APPENDIX.

NOTE A. p. 5.

THE ELECTION AND CORONATION OF EADWARD.

IN reading the account of Eadward's accession to the Crown, as told in the Chronicles and by Florence, we are at once struck by the great and unusual delay between his first election and his consecration as King. He is chosen in London in June by a popular movement which could not even wait for the burial of the deceased King; but he is not crowned till the Easter of the next year. No explanation is given of the delay, no account of the way in which the intervening months were spent, no statement where Eadward was at the time of Harthacnut's death. We must therefore look to other writers for the means of filling up this singular gap. I need hardly again refute the wild romance of Thierry, of which I spoke in vol. i. p. 522. I will only say that Eadward's Westminster Charter (Cod. Dipl. iv. 173), which, doubtful as it is, is at least as good authority as Bromton or Knighton, makes him speak of himself as eo [regno] potitus sine ullo bellorum labore." It will be more profitable to examine the witness of those writers who wrote at all near the time, or who were at all likely to preserve contemporary traditions.

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According to Eadward's Biographer (p. 394), as soon as England was free from her Danish rulers (see vol. i. p. 523), Godwine at once proposed the election of Eadward as the natural heir ("ut Regem suum recipiant in nativi juris sui throno"). Godwine being looked on as a common father, everybody agreed to his proposal ("quoniam pro patre ab omnibus habebatur, in paterno consultu libenter audiebatur"). Earls and bishops are sent to fetch Eadward ("mittuntur post eum"); they bring him with them; he is joyfully received, and crowned at Canterbury.

William of Poitiers (p. 85 Giles), as might be supposed, knows nothing about Godwine, or about any free election by the English people. Eadward, according to him, was chosen under a most powerful congé d'élire and letter missive from his cousin the Duke of the Normans. The English are disputing about the succession, when a Norman embassy comes, threatening a Norman invasion if Eadward is not received. The nation chooses the wiser part, and Eadward comes home, protected by a small array of Norman knights; "Disceptantes Angli deliberatione suis rationibus utilissima consenserunt, legationibus justa petentibus acquiescere, quam Normannorum vim experiri. Reducem cum non maximo præsidio militis Normannici cupide sibi eum præstituerunt, ne manu validiore, si Comes

THE ELECTION AND CORONATION OF EADWARD. 345

Normannicus adveniret, subigerentur." The same version is given in a shorter form in the Chronicle of Saint Wandrille (D'Achery, ii. 286). Eadward, already chosen and crowned King, but hitherto kept out of his Kingdom by Swegen, Cnut, and others, is now restored by Norman help ("in regnum paternum adnitentibus Normannis rediit”).

Henry of Huntingdon (M. H. B. 759 A) mixes up the accession of Eadward with his version of the death of Ælfred (see vol. i. p. 517), which, it will be remembered, he places after the death of Harthacnut. Ælfred had been slain by the English, because he had brought too many Normans with him; the English then send to Normandy, offering the Crown to Eadward, on condition that he brings only a small body of Normans with him ("miserunt ergo pro Edwardo juniore in Normanniam nuntios et obsides, mandantes ei quod paucissimos Normannorum secum adduceret, et eum in Regem fidelissime stabilirent"). Eadward comes over with a small company ("cum paucis venit in Angliam "); he is chosen King by all folk ("electus est in Regem ab omni populo"), and is consecrated at Easter by Eadsige at Winchester.

The Winchester Annals (Luard, pp. 18-20) swells out the story into a long romance; but some points are worthy of notice. On the death of Harthacnut, Godwine is, by a decree of the Witan and with the consent of the Lady Emma ("Reginæ assensu et magnatum consilio "), appointed Regent of the Kingdom till a King can be chosen ("regni cura Comiti Godwino committitur, donec qui dignus esset eligeretur in Regem "). Eadward is in Normandy, where, since the death of Duke Robert, he has no friends; he has no hope from his mother; he determines to trust himself to the mercy of his enemy Godwine (" inter desperandum tutius credebat manifesto supplicare inimico, quam fictum amicum sine caussâ sollicitare"). He comes over to England, he lands at Southampton, he avoids his mother at Winchester, but goes to Godwine in London, and throws himself at the Earl's feet. A long dialogue follows, the upshot of which is that Godwine swears fidelity to Eadward and promises him the Crown. Eadward is sent to Winchester in disguise, and is bidden to reveal himself to no one. Godwine meanwhile summons the Witan to Winchester for the election of a King. They meet in the Old Minster. The Lady Emma seemingly presides; the Archbishops are at her right hand, the Earl of the West-Saxons at her left. Eadward, veiled, sits at the feet of Godwine. At the proper moment Godwine unveils him; Here," he says, "is your King; here is Eadward, son of this Lady Emma and of Ethelred King of the English. I choose him King, and am the first to become his man "("huic ego omnium primus homagium facio"). A debate follows; some object to the choice, but no man dares seriously to oppose Godwine. Eadward is elected and crowned.

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The Hyde writer (pp. 287, 288), like Henry of Huntingdon, connects the accession of Eadward with the death of Ælfred, and, like William of Poitiers, he brings in Duke William as a prominent actor. After Ælfred's death William meditates revenge, but an English embassy comes, praying for another son of Ethelred to be sent to them as their King ("rogant sibi alium dominum-domini?—sui transmitti filium"), and promising him all loyal service. William will not allow his cousin to adventure himself, unless some of the noblest of the English, and especially one of the sons of Godwine, are given to him as hostages. This is done, and Eadward is brought over to England by a Norman fleet.

Lastly, charters exist which imply that Eadward was for a while in Normandy after he had acquired a right to the title of King. At an earlier time he and his brother had subscribed a charter of Duke Robert, with the form "Signum Hetwardi. Signum Helwredi." (Delisle, Preuves, p. 11.) But the cartulary of Saint Michael's Mount contains two charters in which Eadward is called "Rex." I do not rely so much on the charter in Eadward's own name, which is printed in Cod. Dipl. iv. 251, and Delisle, Preuves, 20. It is signed by Robert Archbishop of Rouen, who died in 1037. Now it is really inconceivable that Eadward should call himself King before 1042, unless possibly in some moment of exultation when Duke Robert's fleet was setting forth to restore him. (See vol. i. p. 317.) The matter of the charter also is strange, and the English spelling "Eadwardus" is unusual in a document which must have been drawn up in Normandy. I have more faith in a charter of Duke William (Delisle, Preuves, p. 19), which, among other signatures, has that of "Hatuardus Rex." This looks to me far more likely to be genuine. It is quite conceivable that, if Eadward was asked to witness a charter of his cousin, just as he was leaving Normandy in 1042, he might assume the title, though he was not yet strictly entitled to it by English Law.

The accounts of all these different writers seem to be independent of one another, unless the Hyde version is made up by compounding the story of William of Poitiers with that which we find in Henry of Huntingdon. The mention of the hostages is one form of a story which I shall have elsewhere to discuss at length. All these accounts agree in placing Eadward in Normandy at the moment of Harthacnut's death. William of Malmesbury (ii. 196) however supposes him to have been in England. With this difference, his story is much the same as that of the Winchester Annals stripped of its romantic details. It is probably the groundwork round which that legend has grown. Eadward, not knowing whither to turn after the death of Harthacnut, throws himself at the feet of Godwine, and craves leave to return to Normandy. The Earl raises him, and addresses him in a speech whose substance may well be historical, and to which I have not hesitated to give a place in the text. Eadward promises everything; he will be Godwine's firm friend; he will promote his sons and marry his daughter. The Witan meet at Gillingham; Godwine speaks on behalf of Eadward, and becomes his man ("rationibus suis explicitis, Regem efficit, hominio palam omnibus dato"); the election, the coronation, the punishment of the opponents of Eadward, follow as I have told them in the text.

Now it strikes me that, in these accounts, when carefully compared together, we may find the means of filling up the gap, and of explaining the delay, between the first election and the coronation. In all the versions the time is filled up by negotiation, not by war. In most of them the negotiation is carried on between Eadward and Godwine; in all those which mention Godwine at all, he stands forth as the leading man in the business, in fact as the man who makes Eadward King. We see glimpses of two Assemblies, the former being that hasty Gemót in London which chose Eadward before the burial of Harthacnut, and a later one at Gillingham or elsewhere shortly before the coronation. Again, all the accounts, except that of William of Malmesbury, conceive Eadward as being in Normandy. The inferior writers assert it; the contemporary Biographer clearly implies it. Putting these hints together, I have ventured to construct the

THE ELECTION AND CORONATION OF EADWARD.

347 narrative in the text. Eadward is chosen in London immediately on the death of Harthacnut; as he is absent, an embassy, doubtless headed by Godwine, is sent to offer him the Crown. The case is thus far almost identical with the story of the first election of Eadward's half-brother Harthacnut. Delay is caused in both cases by the election of a King who is absent. Eadward does not indeed tarry so long as Harthacnut did; but his indecision, his unwillingness to accept the Crown, the negotiations which were needed to overcome that unwillingness, cause delay, and give time for an adverse party to form itself. A second Assembly, that recorded by William of Malmesbury, was therefore needed to overcome all objections, and to elect Eadward, now present in person, in a more formal manner. We thus get, from one quarter or another, a credible narrative, which fills up the gap in the Chronicles without contradicting their statements. A few special points must be noticed.

1. We see that most of our statements assert or imply that Eadward was in Normandy. Now it is most certain that Eadward had been recalled to England by Harthacnut (vol. i. p. 349), and that the English court was now his usual dwelling-place. But this is quite consistent with the notion, which I have ventured to throw out in the text, that Eadward was at this moment in Normandy on some temporary visit or pilgrimage. This view explains all the statements. The fact that Eadward was in Normandy at the momentt—a fact which we may surely accept on the credit of the Biographer, to say nothing of the Norman charters quoted above-led careless writers to forget his recall by Harthacnut, and to speak as if he had never left Normandy since the accession of Cnut. On the other hand, the fact of his recall led William of Malmesbury to forget or to disbelieve that he was in Normandy at the time of Harthacnut's death. Then the Winchester Annalist, aware of Eadward's absence, tried to patch it into William's account, which was not an easy matter. That an embassy should be sent to Eadward in Normandy is credible enough. It was also credible that Eadward, if in England, might throw himself into the arms of Godwine. But no story can be more unlikely than that which represents Eadward, when safe in Normandy, as coming of his own accord to England to put himself into the hands of the man whom the same account represents as the murderer of his brother.

2. I accept the second Assembly as the only means of reconciling the different accounts and of meeting the probabilities of the case. And I accept Gillingham as its place, on the authority of William of Malmesbury. It is true that one of William's manuscripts places it in London, while the Winchester Annalist transfers it to his own city and his own church. The universal law of criticism comes in here. If a thing happened either in London or at Winchester, no transcriber or copyist would be likely to remove it to Gillingham. But nothing was more natural than for a transcriber to alter Gillingham into London, if he thought that he could thereby bring his text into conformity with the Chronicles. The Winchester writer would have every motive to confound the Gemót at Gillingham with the consecration which shortly followed at Winchester. The very strangeness of the choice of Gillingham for such an Assembly is the best proof that it is the right place. By Gillingham, I may add, William of Malmesbury must have meant the West-Saxon Gillingham, already mentioned in his history (ii. 180). The Kentish Gillingham would connect itself more naturally with the Biographer's statement of a coronation at

Canterbury, but the other is the more obvious place for a Meeting which was followed by a coronation at Winchester.

3. The reader must judge for himself as to the amount of value to be attached to the statements of William of Poitiers and the Hyde writer as to the influence of the Duke of the Normans in the matter. It must not be forgotten that in 1042 William was only fourteen years old, and in the midst of the troubles of his minority. It is quite possible that William or his advisers may, perhaps even then with some vague designs on the English Crown, have pressed the acceptance of that Crown on Eadward. And, in any case, the story could hardly have arisen, unless embassies of some sort had passed between England and Normandy in the course of the business. It so far falls in with my view of Eadward's position.

4. The statement of the Biographer that Eadward was crowned at Canterbury seems at first sight very strange. There can be no doubt that the final ceremony took place at Winchester. That the Biographer's account is rhetorical and somewhat confused is no more than his usual fashion. But it would be strange if a contemporary made a mistake on a point of this kind. The only conjecture that I can offer is that the ceremony was performed twice. Coronations were sometimes repeated in those days, and the motive for repeating the rite in Eadward's case is perfectly intelligible. The first coronation at Canterbury was an attempt to confirm the first election in London. In the eyes of those who rejected that election, a second coronation as well as a second election was needed. And if we read the Biographer's account narrowly, it is plain that he distinguishes between the ceremony at Canterbury, which he evidently looks on as happening immediately on Eadward's landing, and the reception of the foreign ambassadors, which takes place when the news had reached foreign courts (“exhilaratus quod eum in paternâ sede inthronizatum dedicerat”). But their reception must surely be placed at the final and solemn consecration at Winchester. A twofold coronation, as well as a twofold Gemót, will solve all difficulties.

There is one more point to be discussed. According to William of Malmesbury, there was an opposition, seemingly a rather strong one, made to Eadward's election. He does not say on whose behalf the objection was brought. But it is hardly possible that it could have been made on behalf of any one except Swegen Estrithson. The English writers indeed make no mention of Swegen in the matter, but in Adam of Bremen we find what may pass as Swegen's own version. Adam knew the Danish King personally (ii. 73), and he probably put on record what Swegen told him. It will be remembered that, just at the moment of Harthacnut's death, Swegen was in Denmark, carrying on the war with Magnus (see vol. i. p. 353). Adam then goes on thus;

"Suein, victus a Magno, quum in Angliam remearet, Hardechnut mortuum repperit. In cujus locum Angli prius elegerunt fratrem ejus Eduardum, quem de priori marito Imma genuit; vir sanctus et timens Deum. Isque suspectum habens Suein, quod sceptrum sibi Anglòrum reposceret, cum tyranno pacem fecit, constituens eum proximum se mortuo regni Anglorum hæredem, vel si filios susceperit. Tali pacto mitigatus Suein in Daniam remeavit." (ii. 74.)

I may here note that the word "prius" in this passage distinctly refers to the first election in London. And, whether we believe Swegen's story