Mediaeval History
Posts in The Copybook tagged ‘Mediaeval History’
It was George-a-Green’s job to stop animals trampling the crops, and it nettled his pride in Wakefield’s broad acres to see some ramblers behaving no better.
Robin Hood, Maid Marian and Robin’s merry men have been tramping carelessly over fields of corn near Wakefield, much to the disgust of George-a-Green, a local pinder (an animal control warden) and the lovely Beatrice beside him. Robin, who for once was armed with no more than a staff like the one George held, said soothingly that for any damage done the amends lay in his own hands.
Two monks vying for the abbot’s chair at one of England’s prestigious monasteries each promised King William Rufus handsome rewards for his favour.
William II Rufus became King of England following the death of his father William the Conqueror in 1087. Lanfranc, Archbishop of Canterbury, prevailed on the Norman barons to crown William instead of his brother Robert, and thereafter kept William on a short leash. The death of his mentor in 1089 marked a sharp decline in William’s character, but memories of better days remained.
Snorro Sturluson records some of the miracles attributed to Olaf II, King of Norway, after Englishman Bishop Grimkell declared him a saint.
King Olaf II Haraldsson (?995-1030) ruled Norway from 1015 to 1028. A year after Olaf died in the Battle of Stiklestad on July 29th, 1030, Grimkell, English-born Bishop of Nidaros (Trondheim), glorified him as a saint. Here, Snorro Sturluson records some of the miracles that were reported at Nidaros Cathedral in Trondheim, St Olaf’s shrine, where building began in 1070.
Magnus had just reasserted Norway’s authority over The Isles and Man, when he stumbled into a party of Normans harassing the King of Gwynedd.
In 1098, Magnus III ‘Barelegs’, King of Norway, boldly reasserted Norway’s authority over the Isles and Man, a realm of islands around Scotland’s coastline which the Vikings had dominated for over two centuries. Pleased with his progress, Magnus sailed on south to Anglesey, where he stumbled upon a party of Normans celebrating victory over Gruffudd ap Cynan, King of Gwynedd.
Barely a generation after Harald Hardrada narrowly missed out on taking the English crown, his grandson Magnus re-asserted Norway’s authority over The Isles and Man.
Vikings increasingly dominated the northern coasts of the British Isles after King Harald Fairhair united Norway’s petty kingdoms in 872, at the Battle of Hafrsfjord. After Godred Crovan, lord of The Isles and Man, died in 1095 his successor Ingimundr was assassinated, and King Magnus III ‘Barelegs’, who had chosen him, was not pleased. In 1098, Magnus set out from Trondheim with a large fleet.
It was a bitter moment for Anne Boleyn when she saw that what she herself had done to poor Catherine of Aragon, Jane Seymour was about to do to her.
Jane Seymour, sister of the Duke of Somerset, was maid of honour to Queen Catherine, wife of King Henry VIII, and later to Queen Anne, who took Catherine’s place and crown in 1533. To Anne’s consternation, and apparently to her surprise, Jane supplanted her in Henry’s affections and within a fortnight of Anne’s execution in 1536, Henry and Jane were married.