Henry’s childhood because as the second born he was never intended to become King. When his elder brother Arthur died months after his marriage to Catherine of Aragon Henry became the heir to the throne of England. Catherine stayed in the English court after the death of her husband and was betrothed to Henry . It was many years before the two finally married. Catherine did give birth to a male heir but unfortunately the child did not survive . There were many more attempts for a male heir but in the end the only surviving child of Henry and Catherine was Mary Tudor who would later ascend to the throne in July 1553 . Because Catherine was unable to produce a surviving male heir Henry sought to get an annulment of their marriage. The pope would not grant this and so Henry created the Act of Supremacy declaring himself the ‘supreme head of the Church of England ’ in 1534. By naming himself as the supreme head of the Church, Henry no longer needed to answer to the Pope or the Roman