Edward the Confessor Crowned

'There remained betwixt Cedric and the determination which the lovers desired to come to, only two obstacles,— his own obstinacy, and his dislike of the Norman dynasty. The former feeling gradually gave way before the endearments of his ward, and the pride which he could not help nourishing in the fame of his son. Besides, he was not insensible to the honour of allying his own line to that of Alfred, when the superior claims of the descendant of Edward the Confessor were abandoned for ever. Cedric's aversion to the Norman race of kings was also much undermined,—first, by consideration of the impossibility of ridding England of the new dynasty, a feeling which goes far to create loyalty in the subject to the king de facto; and secondly, by the personal attention of King Richard, who delighted in the blunt humour of Cedric, and, to use the language of the Wardour Manuscript, so dealt with the noble Saxon, that, ere he had been a guest at court for seven days, he had given his consent to the marriage of his ward Rowena and his son Wilfred of Ivanhoe.'

The text above is from Walter Scott's "Ivanhoe".  Edward the Confessor was crowned king of England on April 3, 1043.  Upon his death, Harold Godwinson, the last Saxon king took power.  His rule lasted just long enough to run up against William the Conqueror, who ushered in the Norman era in England that, against the Saxons, forms the clash of culture in "Ivanhoe".

Saxon + Norman = English

From Scott's Ivanhoe:

"...it was not until the reign of Edward the Third that the mixed language now termed English, was spoken at the court of London, and that the hostile distinction of Norman and Saxon seems entirely to have disappeared..."

The last king of the House of Wessex, Edward III, died on January 5, 1066.  Edward reigned for roughly 24 years.  Edward favored Normans at his court, which was a cause of discontent with his powerful father-in-law, Godwin, Earl of Wessex.  Wessex is the traditional stronghold of the Anglo Saxon monarchy.  Edward himself was the son of Emma of Normandy, and he had spent time in Normandy in his youth.

Edward's death led to the short-lived reign of Harold II, the last Anglo-Saxon king before the Norman invasion.  Harold reigned from Edward's death to October 14, 1066, when he was killed at the Battle of Hastings, and William the Conqueror took England.

Saint Margaret, Queen of Scotland

Today's feature is a person who is recognized as a saint in both the Catholic and Anglican faiths. Margaret is the third reference reported on in the past week from a related timeframe, and group of sovereigns. Margaret was the second wife of King Malcolm III. She arrived in Scotland through unusual circumstances. In 1066, her uncle, King (and Saint) Edward (the Confessor) died. Margaret's brother Edgar Aetheling made an attempt at claiming the throne. When William the Conqueror took England instead, Margaret's mother, Agatha, felt it was in the family's best interest to leave England for hte continent. Their boat was driven by a storm to Scotland, where Malcolm III protected them, later marrying Margaret.

Margaret and Malcolm married in 1070, at the Castle of Dunfermline. Margaret later established Dunfermline Abbey, which is one point of connection with Sir Walter Scott's works.

Margeret died on November 16, 1093, three days after hearing the news of her husband Malcolm's and son Edward's deaths at the Battle of Alnwick. Malcolm's son Duncan from his previous marriage took the Scottish throne after Malcolm died, only to be murdered, nearly a year to the day after Malcolm died. Three of Margaret and Malcolm's eight children (Edgar, Alexander I, David I) successively ascended the Scottish throne after Duncan II's death.