Anglo-Saxons
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One of the most fascinating (and bloody) periods of English history is The Anarchy, when Empress Matilda, daughter of Henry I (he who might well be found sometime soon in the ruins of Reading Abbey) fought her cousin Stephen of Blois (thought to be in Faversham Abbey) for the English throne. Battles raged across the…
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28th March is the Feast of St Alkelda, a lady who has two churches named after her, one in Middleham, the other in Giggleswick. That seems clear enough. BUT there does not appear to be a St Alkelda. “She” may even be a well, there being a theory that the name Alkelda derives from an old…
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English counties were divided into smaller administrative units. Normally, these are called ‘Hundreds’ but in the former Danelaw, they are called ‘Wapentakes’. It is thought the name comes from the ancient practice of brandishing weapons to signal assent. If a wapentake was in crown hands the sheriff would hold his ‘tourn’ there at intervals, usually…
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Richard III’s reburial service is to be adapted for more reburials, this time of Anglo-Saxon Christians-men, women and children-found at Kirkleatham, have been laid to rest at St Cuthbert’s, Redcar. http://www.gazettelive.co.uk/news/teesside-news/anglo-saxon-christians-reburied-redcar-12218102
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This Cambridge article reveals a little about the possible early Christian burial site near Sutton Hoo, first discovered nearly eighty years ago and which probably contains Richard’s collateral ancestor Raedwald.
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This Glasgow Herald article illustrates how historian Sheila Pitcairn wishes to search Dunfermline Abbey and identify Malcolm III and his family. Robert I (le Brus) can easily be found there already. The widowed Malcolm III married (St.) Margaret of Wessex, great-niece of Edward the Confessor and granddaughter of Edmund Ironside, in about 1070, allowing Anglo-Saxon…
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Although they are regarded as loose ends, the last Anglo-Saxon and last Norman kings of England are both Richard’s ancestors, via Edward III’s marriage. This document demonstrates Phillippa of Hainault’s descent from Harold II, via Kiev and Hungary, and Stephen, via the Low Countries. There seems to be little news from Faversham Abbey, where Stephen…
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This is part five, of a short series by the Warwickshire-born historian, which concentrates on modern issues such as Richard’s reburial: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b07c56j6#play. However, the whole series is available and covers the Anglo-Saxon period, when there were several Cathedrals in the Midland kingdom of Mercia.
The New Murrey and Blue blog 