Anglo-Saxon Chronicle: 11th Century England & Norman Conquest

The Worcester Chronicle: 11th Century England

A Pivotal Historical Source

This fragment is from a bilingual edition of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, one of only two sources documenting English history from the Roman period to the Norman Conquest. It was originally written in Old English, the language introduced to England by Anglo-Saxon culture.

During the 9th century, King Alfred the Great promoted Old English as a literary and cultural language (Latin had, until then, been considered of higher value). He organized the Scholarly Circle, which began translating and writing in Old English for the first time. As a result, the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle was compiled: a historical chronicle written year by year, organized into annals, containing a vast amount of information.

Entries on the Norman Conquest

This fragment contains two entries: one from the year 1065 and another from 1066. These represent the year preceding and the starting year of the Norman Conquest of England. The Anglo-Saxons settled in England in the 5th century.

King Edward the Confessor's Legacy

In the 11th century, the Anglo-Saxon King Edward the Confessor reigned. A very devout Christian, he was raised in Normandy, being the son of Æthelred the Unready and Emma of Normandy. King Edward is mentioned in the first entry of this text. Edward had built Westminster Abbey and traveled there for religious purposes; it was also where he was buried after his death, a practice followed by many subsequent members of the English Royal family. The chronicler then composed lines honoring the deceased king.

Anglo-Saxon Poetic Tradition

In the original text, these lines form a poem reflecting Anglo-Saxon poetic characteristics: each line presents two hemistichs with a medial pause or caesura, employing alliteration and stress rather than rhymes or stanzas. For example: ...

Themes: Unity, Piety, and Comitatus

In the poem, the writer refers to the king as 'lord of the English,' emphasizing his role as the last Anglo-Saxon king who reigned over a united England. He symbolized nationalism and unity against the impending invaders, a stark contrast to the preceding divisive system of the Heptarchy. He also refers to the king as 'noble ruler' or 'the wise one.' These varied forms of address not only praise the monarch but also serve as stylistic variation, avoiding repetition.

Furthermore, the text is rich with religious expressions ('he sent his soothfast soul to Christ'), highlighting the king's profound piety and inferring the poet's own faith. In the 11th century, cultural knowledge and scholarly work were primarily managed by religious men.

The king is also said to have 'dispensed wealth,' reflecting the Anglo-Saxon concept of comitatus: every Anglo-Saxon citizen protected the king at all costs, and in return, the king protected his people.