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The Saxon Downfall
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The Saxon Downfall
From Egoert to Edgar may be called the Golden Age of Saxon history. Kings and people alike are vigorous: enemies abroad are beaten off, rebellions at home crushed, law and justice enforced, learning encouraged. We have likened Edgar's reign to a fine autumn; we may go further, and say that after him came down winter fierce and stormy. In the next ninety years, from the reign of Edward the Martyr till the death of Harold (975-1066), Saxon England went from one calamity to another. The kingdom could not even preserve itself from foreign conquest; we shall see a time of Danish attack ending in a Danish monarch on the throne, and then a time of Norman interference ending in the Norman Conquest. It will be convenient to divide the whole period into two parts corresponding to these two foreign influences, but through the whole we can trace in many of the chief men a decay of the old Saxon valour and self-reliance, and a new growth of indecision, discontent, treachery, that gave the foreigner his opportunity. There are brilliant exceptions: Edmund Ironside and Harold must not be forgotten. But fate was unkind enough to cut off both of them before they could do more than show their budding promise, while it left the incapable Ethelred and the feeble Edward the Confessor ample leisure to reap the whole harvest of their own incapacity.
The grouping of the events of this time shows a certain symmetry which it is well to bear in mind. From the accession of Ethelred the Unready to the Norman Conquest is a period of eighty-seven years. The middle part of it (1017-1042) is occupied with the Danish kings on the throne (Canute and his sons); the beginning part and the end part are covered by Saxon kings. Further, the beginning and end parts have a strong resemblance. Each period starts with a long reign of a feeble king followed by a very short reign of a vigorous king; each alike ends in a foreign conquest.
- The Danish Conquest of England (975-1042)
- Edward the Confessor and the Normans
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Chronology
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