A Chronological History of Britain
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After the traitorous murder of King Gruffydd, Harold returned to England victorious… and as for Wales. Well, their King had been assassinated and their lands were carved up between rival nobles who were subservient to England.
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Up in the hills of Snowdonia, pinned between the sea and the English midlands, King Gruffydd fought against the invading forces of the Godwinsons. And he was giving the English such a hard time that even the Life of King Edward admits it in the record.
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Earl AElfgar and his alliance with King Gruffydd of Wales was likely the one true barrier that stood between Harold Godwinson and the throne of England.
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On the year 1059, there is an enigmatic entry in the Welsh Chronicle.
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Water, and the ability to control water ways, was an important aspect in the Welsh imagination. In fact, the importance of Welsh power on the seas even appears in the Mabinogion.
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Things are moving quickly in our story, now. Pieces are moving into place, and the board is shifting rapidly. Thanks to the benefit of hindsight, we can see where this is going and see how these events are leading to a calamity in just a few years.
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For the first time in a long time, Wales was experiencing a time of internal peace, thanks in large part to its unification under King Gruffydd.
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1055 had been an absolutely crazy year. But, for the Godwinsons, it hadn’t been all bad. Having clearly given up on King Edward, Queen Edith was now fully on team Godwinson and bending all of her political and diplomatic talent towards advancing her brother’s positions…and since then they’d made significant advancements with large numbers of lands coming under their family’s control.
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Earl AElfgar was having a rough time. The clergy and local lords of East Anglia had never really warmed up to him since his appointment to the post in 1053. Their loyalty to Harold went so deep that we can still see evidence of their loyalty to the House of Godwin in surviving records.
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If I could interview one figure from this period, I think it would be Queen Edith.
That woman had a WEIRD life. She was married off to a King. Then she watched that King try to destroy her family…As thanks she got stuffed into a nunnery by said King… then got to watch as her family utterly spanked the King in a pirate fuelled civil war. Was finally pulled out of the nunnery only to get dropped right back where she started. In the King’s bedchamber.