Notes
Matches 601 to 650 of 1,662
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| 601 | He held the office of Lord of Richard's Castle and Byton. | FitzRichard, Osbern (I1649)
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| 602 | He held the office of Member of Parliament (M.P.) for Cumberland in 1328. He was Commissioner of Array for Cumberland and Westmorland in 1329. He held the office of Member of Parliament (M.P.) for Westmorland in 1341. He held the office of Sheriff of Cumberland between 1353 and 1355. He held the office of Member of Parliament (M.P.) for Westmorland in 1373. [thePeerage.com] | Lowther, Sir Hugh (I1484)
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| 603 | He held the office of Member of Parliament (M.P.) for Cumberland in 1394. He was Lieutenant of Inglewood Forest in 1396. He was Echeator of Cumberland from 1402 to 1403. He was invested as a Knight in 1403. He held the office of Member of Parliament (M.P.) for Cumberland in 1404. He held the office of Echeator of Cumberland and Westmorland from 1406 to 1407. He held the office of Sheriff of Cumberland in 1407. He held the office of Member of Parliament (M.P.) for Cumberland in 1407. He held the office of Echeator of Cumberland and Westmorland between 1413 and 1415. He held the office of Member of Parliament (M.P.) for Cumberland in 1415. He held the office of Sheriff of Cumberland in 1418. [thePeerage.com] | Lowther, Sir Robert (I3580)
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| 604 | He held the office of Member of Parliament (M.P.) for Westmorland between 1377 and 1380. | Lowther, John (I1660)
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| 605 | He held the office of Sheriff of Cumberland in 1401. He held the office of Sheriff of Cumberland in 1407. | Lowther, William (I1653)
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| 606 | He held the office of Sheriff of Cumberland in 1509. He held the office of Sheriff of Cumberland in 1517. | Curwen, Sir Thomas (I1450)
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| 607 | He held the office of Sheriff of Cumberland in 1525. He held the office of Sheriff of Cumberland in 1534. | Curwen, Sir Christopher (I1444)
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| 608 | He held the office of Sheriff of Cumberland. | Curwen, Sir Christopher (I4162)
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| 609 | He held the office of Sheriff of Cumberland. | Lowther, Sir John (I1491)
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| 610 | He held the office of Sheriff of Lincoln. | Turold (I1408)
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| 611 | He held the office of Sub-king in Kent, Essex, Sussex and Surrey between 839 and 851. Although some sources cite Athelstan as Ethelwulf's eldest son, he has almost certainly been confused with Athelstan, son of Egbert, as the details of his life are identical. Therefore, it is improbable that Ethulwulf actually had a son called Athelstan. | Æthelstan Sub-King in Kent Essex Sussex and Surrey (I1360)
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| 612 | He is the son of Godfrey, Comte de Brionne. He married Gunnora d'Aunou. He gained the title of Comte de Brionne [Normandy]. Benefactor of the Abbey of Bec in Normandy. He was also known as Gilbert 'Crispin' de Brionne. Gilbert (or Giselbert) (1000-1040) was a Norman noble, Count of Eu, and Count of Brionne in northern France. Parentage Gilbert was son of Geoffrey, Count of Eu (b. 962) who was an illegitimate child of Richard the Fearless. Life He inherited Brionne, becoming one of the most powerful landowners in Normandy. He married Gunnora d'Aunou in 1012. He had children by his wife and a mistress. Gilbert was a generous benefactor to Bec Abbey founded by his former knight Herluin in 1031. When Robert II, Duke of Normandy died in 1035 his illegitimate son William inherited his father's title. Several leading Normans, including Gilbert of Brionne, Osbern the Seneschal and Alan of Brittany, became William's guardians. Death A number of Norman barons including Raoul de Gacé would not accept an illegitimate son as their leader. In 1040 an attempt was made to kill William but the plot failed. Gilbert however was murdered while he was peaceably riding near Eschafour. It is believed two of his killers were Ralph of Wacy and Robert de Vitot. This appears to have been an act of vengeance for wrongs inflicted upon the orphan children of Giroie by Gilbert, and it is not clear what Raoul de Gacé had to do in the business. Fearing they might meet their father's fate, his sons Richard and his brother Baldwin were conveyed by their friends to the court of Baldwin, Count of Flanders. Children Gilbert was ancestor of the English house of de Clare, of the Barons Fitz Walter, and the Earls of Gloucester and Hertford. Sir Richard Fitz Gilbert(Richard de Clare) (1030-1091), m. Rohese Giffard (1034-aft. 1113) Baldwin FitzGilbert (d. 1090) | Gilbert Count of Brionne (I1771)
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| 613 | He is the son of Raimond III Pons, Comte de Toulouse and Gersende. He married, firstly, Adelaide d'Anjou, daughter of Fulk II d'Anjou, Comte d'Anjou and Gerberge de Tours. He married, secondly, Emma of Venaissin, daughter of Rotbold of Venaissin, Count of Venaissin and Ermengarde, circa 990. He succeeded to the title of Comte de Provence. He succeeded to the title of Comte de Toulouse in 960. William III Taillefer (also spelled Tallefer or Tallifer) (c. 970 - September 1037) was the Count of Toulouse, Albi, and Quercy from 972 or 978 to his death. He was the first of the Toulousain branch of his family to bear the title marchio, which he inherited (c.975) from Raymond II of Rouergue. His parentage has been subject to reevaluation. He has traditionally been called son of Raymond III Pons and Garsinda. However, recent research has revealed that William was instead son of Adelais of Anjou, known to have married a Raymond, "Prince of Gothia". This discovery has required a complete reevaluation of the succession to the County of Toulouse during this period, and no scholarly consensus has developed. He and his vassals were notorious usurpers of church property. He stole from the abbey of Lézat, but gave it back between 1015 and 1025. Pope John XIX ordered him to stop his vassals from taking the lands of Moissac, a problem later remedied by his successor, Pons, who gave Moissac to Cluny. William became the most powerful prince in western Languedoc and he saw the rise of the House of Capet in France and a corresponding decrease in royal authority recognised in the south. He bore the title of marchio prefatus in pago Tholosano: "prefect margrave in the Toulousain country." His influence extended into the Narbonensis and even Provence, on behalf of his wife. His power did not remain undiminished in his own city of Toulouse, where he was forced by a council of local noblemen and clerics to give up dues imposed on the market there. Before 992, William married Emma, daughter of Rotbold III of Provence. From her he gained titles and lands to Provence. From a prior marriage, he had two sons, Raymond and Hugh, who died young. His eldest son by Emma, Pons, inherited Toulouse and the title of Margrave of Provence. His second son Bertrand became Count of Forcalquier, a Provençal fief. He had two daughters: Rangarda, wife of Peter Raymond of Carcassonne by Emma, and Ildegarda Elisa, wife of Fulk Bertrand of Provence by Emma. He had an illegitimate daughter who married Otto Raymond of L'Isle-Jourdain. | William III Count of Toulouse (I2186)
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| 614 | He is the son of Reynold de Briouze and Grecia Brieguerre. He married Eve Marshal, daughter of William Marshal and Isabella de Clare, Countess of Pembroke, before 1230. He died on 2 May 1230, hanged by Llewelyn ap Iorwerth. He lived at Brecknock, Breconshire, Wales. He succeeded to the title of Lord Abergavenny [Feudal] circa 1228. William de Braose (c. 1197 - 2 May 1230) was the son of Reginald de Braose by his first wife, Grecia Briwere. He was an ill-fated member of a powerful and long lived dynasty of Marcher Lords. Dynastic history William de Braose was born in Brecon, probably between 1197 and 1204. The Welsh, who detested him and his family name, called him Gwilym Ddu, Black William. He succeeded his father in his various lordships in 1227, including Abergavenny and Builth. Marriage and children William married Eva Marshal, daughter of William Marshal, 1st Earl of Pembroke. They had four daughters: Isabella de Braose (born c. 1222), wife of Prince Dafydd ap Llywelyn Maud de Braose (born c. 1224 - 1301), wife of Roger Mortimer, 1st Baron Wigmore another very powerful Marcher dynasty. Eleanor de Braose (c. 1226 - 1251), wife of Humphrey de Bohun and mother of Humphrey de Bohun, 3rd Earl of Hereford. Eve de Braose (c. 1227- July 1255), wife of William de Cantelou. Career He was captured by the Welsh forces of Prince Llywelyn the Great, in fighting in the commote of Ceri near Montgomery, in 1228. William was ransomed for the sum of £2,000 and then furthermore made an alliance with Llywelyn, arranging to marry his daughter Isabella de Braose to Llywelyn's only legitimate son Dafydd ap Llywelyn. However on a later visit to Llywelyn during Easter 1230 William de Braose was found in Llywelyn's private bedchamber with Llywelyn's wife, Joan, Lady of Wales. Execution The Chronicle of Ystrad Fflur's entry for 1230 reads: "In this year William de Breos the Younger, lord of Brycheiniog, was hanged by the Lord Llywelyn in Gwynedd, after he had been caught in Llywelyn's chamber with the king of England's daughter, Llywelyn's wife." Llywelyn had William publicly hanged on 2 May 1230, possibly at Crogen, near Bala, though others believe the hanging took place near Llywelyn's palace at Abergwyngregyn. Legacy With William's death by hanging and his having four daughters, who divided the de Braose inheritance between them and no male heir, the titles now passed to the junior branch of the de Braose dynasty, the only male heir was now John de Braose who had already inherited the titles of Gower and Bramber from his far-sighted uncle Reginald de Braose. William's wife Eva continued to hold de Braose lands and castles in her own right, after the death of her husband. She was listed as the holder of Totnes in 1230, and was granted 12 marks to strengthen Hay Castle by King Henry III on the Close Rolls (1234-1237). | de Briouze, William (I2209)
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| 615 | He is the son of Roger de Beaumont, Seigneur de Portaudemer and Adeline de Meulan. He married Elizabeth de Vermandois, daughter of Hugh de Crépi, Comte de Vermandois et de Valois and Aelis de Vermandois, Comtesse de Vermandois, in 1096. He gained the title of Comte de Meulan, in France. He gained the title of 1st Earl of Leicester. Robert de Beaumont, 1st Earl of Leicester, Count of Meulan (between 1040 and 1050 - 5 June 1118) was a powerful English and French nobleman, revered as one of the wisest men of his age. Chroniclers speak highly of his eloquence, his learning, and three kings of England valued his counsel. He accompanied William the Conqueror to England in 1066, where his service earned him more than 91 lordships and manors. When his mother died in 1081, Robert inherited the title of Count of Meulan in Normandy, also the title of Viscount Ivry and Lord of Norton. He did homage to Philip I of France for these estates and sat as French Peer in the Parliament held at Poissy. At the Battle of Hastings Robert was appointed leader of the infantry on the right wing of the army. He and his brother Henry were members of the Royal hunting party in the New Forest, when William Rufus received his mysterious death wound, 2 August 1100. He then pledged alligience to William Rufus' brother, Henry I of England, who created him Earl of Leicester in 1107. On the death of William Rufus, William, Count of Evreux and Ralph de Conches made an incursion into Robert's Norman estates, on the pretence that they had suffered injury through some advice that Robert had given to the King; their raid was very successful for they collected a vast booty. According to Henry of Huntingdon, Robert died of shame after "a certain earl carried off the lady he had espoused, either by some intrigue or by force and stratagem." His wife Isabella remarried in 1118 to William de Warenne, 2nd Earl of Surrey. Family and children He was the eldest son of Roger de Beaumont and Adeline of Meulan, daughter of Waleran III, Count de Meulan, and an older brother of Henry de Beaumont, 1st Earl of Warwick. In 1096 he married (Isabel) Elizabeth de Vermandois, daughter of Hugh Magnus (b. 1053, d. 18 Oct 1101) a younger son of the French king and Adelaide de Cleremont (b. 1050, d. 23 Sep 1120). Their children were: Emma de Beaumont (born 1102) Waleran IV de Beaumont, Count of Meulan (born 1104) Robert de Beaumont, 2nd Earl of Leicester (born 1104) Hugh de Beaumont, 1st Earl of Bedford (born c. 1106) Adeline de Beaumont, married twice: Hugh IV of Montfort-sur-Risle Richard de Granville of Bideford (d. 1147) Aubree de Beaumont, married Hugh II of Château-neuf-Thimerais. Maud de Beaumont, married William Lovel. (b. c. 1102) Isabel de Beaumont, a mistress of King Henry I of England. Married twice: Gilbert de Clare, 1st Earl of Pembroke; Hervé de Montmorency, Constable of Ireland | de Meulan, Robert 1st Earl of Leicester (I4239)
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| 616 | He is the son of Sir John Crophill and Margery de Verdun. He married Sibyl de la Bere, daughter of Sir John de la Bere, circa 18 October 1371. He was also known as Thomas de Crophull. | de Crophill, Sir Thomas (I2073)
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| 617 | He lived at Alcester, Warwickshire, England. | Corbet, Robert Earl of Cornwall (I3217)
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| 618 | He lived at Burnside, Scotland. (believe this to be Burneside near Kendal) He was invested as a Knight Bachelor in 1487. | Bellingham, Sir Roger (I1123)
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| 619 | He lived at Fonthill, England. | Giffard, Gerard (I169)
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| 620 | He lived at Kendal, Westmorland, England. Sir Thomas was the son of Sir John Parr and Agnes Crophull (or Crophill) (c.1371/72-3 February 1438). By his mother's previous marriage to Sir William Devereux of Bodenham, he was the maternal half-brother of Elizabeth and Walter Devereux, Esq., the great-grandfather of Anne Devereux who married William Herbert, 1st Earl of Pembroke (1468 creation) and the 5x great-grandfather of Walter Devereux, 1st Earl of Essex. His father died before 6 October 1407 and when his mother remarried to John Merbury, Esq. he was made the ward of Sir Thomas Tunstall of Thurland castle, Lancashire. Sometime around 1415 he married Alice Tunstall, the daughter of Sir Thomas. Within a year of his coming of age Thomas was escheator of Cumberland and Westmorland, and was knighted about the same time. He was elected Member of Parliament for Westmorland five times (in 1435, 1449, 1450, 1455 and 1459) and once for Cumberland (1445). He was actively involved in local administration and law enforcement, and became very influential. In 1435 he acted as the Under-sheriff for Thomas, 8th Baron Clifford, the hereditary sheriff of Westmorland. He became involved in a long-running feud with Sir Henry Bellingham, another local landowner, which came to a head in 1445 when he was attacked in London by Bellingham's men when attending Parliament, which caused a Parliamentary outcry. This appears to have starteds when in 1441 Henry Bellingham Esq. sued Sir Thomas Parr, the Sheriff, for an attack on Bellingham's house in Burnesdie, Westmorland. By the time of the War of the Roses, Parr had formed close links with leading Yorkist Richard Neville, 5th Earl of Salisbury and when hostilities began joined him at the Battle of Ludford Bridge near Ludlow in 1459. After a Yorkists were defeated, he was forced to flee to Calais with Salisbury and was attainted in Parliament, but returned to fight at the Battle of Wakefield in 1460. He died in 1461. He left three sons and six daughters. His eldest son, William became elevated as Baron Parr and married a granddaughter of the Earl of Salisbury, Hon. Elizabeth FitzHugh, and by her was grandfather of Queen Catherine, wife of Henry VIII; his second son, Sir John Parr was made sheriff of Westmorland for life in 1462. His third son, Thomas, was killed at the Battle of Barnet in 1471. His daughters all married members of prominent northern families. Mabel married Humphrey Dacre, 1st Baron Dacre; thus becoming the first female Parr to marry into the peerage and be given a title. The accession of the Yorkist King Edward IV in 1461 had saved most of Sir Thomas's estates from confiscation. Through his son William, the family continued in favour with the culmination of his granddaughter, Catherine, becoming Queen consort of England and Ireland to King Henry VIII in 1543. His other grandchildren and the siblings of Queen Catherine would be raised by being created Marquess of Northampton and Earl of Essex; while a granddaughter, Anne, would become Countess of Pembroke as the wife of William Herbert, 1st Earl of Pembroke of the 1551 creation. Anne's descendants to this day hold the title of Earl of Pembroke among other prominent titles. Sir Thomas Parr (1407- November 1461 or 24 November 1464) was an English landowner and elected Member of Parliament six times between 1435 and 1459. He was great-grandfather of Queen Catherine Parr, the sixth wife of King Henry VIII. Ancestry The Parr family originally came from Parr, Lancashire. Sir Thomas's grandfather, Sir William de Parre (died 1405), son of Sir John de Parre, lord of Parr; married, in 1383, Elizabeth, daughter of John de Ros, and granddaughter and heiress of Sir Thomas de Ros, Baron of Kendal. Biography Sir Thomas was the son of Sir John Parr and Agnes Crophull (or Crophill) (c.1371/72-3 February 1438). By his mother's previous marriage to Sir William Devereux of Bodenham, he was the maternal half-brother of Elizabeth and Walter Devereux, Esq., the great-grandfather of Anne Devereux who married William Herbert, 1st Earl of Pembroke (1468 creation) and the 5x great-grandfather of Walter Devereux, 1st Earl of Essex. His father died before 6 October 1407 and when his mother remarried to John Merbury, Esq. he was made the ward of Sir Thomas Tunstall of Thurland castle, Lancashire. Sometime around 1415 he married Alice Tunstall, the daughter of Sir Thomas. Within a year of his coming of age Thomas was escheator of Cumberland and Westmorland, and was knighted about the same time. He was elected Member of Parliament for Westmorland five times (in 1435, 1449, 1450, 1455 and 1459) and once for Cumberland (1445). He was actively involved in local administration and law enforcement, and became very influential. In 1435 he acted as the Under-sheriff for Thomas, 8th Baron Clifford, the hereditary sheriff of Westmorland. He became involved in a long-running feud with Sir Henry Bellingham, another local landowner, which came to a head in 1445 when he was attacked in London by Bellingham's men when attending Parliament, which caused a Parliamentary outcry. By the time of the War of the Roses, Parr had formed close links with leading Yorkist Richard Neville, 5th Earl of Salisbury and when hostilities began joined him at the Battle of Ludford Bridge near Ludlow in 1459. After a Yorkists were defeated, he was forced to flee to Calais with Salisbury and was attainted in Parliament, but returned to fight at the Battle of Wakefield in 1460. He died in 1461. He left three sons and six daughters. His eldest son, William became elevated as Baron Parr and married a granddaughter of the Earl of Salisbury, Hon. Elizabeth FitzHugh, and by her was grandfather of Queen Catherine, wife of Henry VIII; his second son, Sir John Parr was made sheriff of Westmorland for life in 1462. His third son, Thomas, was killed at the Battle of Barnet in 1471. His daughters all married members of prominent northern families. Mabel married Humphrey Dacre, 1st Baron Dacre; thus becoming the first female Parr to marry into the peerage and be given a title. The accession of the Yorkist King Edward IV in 1461 had saved most of Sir Thomas's estates from confiscation. Legacy Through his son William, the family continued in favour with the culmination of his granddaughter, Catherine, becoming Queen consort of England and Ireland to King Henry VIII in 1543. His other grandchildren and the siblings of Queen Catherine would be raised by being created Marquess of Northampton and Earl of Essex; while a granddaughter, Anne, would become Countess of Pembroke as the wife of William Herbert, 1st Earl of Pembroke of the 1551 creation. Anne's descendants to this day hold the title of Earl of Pembroke among other prominent titles. | Parr, Sir Thomas (I1882)
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| 621 | He lived in Knowsley and Lathom, Lancashire. | Lathom, Sir Thomas (I3341)
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| 622 | He married Ada de Warenne, daughter of William II de Warenne, 2nd Earl of Surrey and Elizabeth de Vermandois, circa 1139. He succeeded to the title of Earl of Huntingdon circa February 1136. He gained the title of Earl of Northumberland in 1139. Henry of Scotland (Eanric mac DabÃd, 1114 - 12 June 1152) was a prince of Scotland, heir to the Kingdom of Alba. He was also the 3rd Earl of Northumberland and the 3rd Earl of the Honour of Huntingdon and Northampton. He was the son of King David I of Scotland and Maud, 2nd Countess of Huntingdon. His maternal grandparents were Waltheof, Earl of Northumbria and Huntingdon, (beheaded 1075) and his spouse Judith of Lens. Henry was named after his uncle, King Henry I of England, who had married his paternal aunt Edith of Scotland (the name Edith gallicised as Matilda after becoming Queen consort in 1100). He had three sons, two of whom became King of Scotland, and a third whose descendants were to prove critical in the later days of the Scottish royal house. He also had three daughters. His eldest son became King of Scots as Malcolm IV in 1153. Henry's second son became king in 1165 on the death of his brother, reigning as William I. Both in their turn inherited the title of Earl of Huntingdon. His third son, David also became Earl of Huntingdon. It is from the 8th Earl that all Kings of Scotland after Margaret, Maid of Norway claim descent. On Henry's death, the Earldom passed to his half-brother Simon II de Senlis. Family Henry married Ada de Warenne, the daughter of William de Warenne, 2nd Earl of Surrey (died 1138), and Elizabeth of Vermandois, daughter of Hugh of Vermandois, The Great. Ada of Huntingdon (1139-1206), married in 1161, Floris III, Count of Holland. Margaret of Huntingdon (1145-1201) Married [1] in 1160 Conan IV, Duke of Brittany, (died 1171) Married [2] Humphrey III de Bohun, Lord of Trowbridge. Married [3] Sir William fitz Patrick de Hertburn Malcolm IV of Scotland. William I of Scotland. David of Scotland, 8th Earl of Huntingdon. Matilda of Huntingdon, born and died 1152. Marjorie of Huntingdon, married Gille CrÃst, Earl of Angus. | of Huntingdon, Henry Earl of Huntingdon (I1931)
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| 623 | He married Adelaide de Poitou, daughter of Guillaume III, Duc d'Aquitaine and Adele de Normandie, circa 969. He was a member of the House of Capet. He gained the title of Roi Hugues de France in 987. Hugh Capet (c. 939 - 24 October 996), called in contemporary sources "Hugh the Great" (Latin: Hugo Magnus), was the first King of the Franks of the eponymous Capetian dynasty from his election to succeed the Carolingian Louis V in 987 until his death. Descent and inheritance The son of Hugh the Great, Duke of France, and Hedwige of Saxony, daughter of the German king Henry the Fowler, Hugh was born in 939. His paternal family, the Robertians, were powerful landowners in the Île-de-France. His grandfather had been King Robert I and his grandmother Beatrice was a Carolingian, a daughter of Herbert I of Vermandois. This makes him the great-great-great-great-great grandson of Charlemagne through both of his parents, through Louis the Pious and Pepin of Italy. King Odo was his grand-uncle and King Rudolph the son-in-law of his grandfather, King Robert I. Hugh was born into a well-connected and powerful family with many ties to the reigning nobility of Europe. But for all this, Hugh's father was never king. When Rudolph died in 936, Hugh the Great organised the return of Louis d'Outremer, son of Charles the Simple, from his exile at the court of Athelstan of England. Hugh's motives are unknown, but it is presumed that he acted to forestall Rudolph's brother and successor as Duke of Burgundy, Hugh the Black, from taking the French throne, or to prevent it from falling into the grasping hands of Herbert II of Vermandois or Richard the Fearless, Duke of Normandy. In 956, Hugh inherited his father's estates and became one of the most powerful nobles in the much-reduced West Frankish kingdom. However, as he was not yet an adult, his uncle Bruno, Archbishop of Cologne, acted as regent. Young Hugh's neighbours made the most of the opportunity. Theobald I of Blois, a former vassal of Hugh the Great, took the counties of Chartres and Châteaudun. Further south, on the border of the kingdom, Fulk II of Anjou, another former client of Hugh the Great, carved out a principality at Hugh's expense and that of the Bretons. The realm in which Hugh grew up, and of which he would one day be king, bore no resemblance to modern France. Hugh's predecessors did not call themselves rois de France ("Kings of France"), and that title was not used until the time of his distant descendant Philip II Augustus. Kings ruled as rex Francorum ("King of the Franks") and the lands over which they ruled comprised only a very small part of the former Carolingian Empire. The eastern Frankish lands, the Holy Roman Empire, were ruled by the Ottonian dynasty, represented by Hugh's first cousin Otto II and then by Otto's son, Otto III. The lands south of the river Loire had largely ceased to be part of the West Frankish kingdom in the years after Charles the Simple was deposed in 922. The Duchy of Normandy and the Duchy of Burgundy were largely independent, and Brittany entirely so, although from 956 Burgundy was ruled by Hugh's brothers Odo and Henry. Election and extent of power From 977 to 986, Hugh Capet allied himself with the German emperors Otto II and Otto III and with Archbishop Adalberon of Reims to dominate the Carolingian king, Lothair. By 986, he was king in all but name. After Lothair's son Louis died in May 987, Adalberon and Gerbert of Aurillac convened an assembly of nobles to elect Hugh Capet as their king. In front of an electoral assembly at Senlis, Adalberon gave a stirring oration and pleaded to the nobles: Crown the Duke. He is most illustrious by his exploits, his nobility, his forces. The throne is not acquired by hereditary right; no one should be raised to it unless distinguished not only for nobility of birth, but for the goodness of his soul. He was elected and crowned rex Francorum at Noyon in Picardy on 3 July 987, by the prelate of Reims, the first of the Capetian house. Immediately after his coronation, Hugh began to push for the coronation of his son Robert. Hugh's own claimed reason was that he was planning an expedition against the Moorish armies harassing Borrel II of Barcelona, an invasion which never occurred, and that the stability of the country necessitated two kings should he die while on expedition. Ralph Glaber, however, attributes Hugh's request to his old age and inability to control the nobility. Modern scholarship has largely imputed to Hugh the motive of establishing a dynasty against the pretension of electoral power on the part of the aristocracy, but this is not the typical view of contemporaries and even some modern scholars have been less sceptical of Hugh's "plan" to campaign in Spain. Robert was eventually crowned on 25 December that same year. Hugh Capet possessed minor properties near Chartres and Angers. Between Paris and Orléans he possessed towns and estates amounting to approximately 400 square miles (1,000 km2). His authority ended there, and if he dared travel outside his small area, he risked being captured and held for ransom, though, as God's anointed, his life was largely safe. Indeed, there was a plot in 993, masterminded by Adalberon, Bishop of Laon and Odo I of Blois, to deliver Hugh Capet into the custody of Otto III. The plot failed, but the fact that no one was punished illustrates how tenuous his hold on power was. Beyond his power base, in the rest of France, there were still as many codes of law as there were fiefdoms. The "country" operated with 150 different forms of currency and at least a dozen languages. Uniting all this into one cohesive unit was a formidable task and a constant struggle between those who wore the crown of France and its feudal lords. As such, Hugh Capet's reign was marked by numerous power struggles with the vassals on the borders of the Seine and the Loire. While Hugh Capet's military power was limited and he had to seek military aid from Richard I of Normandy, his unanimous election as king gave him great moral authority and influence. Adémar de Chabannes records, probably apocryphally, that during an argument with the Count of Auvergne, Hugh demanded of him: "Who made you count?" The count riposted: "Who made you king?". Dispute with the papacy Hugh made Arnulf Archbishop of Reims in 988, even though Arnulf was the nephew of his bitter rival, Charles of Lorraine. Charles thereupon succeeded in capturing Reims and took the archbishop prisoner. Hugh, however, considered Arnulf a turncoat and demanded his deposition by Pope John XV. The turn of events outran the messages, when Hugh captured both Charles and Arnulf and convoked a synod at Reims in June 991, which obediently deposed Arnulf and chose as his successor Gerbert of Aurillac. These proceedings were repudiated by Rome, although a second synod had ratified the decrees issued at Reims. John XV summoned the French bishops to hold an independent synod outside the King's realm, at Aachen, to reconsider the case. When they refused, he called them to Rome, but they protested that the unsettled conditions en route and in Rome made that impossible. The Pope then sent a legate with instructions to call a council of French and German bishops at Mousson, where only the German bishops appeared, the French being stopped on the way by Hugh and Robert. Through the exertions of the legate, the deposition of Arnulf was finally pronounced illegal. After Hugh's death, Arnulf was released from his imprisonment and soon restored to all his dignities. Legacy Hugh Capet died on 24 October 996 in Paris and was interred in the Saint Denis Basilica. His son Robert continued to reign. Most historians regard the beginnings of modern France with the coronation of Hugh Capet. This is because, as Count of Paris, he made the city his power centre. The monarch began a long process of exerting control of the rest of the country from there. He is regarded as the founder of the Capetian dynasty. The direct Capetians, or the House of Capet, ruled France from 987 to 1328; thereafter, the Kingdom was ruled by cadet branches of the dynasty. All French kings through Louis Philippe, and all royal pretenders since then, have belonged to the dynasty. Marriage and issue Hugh Capet married Adelaide, daughter of William Towhead, Count of Poitou. Their children are as follows: Gisela, or Gisele, who married HughI, Count of Ponthieu Hedwig, or Hathui, who married Reginar IV, Count of Hainaut Robert II, who became king after the death of his father A number of other daughters are less reliably attested. | Capet, Hugh (I957)
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| 624 | He married Adelaide of Italy, daughter of Rudolph II, Roi de Jurane Bourgogne and Berthia of Swabia. He married Eadgyth, daughter of Eadweard I, King of Wessex and Ælflæd, between 925 and 930. Otto I von Sachsen, Holy Roman Emperor also went by the nick-name of Otto 'the Great'. He gained the title of Herzog von Sachsen. He succeeded to the title of Emperor Otto I of the Holy Roman Empire in 936. He gained the title of Otto I Deutscher Kaiser in 936. He was crowned Holy Roman Emperor in 962. Otto I (November 23, 912 - May 7, 973), also known as Otto the Great, was the founder of the Holy Roman Empire, reigning from 936 until his death in 973. The oldest son of Henry I the Fowler and Matilda of Ringelheim, Otto was "the first of the Germans to be called the emperor of Italy". Otto inherited the Duchy of Saxony and the kingship of the Germans upon his father's death in 936. He continued his father's work to unify all German tribes into a single kingdom and greatly expanded the king's powers at the expense of the aristocracy. Through strategic marriages and personal appointments, Otto installed members of his own family to the kingdom's most important duchies. This reduced the various dukes, who had previously been co-equals with the king, into royal subjects under his authority. Otto transformed the Roman Catholic Church in Germany to strengthen the royal office and subjected its clergy to his personal control. After putting down a brief civil war among the rebellious duchies, Otto defeated the Magyars in 955, thus ending the Hungarian invasions of Europe. The victory against the pagan Magyars earned Otto the reputation as the savior of Christendom and secured his hold over the kingdom. By 961, Otto had conquered the Kingdom of Italy and extended his kingdom's borders to the north, east, and south. In control of much of central and southern Europe, the patronage of Otto and his immediate successors caused a limited cultural renaissance of the arts and architecture. Following the example of Charlemagne's coronation as "Emperor of the Romans" in 800, Otto was crowned Emperor in 962 by Pope John XII in Rome. Otto's latter years were marked by conflicts about the Papacy and struggles to stabilize his rule over Italy. Reigning from Rome, the Emperor sought to improve relations to the Byzantine Empire, that opposed his claim to Emperorship and his realm's further expansion to the south. To resolve this conflict the Byzantine princess Theophanu married his son, Otto II, in April, 972. Otto finally returned to Germany in August 972 and died of natural causes in 973, with Otto II succeeding him as Emperor. Early life Otto was born on November 23, 912, the oldest son of the Duke of Saxony Henry the Fowler and his second wife Matilda of Ringelheim, the daughter of the Saxon count Dietrich of Ringelheim (in Westphalia). Henry had previously married Hatheburg, also a daughter of a Saxon count, in 906 but divorced her in 909 after she had given birth to Henry's first son and Otto's half-brother Thankmar. Otto had four full siblings: Hedwig (born 910), Gerberga (born 913), Henry (born 919), and Bruno (born 925). Little else is known about his youth and education. Background On December 23, 918, Conrad I of Germany, the King of East Francia and Duke of Franconia, died. According to the Res gestae saxonicae by the Saxon chronicler Widukind of Corvey, Conrad on his deathbed persuaded his younger brother Duke Eberhard of Franconia, Conrad's presumptive heir, to offer the crown to Otto's father Henry. Although Conrad and Henry had been at odds with one another since 912, Conrad considered Henry to be the only German duke capable of holding the German kingdom together in the face of internal rivalries among the dukes and the continuous Hungarian raids. After hesitating several months, Eberhard and the other Frankish and Saxon nobles elected Henry as king at the Imperial Diet of Fritzlar, in May 919; for the first time a Saxon instead of a Frank reigned over the kingdom. Burchard II, Duke of Swabia soon swore fealty to the new King, but Arnulf, Duke of Bavaria did not recognize Henry's position. According to the Annales Iuvavenses, Arnulf was elected king by the Bavarians in opposition to Henry. Arnulf's "reign" was short-lived. Henry defeated him in two campaigns in 921, finally besieged his residence at Ratisbon (Regensburg) and forced him into submission. Henry spared Arnulf's life on two conditions: Henry's sovereignty over Bavaria was confirmed and Arnulf renounced his claims to the throne. Heir apparent Otto gained first experience as a military commander when the German kingdom fought against Slavic tribes on its eastern border. While campaigning against the Slavs, in 929 Otto's illegitimate son William, the future Archbishop of Mainz, was born to a Slavic mother. With Henry's dominion over the entire kingdom secured by 929, his family was given the right of sole succession over the kingdom. Henry had the arrangement for his succession ratified by an Imperial Diet at Erfurt. After his death, his lands and wealth were to be divided between his four sons: Thankmar, Otto, Henry, and Bruno. Otto was designated by his father to receive the crown, confirming him as Henry's heir apparent. This represented a significant development as the German kingship was traditionally elected by the various dukes and because Henry gave up the principle of division, in which each member of the royal family was granted a piece of the kingdom to rule as his own. Henry's actions founded individual succession within Germany, thus ensuring the indivisibility of the monarchy. While Henry consolidated power within Germany, he prepared for an alliance with Saxon England by finding a bride for Otto. Association with another royal house would give Henry additional legitimacy and strengthen the bonds between the two Saxon kingdoms. To seal the alliance, King Æthelstan of England sent to Henry his two half sisters Eadgyth and Ælfgifu, so he could choose the one which best pleased him. Henry selected Eadgyth as Otto's bride and the two were married in 929. Reign as King Coronation Henry died of a cerebral stroke on July 2, 936, at his palace, the Kaiserpfalz in Memleben and was buried at Quedlinburg Abbey. At his death, all German tribes were united in a single realm; aged 23, Otto assumed his father's position as Duke of Saxony and King of Germany. His coronation was held on August 7, 936 in Charlemagne's former capital of Aachen, where he was anointed and crowned by Hildebert, the Archbishop of Mainz. Though he was a Saxon by birth, Otto appeared at the coronation in Frankish dress in an attempt to demonstrate his sovereignty over the Duchy of Lotharingia and his role as true successor to Charlemagne, whose last heirs in East Francia had died out in 911. According to Widukind of Corvey, at his coronation banquet, Otto had the four other dukes of the kingdom, those of Franconia, Swabia, Bavaria and Lorraine, act as his personal attendants: Arnulf I of Bavaria as marshal (or stablemaster), Herman I, Duke of Swabia as cupbearer, Eberhard III of Franconia as steward (or seneschal), and Gilbert of Lorraine as Chamberlain.[c] By performing this traditional service, the dukes signaled cooperation with the new king, and clearly showed their submission to his reign. Despite his peaceful transition, the royal family was not harmonious during his early reign. Otto's younger brother Henry also claimed the throne contrary to his father's wishes of 929. According to "The Lives of Queen Matilda" (ita Mathildis reginae antiquior), their mother, Matilda of Ringelheim]], had favored Henry as king: in contrast to Otto, Henry had been "born in the purple" during his father's reign and shared his name. Otto also faced internal opposition from various local aristocrats. According to Widukind of Corvey, in 936, Otto appointed Hermann Billung as Margrave, granting him authority over a march north of the Elbe River between the Limes Saxoniae and Peene River. As military governor of the area, Hermann extracted tribute from the Polabian Slavs inhabiting the area and often fought against the West Slavic tribes of the Lutici, Obotrites, and Wagri. Hermann's appointment angered his brother, Count Wichmann the Elder. As the elder and wealthier of the two, Wichmann believed his claim to office was greater. Additionally, Wichmann was related by marriage to the dowager queen Matilda. In 937, Otto further offended the sensibilities of the nobility through the appointment of Gero to succeed his older brother, Siegfried, as Count and Margrave of a border region abutting the Wends on the lower Saale. His decision frustrated Thankmar, Otto's half-brother and Siegfried's cousin, who felt he held a greater right to the appointment. Rebellion of the dukes First Rebellion The year 937 brought the death of Arnulf, Duke of Bavaria, succeeded by his son Eberhard. The new duke quickly came into conflict with Otto, as Eberhard opposed the Kings's sovereignty over Bavaria as part of the peace treaty between the former King Henry and Arnulf. Refusing to recognize Otto's supremacy, Eberhard rebelled against the king. In two campaigns in the spring and fall of 938, Otto defeated and exiled Eberhard from the kingdom and stripped him of his titles. In his place, Otto appointed Eberhard's uncle Berthold, a duke in the March of Carinthia, as the new Duke of Bavaria on the condition that Berthold recognize Otto as the sole authority to appoint bishops and to administer royal property within the Duchy. At the same time, Otto had to settle a dispute with Duke Eberhard of Franconia, the brother of former King Conrad I of Germany. Eberhard besieged Helmern castle near Peckelsheim; the fortress was located within the Duchy of Franconia near the border of the Duchy of Saxony, but under control by a Saxon commander who refused to swear fealty to any non-Saxon. Otto called the feuding parties to his court at Magdeburg where Eberhard was ordered to pay a fine and his lieutenants were sentenced to carry dead dogs in public, a particularly dishonoring punishment. Infuriated with Otto's actions, Eberhard joined Otto's half-brother Thankmar, Count Wichmann, and Archbishop Frederick of Mainz and rebelled against the king in 938. The three[clarification needed] besieged Warstein in the Arnsberg Forest and freed Otto's brother Henry from imprisonment there. Herman I, Duke of Swabia, one of Otto's closest advisors, warned him of the rebellion and the king moved quickly to put down the revolt. Wichmann was soon reconciled with Otto and joined the king's forces against his former compatriots.[d] Otto besieged Thankmar at Eresburg and had him murdered at the altar of the church of Saint Peter. Following their defeats, Eberhard and Frederick sought reconciliation with the king. Otto pardoned both men, after a brief exile in Hildesheim, and restored them to their former positions. Second Rebellion Following his brief reconciliation, Eberhard prepared a new rebellion against Otto. He promised to assist Otto's younger brother Henry in claiming the throne and recruited Gilbert, Duke of Lorraine to join his rebellion. Gilbert was married to Otto's sister, Gerberga of Saxony, but had sworn fealty to King Louis IV of France. Otto exiled Henry from Germany, who fled to King Louis' court. The West Frankish King, in hopes of regaining dominion over Lorraine once again, joined forces with Henry and Gilbert. In response, Otto allied with Louis' chief antagonist: the Count of Paris Hugh the Great, the husband of Otto's sister Hedwige of Saxony. Henry marched on and captured Merseburg and planned to join Gilbert in Lorraine, but Otto besieged them at Chevremont near Liege. Before he could defeat them, he was forced to abandon the siege and moved against Louis, who had marched on and captured Verdun. Otto subsequently drove Louis back to his capital at Laon. While Otto won some initial victories, he was unable to capture the other conspirators and end the rebellion. Archbishop Frederick sought to mediate a peace between the combatants, but Otto rejected his proposal. Under Otto's direction, Duke Herman of Swabia led an army against the conspirators into Franconia and Lorraine. Otto recruited allies from the Duchy of Alsace, who crossed the Rhine River and surprised Eberhard and Gilbert at the Battle of Andernach on October 2, 939. Otto's forces gained an overwhelming victory: Eberhard was killed in battle and Gilbert drowned in the Rhine while attempting to escape. Left alone to face his brother, Henry submitted to Otto and the rebellion ended. With Eberhard dead, the Duchy of Franconia became Otto's direct possession. The same year, Otto made peace with Louis IV whereby Louis recognized his suzerainty over Lorraine. In return, Otto withdrew his army from France and arranged for his sister Gerberga of Saxony (the widow of Gilbert) to marry Louis IV. As a reward for Duke Herman's loyalty during the rebellion, Otto arranged for his son Liudolf to marry Herman's only daughter Ida. In 940, Otto and Henry were reconciled through the efforts of their mother. Henry returned to Germany and Otto appointed him as the new Duke of Lorraine to succeed Gilbert. Henry hadn't dropped his ambitions for the German throne and initiated another conspiracy against his older brother. With the assistance of Archbishop Frederick of Mainz, Henry planned to have Otto assassinated on Easter in 941 at Quedlinburg Abbey. Otto discovered the plot and had the conspirators arrested and imprisoned at Ingelheim. The king later released and pardoned both men only after they publicly performed penance on Christmas that same year. Consolidation of power The decade between 941 and 951 is marked by Otto's exercise of undisputed domestic power. Through the subordination of the dukes to his authority, Otto asserted the power to make decisions without prior agreement of the dukes. He deliberately ignored the claims and ranks of the nobility, who wanted dynastic succession in the assignment of office, by freely appointing individuals of his choice to the kingdom's offices. Loyalty to Otto, not lineage, was the pathway towards advancement under his rule. His mother Matilda disapproved of this policy and was accused by Otto's royal advisors of undermining his authority. After Otto briefly exiled her to her Westphalian manors at Enger in 947, Matilda was brought back to court at the urging of his wife Eadgyth. The nobility found it difficult to adapt to Otto as the kingdom had never before followed individual succession to the throne. Whereas tradition dictated that all the sons of the former king were to receive a portion of the kingdom, Henry's succession plan placed Otto at the head of a united kingdom at the expense of his brothers. Otto's authoritarian style was in stark contrast to that of his father. Henry had purposely waived Church anointment at coronation as a symbol of his election by his people and governing his kingdom on the basis of "friendship pacts" (amitica). Henry regarded the kingdom as a confederation of duchies and saw himself as first among equal. Instead of seeking to administer the kingdom through royal representatives, as Charlemagne had done, Henry allowed the dukes to maintain complete internal control of their holdings as long as his superior status was recognized. Otto, on the other hand, had accepted Church anointment and regarded his kingdom as a feudal monarchy with himself holding divine right to rule it, allowing him to reign without concern for the internal hierarchy of kingdom's noble families. This new policy ensured Otto's position as undisputed master of the kingdom. Members of his family and other aristocrats who rebelled against Otto were forced to publicly confess their guilt and unconditionally surrender to him, hoping for a pardon from their king. For nobles and other high-ranking officials, Otto's punishments were typically mild and the punished were usually restored to a position of authority afterwards. A notable example of this course is the case of his brother: Henry rebelled twice and was pardoned twice after his surrenders. He was even appointed as Duke of Lorraine and later as Duke of Bavaria. Rebellious commoners were treated far more harshly, Otto usually had them executed. Otto continued to reward loyal vassals for their service. Although appointments were still gained and held at his discretion, they were increasingly intertwined with dynastic politics. Where Henry relied upon the "friendship pacts", Otto relied upon family ties. Otto refused to accept uncrowned rulers as his equal. Under Otto, the integration of important vassals took place through marriage connections: King Louis IV of France had married Otto's sister Gerberga of Saxony in 939 and Otto's son Liudolf had married Ida, the daughter of Hermann I, Duke of Swabia in 947. The former dynastically tied the royal house of West Francia to that of East Francia and the latter secured his son's succession to the Duchy of Swabia as Hermann had no sons. Otto's plans came to fruition when, in 950, Liudolf became Duke of Swabia and, in 954, Otto's nephew Lothair of France became King of France. In 944, Otto appointed Conrad the Red as Duke of Lorraine and brought him into his extended family through his marriage to Otto's daughter Liutgarde in 947. A Salian Frank by birth, Conrad was a nephew of former king Conrad I of Germany. Following the death of Otto's uncle Berthold, Duke of Bavaria in 947, Otto satisfied his brother Henry's ambition through his marriage to Judith of Bavaria, daughter of Arnulf, and appointed him as the new Duke of Bavaria in 948. This arrangement finally achieved peace between the brothers as Henry thereafter abandoned his claims to the throne. Through his familial ties to the dukes, Otto had strengthened the sovereignty of the crown and the overall cohesiveness of the kingdom. On January 29, 946, Eadgyth died suddenly at the age of 35 and Otto buried his wife in the Cathedral of Magdeburg. The union had lasted seventeen years and produced two children; with Eadgyth's death, Otto began to make arrangements for his own succession. Like his father before him, Otto intended to transfer sole rule of the kingdom to his son Liudolf upon his death. Unlike his succession, Liudolf's sole right to the throne would not have been militarily enforced. Otto called together all the dukes of the kingdom and had them swear an oath of allegiance to Liudolf, thereby promising to recognize his sole claim to the throne as Otto's heir apparent. Foreign relations France From the beginning of his reign, relations between the German king and the Carolingian king of West Francia were strained by their conflicting interests. Otto viewed himself as the true heir to Charlemagne and had himself crowned at the Aachen Cathedral, within the Duchy of Lorraine. The West Frankish Kings had lost considerable royal power after internal struggles with their aristocracy, but still held a formal claim of authority over this duchy. By holding his coronation at Aachen, Otto was directly challenging their position. In 938 King Louis IV of France attempted a military invasion but was defeated by Otto's army. The German king was supported by Louis IV's chief domestic rival, Hugh the Great, who had previously married Otto's sister Hedwig of Saxony in 936. Louis IV's second attempt to reign over Lorraine in 940 was based on his asserted claim to be the rightful Duke of Lorraine due to his marriage to Gerberga of Saxony, Otto's sister and the widow of the fallen Gilbert, Duke of Lorraine. Otto did not recognize Louis IV's claim and appointed his brother Henry as duke. Lorraine remained a part of Otto's kingdom as traditional connection to Charlemagne's former realm. Despite their rivalry, Louis IV and Hugh were now both tied to Otto's family through marriage bonds. Otto intervened for peace in 942 and announced a formal reconciliation between the two: Hugh was to perform an act of submission to Louis IV, and in return Louis IV was to waive any claims to Lorraine. After a short period of peace, the West Frankish kingdom fell into another crisis in 946. Normans captured Louis IV and handed him over to Hugh, who released the king only on condition to surrender the fortress of Laon. At the urging of his sister Gerberga, Otto invaded France on behalf of Louis IV, but his armies were not strong enough to take the key cities of Laon, Reims, and Paris. After a three month siege, Otto finally lifted the siege without defeating Hugh, but managed to depose Hugh of Vermandois from his position as Archbishop of Reims, restoring Artald of Reims to his former office. To settle the issue of control over the Archdiocese of Reims, Otto called for a synod at Ingelheim in 948. The synod was attended by 34 bishops, including all of the archbishops of Germany. In September 948, the synod confirmed Otto's appointment of Artald as Archbishop of Reims and Hugh was excommunicated until he made peace with Louis IV. It was not until Easter 951, that the powerful vassal restored Laon to Louis IV, and Hugh did not fully reconcile with his king until 953. By calling for the synod to meet in Germany, Otto demonstrated his supremacy over the affairs of East Francia and his dominion over the German Church, further strengthening his claim as Charlemagne's true successor. Burgundy Otto continued the peaceful relationship between Germany and the Kingdom of Burgundy, initiated by his father. King Rudolf II of Burgundy had previously married Bertha of Swabia, the daughter of one of Henry's chief advisors, in 922. Burgundy was originally a part of Middle Francia, the central portion of Charlemagne's empire prior to its division under the Treaty of Verdun in 843. On July 11, 937, Rudolf II died and Hugh of Provence, the King of Italy and Rudolf II's chief domestic opponent, claimed the Burgundian throne. Otto intervened in the succession and with his support Rudolf II's son, Conrad of Burgundy, was able to secure the throne. Burgundy had become an integral, but formally independent, part of Otto's sphere of influence and remained at peace with Germany during his reign. Bohemia Boleslaus I, Duke of Bohemia, assumed the Bohemian throne in 935. The next year, following Otto's father King Henry the Fowler's death, Boleslaus stopped paying tribute to Germany, in violation of the peace treaty Henry had established with Boleslaus' brother Saint Wenceslaus I, Duke of Bohemia. After an initial invasion of Bohemia, the war deteriorated to a series of mostly border raids and was not concluded until 950, when Boleslaus signed a peace treaty with Otto. Despite being undefeated, he promised to resume the payment of the tribute to Otto and to recognize him as his overlord. The Duchy of Bohemia was then incorporated into the German kingdom. Byzantine Empire Otto developed close relations with the Byzantine Emperor Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus, who reigned over the Byzantine Empire from 905 until his death in 959. East and West sent multiple ambassadors to one another during this time. In particular, German Bishop Thietmar of Merseburg records that in 945 and again in 949, "twice the Greek [Byzantine] envoys brought gifts to our king [Otto] from their emperor". It was during this time that Otto sought to link himself to the Eastern Empire through marriage negotiations. Slavic Wars Eastern Slavic Wars As Otto was finalizing his actions to suppress his brother’s rebellion, the Slavs on the Elbe River revolted against German rule. Having been subdued by Otto’s father in 928, the Slavs saw Henry’s rebellion as an opportunity to regain their independence. Otto’s lieutenant in east Saxony, Count Gero, was performing exceptionally well. The Count of Thuringia since 937, Gero had successfully repulsed many Slavic incursions. As reward for his military successes, in 939 Otto promoted Gero to the rank of Margrave and granted him command over the entire eastern border theater, named the March of Gero in his honor, making Gero the most powerful Margrave in Otto’s kingdom. With his new high command, Otto charged Gero with the subjugation of the pagan Polabian Slavs and their conversion to Catholicism. Under the guise of celebrating his promotion, Gero invited many Slavic chieftains to a banquet. When the chieftains arrived, Gero's soldiers attacked and massacred his unsuspecting guests. One chieftain managed to escape and informed the other Slavs of Gero’s treachery.[10] The Slavs demanded revenge and marched against Gero with an enormous army. Gero’s military resources proved insufficient to stop the increased Slavic assault. When Otto heard news of the invasion, he made peace with his rebellious brother Henry and hurried from Lorraine to the eastern front. The king arrived in Saxony and had some initial success, giving Gero an opportunity to regroup his forces. But Henry soon formed a new alliance in rebellion against Otto's rule and the king was forced to return to the west, leaving Gero to face the Slavs alone. In 941, Gero initiated another plot to subdue the Slavs. He recruited a captive Slav named Tugumir, a Hevelli chieftain, to his cause. Gero promised to support him in claiming the Hevellian throne, if Tugumir would later recognize Otto as his overlord. Tugumir agreed and returned to the Slavs. Due to Gero’s previous massacre, few Slavic chieftains had remained, causing the Slavs to quickly proclaim Tugumir as prince. Upon assuming the throne, Tugumir murdered his chief rival and proclaimed his loyalty to Otto, incorporating his territory into the German kingdom. Otto granted Tugumir the title of Duke and allowed Tugumir to rule his people, subject to Otto’s suzerainty, in the same manner as the German dukes. After Gero's and Tugumir’s coup, the Slavic federation broke apart. In control of the key Hevelli stronghold of Brandenburg, Gero was able to successfully attack the divided Slavic tribes. The submission of the West Slavs allowed the Germans to extend their control into Eastern Europe, both through military colonization and the establishment of churches. Northern Slavic Wars As the Slavs in east Saxony rebelled against German rule, so too did the Slavs in north Saxony. Otto’s lieutenant there, Margrave Hermann Billung of the Billung March, had initial success in driving the Slavs back across the Elbe River but his position remained difficult. The northern Wend Slavs were soon joined by the Danes from Jutland under King Gorm the Old. The Danes, like the Slavs, had been subdued by Otto’s father Henry years before. The new Slavic-Danish alliance, under the command of Gorm’s son Harold Bluetooth, pushed deep into Hermann’s territory, ultimately capturing the margrave as a prisoner of war in 947. Harold’s joint Slavic-Danish army was left unchallenged in northern Saxony for three years until 950 when Otto led an army north to counter their advance. Otto’s powerful army defeated Harold and forced him back into Jutland. Otto pursued Harold and devastated Denmark with a policy of scorched earth. His people starving, Harold sued for peace and agreed to Otto's conditions: Harold had to renounce his German conquests, release Hermann, recognize Otto as his overlord, and convert to Christianity. Without the Danes to aid them, the Wend Slavs’ confederation in north Saxony quickly fell apart. Tribe after tribe submitted to Otto’s rule. Otto required the conquered Slavs to pay heavy tribute, support the building of churches, and submit to military conscription. Expansion into Italy Disputed Italian Throne In 888, with the death of Emperor Charles the Fat, the empire of Charlemagne was permanently divided into four kingdoms: East Francia, West Francia, Kingdom of Burgundy, and the Kingdom of Italy with each of the four realms being ruled by their own kings. Though the Pope in Rome continued to appoint the kings of Italy as "Emperor" to rule Charlemagne's empire, these "Italian Emperors" never exercised any authority north of the Alps. With the assassination of Emperor Berengar I of Italy in 924, the last nominal heir to Charlemagne was dead and the title "Emperor" was left unclaimed. Berengar's death created a power vacuum in Italy. King Rudolf II of Upper Burgundy, and Hugh, Count of Provence and effective ruler of Lower Burgundy, held competing claims to the throne of Italy. By 926, Hugh forced Rudolf to flee Italy, establishing de facto control over the Italian peninsula. Hugh later induced the Italian nobility to recognise his son Lothair II of Italy as their next king and crowned him in April 931. Hugh and Rudolf II eventually concluded a peace treaty in 933, with Rudolf II renouncing his claims to the Italian throne and Hugh granting control over Lower Burgundy to Rudolf II, which he combined with Upper Burgundy into a new Kingdom of Burgundy. To seal the peace, Rudolf II betrothed his infant daughter Adelaide to Hugh's son Lothair. In 940, Margrave of Ivrea Berengar II, the grandson of former King Berengar I, led a revolt of Italian nobles against his uncle Hugh. Forewarned by Lothair, Hugh exiled Berengar II from Italy and Berengar II fled to the protection of Otto's court in 941. In 945, Berengar II returned from exile in Germany and was welcomed by the Italian nobility. With the aid of hired mercenaries, Berengar II defeated Hugh in battle and forced him into permanent retirement in Provence. As part of a peace deal, Hugh was allowed to remain nominal king of Italy with Berengar II as the decisive power behind the throne. Lothair finally married the sixteen-year-old Adelaide, on December 16, 947.[e] When Hugh died in April 10, 948, his son Lothair succeeded him as nominal king, Berengar II continued to hold all real power. Lothair's brief "reign" came to an end with his death on November 22, 950, presumably poisoned by Berengar, leaving Adelaide widowed before her twentieth birthday. Berengar II then crowned himself king with his son Adalbert of Italy as his co-ruler and heir apparent. Failing to receive widespread support for his right to the crown, Berengar II attempted to legitimize his reign and tried to force Adelaide, the respective daughter, daughter-in-law, and widow of the last three Italian kings, into marriage with Adalbert. Adelaide fiercely refused and was imprisoned by Berengar II at Garda Lake. With the help of Count Adalbert Atto of Canossa, she managed to escape. Besieged by Berengar II in Canossa, Adelaide sent an emissary across the Alps seeking Otto’s protection and marriage. Otto, widowed since 946, knew a marriage to Adelaide would allow him to fulfill his ambition of ruling Italy and, ultimately, claiming the imperial crown as Charlemagne’s true heir. Knowing of Adelaide’s great beauty and immense wealth, the thirty-eight year old Otto accepted nineteen year old queen's marriage proposal and prepared for an expedition into Italy. First Italian Expedition In the early summer of 951, before his father marched across the Alps, Otto's son Liudolf, Duke of Swabia, invaded Lombardy in northern Italy. From his stronghold in Swabia located just north of the Alps, Liudolf was in closer proximity to the Italian border than his father in Saxony. While the exact reason for Liudolf's actions are unclear, dynastic concerns and family ties to Adelaide may have been a factor. Adelaide's mother, Bertha of Swabia, was a daughter of Regelinda, the mother of Liudolf's wife Ida, from her first marriage to Burchard II, Duke of Swabia. Liudolf, therefore, may have intervened in the Italian campaign at the request of Adelaide's relatives. Additionally, Liudolf, 19 years old himself, did not view the idea of a young step-mother as in his best interests. Though Otto had named him as his successor, Liudolf feared any potential step-brother may usurp his claim to the German throne. The purpose of Liudolf's Italian campaign was to overthrow Berengar II and therefore rend Otto's own expedition into Italy, and thus his marriage to Adelaide, unnecessary. While Liudolf was preparing his expedition, the Bavarian Duke Henry, Otto's brother and Liudolf's uncle, conspired against him; Swabia and Bavaria shared a long common border and the two dukes were involved in a border dispute. Henry influenced the Italian aristocrats not to join Liudolf's campaign. When Liudolf arrived in Lombardy, he found no support and was unable to sustain his troops. His army was near destruction until Otto's own army crossed the Alps. The King reluctantly received Liudolf's forces into his command, angry at his son for his inconsiderate and independent actions. Otto and Liudolf arrived in northern Italy in September 951 without opposition from Berengar II. As they descended into the Po River valley, the Italian nobles and clergy withdrew their support for Berengar and provided aid to Otto and his advancing army. Recognizing his weakened position, Berengar II fled from his capital in Pavia. When Otto arrived at Pavia on September 23, 951, the city willingly opened its gate to the German king. In accordance with Lombard tradition, Otto was crowned with the Iron Crown of the Lombards on October 10. Like Charlemagne before him, Otto was now concurrent King of Germany and King of Italy. Otto then sent word to his brother Henry in Bavaria to escort his bride from Canossa to Pavia, where the two promptly married. Soon after his father's marriage, Liudolf left Italy and returned to Swabia. Archbishop Frederick of Mainz, the Primate of Germany and Otto's long-time domestic rival, also returned to Germany alongside Liudolf. Despite Otto's plans to claim the imperial title, trouble arose in northern Germany, forcing Otto to return with the majority of his army back across the Alps in 952. Otto did leave a small portion of his army behind in Italy and appointed his son-in-law Conrad, Duke of Lorraine, as his regent and tasked him with subduing Berengar II. Aftermath The Italian expedition had greatly worsened the relation between Otto and his son Liudolf, Duke of Swabia. The designated successor viewed his father's marriage to Adelaide as potential threat to his role and any male child born from this union as potential usurper of his position as heir apparent. Liudolf also distrusted the growing influence of his uncle, the former rebel Henry I, Duke of Bavaria. The two men quarreled over who should hold the second highest position within the kingdom; the king’s brother or the king’s son. In a weak military position with only few troops, Otto's regent in Italy tried for a diplomatic solution and opened peace negotiations with Berengar II. Conrad recognized that a military confrontation would impose great costs upon Germany, both in manpower and in treasure. At a time when the kingdom was facing invasions from the north by the Danes and from the east by the Slavs and Hungarians, all available resources were required north of the Alps. Conrad believed a client state relationship with Italy would be in Germany’s best interest. He offered a peace treaty, in which Berengar II would remain King of Italy on the condition that he recognized Otto as his overlord. Berengar II agreed and the pair traveled north to meet with Otto to seal the agreement. Conrad’s treaty was met with disdain from Adelaide and Henry. Though Adelaide was Burgundian by birth, she was raised as an Italian. Her father Rudolf II of Burgundy was briefly king of Italy prior to being deposed and she herself had briefly been queen of Italy until her husband Lothair II of Italy’s death. Berengar II imprisoned her, when she refused to marry his son Adalbert of Italy. Henry had other reasons to disapprove the peace treaty. As Duke of Bavaria, he controlled territory on the northern side of the German-Italian border. Henry had hope, that with Berengar II being deposed, his own fiefdom would be greatly expanded by incorporating territory south of the Alps. Conrad and Henry were already not on good terms, and the proposed treaty drove the two dukes further apart. Adelaide and Henry conspired together to persuade Otto to reject Conrad’s treaty. Conrad and Berengar II arrived at Magdeburg to meet Otto, but Adelaide had them wait three days before an audience was granted. This was a humiliating offense for the man Otto had named his regent. Though Adelaide and Henry urged the treaty's immediate rejection, Otto referred the issue to an Imperial Diet for further debate. Appearing before the Diet in August 952 in Augsburg, Berengar II and his son Adalbert were forced to swear fealty to Otto as his vassals. In return, Otto granted Berengar II Italy as his fief and restored the title “King of Italy†to him. The Italian king had to pay an enormous annual tribute and was required to cede the Duchy of Friuli south of the Alps. Otto reorganized this area as March of Verona and put it under Henry's control as reward for his loyalty. The Duchy of Bavaria therefore grew to the most powerful domain in Germany. Otto and the German Church A medieval king investing a bishop with the symbols of office. Otto centralized his control over Germany through the investiture of bishops and abbots, making the clergy-class his personal vassal. Beginning in the 950s, Otto changed his internal policy and started to use the Catholic Church as a tool of his dominance. He increasingly associated himself with the Church and his divine right to rule the kingdom, viewing himself as the protector of the Church. As a key element of this change in domestic structures, Otto sought to strengthen ecclesiastical authorities, chiefly bishops and abbots, at the expense of the secular nobility who threatened his own power. Otto controlled the various bishops and abbots by investing them with the symbols of their offices, both spiritual and secular, so the clerics were appointed as his vassals through a commendation ceremony. Historian Norman Cantor concludes: "Under these conditions clerical election became a mere formality in the Ottonian empire, and the king filled up the ranks of the episcopate with his own relatives and with his loyal chancery clerks, who were also appointed to head the great monasteries". Otto’s prototype for this blended royal-ecclesiastical service was his own brother Bruno the Great. Otto had appointed Bruno as his Chancellor in 940, as Archbishop of Cologne in 953, and as Duke of Lorraine in 953. In control of the westernmost German lands, Bruno was also Otto’s ambassador to West Francia. Holding these positions simultaneously made Bruno the second most powerful man in Germany behind Otto. Other important religious officials within Otto’s government include Archbishop William of Mainz (Otto’s illegitimate son), Archbishop Adalag of Bremen, and Hadamar, the Abbot of Fulda. Otto endowed the bishoprics and abbeys of his kingdom numerous gifts, including not only land but also royal prerogatives such as the power to levy taxes and to maintain an army. Over these Church lands secular authorities had neither the power of taxation nor legal jurisdiction. This raised the Church above the various dukes and committed its clerics to serve as the king's personal vassals.[f] In order to support the Church, Otto made tithing mandatory for all inhabitants of Germany. Otto granted the various bishops and abbots of the kingdom the rank of count as well as the legal rights of counts within their territory. Because Otto personally appointed all bishops and abbots, these reforms strengthened his central authority, and the upper ranks of the German Church functioned in some respect as an arm of the royal bureaucracy. Otto also established a policy of appointing his personal court chaplains to the various bishop positions throughout the kingdom. While attached to the royal court, the chaplains would perform the work of the government through services to the royal chancellery. After years at court, Otto would reward their service by promotion to a diocese. Liudolf’s Civil War Rebellion against Otto With the humiliating failure of his Italian campaign and Otto's marriage of Adelaide, Liudolf became estranged from his father and planned a rebellion. On Christmas Day 951, Liudolf held a grand feast at Saalfeld which was attended by many important figures from across the kingdom, most notably the Primate of Germany, Otto’s chief domestic rival Archbishop Frederick of Mainz. Contemporaries recalled how Otto’s brother Henry held a similar feast ten years prior in 941, before he himself launched an armed rebellion against the King. Liudolf was able to recruit his brother-in-law Conrad, Duke of Lorraine, to his rebellion. Otto’s forcing of Berengar II to cede control of Italian territory humiliated Conrad. As Otto’s regent in Italy, Conrad fully believed Otto would confirm the entire agreement he had conducted. Instead of the voluntary alliance, Conrad had promised, Berengar II was made Otto’s subject and his kingdom reduced. Conrad felt betrayed and insulted over Otto’s handling of the peace treaty, especially with the additional empowerment of Henry. Conrad, as did Liudolf, viewed Otto as being controlled by his foreign born wife and his power-hungry brother and together resolved to rescue the kingdom from their domination. In winter 952, Adelaide gave birth to a son, whom she named Henry after her brother-in-law and the child’s grandfather, Henry the Fowler. Rumors spread that Otto had been persuaded by his wife and brother to propose this child as his heir instead of Liudolf. For many German nobles, this rumor represented Otto’s final transforming from a policy focused on Germany to an Italian-centered one. The idea that Otto would ask them to revoke the succession rights of Liudolf prompted many nobles into open rebellion. Instead of Otto as their target, Liudolf and Conrad first led the nobles against Henry in Bavaria, in spring 953. Henry, who was appointed by Otto as duke in 947, was unpopular with the Bavarians due to his Saxon heritage and so his vassals quickly rebelled against him. Word of the rebellion reached Otto at Ingelheim. To secure his position he traveled to his stronghold at Mainz. The city was also the seat of Archbishop Frederick of Mainz, who acted as the spokesman for the rebels and offered himself as a mediator between Otto and the rebels, who quickly arrived in Mainz. Recorded details of the meeting or the negotiated treaty do not exist, but Otto soon left Mainz with a peace treaty favorable to the conspirators, most likely confirming Liudolf as heir apparent and approving Conrad’s original agreement with Berengar II, making the treaty contrary to the desires of Adelaide and Henry. When Otto returned to Saxony, Adelaide and Henry persuaded the king to void the treaty. Convening the Imperial Diet at Fritzlar, Otto declared Liudolf and Conrad as outlaws in absentia. The King also reasserted his desires for dominion over Italy and to claim the imperial title. He sent emissaries to the Duchy of Lorraine and stirred the local nobles against Conrad’s rule. The duke was a Salian Frank by birth and unpopular with the people of Lorraine, thus they pledged their support to Otto. Otto’s actions at the Diet prompted the people of the Duchy of Swabia and the Duchy of Franconia into civil war against their king. After initial defeats by Otto, Liudolf and Conrad fell back to their headquarters in Mainz. In July 953, Otto and his army laid siege to the city, supported by Henry’s army from Bavaria. After two months of siege the city had not fallen and rebellions against Otto’s rule grew stronger in southern Germany. Faced with these challenges, Otto opened peace negotiations with Liudolf and Conrad. Bruno the Great, Otto’s youngest brother and royal chancellor since 940, accompanied his older brothers and oversaw the arrangements for the negotiations. As the newly appointed Archbishop of Cologne, Bruno was eager to end the civil war in Lorraine, which was in his ecclesiastical territory. The rebels demanded ratification of the treaty they had previously agreed to with Otto, but Henry’s actions[vague] during the meeting caused the negotiations to break down. Conrad and Liudolf left the meeting to continue the civil war. Angered by their actions, Otto stripped both men of their duchies of Swabia and Lorraine, respectively. Otto then appointed his brother Bruno, the royal chancellor and archbishop of Cologne, as the new Duke of Lorraine. Never before had an ecclesiastical figure occupied a dukedom. While he was on campaign with Otto, Henry had appointed the Bavarian Count Palatine, Arnulf II, to govern the duchy in his absence. Arnulf II was a son of Arnulf the Bad, whom Henry had previously displaced as duke, and sought revenge: he deserted Henry and joined the rebellion against Otto. Lifting the siege of Mainz, Otto and Henry marched south to regain control over Bavaria. Without support of the local nobles their plan failed and they were forced to retreat to Saxony.[20] The duchies of Bavaria, Swabia, and Franconia were in open civil war against the King and even in his native Duchy of Saxony revolts began to spread. By the end of 953, the civil war was threatening to depose Otto and permanently end his claims to be Charlemagne’s successor. End of the Rebellion In early 954, Margrave Hermann Billung, Otto’s long-time loyal vassal in Saxony, was facing increased Slavic movements in the east. Using the civil war as a cover, the Slavs raided deeper and deeper into the adjacent border areas. Meanwhile, the Hungarians started extensive raids into Southern Germany. Though Liudolf and Conrad prepared defenses against the invasions, the Hungarians devastated Bavaria, Swabia, and Franconia. Otto’s brother Henry soon spread rumors that Conrad and Liudolf had invited the Hungarians into Germany. Public opinion quickly turned against the rebels in these duchies. With this change in opinion and the death of his wife Liutgarde, Otto’s only daughter, Conrad began peace negotiations with Otto, which were eventually joined by Liudolf and Archbishop Frederick. A truce was declared, and Otto called a meeting of the Imperial Diet on June 15, 954, at Langenzenn. Before the assembly convened, Conrad and Frederick were reconciled with Otto. At the Diet tensions flared up again, when Henry accused his nephew Liudolf of conspiring with the Hungarians. Though Conrad and Frederick implored the enraged Liudolf to seek peace, Liudolf left the meeting determined to continue the civil war. Liudolf, with his lieutenant Arnulf II (the effective ruler of Bavaria), took his army south towards Regensburg in Bavaria, followed quickly by Otto. The armies met at Nurnberg and engaged in a deadly, though not decisive, battle. Liudolf retreated to Regensburg, and was there besieged by Otto. Though Otto’s army was unable to break through the city’s walls, after two months of siege, starvation set in within the city. Liudolf then sent a message to Otto seeking to open peace negotiations and the siege ended. Otto demanded unconditional surrender, which Liudolf refused. Fighting continued, eventually claiming the life of Arnulf II. With his lieutenant dead, Liudolf fled from Bavaria for his domain of Swabia, quickly followed by Otto. Previously stripped of his ducal title, Liudolf’s allies within Swabia had been persecuted by Otto’s followers. The two armies met near Illertissen near the Swabian-Bavarian border. After a costly battle, Liudolf agreed to end hostilities against Otto. A truce was declared between father and son until an Imperial Diet would be assembled to ratify the peace. Bruno arranged for Otto and Liudolf to meet to conclude peace terms. Otto forgave his son of all transgressions and Liudolf agreed to accept any punishment his father felt appropriate. Soon after the peace agreement between Otto and Liudolf, the aging and sick Archbishop Frederick died in October 954. With the surrender of Liudolf, the rebellion had been put down throughout Germany except in Bavaria. Otto convened the Imperial Diet in December 954 at Arnstadt. Before the assembled nobles of the kingdom, Liudolf and Conrad declared their fealty to Otto and restored control over all territories their armies still occupied. Through Otto did not restore their former ducal title to them, he did allow them to retain their private estates. The Diet ratified Otto’s actions: Liudolf was promised regency over Italy and command of an army to depose Berengar II Conrad was promised military command against the Hungarians Burchard III, son of former Swabian Duke Burchard II, was appointed Duke of Swabia (Liudolf's former duchy) Bruno remained as new Duke of Lorraine (Conrad's former duchy) Henry was confirmed as Duke of Bavaria Otto's oldest son William, an illegitimate child from a Slavic mother, was appointed Archbishop of Mainz and Primate of Germany Otto retained the Duchies of Saxony and Franconia as his personal domains. Otto’s actions in December 954 finally brought an end to the two-year long civil war. Liudolf’s rebellion, though temporarily weakening, ultimately strengthened Otto’s position as absolute ruler of Germany. Hungarian Invasions The Hungarians invaded Otto’s domain, part of the larger Hungarian invasions of Europe, and ravaged Southern Germany during Liudolf’s civil war. Though Otto had installed the Margraves Hermann Billung and Gero on his kingdom’s northern and northeastern borders, the Principality of Hungary to the southeast was a permanent threat to German security. The Hungarians knew of the kingdom’s civil war and its internal weaknesses, which gave them an opportunity to invade the Duchy of Bavaria in spring 954. Though Liudolf, Duke of Swabia, and Conrad, Duke of Lorraine, had successfully prevented the Hungarians from invading their own territories in the west, the invaders managed to reach the Rhine River, sacking much of Bavaria and Franconia in the process. On Palm Sunday, 954, Liudolf held a great feast at Worms and invited the Hungarian chieftains to join him. There, he presented the invaders with gifts of gold and silver. These actions proved to be the undoing of Liudolf’s rebellion. Rumor quickly spread that the rebels had invited the Hungarians into Germany in hopes of using them against Otto, causing popular support for the rebellion to quickly dry up. Support lost, the rebels called a truce with Otto. Conrad and Archbishop Frederick of Mainz, two of Liudolf’s primary conspirators, made peace with Otto. Liudolf continued the civil war, but within two months he too submitted to his father’s rule. By December 954, the civil war had ended and domestic peace returned to Germany. The Hungarians, encouraged by their successful raids, started another invasion into Germany in spring 955. Otto’s army, now unhindered by civil war, was able to defeat the invasion and the Hungarians sent an ambassador seeking peace with Otto. The ambassador proved to be a decoy: Otto's brother Henry I, Duke of Bavaria, sent word to Otto that the Hungarians had crossed into his territory from the southeast. The main Hungarian army had camped along the Lech River and besieged Augsburg. While the city was defended by the Bishop Ulrich of Augsburg, Otto assembled his army and marched south to face the Hungarians. Otto and his army faced the Hungarian force on August 10, 955, at the Battle of Lechfeld. Under Otto’s command was his vassal Boleslaus I, Duke of Bohemia, and Burchard III, Duke of Swabia, who had married the daughter of Otto’s brother Henry. The pair was soon joined by Otto’s son-in-law Conrad. Though outnumbered nearly two to one, Otto was determined to push the Hungarians back. According to Widukind of Corvey, Otto "pitched his camp in the territory of the city of Augsburg and joined there the forces of Henry I, Duke of Bavaria, who was himself lying mortally ill nearby, and by Duke Conrad with a large following of Franconian knights. Conrad's unexpected arrival encouraged the warriors so much that they wished to attack the enemy immediately." Otto carried the Holy Lance, which he inherited from his father, into battle with him. The Hungarians crossed the river and immediately attacked the Bohemians under Boleslaus, then the Swabian under Burchard, but retreated after a short fight. As Otto received word of the attack, he ordered Conrad to recover the baggage train. After his successful mission Conrad returned to the main forces and the King launched an immediate attack against the Hungarians. Despite a volley of arrows, Otto's army smashed into the Hungarian lines and was able to fight them in hand-to-hand combat, giving the traditionally nomadic warriors no room to use their favorite shoot-and-run tactics. The Hungarians feigned a retreat in an attempt to lure Otto's men into breaking their line in pursuit, but the German line maintained formation and routed the Hungarians from the field, killing approximately a third of the Hungarian army in the process. On the field of battle, the German lords raised Otto on their shields in the Germanic manner and proclaimed him Emperor. Though Otto’s son-in-law Conrad was killed during the battle and Otto’s brother Henry was mortally wounded, Otto’s action at Lechfeld marked a turning point in German-Hungarian relations. While the battle was not a crushing defeat for the Hungarians, as Otto was not able to chase the fleeing army into Hungarian lands, the defeat effectively ended almost 100 years of Hungarian invasions into Western Europe. While Otto was fighting the Hungarians, with his main army deployed in Southern Germany, the Obotrite Slavs in the north were in a state of insurrection. Count Wichmann the Younger, still Otto's opponent over the king's refusal to grant Wichmann the title of Margrave in 936, marauded through the lands of the Obotrites in the Billung March, causing the followers of Slavic Prince Nako to revolt. The Obotrites invaded Saxony in fall 955, killing the men of arms-bearing age and carrying off the women and children into slavery. According to Widukind of Corvey, in the aftermath of the Battle of Lechfeld, Otto rushed to the north and pressed hard into Slav territory. Otto razed the Slav population centres and soon had encircled them: he offered to spare his enemies if they would surrender. A Slav embassy offered to pay annual tribute in return for being allowed self-government under German overlordship instead of direct German rule. Otto refused, and the two sides met on October 16 at the Battle of Recknitz. Otto's forces gained a decisive victory: of the 9000 Slavic soldiers, 4,500 were killed and 2,000 wounded. After the battle, the Slavic commander's head was raised on a pole and hundreds of captured Slavs were executed before sundown. Celebrations for Otto’s victory over the pagan Hungarians and Slavs were held in churches across the kingdom, with bishops attributing the victory to divine intervention and as proof of Otto’s divine right to rule. The battles of Lechfeld and Recknitz mark a turning point in Otto’s reign. The victories over Hungarians and Slavs sealed his hold on power over Germany, with the duchies firmly under royal authority. From 955 on, Otto would not experience another rebellion against his rule and the King was able to further consolidate his position. Liudolf's rebellion and the Hungarian invasions came at a heavy personal price for Otto. His son-in-law, Conrad, the former Duke of Lorraine, was killed in the Battle of Lechfeld and his brother Henry I, Duke of Bavaria was mortally wounded, dying a few months later on November 1. With Henry’s death, Otto appointed his four-year old nephew Henry II, to succeed his father as duke, with his mother Judith of Bavaria as his regent. Otto appointed Liudolf in 956 as the commander of an expedition against King Berengar II of Italy, but he soon died of fever on September 6, 957. Otto buried him at St. Alban’s Abbey in Mainz. The deaths of Henry, Liudolf, and Conrad took from Otto the three most prominent of his royal family, including his heir apparent. Additionally, his first two sons from his marriage to Adelaide of Italy, Henry (born 952), and Bruno (born 953) had died by 957. This left Otto’s third son by Adelaide, the two-year old Otto II, as the kingdom’s crown prince. Reign as Emperor Second Italian Expedition and Imperial Coronation Liudolf’s death in fall 957 deprived Otto of both the kingdom’s crown prince as well as the commander of his expedition against King Berengar II of Italy. Beginning with the unfavorable peace treaty of 952 in which he became Otto’s vassal, Berengar II had always been a rebellious subordinate. With the death of Liudolf and Henry I, Duke of Bavaria, and with Otto campaigning in northern Germany, in 958 Berengar II attacked the March of Verona, which Otto had stripped from his control under the 952 treaty, and laid siege to Count Adalbert Atto of Canossa there. Berengar II’s forces also attacked the Papal States and the city of Rome under Pope John XII. By Christmas 960, with Italy in political turmoil, the Pope sent word to Otto seeking his aid against Berengar II. Several refugees across to the Alps into Germany, including Walpert, the Archbishop of Milan, and Ubald, the Bishop of Como, also requested Otto’s protection. With the call for aid from the Pope, Otto demanded the Pope crown him Emperor in return for his intervention. The Pope agreed and Otto prepared his army. In preparations for his second Italian campaign and his imperial coronation, Otto planned for the kingdom’s future. In the Imperial Diet at Worms in May 961, Otto named his seven-year old son Otto II as his heir apparent and co-ruler and had him crowned at Aachen Cathedral on May 26, 961.[28] Otto was anointed by the Archbishops Bruno I of Cologne, William of Mainz, and Henry I of Trier. The king appointed his brother Bruno and illegitimate son William as Otto II’s co-regents in Germany. Otto’s army, accompanied by Archbishop Henry, descended into Italy in August 961 through the Brenner Pass at Trento in northern Italy. Otto then marched on Pavia, the old Lombard capital of Italy, where he celebrated Christmas. At Pavia, Otto officially deposed Berengar II as king and assumed the title for himself. Berengar II’s army retreated to their strongholds to avoid battle with Otto, allowing Otto to advance unopposed to the Pope in Rome. Otto reached Rome on January 31, 962. Three days later, Otto was crowned at Old St. Peter's Basilica by Pope John XII as Holy Roman Emperor. The Pope also anointed Otto’s wife Adelaide of Italy, who had accompanied Otto on his Italian campaign, as Empress. With Otto’s coronation as Emperor, the Kingdom of Germany and the Kingdom of Italy were unified into the Holy Roman Empire. Papal politics On February 12, 962, Emperor Otto and Pope John XII called a synod in Rome to cement their relationship. At the synod, Pope John XII approved Otto’s long desired Archdiocese of Magdeburg. The Emperor had planned for the establishment of the archdiocese to commemorate his victory at the Battle of Lechfeld over the Hungarians and to further convert the Slavs to Christianity. To ensure the success of the archdiocese, the Pope named St. Maurice as the archdiocese’s patron saint and called upon the archbishops of Mainz, Trier, and Cologne to support the new archdiocese. The next day Otto and John XII ratified the Diploma Ottonianum, confirming John XII as the spiritual head of the Church and Otto as its secular protector. In the Diploma, Otto confirmed the earlier Donation of Pepin of 754 between the King of the Franks Pepin the Short and Pope Stephen II. Otto recognized the Pope’s secular control over the Papal States, and expanded his domain to include Rome, the Exarchate of Ravenna, the Duchy of Spoleto and the Duchy of Benevento. Though the Pope had control over these territories, Otto was recognized as the overlord of all Italy. The Diploma granted the clergy and people of Rome the exclusive right to elect the pontiff. The Pope-elect had to issue an oath of allegiance to the Emperor before his confirmation as Pope, effectively granting the Emperor a veto over any papal candidate. With the Diploma signed, the new Emperor marched against Berengar II to reconquer Italy. Being sieged at San Leo, Berengar II surrendered in 963. Upon the successful completion of Otto’s campaign, John XII began to fear the Emperor's rising power in Italy and started negotiations with Berengar II’s son Adalbert of Italy to depose him. The Pope also sent envoys to the Hungarians and the Byzantine Empire to join him and Adalbert in an alliance against the Emperor. Otto discovered the Pope’s plot and, after defeating and imprisoning Berengar II, marched on Rome. John XII fled from Rome, and Otto, upon his arrival in Rome, summoned a council and deposed John XII as Pope, appointing Leo VIII as his successor. Otto returned to Germany by the end of 963, confident his rule in Italy and at Rome was secure. The Roman populace, however, considered Leo VIII, a layman with no former ecclesiastical training, unacceptable as Pope. In February 964, at the provoking of John XII, the Roman people forced Leo VIII to flee the city. In his absence, Leo VIII was deposed and John XII was restored to the chair of St. Peter. On the sudden death of John XII in May 964, the Romans elected Pope Benedict V as his successor. Upon hearing of the Romans’ actions, Otto mobilized his army and returned to Italy. After marching on Rome and laying siege to the city in June 964, Otto compelled the Romans to accept his appointee Leo VIII as Pope and exiled Benedict V. With his actions in Rome, Otto effectively subjugated the entire Catholic Church to his will. Third Italian Expedition Italy around 1000, shortly after Otto's reign. Otto's expansion campaigns brought northern and central Italy into the Holy Roman Empire. Believing affairs settled in Italy, Otto returned to Saxony in fall 965. Months before the Emperor’s return, Otto’s long serving lieutenant on the eastern front, Margrave Gero, had died on May 20. At the time of his death, Gero commanded a vast march stretching from the Billung March in the north to the Duchy of Bohemia in the south. Though not popular with the nobles of the Empire, Gero had long been one of Otto’s most trusted lieutenants since the very beginning of his reign in 936. Otto was even the godfather of Gero’s children. After his death, the huge territory Gero had conquered from the Slavs was divided by the Emperor into five different marches, each ruled by a margrave: the Northern March under Dietrich of Haldensleben, the Eastern March under Odo I, the March of Meissen under Wigbert, the March of Merseburg under Günther, and the March of Zeitz under Wigger I. The peace in Italy would not last long. Adalbert of Italy, son of the deposed King Berengar II of Italy, rebelled against Otto’s rule over Italy. Otto dispatched his nephew-in-law Burchard III, Duke of Swabia and one of Otto’s closest advisors, to Italy in 966 to crush the rebellion. Burchard III met Adalbert at the Battle of the Po on June 25 that year, defeating the rebel and restoring Italy to Ottonian control. Pope Leo VIII died on March 1, 965, leaving the chair of St. Peter vacant. The Church elected on October 1, with Otto’s approval, John XIII as new Pope.[31] John XIII’s behavior and foreign backing made him soon disliked among the Roman people, after ten weeks of reign he was taken into custody by the Romans and imprisoned in Campania. The desperate Pope sent word to Otto begging for help; the Emperor received John XIII’s message and prepared his army for a third expedition into Italy. In August, 966, at Worms, Otto announced his arrangements for the government of Germany in his absence. Otto’s illegitimate son Archbishop William of Mainz would serve as Otto’s regent over all of Germany while Otto’s trusted lieutenant, the Margrave Hermann Billung, would be his personal administrator over the Duchy of Saxony. Otto then marched with his army to Chur in the Alps, his wife Empress Adelaide and the eleven-year old crown prince, Otto II, accompanied him. Reign from Rome Upon arriving in Italy, the Emperor restored John XIII to his papal throne on November 16, 966, without opposition. Otto then captured the twelve leaders of the militia, which had deposed and imprisoned the Pope, and had them tortured and crucified. Taking up permanent residence at Rome, the Emperor travelled, accompanied by the Pope, to Ravenna to celebrate Easter in 967. The first few months of the year 968 brought the deaths of Otto’s illegitimate son William, the Archbishop of Mainz and regent of Germany, as well as Otto’s mother, the Dowager Queen Matilda of Ringelheim. With Otto’s new permanent capital in Rome, the Emperor continued to expand his realm to the south. Since February 967, the Duke of Benevento, the Lombard Pandolf Ironhead, had accepted Otto as his overlord. This decision caused conflict with the Byzantine Empire, which had claimed sovereignty over Benevento. The eastern Empire also objected to Otto’s u | von Sachsen, Otto Holy Roman Emperor I (I4514)
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| 625 | He married Adele de Bettau, daughter of Eberhard, Comte de Bettau. Henry II was Count of Louvain from 1054 through 1071. Henry II was the son of Lambert II, Count of Louvain and Oda of Verdun. His maternal uncles included Pope Stephen X and Godfrey the Bearded, Duke of Lorraine. Henry married Adela of Orthen, a daughter of Count Everard of Orthen. Henry and Adela had several sons and a daughter: Henry III, Count of Louvain Godfrey I, Count of Louvain Albero I of Louvain, Bishop of Liège Ida of Louvain married Baldwin II, Count of Hainaut. | Henry II Count of Louvain (I1815)
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| 626 | He married Adeliza Fitzosulf le Freyne du Plessis. | d'Aubigny, Guillaume (I643)
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| 627 | He married Adeliza, Countess of Aumale, daughter of Robert I, 6th Duc de Normandie and Herleva de Falaise, circa 1053. He died in 1054, from wounds received in action, without male issue. He gained the title of Comte de Lens, in Artois. Lambert II, Count of Lens (died 1054) was a French nobleman. He was the son of Eustace I, Count of Bologne and of Maud de Leuven (daughter of Lambert I of Leuven). He married Adelaide of Normandy, Countess of Aumale, daughter of Robert I, Duke of Normandy. Lambert was killed at the Battle of Lille. He had a daughter, Judith of Lens and two sons, Seier of Lens and Walter of Lens. | de Lens, Lambert de Boulogne Comte II (I3756)
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| 628 | He married Aelis de Vermandois, Comtesse de Vermandois, daughter of Heribert V, Comte de Vermandois et de Valois and Adele de Crépi, circa 1080. He was a member of the House of Capet. Hugh de Crépi, Comte de Vermandois et de Valois also went by the nick-name of Hugh 'le Grand'. He gained the title of Comte de Vermandois. He gained the title of Comte de Valois. Hugh I of Vermandois (1057 - October 18, 1101), called Magnus or the Great, was a younger son of Henry I of France and Anne of Kiev and younger brother of Philip I. He was in his own right Count of Vermandois, but an ineffectual leader and soldier, great only in his boasting. Indeed, Steven Runciman is certain that his nickname Magnus (greater or elder), applied to him by William of Tyre, is a copyist's error, and should be Minus (younger), referring to Hugh as younger brother of the King of France. In early 1096 Hugh and Philip began discussing the First Crusade after news of the Council of Clermont reached them in Paris. Although Philip could not participate, as he had been excommunicated, Hugh was said to have been influenced to join the Crusade after an eclipse of the moon on February 11, 1096. That summer Hugh's army left France for Italy, where they would cross the Adriatic Sea into territory of the Byzantine Empire, unlike the other Crusader armies who were travelling by land. On the way, many of the soldiers led by fellow Crusader Emicho joined Hugh's army after Emicho was defeated by the Hungarians, whose land he had been pillaging. Hugh crossed the Adriatic from Bari in Southern Italy, but many of his ships were destroyed in a storm off the Byzantine port of Dyrrhachium. Hugh and most of his army were rescued and escorted to Constantinople, where they arrived in November of 1096. Prior to his arrival, Hugh sent an arrogant, insulting letter to Eastern Roman Emperor Alexius I Comnenus. According to the Emperor's biography written by his daughter Anna Comnena (the Alexiad), he demanded that Alexius meet with him: "Know, O King, that I am King of Kings, and superior to all, who are under the sky. You are now permitted to greet me, on my arrival, and to receive me with magnificence, as befits my nobility." Alexius was already wary of the armies about to arrive, after the unruly mob led by Peter the Hermit had passed through earlier in the year. Alexius kept Hugh in custody in a monastery until Hugh swore an oath of vassalage to him. After the Crusaders had successfully made their way across Seljuk territory and, in 1098, captured Antioch, Hugh was sent back to Constantinople to appeal for reinforcements from Alexius. Alexius was uninterested*(see below), however, and Hugh, instead of returning to Antioch to help plan the siege of Jerusalem, went back to France. There he was scorned for not having fulfilled his vow as a Crusader to complete a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, and Pope Paschal II threatened to excommunicate him. He joined the minor Crusade of 1101, but was wounded in battle with the Turks in September, and died of his wounds in October in Tarsus. In "Urban's Crusade--Success or Failure"(Key, 1948) it is argued, indeed to the contrary, that the emperor was disturbed by Hugh's report and the disquieting rumors emitting from Antioch (on Bohemond's intent and conduct) and promptly set out to prepare another expedition: "...Alexius immediately began preparations for another expedition, and he furthermore sent envoys to the crusaders to announce its coming." Family and children He married Adelaide of Vermandois, the daughter of Herbert IV, Count of Vermandois and Alice, Countess of Valois. They had nine children: Matilda (1080-1130), married Ralph I of Beaugency Elizabeth of Vermandois, Countess of Leicester (1081-1131) Beatrice (1082 - after 1144), married Hugh III of Gournay Ralph I (1085-1152) Constance (born 1086, date of death unknown), married Godfrey de la Ferté-Gaucher Agnes (1090-1125), married Boniface del Vasto Henry (1091-1130), Lord of Chaumont en Vexin Simon (1093-1148) William (c. 1094 - c. 1096) | Count Hugh I of Vermandois (I4241)
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| 629 | He married Agnes de Ribemont, daughter of unknown de Ribemont. He gained the title of Lord of Longueville [Normandy]. He was created 1st Earl of Buckingham [England] circa 1097, probably by King William II. He received a blessing at Longueville, Normandy, France. | Giffard, Walter 1st Earl of Buckingham (I1233)
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| 630 | He married Alice d'Anjou, daughter of Fulk V d'Anjou, 9th Comte d'Anjou and Aremburga de la Fleche, Comtesse de Maine, in June 1119 at Lisieux, France. He died on 25 November 1120 at Barfleur, Normandy, France, drowned in the wreck of the White Ship, while trying to rescue his half-sister, the Countess of Perche. He succeeded to the title of 10th Duc de Normandie in 1120. | William 'the Aetheling' 10th Duc de Normandie (I3149)
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| 631 | He married Alice de Lusignan, daughter of Hugues X de Lusignan, Comte de La Marche and Isabella d'Angoulême, circa August 1247. He was also known as John Plantagenet. He held the office of Constable of Bamborough Castle. | de Warenne, John 7th Earl of Surrey (I826)
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| 632 | He married Alice de Meschines, daughter of Ranulph le Meschin, 1st Earl of Chester and Lucy, before 1102. He died on 15 April 1136 at Abergavenny, Monmouthshire, Wales, slain by the Welsh. He was buried at Gloucester, Gloucestershire, England. He was also known as Richard de Clare. He succeeded to the title of 3rd Lord of Clare [feudal baron] circa 1117. He is supposed to have been created Earl of Hertford by King Stephen I (or by King Henry I), but Cokayne states that there is no grounds for this belief. He founded the Priory of Tonbridge. He has an extensive biographical entry in the Dictionary of National Biography. Dictionary of National Biography Clare, Richard de d. 1136, was son and heir of Gilbert FitzRichard [see Clare, Gilbert de, d. 1115], and was probably the first of his family who adopted the surname of Clare. He is generally believed to have been also the first of the earls of Hertford, and to have been so created by Stephen (Const. Hist. i. 362), if not by Henry I (Chepstow Castle, p. 44). It may be doubted, however, whether there is ground for this belief (cf. Journ. Arch. Assoc. xxvi. 150-1). It is as Richard FitzGilbert that he figures in 1130 (Rot. Pip. 31 Hen. I), when the Pipe Roll reveals him in debt to the Jews, and under the same that he appears when surprised and killed by the Welsh near Abergavenny on his way to Cardigan (Iter Cambrense, pp. 47-8, 118), either in 1135 (Brut, p. 105), or more probably 1136 (Ann. Camb. p. 40), on 15 April (Cont. Flor. Wig.). His death was the signal for a general rising, and his castles were besieged by the rebels. His widow was rescued by Miles of Gloucester, but his brother Baldwin, whom Stephen despatched to suppress the rising and avenge his death, failed discreditably (Gesta, pp. 10-13). Richard, who was buried at Gloucester, was founder of Tunbridge Priory, and about 1124 removed the religious house which his father had founded at Clare to the adjacent hill of Stoke (Mon. Angl. vi. 1052). He married a sister of Randulf, earl of Chester, whose name is said by Brooke to have been Alice (but cf. Coll. Top. et Gen. i. 389; Journ. Arch. Assoc. xxvi. 151). By her he left, with other issue, Gilbert, earl of Hertford (d. 1152), and Roger, fifth earl [qv.]. Sources: Florence of Worcester and his Continuator (Roy. Hist. Soc.) Gesta Stephani (ib.) Annales Cambrenses (Rolls Ser.) Brut y Tywysogion (ib.) Gerald's Iter Cambrense (ib.) Monasticon Anglicanum Collectanea Top. et Gen. Pipe Roll, 31 Hen. I Brooke's Catalogue of the Nobility Journal of the Archæological Association Stubbs's Constitutional History Marsh's Chepstow Castle. Contributor: J. H. R. [John Horace Round] Published: 1887 Richard fitz Gilbert de Clare (died 15 April 1136) was a Norman nobleman, the son of Gilbert Fitz Richard de Clare and Adeliza de Claremont. He founded the priory of St, Mary Magdalene, Tonbridge. Welsh revolt Richard held the Lordship of Ceredigion in Wales. A Welsh revolt against Norman rule had begun in south Wales where, on 1 January 1136 the Welsh won a victory over the local Norman forces between Loughor and Swansea. Ambush and death Richard had been away from his lordship in the early part of the year. Returning to the borders of Wales via Hereford in April, he ignored warnings of the danger and pressed on toward Ceredigion with only a small force. He had not gone far when on 15 April he was ambushed and killed by the men of Gwent under Iorwerth ab Owain and his brother Morgan, grandsons of Caradog ap Gruffydd, in a woody tract called "the ill-way of Coed Grano", near Llanthony Abbey, north of Abergavenny. Today the spot is marked by the 'garreg dial' (the stone of revenge). He was buried in Tonbridge Priory. Spur for Welsh invasion The news of Richard's death induced Owain Gwynedd, son of Gruffydd ap Cynan, king of Gwynedd to invade his Lordship. In alliance with Gruffydd ap Rhys of Deheubarth, he won a crushing victory over the Normans at the Battle of Crug Mawr, just outside Cardigan. The town of Cardigan was taken and burnt, and Richard's widow, Adelize, took refuge in Cardigan Castle, which was successfully defended by Robert fitz Martin. She was rescued by Miles of Gloucester who led an expedition to bring her to safety in England. Title He is commonly said to have been created Earl of Hertford by either Henry I or Stephen, but no contemporary reference to him, including the record of his death, calls him by any title, while a cartulary states that a tenant had held "de Gilleberto, filio Richardi, et de Ricardo, filio ejus, et postea, de Comite Gilleberto, filio Richardi" (of Gilbert Fitz Richard, and his son Richard, and then of Earl Gilbert Fitz Richard), again failing to call Richard Earl while giving that title to his son. Thus his supposed creation as Earl is likely apocryphal. Family Richard married 1116, Alice de Gernon, (c. 1102-1128), daughter of Ranulph le Meschin, 1st Earl of Chester and the heiress Lucy of Bolingbroke, by her having: Gilbert Fitz Richard de Clare, d. 1153, 1st Earl of Hertford Alice de Clare (Adelize de Tonbridge), m. (1) about 1133, Sir William de Percy, Lord of Topcliffe, son of Alan de Percy and Emma de Gant; (2) Cadwaladr ap Gruffydd, brother of Owain Gwynedd Robert Fitz Richard de Clare, perhaps died in childhood Rohese de Clare, m. Gilbert de Gant, Earl of Lincoln Roger de Clare, d. 1173, 2nd Earl of Hertford. | FitzGilbert, Richard (I1481)
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| 633 | He married Alice de Wirmgay, daughter of William de Wirmgay. | de Warenne, Reginald (I2814)
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| 634 | He married Alice FitzRichard Clare. He died on 15 May 1141, killed. Aubrey de Vere II (c. 1080 - 1141) - also known as "Alberic[us] de Ver" - was the second of that name in England after the Norman Conquest, being the eldest surviving son of Alberic or Aubrey de Vere who had followed William the Conqueror to England in or after 1066. Aubrey II served as sheriff of many shires and as a Justiciar under kings Henry I and Stephen. King Henry I had declared the estates and office of the first master chamberlain, Robert Malet, to be forfeit, and in 1133 awarded the office of master chamberlain of England to Aubrey and his heirs. The chronicler William of Malmesbury reports that Aubrey represented King Stephen in 1139, when the king had been summoned to a church council to answer for the seizure of castles held by Roger, Bishop of Salisbury. He was killed by a London mob in May, 1141, and buried in the family mausoleum, Colne Priory, Essex. The building of a stone keep at Hedingham, Essex, was most likely begun by Aubrey II and completed by his son and heir, Aubrey III. In addition to his patronage of Colne Priory, the new master chamberlain also founded a cell of the abbey St. Melanie in Rennes, Brittany, at Hatfield Broadoak or Hatfield Regis, Essex. His eldest son Aubrey de Vere III, was later created Earl of Oxford, and their descendants were to hold that title and the office that came to be known as the Lord Great Chamberlain until the extinction of the male line in 1703. Aubrey II married Adeliza/Alice (died 1163), daughter of Gilbert Fitz Richard of Clare. Their known children are: Aubrey de Vere, 1st Earl of Oxford Rohese de Vere, Countess of Essex Robert; Alice "of Essex" Geoffrey Juliana, Countess of Norfolk William de Vere, Bishop of Hereford Gilbert, prior of the Knights Hospitaller in England an unnamed daughter who married Roger de Ramis. | de Vere, Aubrey II (I4473)
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| 635 | He married Almodis de la Marche, daughter of Bernard I de la Marche, Comte de la Marche, after 1037. He succeeded to the title of Comte de Toulouse in 1037. Pons (II) William (991 - 1060) was the Count of Toulouse from 1037. He was the eldest son and successor of William III Taillefer and Emma of Provence. He thus inherited the title marchio Provincæ. He is known to have owned many allods and he relied on Roman, Salic, and Gothic law. Already in 1030, he possessed a lot of power in the Albigeois. In 1037, he gave many allodial churches and castles, including one half of that of Porta Spina, in the Albigeois, Nimois, and Provence as a bridal gift to his wife Majore. In 1038, he split the purchase of the Diocese of Albi with the Trencavel family. In 1040, he donated property in Diens to Cluny. In 1047, he first appears as count palatine in a charter donating Moissac to Cluny. Pons married first wife, Majore, in 1022. She died in 1044. In 1045, he married, Almodis de La Marche, former wife of Hugh V of Lusignan, but he too repudiated her in 1053. His only child by Majore, Pons the Younger, did not inherit his county and march. His eldest sons by Almodis, William IV and Raymond IV, originally just count of Saint-Gilles, succeeded him in turn. His son Hugh became abbot of Saint-Gilles. He had one daughter, Almodis, who married the Count of Melgueil. Pons died in Toulouse and was buried in Saint-Sernin, probably late in 1060 or early in 1061 | Pons Count of Toulouse (I2190)
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| 636 | He married Amicia de Ferrers. | d'Aubigny, Néel (I3730)
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| 637 | He married Amicia de Montfort, daughter of Raoul de Montfort, Seigneur de Montfort et Gael, after 1120. He gained the title of 2nd Earl of Leicester. Robert de Beaumont, 2nd Earl of Leicester also went by the nick-name of 'Le Bossu'. He has an extensive biographical entry in the Dictionary of National Biography. Dictionary of National Biography Beaumont, Robert de, Earl of Leicester 1104-1168, justiciary of England, was son of the preceding, and a twin with his brother Waleran [see Beaumont, Waleran de]. He seems, however, to have been deemed the younger, and is spoken of as postnatus in the Testa de Nevill. He is stated to have been born in 1104 (Ord. Vit. xi. 6) when his father was advanced in years, a date fatal to the story in the Abingdon Chronicle (ii. 229), that he had been at the Benedictine monastery there as a boy, regis Willelmi tempore (ie. ante 1099). At his father's death (1118) he succeeded to his English fiefs (Ord. Vit. xii. 33), being apparently considered the younger of the twins, and Henry, in gratitude for his father's services, brought him up, with his brother, in the royal household, and gave him to wife Amicia, daughter of Ralph (de Wader), earl of Norfolk, by Emma, daughter of William (Fitz-Osbern), earl of Hereford, with the fief of Bréteuil for her dower (ib.). The twins accompanied Henry to Normandy, and to his interview with Pope Calixtus at Gisors (November 1119), where they are said to have astounded the cardinals by their learning. They were also present at his death-bed, 1 Dec. 1135 (ib. xiii. 19). In the anarchy that followed, war broke out between Robert and his hereditary foe, Roger de Toesny (ib. xiii. 22), whom he eventually captured by his brother's assistance. In December 1137 the twins returned to England with Stephen, as his chief advisers, and Robert began preparing for his great foundation, his Norman possessions being overrun (ib. xiii. 36) in his absence (1138), till he came to terms with Roger de Toesny (ib. xiii. 38). In June 1139 he took, with his brother, the lead in seizing the bishops of Salisbury and Lincoln at Oxford (ib. xiii. 40), and on the outbreak of civil war was despatched with him, by Stephen, to escort the empress to Bristol (October 1139), and is said (but this is doubtful) to have received a grant of Hereford. He secured his interests with the Angevin party (ib. xiii. 43) after Stephen's defeat (2 Feb. 1141), and then devoted himself to raising, in the outskirts of Leicester, the noble abbey of St. Mary de Pré (de Pratis) for canons regular of the Austin order. Having bestowed on it rich endowments, including those of his father's foundation, he had it consecrated in 1143 by the bishop of Lincoln, whom he had contrived to reconcile. In 1152 he was still in Stephen's confidence, and exerted his influence to save his brother (Gervase, i. 148), but on Henry landing in 1153 he supplied him freely with means for his struggle (ib. i. 152), and attending him, shortly after his coronation (December 1154) was rewarded with his lasting confidence, and with the post of chief justiciar, in which capacity (capitalis justicia) he first appears 13 Jan. 1155 (Cart. Ant. W.), and again in 1156 (Rot. Pip. 2 Hen. II). He was now in the closest attendance on the court, and on the queen joining the king in Normandy (December 1158) he was left in charge of the kingdom, in a vice-regal capacity, till the king's return 25 Jan. 1163, Richard de Luci [qv.], when in England, being associated with him in the government. He was present at the famous council of Clarendon (13-28 Jan. 1164), and his name heads the list of lay signatures to the constitutions (MS. Cott. Claud. B. fo. 26), to which he is said, by his friendly influence, to have procured Becket's assent (Gervase, i. 177). As with his father, in the question of investitures he loyally upheld the claims of the crown, while maintaining to the church and churchmen devotion even greater than his father's. In the great crisis at the council of Northampton (October 1164) he strove, with the Earl of Cornwall, to reconcile the primate with the king, pleading hard with Becket when they visited him (12 Oct.) at his house. The following day they were commissioned to pronounce to him the sentence of the court; but when Leicester, as chief justiciary, commenced his address, he was at once cut short by the primate, who rejected his jurisdiction (Gervase, i. 185; Rog. Hov. i. 222, 228; Materials, ii. 393, &c.). Early the next year (1165) he was again, on the king's departure, left in charge of the kingdom, and, on the Archbishop of Cologne arriving as an envoy from the emperor, refused to greet him on the ground that he was a schismatic (R. Dic. i. 318). He appears to have accompanied Henry to Normandy in the spring of 1166, but leaving him, returned to his post before October, and retained it till his death, which took place in 1168 (Rog. Hov. i. 269; Ann. Wav.; Chron. Mailros.). It is said, in a chronicle of St. Mary de Pré (Mon. Ang. ut infra), that he himself became a canon regular of that abbey, and resided there fifteen years, till his death, when he was buried on the south side of the choir; but it is obvious that he cannot thus have entered the abbey. This earl was known as le Bossu (to distinguish him from his successors), and also, possibly, as le Goozen (Mon. Ang. 1830, vi. 467). He founded, in addition to St. Mary de Pré, the abbey of Garendon (Ann. Wav. 233), the monastery of Nuneaton, the priory of Lusfield, and the hospital of Brackley (wrongly attributed by Dugdale to his father), and was a liberal benefactor to many other houses (see Dugdale). His charter confirming to his burgesses of Leicester their merchant-gild and customs is preserved at Leicester, and printed on p. 404 of the Appendix to the eighth report on Historical MSS., and copies of his charters of wood and pasture are printed in Mr. Thompson's essay (pp. 42-84). He is also said to have remitted the gavel-pence impost, but the story, though accepted by Mr. Thompson (p. 60) and Mr. Jeaffreson (Appendix to 8th Report, ut supra, pp. 404, 406-7), is probably false. Sources: Ordericus Vitalis, lib. xii., xiii. Roger Hoveden (Rolls Series) Gervase of Canterbury (ib.) R. Diceto (ib.) Materials for History of Thomas à Becket (ib.) Monasticon Anglicanum, ii. 308 (ed. 1830, vi. 462-69) Dugdale's Baronage, i. 85-87 Lyttelton's Henry II (1767) Nichols's History of Leicester (1795), pp. 24-68, app. viii. p. 15 Thompson's History of Leicester (chap. vi.), and Essay on Municipal History (1867) Foss's Judges of England (1848), i. 190 Eyton's Court and Itinerary of Henry II. Contributor: J. H. R. [John Horace Round] Published: 1885 | de Beaumont, Robert 2nd Earl of Leicester (I2219)
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| 638 | He married an unknown person circa 980. He succeeded to the title of King Malcolm of Strathclyde between 990 and 991. He was deposed as King of Strathclyde in 995. He gained the title of King Malcolm of Strathclyde in 997. In 1005 reigned. He succeeded to the title of King Malcolm II of Scotland on 25 March 1005. He gained the title of King Malcolm of Lothian circa 1016. He gained the title of King Malcolm of Alba. He gained the title of Prince Malcolm of Cumbria. Máel Coluim mac Cináeda (Modern Gaelic: Maol Chaluim mac Choinnich, known in modern anglicized regnal lists as Malcolm II; (died 25 November 1034), was King of the Scots from 1005 until his death. He was a son of Cináed mac MaÃl Coluim; the Prophecy of Berchán says that his mother was a woman of Leinster and refers to him as Máel Coluim Forranach, "the destroyer". To the Irish annals which recorded his death, Máel Coluim was ard rà Alban, High King of Scotland. In the same way that Brian Bóruma, High King of Ireland, was not the only king in Ireland, Máel Coluim was one of several kings within the geographical boundaries of modern Scotland: his fellow kings included the king of Strathclyde, who ruled much of the south-west, various Norse-Gael kings of the western coasts and the Hebrides and, nearest and most dangerous rivals, the Kings or Mormaers of Moray. To the south, in the Kingdom of England, the Earls of Bernicia and Northumbria, whose predecessors as kings of Northumbria had once ruled most of southern Scotland, still controlled large parts of the south-east. Early years In 997, the killer of CausantÃn mac Cuilén is credited as being Cináed mac MaÃl Coluim. Since there is no known and relevant Cináed alive at that time (Cináed mac MaÃl Coluim having died in 995), it is considered an error for either Cináed mac Duib, who succeeded CausantÃn, or, possibly, Máel Coluim himself, the son of Cináed II. Whether Máel Coluim killed CausantÃn or not, there is no doubt that in 1005 he killed CausantÃn's successor Cináed III in battle at Monzievaird in Strathearn. John of Fordun writes that Máel Coluim defeated a Norwegian army "in almost the first days after his coronation", but this is not reported elsewhere. Fordun says that the Bishopric of Mortlach (later moved to Aberdeen) was founded in thanks for this victory over the Norwegians. Children Malcolm II demonstrated a rare ability to survive among early Scottish kings by reigning for twenty-nine years. He was a clever and ambitious man. Brehon tradition provided that the successor to Malcolm was to be selected by him from among the descendants of King Aedh, with the consent of Malcolm’s ministers and of the church. Ostensibly in an attempt to end the devastating feuds in the north of Scotland, but obviously influenced by the Norman feudal model, Malcolm ignored tradition and determined to retain the succession within his own line. But since Malcolm had no son of his own, he undertook to negotiate a series of dynastic marriages of his three daughters to men who might otherwise be his rivals, while securing the loyalty of the principal chiefs, their relatives. First he married his daughter Bethoc to Crinan, Thane of The Isles, head of the house of Atholl and secular Abbot of Dunkeld; then his youngest daughter, Olith, to Sigurd, Earl of Orkney. His middle daughter, Donada, was married to Findláich, Mormaer of Moray, Thane of Ross and Cromarty and a descendant of Loarn of Dalriada. This was risky business under the rules of succession of the Gael, but he thereby secured his rear and, taking advantage of the renewal of Viking attacks on England, marched south to fight the English. He defeated the Angles at Carham in 1018 and installed his grandson, Duncan, son of the Abbot of Dunkeld and his choice as Tanist, in Carlisle as King of Cumbria that same year. Bernicia The first reliable report of Máel Coluim's reign is of an invasion of Bernicia in 1006, perhaps the customary crech rÃg (literally royal prey, a raid by a new king made to demonstrate prowess in war), which involved a siege of Durham. This appears to have resulted in a heavy defeat by the Northumbrians, led by Uhtred of Bamburgh, later Earl of Bernicia, which is reported by the Annals of Ulster. A second war in Bernicia, probably in 1018, was more successful. The Battle of Carham, by the River Tweed, was a victory for the Scots led by Máel Coluim and the men of Strathclyde led by their king, Owen the Bald. By this time Earl Uchtred may have been dead, and EirÃkr Hákonarson was appointed Earl of Northumbria by his brother-in-law Cnut the Great, although his authority seems to have been limited to the south, the former kingdom of Deira, and he took no action against the Scots so far as is known. The work De obsessione Dunelmi (The siege of Durham, associated with Symeon of Durham) claims that Uchtred's brother Eadwulf Cudel surrendered Lothian to Máel Coluim, presumably in the aftermath of the defeat at Carham. This is likely to have been the lands between Dunbar and the Tweed as other parts of Lothian had been under Scots control before this time. It has been suggested that Cnut received tribute from the Scots for Lothian, but as he had likely received none from the Bernician Earls this is not very probable. Cnut Cnut, reports the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, led an army into Scotland on his return from pilgrimage to Rome. The Chronicle dates this to 1031, but there are reasons to suppose that it should be dated to 1027. Burgundian chronicler Rodulfus Glaber recounts the expedition soon afterwards, describing Máel Coluim as "powerful in resources and arms ... very Christian in faith and deed." Ralph claims that peace was made between Máel Coluim and Cnut through the intervention of Richard, Duke of Normandy, brother of Cnut's wife Emma. Richard died in about 1027 and Rodulfus wrote close in time to the events. It has been suggested that the root of the quarrel between Cnut and Máel Coluim lies in Cnut's pilgrimage to Rome, and the coronation of Holy Roman Emperor Conrad II, where Cnut and Rudolph III, King of Burgundy had the place of honour. If Máel Coluim were present, and the repeated mentions of his piety in the annals make it quite possible that he made a pilgrimage to Rome, as did Mac Bethad mac Findláich ("Macbeth") in later times, then the coronation would have allowed Máel Coluim to publicly snub Cnut's claims to overlordship. Cnut obtained rather less than previous English kings, a promise of peace and friendship rather than the promise of aid on land and sea that Edgar and others had obtained. The sources say that Máel Coluim was accompanied by one or two other kings, certainly Mac Bethad, and perhaps Echmarcach mac Ragnaill, King of Mann and the Isles, and of Galloway. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle remarks of the submission "but he [Máel Coluim] adhered to that for only a little while". Cnut was soon occupied in Norway against Olaf Haraldsson and appears to have had no further involvement with Scotland. Orkney and Moray Olith a daughter of Máel Coluim, married Sigurd Hlodvisson, Earl of Orkney. Their son Thorfinn Sigurdsson was said to be five years old when Sigurd was killed on 23 April 1014 in the Battle of Clontarf. The Orkneyinga Saga says that Thorfinn was raised at Máel Coluim's court and was given the Mormaerdom of Caithness by his grandfather. Thorfinn, says the Heimskringla, was the ally of the king of Scots, and counted on Máel Coluim's support to resist the "tyranny" of Norwegian King Olaf Haraldsson. The chronology of Thorfinn's life is problematic, and he may have had a share in the Earldom of Orkney while still a child, if he was indeed only five in 1014. Whatever the exact chronology, before Máel Coluim's death a client of the king of Scots was in control of Caithness and Orkney, although, as with all such relationships, it is unlikely to have lasted beyond his death. If Máel Coluim exercised control over Moray, which is far from being generally accepted, then the annals record a number of events pointing to a struggle for power in the north. In 1020, Mac Bethad's father Findláech mac Ruaidrà was killed by the sons of his brother Máel Brigte. It seems that Máel Coluim mac Máil Brigti took control of Moray, for his death is reported in 1029. Despite the accounts of the Irish annals, English and Scandinavian writers appear to see Mac Bethad as the rightful king of Moray: this is clear from their descriptions of the meeting with Cnut in 1027, before the death of Máel Coluim mac Máil Brigti. Máel Coluim was followed as king or mormaer by his brother Gille Coemgáin, husband of Gruoch, a granddaughter of King Cináed III. It has been supposed that Mac Bethad was responsible for the killing of Gille Coemgáin in 1032, but if Mac Bethad had a cause for feud in the killing of his father in 1020, Máel Coluim too had reason to see Gille Coemgáin dead. Not only had Gille Coemgáin's ancestors killed many of Máel Coluim's kin, but Gille Coemgáin and his son Lulach might be rivals for the throne. Máel Coluim had no living sons, and the threat to his plans for the succession was obvious. As a result, the following year Gruoch's brother or nephew, who might have eventually become king, was killed by Máel Coluim. Strathclyde and the succession It has traditionally been supposed that King Eógan the Bald of Strathclyde died at the Battle of Carham and that the kingdom passed into the hands of the Scots afterwards. This rests on some very weak evidence. It is far from certain that Eógan died at Carham, and it is reasonably certain that there were kings of Strathclyde as late as the 1054, when Edward the Confessor sent Earl Siward to install "Máel Coluim son of the king of the Cumbrians". The confusion is old, probably inspired by William of Malmesbury and embellished by John of Fordun, but there is no firm evidence that the kingdom of Strathclyde was a part of the kingdom of the Scots, rather than a loosely subjected kingdom, before the time of Máel Coluim II of Scotland's great-grandson Máel Coluim mac Donnchada. By the 1030s Máel Coluim's sons, if he had any, were dead. The only evidence that he did have a son or sons is in Rodulfus Glaber's chronicle where Cnut is said to have stood as godfather to a son of Máel Coluim. His grandson Thorfinn would have been unlikely to accepted as king by the Scots, and he chose the sons of his other daughter, Bethóc, who was married to CrÃnán, lay abbot of Dunkeld, and perhaps Mormaer of Atholl. It may be no more than coincidence, but in 1027 the Irish annals had reported the burning of Dunkeld, although no mention is made of the circumstances. Máel Coluim's chosen heir, and the first tánaise rÃg certainly known in Scotland, was Donnchad mac CrÃnáin ("Duncan I"). It is possible that a third daughter of Máel Coluim married Findláech mac Ruaidrà and that Mac Bethad was thus his grandson, but this rests on relatively weak evidence. Death and posterity Máel Coluim died in 1034, Marianus Scotus giving the date as 25 November 1034. The king lists say that he died at Glamis, variously describing him as a "most glorious" or "most victorious" king. The Annals of Tigernach report that "Máel Coluim mac Cináeda, king of Scotland, the honour of all the west of Europe, died." The Prophecy of Berchán, perhaps the inspiration for John of Fordun and Andrew of Wyntoun's accounts where Máel Coluim is killed fighting bandits, says that he died by violence, fighting "the parricides", suggested to be the sons of Máel Brigte of Moray. Perhaps the most notable feature of Máel Coluim's death is the account of Marianus, matched by the silence of the Irish annals, which tells us that Donnchad I became king and ruled for five years and nine months. Given that his death in 1040 is described as being "at an immature age" in the Annals of Tigernach, he must have been a young man in 1034. The absence of any opposition suggests that Máel Coluim had dealt thoroughly with any likely opposition in his own lifetime. Tradition, dating from Fordun's time if not earlier, knew the Pictish stone now called "Glamis 2" as "King Malcolm's grave stone". The stone is a Class II stone, apparently formed by re-using a Bronze Age standing stone. Its dating is uncertain, with dates from the 8th century onwards having been proposed. While an earlier date is favoured, an association with accounts of Máel Coluim's has been proposed on the basis of the iconography of the carvings. On the question of Máel Coluim's putative pilgrimage, pilgrimages to Rome, or other long-distance journeys, were far from unusual. Thorfinn Sigurdsson, Cnut and Mac Bethad have already been mentioned. Rognvald Kali Kolsson is known to have gone crusading in the Mediterranean in the 12th century. Nearer in time, Dyfnwal of Strathclyde died on pilgrimage to Rome in 975 as did Máel Ruanaid uá Máele Doraid, King of the Cenél Conaill, in 1025. Not a great deal is known of Máel Coluim's activities beyond the wars and killings. The Book of Deer records that Máel Coluim "gave a king's dues in Biffie and in Pett Meic-Gobraig, and two davochs" to the monastery of Old Deer. He was also probably not the founder of the Bishopric of Mortlach-Aberdeen. John of Fordun has a peculiar tale to tell, related to the supposed "Laws of Malcolm MacKenneth", saying that Máel Coluim gave away all of Scotland, except for the Moot Hill at Scone, which is unlikely to have any basis in fact | Malcolm II of Scotland (I2560)
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| 639 | He married Ann Lumsden. | de Hamilton, Sir William (I1003)
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| 640 | He married Ælfthryth, Princess of Wessex, daughter of Ælfræd, King of Wessex and Eahlwið, Princess of Mercia, between 883 and 899. Baldwin II, Comte de Flandre also went by the nick-name of Baldwin 'the Bald'. He succeeded to the title of Comte de Flandre in 879. Baldwin II (c. 865 - September 10, 918), nicknamed Calvus (the Bald) was the second count of Flanders and ruled from 879-918. Life He was the son of Baldwin I of Flanders and Judith, a daughter of Charles the Bald and as such a descendant of Charlemagne. In 884 Baldwin married Ælfthryth (Ælfthryth, Elftrude, Elfrida), a daughter of King Alfred the Great of England. The immediate goal of this Anglo-Flemish alliance was to help Baldwin control the lower Canche River valley. The early years of Baldwin's rule were marked by a series of devastating Viking raids into Flanders where Little north of the Somme was left untouched. By 883 he was forced northward to the flat marshes of the pagus flandransis which became the territory most closely associated with the counts of Flanders from that time on. Baldwin constructed a series of wooden fortifications at Saint-Omer, Bruges, Ghent, and Courtrai and seized those lands abandoned by royal and ecclesiastical officials.[5] Many of these same citadels later formed castellanies housing government, militia and local courts. In 888 the west Frankish king Charles the Fat was deposed and there were several candidates for his replacement. As he was a grandson of Charles the Bald, Holy Roman Emperor and King of West Francia, Baldwin could have, but did not, compete for the crown of western Francia.[5] Instead Baldwin joined others in trying to convince the East Frankish king Arnulf to also take the west Frankish crown, but Arnulf declined. The Robertine Odo, Count of Paris, was elected king but Odo would not support Baldwin's attempts at gaining control of the abbey of St. Bertin the two fell out and while Odo attacked Baldwin at Bruges he could not prevail. Baldwin continued his expansion to the south and gained control of Artois including the important abbey of St. Vaast. But when that abbey came under the jurisdiction of Archbishop Fulk of Reims Baldwin had him assassinated in 900. When his attempts to expand further into the upper Somme River valley his into were opposed by Herbert I, Count of Vermandois Baldwin likewise had him assassinated. He died 10 September 918 at Blandinberg (near Ghent) and was succeeded by his eldest son Arnulf I of Flanders. His younger son Adalulf was (the first) count of Boulogne. Family He married Ælfthryth, a daughter of Alfred the Great, King of England. They had the following: Arnulf I of Flanders (c. 890-964), married Adela of Vermandois. Adalulf (c. 890-933), Count of Boulogne. Ealswid. Ermentrud, His fifth child however, was illegitimate. Albert (d. 977) | Baldwin II Count of Flanders (I2112)
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| 641 | He married Æthelburh. He succeeded to the title of King Ine of Wessex in 688. He abdicated as King of Wessex in 726. | Ine King of Wessex (I923)
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| 642 | He married Æthelreda of Scotland, daughter of Gospatric, Earl of Northumberland and unknown wife, between 1090 and 1094. He died on 12 November 1094 at Monthechin, Kincardineshire, Scotland, killed in action. He gained the title of King Duncan II of Scotland in May 1094.1 He fought in the Battle of Monthechin on 12 November 1094 at Monthechin, Kincardineshire, Scotland. He overthrew Donald III in 1094. Later in the year, he was murdered by his half brother, Edmund and Donald III restored to the throne. He was buried in Dunfirmline Abbey. Succeeded by Duncan's brother, Edgar, who defeated Duncan at Rescobie with an army paid for by William II and lead by by Edgar the Atheling, his maternal uncle. | Duncan King of Scotland II (I568)
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| 643 | He married Beatrice. He died in 1112, killed in action. Aubrey (Albericus) de Vere (died circa 1112) was a tenant-in-chief of William the Conqueror in 1086 and also vassal to Geoffrey de Montbray, bishop of Coutances and to Count Alan, lord of Richmond. A much later source named his father as Alphonsus. The common use of the name Albericus by the Veres in medieval England makes it impossible to say for certain if the Aubrey de Vere named in Domesday Book in 1086 holding estates in six counties is the same Aubrey de Vere who around 1111 founded Colne Priory, Essex, but it is probable. Biography His origins are obscure and various regions have been proposed for his birthplace. He was probably Norman, possibly from the eponymous town of Ver/Vire in western Normandy. The Veres were (erroneously) said to descend from Charlemagne through the Counts of Flanders or Guînes by later antiquarians. In fact, their connection with Guînes, in Flanders, was late and short-lived; the only connection of the Veres to Guînes is the brief marriage of his grandson Aubrey de Vere III to Beatrice, heiress to Guînes, in the 12th century. Aubrey I first appears holding estates in Domesday Book, where he and his unnamed wife also stand accused of some unauthorized land seizures. As his spouse's name is recorded as Beatrice in 1104, she may have been his wife in 1086 and the mother of his five known sons. Aubrey's estates held of the king were valued at approximately £300, putting him in roughly the middle ranks of the post-conquest barons in terms of landed wealth. More difficult to sort out are contemporary references to "Aubrey the chamberlain" and "Aubrey of Berkshire." The name Albericus was not uncommon in 11th- and 12th-century Europe. A chamberlain to Matilda of Flanders, wife of William the Conqueror, bore that name, but it is unlikely that this man was Aubrey de Vere. An "Aubrey of Berkshire" was a sheriff in the early reign of Henry I; it cannot be ruled out that this man was in fact Aubrey de Vere. Aubrey de Vere I may also have served King Henry as a royal chamberlain, as his son and namesake Aubrey de Vere II later did. Many royal household offices were becoming hereditary at this time. Shortly before 1104, Aubrey's eldest son Geoffrey fell ill and was tended at Abingdon Abbey by the royal physician, Abbot Faritius. The youth recovered but suffered a relapse and was buried at the abbey. His parents founded a cell of Abingdon on land they donated: Colne Priory, Essex. Within a few years, Aubrey I and his son William joined that community. Aubrey died soon after taking the Benedictine habit, William passing away not long after his father. Both were buried at the priory, establishing it as the Vere family mausoleum. Aubrey de Vere II succeeded to his father's estates. Aubrey was married by 1086, when his wife (unnamed) is listed in Domesday Book as holding a manor in Essex. She is most probably the same woman, Beatrice, who attended the formal ceremony for the founding of Earl's Colne Priory. Besides Geoffrey, Aubrey II, and William mentioned above, the couple's children included Roger and Robert. Estates The principal estates held by Aubrey de Vere in 1086: Castle Hedingham, Beauchamp [Walter], Great Bentley, Great Canfield, Earls Colne, [White] Colne, and Dovercourt, Essex; Aldham, Belstead, Lavenham, and Waldingfield, Suffolk; Castle Camps, Hildersham, Silverley, and Wilbraham, Cambridgeshire. He possessed houses and acreage in Colchester. As tenant of Geoffrey bishop of Coutances, he held Kensington, Middlesex; Scaldwell and Wadenhoe, Northamptonshire. Of the barony of Count Alan of Brittany, he held the manors of Beauchamp Roding, Canfield, and West Wickham, Essex. His wife held Aldham, Essex, in her own right of Odo bishop of Bayeux. She was accused by Domesday jurors of expansion into Little Maplestead, Essex. Aubrey's seizures or questionable right of possession to estates included Manuden, Essex; Great Hemingford, Huntingdonshire; and Swaffham, Cambridgeshire. (Counties given are those of Domesday Book.) | de Vere, Aubrey I (I1552)
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| 644 | He married Beatrix de Haute-Lorraine, daughter of Frederic II, Duc de Lorraine and Mathilde von Schlesien, circa 1054. Godefroi III Herzog von Niederlothringen also went by the nick-name of Godefroi 'le Barbu' (or in English, 'the Bearded'). He succeeded to the title of Duc de Haute-Lorraine in 1044. He was deposed as Duke of Lorraine in 1047. He succeeded to the title of Duc de Basse-Lorraine in 1065. Godfrey III (c. 997-1069), called the Bearded, was the eldest son of Gothelo I, duke of Upper and Lower Lorraine. By inheritance, he was count of Verdun and he became margrave of Antwerp as a vassal of the duke of Lower Lorraine. The Holy Roman Emperor Henry III authorised him to succeed his father as duke of Upper Lorraine in 1044, but refused him the ducal title in Lower Lorraine, for he feared the power of a united duchy. Instead Henry threatened to appoint a younger son, Gothelo, as duke in Lower Lorraine. At a much later date, Godfrey became duke of Lower Lorraine, but he had lost the upper duchy by then. Godfrey rebelled against his king and devastated land in Lower Lorraine, as well as the city of Verdun, which, though his by inheritance, Henry had not given him. He was soon defeated by an imperial army and was deposed imprisoned together with his son (Gibichenstein, 1045). When his son died in prison, the war recommenced. Baldwin V of Flanders joined Godfrey and Henry gave Thierry, Bishop of Verdun, the eponymous county. Godfrey surprised the bishop (who escaped) and sacked Verdun, burning the cathedral. On 11 November 1048 at Thuin, Godfrey fell on Adalbert, his replacement in Upper Lorraine, and defeated him, killing him in battle. Henry immediately nominated the young Gerard of Chatenoy to replace Adalbert at the Diet of Worms. In his subsequent campaigns to take the Moselle region, Godfrey met with stiff resistance from Gerard and was forced to renounce his claims and reconcile with the bishop. He even assisted in rebuilding the cathedral he had destroyed. In 1053, his first wife Doda having died, Godfrey remarried Beatrice of Bar, the widow of Boniface III of Tuscany and mother of Matilda, Boniface' heir. Henry arrested Beatrice and her young son Frederick and imprisoned her in Germany, separate from either husband or son, who died within days. The emperor claimed the marriage had been contracted without his consent and was invalid. Young Frederick died a short while later. Nevertheless, Godfrey took over the government of the Tuscany in right of Beatrice and Matilda. Baldwin V then rebelled, carrying the war to Trier and Nijmegen. Henry responded by devastating Flanders and ravaging Lille and Tournai (1054). In this war, Godfrey captured Frederick of Luxembourg, Duke of Lower Lorraine, who had received that duchy, including Antwerp, from Henry III. In 1055, Godfrey besieged Antwerp, but Frederick was delivered by the Lorrainers, no longer loyal to Godfrey. Henry died in 1056 and his successor, Henry IV, was only six years old. In that year, Baldwin made peace and did homage to the new king. In 1056 and 1059, by the treaties of Andernach, Baldwin received the march of Ename in the Landgraviate of Brabant, probably in exchange for giving up the march of Valenciennes, which was confiscated by emperor Henry III in 1045. In 1057, Godfrey was exiled to Tuscany, where he joined Beatrice and co-governed with her. He was enfeoffed with the Duchy of Spoleto (1057) by Pope Stephen IX, his brother. In January 1058, Leo de Benedicto Christiano threw open the city gates to him and Beatrice after the election of Pope Nicholas II. Possessing the Tiber and assaulting the Lateran, Godfrey succeeded in expelling the antipope Benedict X on 24 January. During the papal reign of his brother and his brother's reforming successors, he played an important rôle in the politics of central and northern Italy, including Sardinia, where he interfered on behalf of Barisone I of Logudoro against the Republic of Pisa, indicating his authority over both. In 1065, he was recalled to become duke of Lower Lorraine after the death of Frederick. He was also given Antwerp again. He installed his court at Bouillon and died on Christmas Eve 1069. Family By Doda, he had: Godfrey, succeeded him in Lower Lorraine Ida of Lorraine, married Eustace II, Count of Boulogne Wiltrude, married Adalbert of Calw | Godfrey III Duke of Lower Lorraine (I3271)
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| 645 | He married Bethoc of Scotland, daughter of Malcolm II of Alba, King of Scotland, circa 1000 in a Atholl, Perthshire, Scotland marriage. He died circa 1045 at Dunkeld, Perthshire, Scotland, killed in action against MacBeth. He gained the title of Mormaer of Atholl. He gained the title of Abthane of Dule. He held the office of Steward of the Western Isles. He was Lay Abbot of Dunkeld. CrÃnán of Dunkeld (died 1045) was the lay abbot of the diocese of Dunkeld, and perhaps the Mormaer of Atholl. CrÃnán was progenitor of the House of Dunkeld, the dynasty which would rule Scotland until the later 13th century. Crinán was married to Bethoc, daughter of King Malcolm II of Scotland (reigned 1005-1034). As Malcolm II had no son, the strongest hereditary claim to the Scottish throne descended through Bethóc, and Crinán's eldest son Donnchad I (reigned 1034-1040), became King of Scots. Some sources indicate that Malcolm II designated Duncan as his successor under the rules of tanistry because there were other possible claimants to the throne. Crinán's second son, Maldred of Allerdale, held the title of Lord of Cumbria. It is said that from him, the Earls of Dunbar, for example Patrick Dunbar, 9th Earl of Dunbar, descend in unbroken male line. Crinán was killed in battle in 1045 at Dunkeld. Sir Iain Moncreiffe argued he belonged to a Scottish sept of the Irish Cenél Conaill royal dynasty. Crinán as Lay Abbot of Dunkeld The monastery of Saint Columba was founded on the north bank of the River Tay in the 6th century or early 7th century following the expedition of Columba into the land of the Picts. Probably originally constructed as a simple group of wattle huts, the monastery - or at least its church - was rebuilt in the 9th century by Kenneth I of Scotland (reigned 843-858). CaustantÃn of the Picts brought Scotland's share of the relics of Columba from Iona to Dunkeld at the same time others were taken to Kells in Ireland, to protect them from Viking raids. Dunkeld became the prime bishopric in eastern Scotland until supplanted in importance by St Andrews since the 10th century. While the title of Hereditary Lay Abbot was a feudal position that was often exercised in name only, Crinán does seem to have acted as Abbot in charge of the monastery in his time. He was thus a man of high position in both clerical and secular society. The magnificent semi-ruined Dunkeld Cathedral, built in stages between 1260 and 1501, stands today on the grounds once occupied by the monastery. The Cathedral contains the only surviving remains of the previous monastic society: a course of red stone visible in the east choir wall that may be re-used from an earlier building, and two stone 9th century-10th century cross-slabs in the Cathedral Museum. | of Dunkeld, CrÃnán (I185)
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| 646 | He married Cynethryth. He succeeded to the title of King Offa of Mercia in 757. | Offa King of Mercia (I961)
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| 647 | He married Cynewise. He gained the title of King Penda of Mercia in 633. | Penda King of Mercia (I3817)
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| 648 | He married Eahlwið, Princess of Mercia, daughter of Æthelred 'Mucil', Ealdorman of the Gainas and Eadburga, Princess of Mercia, between 868 and 869. He died between 25 October 899 and 28 October 899. He was buried at Newminster Abbey, Winchester, Hampshire, England. Ælfræd, King of Wessex also went by the nick-name of Alfred 'the Great'. He succeeded to the title of King Ælfræd of Wessex on 23 April 871. He succeeded to the title of King Ælfræd of Mercia on 23 April 871. He helped his brother gain a great victory over the Danes at Ashdown in 871. Alfred organised the army and was the founder of the English Navy. By 877 the Danes had occupied London and reached Gloucester and Exeter, but they lost 120 supply ships in a fierce storm off Swanage. In 878 he was forced to hide in Somerset and it was there arose the legend of the burned cakes. He renewed the fight and won a famous victory at Edington in Wiltshire the same year. After, the Danes agreed that their king, Guthrum, should be baptised and Alfred was godfather. Afterwards Guthrum ruled Mercia but acknowledged Alfred as Overlord. The Mercian settlement developed over the next 100 years into the body known as Danelaw. Before that, in 879 at Fulham and also near Rochester in 884, other Norse armies landed. Alfred continued fighting until he was the acknowledged champion of the English against the Danes. Alfred was scholarly, a writer, law-maker, pious and also a valiant fighter. Additionally he had a good knowledge of geography. He was a most able administrator and also instituted educational programmes. He founded monasteries and gave a large part of his income to charities. Alfred the Great (Old English: Ælfred, "elf counsel"; 848/849 - 26 October 899) was King of Wessex from 871 to 899. Alfred is noted for his defence of the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of southern England against the Vikings, becoming the only English monarch still to be accorded the epithet "the Great". Alfred was the first King of the West Saxons to style himself "King of the Anglo-Saxons". Details of his life are described in a work by the 10th century Welsh scholar and bishop Asser. Alfred was a learned man who encouraged education and improved his kingdom's legal system and military structure. He is regarded as a saint by some Catholics, but has never been officially canonized. The Anglican Communion venerates him as a Christian hero, with a feast day of 26 October, and he may often be found depicted in stained glass in Church of England parish churches. Childhood Alfred was born in the village of Wanating, now Wantage, Oxfordshire. He was the youngest son of King Æthelwulf of Wessex, by his first wife, Osburga. At the age of five years, Alfred is said to have been sent to Rome where, according to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, he was confirmed by Pope Leo IV who "anointed him as king". Victorian writers interpreted this as an anticipatory coronation in preparation for his ultimate succession to the throne of Wessex. However, his succession could not have been foreseen at the time, as Alfred had three living elder brothers. A letter of Leo IV shows that Alfred was made a "consul"; a misinterpretation of this investiture, deliberate or accidental, could explain later confusion. It may also be based on Alfred's later having accompanied his father on a pilgrimage to Rome where he spent some time at the court of Charles the Bald, King of the Franks, around 854-855. On their return from Rome in 856, Æthelwulf was deposed by his son Æthelbald. With civil war looming, the magnates of the realm met in council to hammer out a compromise. Æthelbald would retain the western shires (i.e., traditional Wessex), and Æthelwulf would rule in the east. King Æthelwulf died in 858; meanwhile Wessex was ruled by three of Alfred's brothers in succession. Bishop Asser tells the story of how as a child Alfred won a prize of a volume of poetry in English, offered by his mother to the first of her children able to memorize it. This story may be true, or it may be a myth intended to illustrate the young Alfred's love of learning. Legend also has it that the young Alfred spent time in Ireland seeking healing. Alfred was troubled by health problems throughout his life. It is thought that he may have suffered from Crohn's disease. Statues of Alfred in Winchester and Wantage portray him as a great warrior. Evidence suggests he was not physically strong, and though not lacking in courage, he was more noted for his intellect than a warlike character. Under Æthelred During the short reigns of the older two of his three elder brothers, Æthelbald of Wessex and Æthelbert of Wessex, Alfred is not mentioned. However, his public life began with the accession of his third brother, Æthelred of Wessex, in 866. It is during this period that Bishop Asser applied to him the unique title of "secundarius", which may indicate a position akin to that of the Celtic tanist, a recognised successor closely associated with the reigning monarch. It is possible that this arrangement was sanctioned by Alfred's father, or by the Witan, to guard against the danger of a disputed succession should Æthelred fall in battle. The arrangement of crowning a successor as royal prince and military commander is well known among other Germanic tribes, such as the Swedes and Franks, to whom the Anglo-Saxons were closely related. In 868, Alfred is recorded as fighting beside Æthelred in an unsuccessful attempt to keep the invading Danes out of the adjoining Kingdom of Mercia. For nearly two years, Wessex was spared attacks because Alfred paid the Vikings to leave him alone. However, at the end of 870, the Danes arrived in his homeland. The year which followed has been called "Alfred's year of battles". Nine engagements were fought with varying outcomes, though the place and date of two of these battles have not been recorded. In Berkshire, a successful skirmish at the Battle of Englefield on 31 December 870 was followed by a severe defeat at the siege and Battle of Reading on 5 January 871; then, four days later, Alfred won a brilliant victory at the Battle of Ashdown on the Berkshire Downs, possibly near Compton or Aldworth. Alfred is particularly credited with the success of this latter battle. However, later that month, on 22 January, the English were defeated at the Battle of Basing and, on the 22 March at the Battle of Merton (perhaps Marden in Wiltshire or Martin in Dorset), in which Æthelred was killed. The two unidentified battles may have occurred in between. Early struggles, defeat and flight In April 871, King Æthelred died, and Alfred succeeded to the throne of Wessex and the burden of its defence, despite the fact that Æthelred left two under-age sons, Æthelhelm and Æthelwold. This was in accordance with the agreement that Æthelred and Alfred had made earlier that year in an assembly at Swinbeorg. The brothers had agreed that whichever of them outlived the other would inherit the personal property that King Æthelwulf in his will had left jointly to his sons. The deceased's sons would receive only whatever property and riches their father had settled upon them and whatever additional lands their uncle had acquired. The unstated premise was that the surviving brother would be king. Given the ongoing Danish invasion and the youth of his nephews, Alfred's succession probably went uncontested. Tensions between Alfred and his nephews, however, would arise later in his reign. While he was busy with the burial ceremonies for his brother, the Danes defeated the English in his absence at an unnamed spot, and then again in his presence at Wilton in May. The defeat at Wilton smashed any remaining hope that Alfred could drive the invaders from his kingdom. He was forced, instead, to ‘make peace’ with them. The sources do not tell what the terms of the peace were. Bishop Asser claimed that the 'pagans' agreed to vacate the realm and made good their promise; and, indeed, the Viking army did withdraw from Reading in the autumn of 871 to take up winter quarters in Mercian London. Although not mentioned by Asser or by the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, Alfred probably also paid the Vikings cash to leave, much as the Mercians were to do in the following year. Hoards dating to the Viking occupation of London in 871/2 have been excavated at Croydon, Gravesend, and Waterloo Bridge; these finds hint at the cost involved in making peace with the Vikings. For the next five years, the Danes occupied other parts of England. However, in 876 under their new leader, Guthrum, the Danes slipped past the English army and attacked and occupied Wareham in Dorset. Alfred blockaded them but was unable to take Wareham by assault. Accordingly, he negotiated a peace which involved an exchange of hostages and oaths, which the Danes swore on a "holy ring" associated with the worship of Thor. The Danes, however, broke their word and, after killing all the hostages, slipped away under cover of night to Exeter in Devon. There, Alfred blockaded them, and with a relief fleet having been scattered by a storm, the Danes were forced to submit. They withdrew to Mercia, but, in January 878, made a sudden attack on Chippenham, a royal stronghold in which Alfred had been staying over Christmas, "and most of the people they killed, except the King Alfred, and he with a little band made his way by wood and swamp, and after Easter he made a fort at Athelney in the marshes of Somerset, and from that fort kept fighting against the foe". From his fort at Athelney, an island in the marshes near North Petherton, Alfred was able to mount an effective resistance movement, rallying the local militias from Somerset, Wiltshire and Hampshire. Alfred the Great is scolded by his subject, a neatherd's wife, for not turning the breads but readily eating them when they are baked in her cottage. A popular legend, originating from 12th century chronicles, tells how when he first fled to the Somerset Levels, Alfred was given shelter by a peasant woman who, unaware of his identity, left him to watch some cakes she had left cooking on the fire. Preoccupied with the problems of his kingdom, Alfred accidentally let the cakes burn. 870 was the low-water mark in the history of the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms. With all the other kingdoms having fallen to the Vikings, Wessex alone was still resisting. Counterattack and victory King Alfred's Tower (1772) on the supposed site of Egbert's Stone the mustering place before the Battle of Ethandun. In the seventh week after Easter [4-10 May 878], around Whitsuntide, Alfred rode to ‘Egbert's Stone’ east of Selwood, where he was met by "all the people of Somerset and of Wiltshire and of that part of Hampshire which is on this side of the sea [that is, west of Southampton Water], and they rejoiced to see him". Alfred’s emergence from his marshland stronghold was part of a carefully planned offensive that entailed raising the fyrds of three shires. This meant not only that the king had retained the loyalty of ealdormen, royal reeves and king’s thegns (who were charged with levying and leading these forces), but that they had maintained their positions of authority in these localities well enough to answer Alfred’s summons to war. Alfred’s actions also suggest a finely honed system of scouts and messengers. Alfred won a decisive victory in the ensuing Battle of Ethandun, which may have been fought near Westbury, Wiltshire. He then pursued the Danes to their stronghold at Chippenham and starved them into submission. One of the terms of the surrender was that Guthrum convert to Christianity; and three weeks later the Danish king and 29 of his chief men were baptised at Alfred's court at Aller, near Athelney, with Alfred receiving Guthrum as his spiritual son. The "unbinding of the chrism" took place with great ceremony eight days later at the royal estate at Wedmore in Somerset, after which Guthrum fulfilled his promise to leave Wessex. There is no contemporary evidence that Alfred and Guthrum agreed upon a formal treaty at this time; the so-called Treaty of Wedmore is an invention of modern historians. The Treaty of Alfred and Guthrum, preserved in Old English in Corpus Christi College, Cambridge (Manuscript 383), and in a Latin compilation known as Quadripartitus, was negotiated later, perhaps in 879 or 880, when King Ceolwulf II of Mercia was deposed. That treaty divided up the kingdom of Mercia. By its terms the boundary between Alfred’s and Guthrum’s kingdoms was to run up the River Thames, to the River Lea; follow the Lea to its source (near Luton); from there extend in a straight line to Bedford; and from Bedford follow the River Ouse to Watling Street. In other words, Alfred succeeded to Ceolwulf’s kingdom, consisting of western Mercia; and Guthrum incorporated the eastern part of Mercia into an enlarged kingdom of East Anglia (henceforward known as the Danelaw). By terms of the treaty, moreover, Alfred was to have control over the Mercian city of London and its mints - at least for the time being. The disposition of Essex, held by West Saxon kings since the days of Egbert, is unclear from the treaty, though, given Alfred’s political and military superiority, it would have been surprising if he had conceded any disputed territory to his new godson. The quiet years; Restoration of London With the signing of the Treaty of Alfred and Guthrum, an event most commonly held to have taken place around 880 when Guthrum’s people began settling East Anglia, Guthrum was neutralized as a threat. In conjunction with this agreement an army of Danish left the island and sailed to Ghent. Alfred however was still forced to contend with a number of Danish threats. A year later in 881 Alfred fought a small sea battle against four Danish ships “On the high seasâ€. Two of the ships were destroyed and the others surrendered to Alfred’s forces. Similar small skirmishes with independent Viking raiders would have occurred for much of the period as they had for decades. In the year 883, though there is some debate over the year, King Alfred because of his support and his donation of alms to Rome received a number of gifts from the Pope Marinus. Among these gifts was reputed to be a piece of the true cross, a true treasure for the devout Saxon king. According to Asser because of Pope Marinus’ friendship with King Alfred the pope granted an exemption to any Anglo-Saxons residing within Rome from tax or tribute. After the signing of the treaty with Guthrum, Alfred was spared any large scale conflicts for some time. Despite this relative peace the king was still forced to deal with a number of Danish raids and incursions. Among these was a raid taking place in Kent, an allied country in Southeast England during the year 885, quite possibly the largest raid since the battles with Guthrum. Asser’s account of the raid places the Danish raiders at the Saxon city of Rochester, where they built a temporary fortress in order to besiege the city. In response to incursion Alfred led an Anglo-Saxon force against the Danes who, instead of engaging the army of Wessex, fled to their beached ships and sailed to another part of Britain. The retreating Danish force supposedly left Britain the following summer. Not long after the failed Danish raid in Kent Alfred dispatched his fleet to East Anglia. The purpose of this expedition is debated, though Asser claims that it was for the sake of plunder. After traveling up the River Stour, the fleet was met by Danish vessels that numbered 13 or 16 (sources vary on the number) and a battle ensued. The Anglo-Saxon Fleet emerged victorious and as Huntingdon accounts,“laden with spoils.†The victorious fleet was then caught unaware when attempting to leave the River Stour and was attacked by a Danish force at the mouth of the river. The Danish fleet was able to defeat Alfred's fleet which may have been weakened in the previous engagement. A year later in 886 Alfred reoccupied the city of London and set out to make it habitable again. Alfred entrusted the city to the care of his son-in law Æthelred, ealdorman of Mercia. The restoration of London progressed through the later half of the 880’s and is believed to have revolved around a new street plan, added fortifications in addition to the existing Roman walls, and some believe the construction of matching fortifications on the South bank of the River Thames. This is also the time period almost all chroniclers agree the Saxon people of pre-unification England submitted to Alfred. This was not, however, the point in which Alfred came to be known as King of England; in fact he would never adopt the title for himself. In truth the power which Alfred wielded over the English peoples at this time seemed to stem largely from the military might of the West Saxons, Alfred’s political connections having the ruler of Mercia as his son-in-law, and Alfred’s keen administration talents. Between the restoration of London and the resumption of large scale Danish attacks in the early 890’s Alfred’s reign was rather uneventful. The relative peace of the late 880’s was marred by the death of Alfred's sister, Æthelswith, who died en route to Rome in 888. In the same year the Archbishop of Canterbury, Æthelred also passed away. One year later Guthrum, or Athelstan by his baptized name, Alfred’s former enemy and king of East Anglia died and was buried in Hadleigh, Suffolk. Guthrum’s passing marked a change in the political sphere Alfred dealt with. Guthrum’s death created a power vacuum which would stir up other power-hungry warlords eager to take his place in the following years. The quiet years of Alfred’s life were coming to a close, and war was on the horizon. Further Viking attacks repelled After another lull, in the autumn of 892 or 893, the Danes attacked again. Finding their position in mainland Europe precarious, they crossed to England in 330 ships in two divisions. They entrenched themselves, the larger body at Appledore, Kent, and the lesser, under Hastein, at Milton, also in Kent. The invaders brought their wives and children with them, indicating a meaningful attempt at conquest and colonisation. Alfred, in 893 or 894, took up a position from which he could observe both forces. While he was in talks with Hastein, the Danes at Appledore broke out and struck northwestwards. They were overtaken by Alfred's oldest son, Edward, and were defeated in a general engagement at Farnham in Surrey. They took refuge on an island in the Hertfordshire Colne, where they were blockaded and were ultimately forced to submit. The force fell back on Essex and, after suffering another defeat at Benfleet, coalesced with Hastein's force at Shoebury. Alfred had been on his way to relieve his son at Thorney when he heard that the Northumbrian and East Anglian Danes were besieging Exeter and an unnamed stronghold on the North Devon shore. Alfred at once hurried westward and raised the Siege of Exeter. The fate of the other place is not recorded. Meanwhile, the force under Hastein set out to march up the Thames Valley, possibly with the idea of assisting their friends in the west. But they were met by a large force under the three great ealdormen of Mercia, Wiltshire and Somerset, and forced to head off to the northwest, being finally overtaken and blockaded at Buttington. Some identify this with Buttington Tump at the mouth of the River Wye, others with Buttington near Welshpool. An attempt to break through the English lines was defeated. Those who escaped retreated to Shoebury. Then, after collecting reinforcements, they made a sudden dash across England and occupied the ruined Roman walls of Chester. The English did not attempt a winter blockade, but contented themselves with destroying all the supplies in the neighbourhood. Early in 894 (or 895), want of food obliged the Danes to retire once more to Essex. At the end of this year and early in 895 (or 896), the Danes drew their ships up the River Thames and River Lea and fortified themselves twenty miles (32 km) north of London. A direct attack on the Danish lines failed but, later in the year, Alfred saw a means of obstructing the river so as to prevent the egress of the Danish ships. The Danes realised that they were outmanoeuvred. They struck off north-westwards and wintered at Cwatbridge near Bridgnorth. The next year, 896 (or 897), they gave up the struggle. Some retired to Northumbria, some to East Anglia. Those who had no connections in England withdrew back to the continent. Military reorganisation Alfred the Great silver offering penny, 871-899. Legend: AELFRED REX SAXONUM "Ælfred King of the Saxons". Wessex's history of failures preceding his success in 878 emphasized to Alfred that the traditional system of battle he had inherited played to the Danes' advantage. While both the Anglo-Saxons and the Danes attacked settlements to seize wealth and other resources, they employed very different strategies. In their raids, the Anglo-Saxons traditionally preferred to attack head-on by assembling their forces in a shield wall, advancing against their target and overcoming the oncoming wall marshaled against them in defense. In contrast, the Danes preferred to choose easy targets, mapping cautious forays designed to avoid risking all their accumulated plunder with high-stake attacks for more. Alfred determined their strategy was to launch smaller scaled attacks from a secure and reinforced defensible base which they could retreat to should their raiders meet strong resistance. These bases were prepared in advance, often by capturing an estate and augmenting its defenses with surrounding ditches, ramparts and palisades. Once inside the fortification, Alfred realized, the Danes enjoyed the advantage, better situated to outlast their opponents or crush them with a counter attack as the provisions and stamina of the besieging forces waned. The means by which they marshaled the forces to defend against marauders also left the Anglo-Saxons vulnerable to the Vikings. It was only after the raids were underway that a call went out to landowners to gather men for battle, and large regions could be devastated before the newly assembled army arrived. And although the landowners were obliged to the king to supply these men when called, during the attacks in 878, many of them opportunistically abandoned their king and collaborated with Guthrum. With these lessons in mind, Alfred capitalized on the relatively peaceful years immediately following his victory at Ethandrun by focusing on an ambitious restructuring of his kingdom's military defenses. When the Viking raids resumed in 892, Alfred was better prepared to confront them with a standing, mobile field army, a network of garrisons, and a small fleet of ships navigating the rivers and estuaries. Burghal system At the center of Alfred's reformed military defence system was a network of fortresses, or burhs, distributed at strategic points throughout the kingdom. There were thirty-three total spaced approximately 30 kilometres (20 mi) distant, enabling the military to confront attacks anywhere in the kingdom within a single day. Alfred's burhs, (later termed boroughs), consisted mainly of massive earthen walls surrounded by wide ditches, probably reinforced with wooden revetments and palisades. The size of the burhs ranged from tiny outposts such as Pilton to large fortifications in established towns, the largest at Winchester. Many of the burhs were twin towns that straddled a river and connected by a fortified bridge, like those built by Charles the Bald a generation before. The double-burh blocked passage on the river, forcing Viking ships to navigate under a garrisoned bridge lined with men armed with stones, spears, or arrows. Other burhs were sited near fortified royal villas allowing the king better control over his strongholds. This network of well-garrisoned burhs posed significant obstacles to Viking invaders, especially those laden with booty. The system threatened Viking routes and communications making it far more dangerous for the Viking raiders. However the Vikings lacked both the equipment necessary to undertake a siege against the burh and a developed doctrine of siegecraft, having tailored their methods of fighting to rapid strikes and unimpeded retreats to well defended fortifications. The only means left to them was to starve the burh into submission, but this allowed the king time to send assistance with his mobile field army or garrisons from neighbouring burhs. In such cases, the Vikings were extremely vulnerable to pursuit by the king's joint military forces. Alfred's burh system posed such a formidable challenge against Viking attack that when the Vikings returned in 892 and successfully stormed a half-made, poorly garrisoned fortress up the Lympne estuary in Kent, the Anglo-Saxons were able to limit their penetration to the outer frontiers of Wessex and Mercia. Alfred's burghal system was revolutionary in its strategic conception and potentially expensive in its execution. His contemporary biographer Asser wrote that many nobles balked at the new demands placed upon them even though they were for "the common needs of the kingdom". The cost of building the burhs was great in itself, but this paled before the cost of upkeep for these fortresses and the maintenance of their standing garrisons. A remarkable early tenth-century document, known as the Burghal Hidage, provides a formula for determining how many men were needed to garrison a borough, based on one man for every 5.5 yards (5 meters) of wall. This calculates to a total of 27,071 soldiers needed system wide, or approximately one in four of all the free men in Wessex. Reconstituted fyrd Over the last two decades of his reign, Alfred undertook a radical reorganisation of the military institutions of his kingdom, strengthened the West Saxon economy through a policy of monetary reform and urban planning and strove to win divine favour by resurrecting the literary glories of earlier generations of Anglo-Saxons. Alfred pursued these ambitious programmes to fulfil, as he saw it, his responsibility as king. This justified the heavy demands he made upon his subjects' labour and finances. It even excused the expropriation of strategically located Church lands. Recreating the fyrd into a standing army, ringing Wessex with some thirty garrisoned fortified towns, and constructing new and larger ships for the royal fleet were costly endeavours that provoked resistance from noble and peasant alike. But they paid off. When the Vikings returned in force in 892 they found a kingdom defended by a standing, mobile field army and a network of garrisoned fortresses that commanded its navigable rivers and Roman roads. Alfred analysed the defects of the military system that he had inherited and implemented changes to remedy them. Alfred's military reorganisation of Wessex consisted of three elements: the building of thirty fortified and garrisoned towns (burhs) along the rivers and Roman roads of Wessex; the creation of a mobile (horsed) field force, consisting of his nobles and their warrior retainers, which was divided into two contingents, one of which was always in the field; and the enhancement of Wessex's seapower through the addition of larger ships to the existing royal fleet. Each element of the system was meant to remedy defects in the West Saxon military establishment exposed by the Viking invasions. If under the existing system he could not assemble forces quickly enough to intercept mobile Viking raiders, the obvious answer was to have a standing field force. If this entailed transforming the West Saxon fyrd from a sporadic levy of king's men and their retinues into a mounted standing army, so be it. If his kingdom lacked strongpoints to impede the progress of an enemy army, he would build them. If the enemy struck from the sea, he would counter them with his own naval power. Characteristically, all of Alfred's innovations were firmly rooted in traditional West Saxon practice, drawing as they did upon the three so-called ‘common burdens' of bridge work, fortress repair and service on the king's campaigns that all holders of bookland and royal loanland owed the Crown. Where Alfred revealed his genius was in designing the field force and burhs to be parts of a coherent military system. Neither Alfred's reformed fyrd nor his burhs alone would have afforded a sufficient defence against the Vikings; together, however, they robbed the Vikings of their major strategic advantages: surprise and mobility. Administration and taxation To obtain the needed garrison troops and workers to build and maintain the burhs' defences, Alfred regularised and vastly expanded the existing (and, one might add, quite recent) obligation of landowners to provide ‘fortress work’ on the basis of the hidage assessed upon their lands. The allotments of the Burghal Hidage represent the creation of administrative districts for the support of the burhs. The landowners attached to Wallingford, for example, were responsible for producing and feeding 2,400 men, the number sufficient for maintaining 9,900 feet (3 km) of wall. Each of the larger burhs became the centre of a territorial district of considerable size, carved out of the neighbouring countryside in order to support the town. In one sense, Alfred conceived nothing truly new here. The shires of Wessex went back at least to the reign of King Ine, who probably also imposed a hidage assessment upon each for food rents and other services owed the Crown. English navy Alfred also tried his hand at naval design. In 896, he ordered the construction of a small fleet, perhaps a dozen or so longships, that, at 60 oars, were twice the size of Viking warships. This was not, as the Victorians asserted, the birth of the English Navy. Wessex possessed a royal fleet before this. King Athelstan of Kent and Ealdorman Ealhhere had defeated a Viking fleet in 851, capturing nine ships, and Alfred himself had conducted naval actions in 882. But, clearly, the author of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle and probably Alfred himself regarded 897 as marking an important development in the naval power of Wessex. The chronicler flattered his royal patron by boasting that Alfred's ships were not only larger, but swifter, steadier and rode higher in the water than either Danish or Frisian ships. (It is probable that, under the classical tutelage of Asser, Alfred utilised the design of Greek and Roman warships, with high sides, designed for fighting rather than for navigation.) Alfred had seapower in mind: if he could intercept raiding fleets before they landed, he could spare his kingdom from ravaging. Alfred's ships may have been superior in conception, however in practice they proved to be too large to manoeuvre well in the close waters of estuaries and rivers, the only places in which a 'naval' battle could occur. (The warships of the time were not designed to be ship killers but troop carriers. A naval battle entailed a ship's coming alongside an enemy vessel, at which point the crew would lash the two ships together and board the enemy. The result was effectively a land battle involving hand-to-hand fighting on board the two lashed vessels.) In the one recorded naval engagement in the year 896, Alfred's new fleet of nine ships intercepted six Viking ships in the mouth of an unidentified river along the south of England. The Danes had beached half their ships, and gone inland, either to rest their rowers or to forage for food. Alfred's ships immediately moved to block their escape to the sea. The three Viking ships afloat attempted to break through the English lines. Only one made it, Alfred's ships intercepted the other two. Lashing the Viking boats to their own, the English crew boarded the enemy's vessels and proceeded to kill everyone on board. The one ship that escaped managed to do so only because all of Alfred's heavy ships became mired when the tide went out. What ensued was a land battle between the crews of the grounded ships. The Danes, heavily outnumbered, would have been wiped out if the tide had not risen. When that occurred, the Danes rushed back to their boats, which being lighter, with shallower drafts, were freed before Alfred's ships. Helplessly, the English watched as the Vikings rowed past them. But the pirates had suffered so many casualties (120 Danes dead against 62 Frisians and English), that they had difficulties putting out to sea. All were too damaged to row around Sussex and two were driven against the Sussex coast. The shipwrecked sailors were brought before Alfred at Winchester and hanged. Legal reform In the late 880s or early 890s, Alfred issued a long domboc or law code, consisting of his "own" laws followed by a code issued by his late seventh-century predecessor King Ine of Wessex. Together these laws are arranged into 120 chapters. In his introduction, Alfred explains that he gathered together the laws he found in many 'synod-books' and "ordered to be written many of the ones that our forefathers observed--those that pleased me; and many of the ones that did not please me, I rejected with the advice of my councillors, and commanded them to be observed in a different way." Alfred singled out in particular the laws that he "found in the days of Ine, my kinsman, or Offa, king of the Mercians, or King Æthelbert of Kent, who first among the English people received baptism." It is difficult to know exactly what Alfred meant by this. He appended rather than integrated the laws of Ine into his code, and although he included, as had Æthelbert, a scale of payments in compensation for injuries to various body parts, the two injury tariffs are not aligned. And, Offa is not known to have issued a law code, leading historian Patrick Wormald to speculate that Alfred had in mind the legatine capitulary of 786 that was presented to Offa by two papal legates. About a fifth of the law code is taken up by Alfred's introduction, which includes translations into English of the Decalogue, a few chapters from the Book of Exodus, and the so-called 'Apostolic Letter' from Acts of the Apostles (15:23-29). The Introduction may best be understood as Alfred's meditation upon the meaning of Christian law. It traces the continuity between God's gift of Law to Moses to Alfred's own issuance of law to the West Saxon people. By doing so, it links the holy past to the historical present and represents Alfred's law-giving as a type of divine legislation. This is the reason that Alfred divided his code into precisely 120 chapters: 120 was the age at which Moses died and, in the number-symbolism of early medieval biblical exegetes, 120 stood for law. The link between the Mosaic Law and Alfred's code is the 'Apostolic Letter,' which explained that Christ "had come not to shatter or annul the commandments but to fulfill them; and he taught mercy and meekness" (Intro, 49.1). The mercy that Christ infused into Mosaic Law underlies the injury tariffs that figure so prominently in barbarian law codes, since Christian synods "established, through that mercy which Christ taught, that for almost every misdeed at the first offence secular lords might with their permission receive without sin the monetary compensation, which they then fixed." The only crime that could not be compensated with a payment of money is treachery to a lord, "since Almighty God adjudged none for those who despised Him, nor did Christ, the Son of God, adjudge any for the one who betrayed Him to death; and He commanded everyone to love his lord as Himself." Alfred's transformation of Christ's commandment from "Love your neighbour as yourself" (Matt. 22:39-40) to love your secular lord as you would love the Lord Christ himself underscores the importance that Alfred placed upon lordship, which he understood as a sacred bond instituted by God for the governance of man. When one turns from the domboc's introduction to the laws themselves, it is difficult to uncover any logical arrangement. The impression one receives is of a hodgepodge of miscellaneous laws. The law code, as it has been preserved, is singularly unsuitable for use in lawsuits. In fact, several of Alfred's laws contradict the laws of Ine that form an integral part of the code. Patrick Wormald's explanation is that Alfred's law code should be understood not as a legal manual, but as an ideological manifesto of kingship, "designed more for symbolic impact than for practical direction." In practical terms, the most important law in the code may well be the very first: "We enjoin, what is most necessary, that each man keep carefully his oath and his pledge," which expresses a fundamental tenet of Anglo-Saxon law. Alfred devoted considerable attention and thought to judicial matters. Asser underscores his concern for judicial fairness. Alfred, according to Asser, insisted upon reviewing contested judgments made by his ealdormen and reeves, and "would carefully look into nearly all the judgements which were passed [issued] in his absence anywhere in the realm, to see whether they were just or unjust." A charter from the reign of his son Edward the Elder depicts Alfred as hearing one such appeal in his chamber, while washing his hands. Asser represents Alfred as a Solomonic judge, painstaking in his own judicial investigations and critical of royal officials who rendered unjust or unwise judgments. Although Asser never mentions Alfred's law code, he does say that Alfred insisted that his judges be literate, so that they could apply themselves "to the pursuit of wisdom." The failure to comply with this royal order was to be punished by loss of office. It is uncertain how seriously this should be taken; Asser was more concerned to represent Alfred as a wise ruler than to report actual royal policy. Foreign relations Asser speaks grandiosely of Alfred's relations with foreign powers, but little definite information is available. His interest in foreign countries is shown by the insertions which he made in his translation of Orosius. He certainly corresponded with Elias III, the Patriarch of Jerusalem, and possibly sent a mission to India in honour of Saint Thomas the Apostle, whose tomb was believed to lie in that country. Contact was also made with the Caliph in Baghdad. Embassies to Rome conveying the English alms to the Pope were fairly frequent.Keynes & Lapidge 1983, p. 14 Around 890, Wulfstan of Haithabu undertook a journey from Haithabu on Jutland along the Baltic Sea to the Prussian trading town of Truso. Alfred personally collected details of this trip. Alfred's relations with the Celtic princes in the western half of Britain are clearer. Comparatively early in his reign, according to Asser, the southern Welsh princes, owing to the pressure on them from North Wales and Mercia, commended themselves to Alfred. Later in the reign the North Welsh followed their example, and the latter cooperated with the English in the campaign of 893 (or 894). That Alfred sent alms to Irish and Continental monasteries may be taken on Asser's authority. The visit of the three pilgrim "Scots" (i.e. Irish) to Alfred in 891 is undoubtedly authentic. The story that he himself in his childhood was sent to Ireland to be healed by Saint Modwenna, though mythical, may show Alfred's interest in that island. Religion and culture Historical mixed media figure of Alfred the Great produced by artist/historian George S. Stuart and photographed by Peter d'Aprix. This image, from the George S. Stuart Gallery of Historical Figures In the 880s, at the same time that he was "cajoling and threatening" his nobles to build and man the burhs, Alfred, perhaps inspired by the example of Charlemagne almost a century before, undertook an equally ambitious effort to revive learning. It entailed the recruitment of clerical scholars from Mercia, Wales and abroad to enhance the tenor of the court and of the episcopacy; the establishment of a court school to educate his own children, the sons of his nobles, and intellectually promising boys of lesser birth; an attempt to require literacy in those who held offices of authority; a series of translations into the vernacular of Latin works the king deemed "most necessary for all men to know"; the compilation of a chronicle detailing the rise of Alfred's kingdom and house; and the issuance of a law code that presented the West Saxons as a new people of Israel and their king as a just and divinely inspired law-giver. Very little is known of the church under Alfred. The Danish attacks had been particularly damaging to the monasteries, and though Alfred founded monasteries at Athelney and Shaftesbury, the first new monastic houses in Wessex since the beginning of the eighth century, and enticed foreign monks to England, monasticism did not revive significantly during his reign. Alfred undertook no systematic reform of ecclesiastical institutions or religious practices in Wessex. For him the key to the kingdom's spiritual revival was to appoint pious, learned, and trustworthy bishops and abbots. As king he saw himself as responsible for both the temporal and spiritual welfare of his subjects. Secular and spiritual authority were not distinct categories for Alfred. He was equally comfortable distributing his translation of Gregory the Great's Pastoral Care to his bishops so that they might better train and supervise priests, and using those same bishops as royal officials and judges. Nor did his piety prevent him from expropriating strategically sited church lands, especially estates along the border with the Danelaw, and transferring them to royal thegns and officials who could better defend them against Viking attacks. The Danish raids had also a devastating impact on learning in England. Alfred lamented in the preface to his translation of Gregory's Pastoral Care that "learning had declined so thoroughly in England that there were very few men on this side of the Humber who could understand their divine services in English, or even translate a single letter from Latin into English: and I suppose that there were not many beyond the Humber either". Alfred undoubtedly exaggerated for dramatic effect the abysmal state of learning in England during his youth. That Latin learning had not been obliterated is evidenced by the presence in his court of learned Mercian and West Saxon clerics such as Plegmund, Wæferth, and Wulfsige, but Alfred's account should not be entirely discounted. Manuscript production in England dropped off precipitously around the 860s when the Viking invasions began in earnest, not to be revived until the end of the century. Numerous Anglo-Saxon manuscripts burnt up along with the churches that housed them. And a solemn diploma from Christ Church, Canterbury dated 873 is so poorly constructed and written that historian Nicholas Brooks posited a scribe who was either so blind he could not read what he wrote or who knew little or no Latin. "It is clear," Brooks concludes, "that the metropolitan church [of Canterbury] must have been quite unable to provide any effective training in the scriptures or in Christian worship." Following the example of Charlemagne, Alfred established a court school for the education of his own children, those of the nobility, and "a good many of lesser birth". There they studied books in both English and Latin and "devoted themselves to writing, to such an extent .... they were seen to be devoted and intelligent students of the liberal arts." He recruited scholars from the Continent and from Britain to aid in the revival of Christian learning in Wessex and to provide the king personal instruction. Grimbald and John the Saxon came from Francia; Plegmund (whom Alfred appointed archbishop of Canterbury in 890), Bishop Werferth of Worcester, Æthelstan, and the royal chaplains Werwulf, from Mercia; and Asser, from St. David's in south-western Wales. Alfred's educational ambitions seem to have extended beyond the establishment of a court school. Believing that without Christian wisdom there can be neither prosperity nor success in war, Alfred aimed "to set to learning (as long as they are not useful for some other employment) all the free-born young men now in England who have the means to apply themselves to it." Conscious of the decay of Latin literacy in his realm, Alfred proposed that primary education be taught in English, with those wishing to advance to holy orders to continue their studies in Latin. The problem, however, was that there were few "books of wisdom" written in English. Alfred sought to remedy this through an ambitious court-centred programme of translating into English the books he deemed "most necessary for all men to know." It is unknown when Alfred launched this programme, but it may have been during the 880s when Wessex was enjoying a respite from Viking attacks. Apart from the lost Handboc or Encheiridion, which seems to have been a commonplace book kept by the king, the earliest work to be translated was the Dialogues of Gregory the Great, a book greatly popular in the Middle Ages. The translation was undertaken at Alfred's command by Werferth, Bishop of Worcester, with the king merely furnishing a preface. Remarkably, Alfred, undoubtedly with the advice and aid of his court scholars, translated four works himself: Gregory the Great's Pastoral Care, Boethius's Consolation of Philosophy, St. Augustine's Soliloquies, and the first fifty psalms of the Psalter. One might add to this list Alfred's translation, in his law code, of excerpts from the Vulgate Book of Exodus. The Old English versions of Orosius's Histories against the Pagans and Bede's Ecclesiastical History of the English People are no longer accepted by scholars as Alfred's own translations because of lexical and stylistic differences. Nonetheless, the consensus remains that they were part of the Alfredian programme of translation. Simon Keynes and Michael Lapidge suggest this also for Bald's Leechbook and the anonymous Old English Martyrology. Alfred's first translation was of Pope Gregory the Great's Pastoral Care, which he prefaced with an introduction explaining why he thought it necessary to translate works such as this one from Latin into English. Although he described his method as translating "sometimes word for word, sometimes sense for sense," Alfred's translation actually keeps very close to his original, although through his choice of language he blurred throughout the distinction between spiritual and secular authority. Alfred meant his translation to be used and circulated it to all his bishops. Boethius' Consolation of Philosophy was the most popular philosophical handbook of the Middle Ages. Unlike his translation of the Pastoral Care, Alfred here deals very freely with his original and though the late Dr. G. Schepss showed that many of the additions to the text are to be traced not to Alfred himself, but to the glosses and commentaries which he used, still there is much in the work which is solely Alfred's and highly characteristic of his style. It is in the Boethius that the oft-quoted sentence occurs: "My will was to live worthily as long as I lived, and after my life to leave to them that should come after, my memory in good works." The book has come down to us in two manuscripts only. In one of these the writing is prose, in the other a combination of prose and alliterating verse. The latter manuscript was severely damaged in the 18th and 19th centuries, and the authorship of the verse has been much disputed; but likely it also is by Alfred. In fact, he writes in the prelude that he first created a prose work and then used it as the basis for his poem Metres of Boethius, his crowning literary achievement. He spent a great deal of time working on these books, which he tells us he gradually wrote through the many stressful times of his reign to refresh his mind. Of the authenticity of the work as a whole there has never been any doubt. The last of Alfred's works is one to which he gave the name Blostman, i.e., "Blooms" or Anthology. The first half is based mainly on the Soliloquies of St Augustine of Hippo, the remainder is drawn from various sources, and contains much that is Alfred's own and highly characteristic of him. The last words of it may be quoted; they form a fitting epitaph for the noblest of English kings. "Therefore he seems to me a very foolish man, and truly wretched, who will not increase his understanding while he is in the world, and ever wish and long to reach that endless life where all shall be made clear." Alfred appears as a character in the twelfth- or thirteenth-century poem The Owl and the Nightingale, where his wisdom and skill with proverbs is praised. The Proverbs of Alfred, a thirteenth-century work, contains sayings that are not likely to have originated with Alfred but attest to his posthumous medieval reputation for wisdom. Icon of St. Alfred the Great, King and Confessor The Alfred jewel, discovered in Somerset in 1693, has long been associated with King Alfred because of its Old English inscription "AELFRED MEC HEHT GEWYRCAN" (Alfred ordered me to be made). The jewel is about 2½ inches (6.1 cm) long, made of filigreed gold, enclosing a highly polished piece of quartz crystal beneath which is set a cloisonné enamel plaque, with an enamelled image of a man holding floriate sceptres, perhaps personifying Sight or the Wisdom of God. It was at one time attached to a thin rod or stick based on the hollow socket at its base. The jewel certainly dates from Alfred's reign. Although its function is unknown, it has been often suggested that the jewel was one of the æstels-pointers for reading-that Alfred ordered sent to every bishopric accompanying a copy of his translation of the Pastoral Care. Each æstel was worth the princely sum of 50 mancuses, which fits in well with the quality workmanship and expensive materials of the Alfred jewel. Historian Richard Abels sees Alfred's educational and military reforms as complementary. Restoring religion and learning in Wessex, Abels contends, was to Alfred's mind as essential to the defence of his realm as the building of the burhs. As Alfred observed in the preface to his English translation of Gregory the Great's Pastoral Care, kings who fail to obey their divine duty to promote learning can expect earthly punishments to befall their people. The pursuit of wisdom, he assured his readers of the Boethius, was the surest path to power: "Study Wisdom, then, and, when you have learned it, condemn it not, for I tell you that by its means you may without fail attain to power, yea, even though not desiring it". The portrayal of the West-Saxon resistance to the Vikings by Asser and the chronicler as a Christian holy war was more than mere rhetoric or 'propaganda'. It reflected Alfred's own belief in a doctrine of divine rewards and punishments rooted in a vision of a hierarchical Christian world order in which God is the Lord to whom kings owe obedience and through whom they derive their authority over their followers. The need to persuade his nobles to undertake work for the 'common good' led Alfred and his court scholars to strengthen and deepen the conception of Christian kingship that he had inherited by building upon the legacy of earlier kings such as Offa as well as clerical writers such as Bede, Alcuin and the other luminaries of the Carolingian renaissance. This was not a cynical use of religion to manipulate his subjects into obedience, but an intrinsic element in Alfred's worldview. He believed, as did other kings in ninth-century England and Francia, that God had entrusted him with the spiritual as well as physical welfare of his people. If the Christian faith fell into ruin in his kingdom, if the clergy were too ignorant to understand the Latin words they butchered in their offices and liturgies, if the ancient monasteries and collegiate churches lay deserted out of indifference, he was answerable before God, as Josiah had been. Alfred's ultimate responsibility was the pastoral care of his people. Family In 868, Alfred married Ealhswith, daughter of a Mercian nobleman, Æthelred Mucil, Ealdorman of the Gaini. The Gaini were probably one of the tribal groups of the Mercians. Ealhswith's mother, Eadburh, was a member of the Mercian royal family. They had five or six children together, including Edward the Elder, who succeeded his father as king, Æthelflæd, who would become Queen of Mercia in her own right, and Ælfthryth who married Baldwin II the Count of Flanders. His mother was Osburga daughter of Oslac of the Isle of Wight, Chief Butler of England. Asser, in his Vita Ælfredi asserts that this shows his lineage from the Jutes of the Isle of Wight. This is unlikely as Bede tells us that they were all slaughtered by the Saxons under Cædwalla. In 2008 the skeleton of Queen Eadgyth, granddaughter of Alfred the Great was found in Magdeburg Cathedral in Germany. It was confirmed in 2010 that these remains belong to her - one of the earliest members of the English royal family. Death, burial and legacy Alfred died on 26 October. The actual year is not certain, but it was not necessarily 901 as stated in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. How he died is unknown, although he suffered throughout his life with a painful and unpleasant illness - possibly Crohn's disease, which seems to have been inherited by his grandson King Edred. He was originally buried temporarily in the Old Minster in Winchester, then moved to the New Minster (perhaps built especially to receive his body). When the New Minster moved to Hyde, a little north of the city, in 1110, the monks transferred to Hyde Abbey along with Alfred's body and those of his wife and children. Soon after the dissolution of the abbey in 1539, during the reign of Henry VIII, the church was demolished, leaving the graves intact. The royal graves and many others were probably rediscovered by chance in 1788 when a prison was being constructed by convicts on the site. Coffins were stripped of lead, bones were scattered and lost, and no identifiable remains of Alfred have subsequently been found. Further excavations in 1866 and 1897 were inconclusive. [Wikipedia] | Alfred The Great King Of England (I2110)
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| 649 | He married Ealdgyth, daughter of Uhtred, Earl of Northumberland and Ælfgifu, circa 1036. He died in1045, killed in action, while attempting to avenge the murder of his brother by Macbeth. He gained the title of Lord of Allerdale [feudal barony]. He held the office of Regent of the Kingdom of Strathclyde between 1034 and 1045. | Maldred Lord of Allerdale (I2561)
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| 650 | He married Ela Talvas, daughter of William Talvas, Comte de Ponthieu. He succeeded to the title of 3rd Earl of Surrey [E., 1088] circa 11 May 1138. | de Warenne, William 3rd Earl of Surrey III (I2727)
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