Yesterday was the anniversary of the Battle of Hastings, where Harold II was defeated (and killed) by forces led by William the Conqueror. And everybody knows that means that Harold was succeeded on the English throne by William I, right?
Well, not exactly.
After Harold’s death, a group of nobles got together and on October 15, 1066, elected 15-year-old Edgar Ætheling as king, probably because anyone who could pull off that combined AE letter like Julius Cæsar could was good enough to be king. Maybe there were other reasons. I don’t know.
Anyway, Edgar became king, not William. Of course, William didn’t care, and marched on London, where he took over in early December, and was crowned on Christmas Day in 1066.
So, while only king for less than two months, Edgar II did get to be king for a little while. And, unlike many who are king and then suddenly not, Edgar lived on for a bit. For around 60 more years, in fact. He went to Scotland, fought on against William for a bit, went to Italy, went on the First Crusade, and just had a big old time. He outlived William I and William II, and died a quarter century into the reign of Henry I.
I may want to read up more on this king I didn’t know about.
Oh wait. I just did. Never mind.
Cool. Never read this before (that I remember anyway); and I had a good History of Britain to 1688 professor.
I remember that just before William’s conquest there was a British king called Ethelred the Unready, which I thought was a pretty prescient name.
But some historian explained that word, “unready,” did not mean what I thought it did. It had to do with “reed,” advice or book learning, and him not having it.
So is this the person who created the “King for a day” show?