Edward the Confessor

Did Edward the confessor make William the conqueror his heir before his death England has been characterised by not having principles that were clearly established to guide matters related with royal succession. In the Anglo-Saxon era, lack of these principles often made succession matters ambiguous and often bloody, considering that England was enjoying military might, harboured expansionist ambitions and was under constant threat from neighbouring kingdoms such as Normandy. Heirs played a pertinent and pivotal role in ensuring that the royal bloodline of the monarchs was preserved, yet intermarriages and childlessness often complicated the smooth transition of power once a king passed on. However, lack in succession guidelines often fomented rivalry for the throne among the male children in the extended royal family. Usually, a king displayed preference for his preferred successor by allowing eligible male relatives, sons included, to participate in royal charters and gain titles to significant pieces of land in the English kingdom. Notably, King Edward the confessor remained childless throughout his reign despite being married to Edith, a daughter of one of the three earls who remained in England while the kingdom was under Danish rule. As such, by the time of his death in 1066, King Edward has not sired an heir and as such, his vacant throne become contestable and even invited controversy and conflict as well. Indeed, the throne…

unexpectedly and handed him the throne when he was only eight years old. Feudal barons saw his young age as a huge advantage to try and seize the crown. Mini wars waged as they fought for control of Normandy. Young William had no one to turn to, especially after his personal tutor was murdered. Clearly, he had a happy childhood. King Henry I of France took pity on him and gently prodded him along, teaching him how to rule and helped him survive the treacherous time period. In 1042, William…

worst outcome happened. My father died when I was only 8 years old, leaving me fatherless. Now, I was the new duke. Being a leading figure as a young kid was not easy, as I was the ruler of Normandy in France. Thankfully, King Henry I helped me out a bunch. Later when I was 15, I was rewarded by becoming a knight. Knights were very respected and still are today. I wasn’t taunted with my nickname anymore after all this power. Man, did it feel good. As an adult, I married my lovely wife…

rule (which included Northumbria and Mercia.) Furthermore, this event hold much symbolism and shows the attitudes towards Edgar, and therefore his authority. In the ‘Chronicon ex chronicis’ it accounts that after eight kings swore fealty to Edgar at Chester, including the king of Scotland and the king of Northumbria, they then rowed him along the river Dee as a show of Edgar’s superiority. Most notably, it is mentioned that Edgar simply steered the boat whilst the rest did his bidding and…

Edward Abbey's Great American Desert Environmentalist and desert-lover, Edward Abbey in his essay “The Great American Desert” warns readers about the perilous dangers of the American deserts while simultaneously stirring curiosity about these fascinating ecosystems. He both invites and dissuades his readers from visiting the deserts of North America through the use of humor and sarcasm. In this essay, he is rhetorically successful in arguing that the open spaces of the undeveloped deserts…

but as of 2008 when someone says the thing most often thought of are the werewolves from the Twilight Saga. In my opinion Professor Lupin from the harry potter series is my favorite of them all. Examples of werewolves from TV series are ones in True Blood, Teen Wolf and Vampire Diaries. Which brings us to the other end of the spectrum, Bram Stokers Dracula is probably the most often thought of example when someone hears of a vampire. Slicked back, black hair, with a flowing red cape and pale…

places anyone could ever suspect. Also, when Joseph Conrad states, “It was difficult to realize that his [the Director of Companies] work was not out there in the luminous estuary, but behind him, within the brooding gloom.” (Joseph Conrad, 2) he speaks of the working conditions to have the same terror and horror. This quotation allows the reader to understand that the working environments of the company may not be as normal or bright but have a darker side to it, which may represent the horror…

Postcolonial theory is built in large part around the concept of otherness. There are however problems with or complexities to the concept of otherness, for instance: otherness includes doubleness, both identity and difference, so that every other , every different than and excluded by is dialectically created and includes the values and meaning of the colonizing culture even as it rejects its power to define; the western concept of the oriental is based, as Abdul Jan Mohamed argues, on the…

The origin of Postcolonial criticism was marked, in the late 1970s and early 1980s, by critics’ efforts to “undermine the text of colonial authority as well as to install a distance from the concepts of anticolonialist theory” (Parry, 2004: 67). It was referred to as ‘colonial discourse analysis’. Postcolonial criticism emerged with Edward W. Said’s Orientalism, it acquired the name ‘postcolonialism’ in the late 1980s. It is concerned with historical, political, cultural and textual outcomes of…

In the extract from the essay ’’The new empire within Britain’’ Salman Rushdie, an Indian born Briton and author, explores the subjects of institutional racism, the subconscious racist nature of the English language and the stains that the time of imperialism has left on the British mentality. To gather Rushdie’s main thesis, one need only to look at the title: “The New Empire within Britain”. Rushdie states: “It sometimes seems that the British authorities, no longer capable of exporting…