Dr Bill Aird (The University of Edinburgh)
2019.12.10

Introduciton:1066:does the date still matter?

The West Saxons and the “unification of England”
Ethelred II, Normandy, &the Vikings
Cnut’s marriage to Emma of Normandy
The Encomium Emma regina
The Ethelings in Normandy
The succession of Edward the Confessor

What does 1066 symbiolize?
National disaster?Birth of multiculturalism? Ties with Europe?
The many conquests of England
The teleological “master narrative”: West Saxon Conquest of England = unification of the English
973 Edgar’s coronation
Significant dates? 1016, 1042/3, 1066,1093?

Does 1066 still matter?

The west saxons and the unification of England
British library,Charter for winchester ,966

In the thirteenth year of his reign, King Edgar was consecrated at Bath on whitesunday(973). Then ..

The west saxon conquest of England
Ethelred II, Normandy, and the Vikings

1002 marriage of Emma to Ethelred II
Cnut’s marrage to Emma of Normandy

The Encomium Emmæ reginæ

The Æthelings in Normandy and the murder of Alfred Ætheling

The succession of Edward the Confessor

The English earldoms 1065
Godwin family
Northumbria (Tostig) East Anglia (Gyrth and Leofwine)
Wessex (Harold)

Duke William’s claim to the throne of England

King Harold Godwinson’s claim to the throne

Conclusion: The Bayeux Tapestry Part I