Edward Confessor or Con? (Part 2)
So let's start with my main reason I consider King Edward a fake.
Ignorance of the English way of selecting a King
For many hundreds of years since the Norman invasion of 1066 and until recently, the eldest male child automatically inherited the throne. This method of selecting a King is so baked into folk that most think it was always so - it wasn't.
For a lot of early kingdoms in the isles of Britain the method of selecting a king relied on a select band voting - yes voting for the man who they thought was going to be best at the job. My own family name "Casey" comes from Ireland where it was part of the Dalcassian tribes from which petty kings were elected. So, the principle of "electing" a King was established on both sides of the Irish Sea.
A remarkable thing about the Catholic Church is how they elect a new Pope and how it mirrored the practice in Anglo-Saxon England. Since Cardinals and Popes are supposedly celibate there is no individual to claim the throne once it has become vacant hence the election. The Catholic Church reduces the number of candidates by insisting that the new Pope should be elected from the cardinals present. For the Anglo-Saxons, they had a much freer set of criteria, only to consider the maintaining the cohesivity of the realm.
First, let's look at the events surrounding the time when Æthelred gave up the throne. I'm not sure why it happened but it seems the nobles got tired of Æthelred and wanted Sven Forkbeard to take over. Sven pegged it on the way to London(?) and discussions took place with Æthelred for him to govern yet again. The main emissary from Æthelred was his 11 year old son Edward apparently. So unless Edward had nothing between the ears he should have picked up on which way was up concerning the Witan. Anyway, Æthelred was re-instated.
Lets move on two years and consider the times surrounding the death of Æthelred. 4 sons outlived Æthelred and they were Edmund (26?) and Eadwig (23?) from his first marriage and Edward (13?) and Alfred(9?) from his second marriage. Now, Edward and Alfred were safely tucked away in Normandy and were too young to be considered by the Witan as possible candidates for King, which leaves Edmund and Eadwig in the running.
The Witan decides, for reasons only known to them, that maybe the impulsive and explosive nature of Edmund was unsuited to be King and Eadwig wasn't proven in battle to reunite the Danelaw area of England with the rest, so they chose Canute, who reunited England under one King without major loss of life.
Edmund, who was favoured by the burghers of London to take over, disputes the Witan decision and starts a civil war with Edward at his side according to the saga of St Olav the Holy of Norway. If this is true then Edward, who is now 13, gets another reality check in dealing with English politics.
Fast forward to 1034/5. Edward and Alfred make a half hearted attempt to size the throne of England by force. I don't understand the stance taken by the chroniclers as Edward is supposed to have won his battles and retreated back to his "fleet" with booty while Alfred meets with a seasoned warrior, Godwin with tragic results. So, here are the brothers trying to negate the constitutionality of England in sidelining the Witan.
Edward successfully side steps the Witan in 1041/2 when he is declared co-Regent with his half brother by his half brother. This leads to full kingship when Harthacnut mysteriously drops dead at a wedding reception in 1042. The first king of England not to be selected by the Witan.
In 1051, according to Duke William of Normandy, during a visit Edward promises the throne to William. Hang on, given that Edward must have known the Witan had the last say in who was going to be King. So why does William think he's going to get the throne?
So, since 1034/5, Edward has side stepped the Witan yet it can be seen that Edward should have known full well that the ultimate power lay in the hands of the nobles.
Is there any explanation for the turn of events? Well, Emma, his mother, could have been manipulating people behind the scenes ever since her return to court in 1017 and come Hell or high water she was going to have her first born on the throne. Was Edward content then to be a "Mummy's boy" for as long as his mother lived? It certainly kept Godwin alive until his first meeting with Edward after the demise of Emma in 1052.
In part 3, I will look more at the character of the man and his vows.
