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Edward the Confessor: Last of the Royal Blood

Online ISBN:
9780300255584
Print ISBN:
9780300211542
Publisher:
Yale University Press
Book

Edward the Confessor: Last of the Royal Blood

Tom Licence
Tom Licence
University of East Anglia
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Published online:
21 January 2021
Published in print:
29 September 2020
Online ISBN:
9780300255584
Print ISBN:
9780300211542
Publisher:
Yale University Press

Abstract

One of the last kings of Anglo-Saxon England, Edward the Confessor regained the throne for the House of Wessex and is the only English monarch to have been canonized. Often cast as a reluctant ruler, easily manipulated by his in-laws, he has been blamed for causing the invasion of 1066—the last successful conquest of England by a foreign power. This book navigates the contemporary webs of political deceit to present a strikingly different Edward. He was a compassionate man and conscientious ruler, whose reign marked an interval of peace and prosperity between periods of strife. More than any monarch before, he exploited the mystique of royalty to capture the hearts of his subjects. This book provides a much-needed reassessment of Edward's reign—calling into doubt the legitimacy of his successors and rewriting the ending of Anglo-Saxon England.

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