King & Saint

The biography of England's penultimate Anglo-Saxon king, Edward the Confessor

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Long overshadowed by the historic events that followed his death, this is the story of England's penultimate Anglo-Saxon king: Edward the Confessor. Often depicted by posthumous accounts as a virginal, pious simpleton, Edward was in fact a devious, wily king who struggled to control his violent temper. As a young man in 1016 he fought against the Danish king Canute's invasion of England; as an ageing, childless monarch he cunningly played off his potential rivals and successors to his advantage, using the prize of the throne as leverage.

Despite his reign of peace and prosperity and the transfer of power to the eminently capable Harold, the death of Edward in January 1066 preceded by mere months the end of the Anglo-Saxon Era. Often blamed for the crisis that prompted the invasions of 1066, Edward's alleged nomination of William 'the Conqueror' can finally be exposed as Norman propaganda, and the patron saint's reputation as a warrior, statesman and diplomat adequately restored.