Aethelstan

Download or read book Athelstan (Penguin Monarchs) written by Tom Holland and published by Penguin UK. This book was released on 2016-06-30 with total page 127 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The formation of England occurred against the odds: an island divided into rival kingdoms, under savage assault from Viking hordes. But, after King Alfred ensured the survival of Wessex and his son Edward expanded it, his grandson Athelstan inherited the rule of both Mercia and Wessex, conquered Northumbria and was hailed as Rex totius Britanniae: 'King of the whole of Britain'. Tom Holland recounts this extraordinary story with relish and drama, transporting us back to a time of omens, raven harbingers and blood-red battlefields. As well as giving form to the figure of Athelstan - devout, shrewd, all too aware of the precarious nature of his power, especially in the north - he introduces the great figures of the age, including Alfred and his daughter Aethelflaed, 'Lady of the Mercians', who brought Athelstan up at the Mercian court. Making sense of the family rivalries and fractious conflicts of the Anglo-Saxon rulers, Holland shows us how a royal dynasty rescued their kingdom from near-oblivion and fashioned a nation that endures to this day.

Download or read book The Age of Athelstan written by Paul Hill and published by Revealing History (Paperback). This book was released on 2004 with total page 252 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In an age of evocative names like Eric Bloodaxe and Egil Skallagrimson, one name has been lost in the mists of time: that of Athelstan, ruler of all Britain. From the first raids of the Vikings on the shores of Britain and Ireland, the book traces the response to the threat across the Anglo-Saxon and Celtic worlds. The rise of the kingdom of the Anglo-Saxons, and later, of the English, built from the debris of Viking destruction, is analysed in detail and compared to the struggle for independence in Northumbria.

Download or read book Learning and Literature in Anglo-Saxon England written by Michael Lapidge and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 1985 with total page 494 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An collection of essays by specialists in the field examining Anglo-Saxon learning and text interpretation and transmission.

Download or read book AEthelstan written by Sarah Foot and published by Yale University Press. This book was released on 2011-07-12 with total page 487 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The powerful and innovative King AEthelstan reigned only briefly (924-939), yet his achievements during those eventful fifteen years changed the course of English history. He won spectacular military victories (most notably at Brunanburh), forged unprecedented political connections across Europe, and succeeded in creating the first unified kingdom of the English. To claim for him the title of "first English monarch" is no exaggeration.In this nuanced portrait of AEthelstan, Sarah Foot offers the first full account of the king ever written. She traces his life through the various spheres in which he lived and worked, beginning with the intimate context of his family, then extending outward to his unusual multiethnic royal court, the Church and his kingdom, the wars he conducted, and finally his death and legacy. Foot describes a sophisticated man who was not only a great military leader but also a worthy king. He governed brilliantly, developed creative ways to project his image as a ruler, and devised strategic marriage treaties and gift exchanges to cement alliances with the leading royal and ducal houses of Europe. AEthelstan's legacy, seen in the new light of this masterful biography, is inextricably connected to the very forging of England and early English identity.

Download or read book Straw Men written by Paul Doherty and published by Severn House Publishers Ltd. This book was released on 2013-03-01 with total page 228 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Medieval mystery fans have cause for rejoicing with the return of Brother Athelstan" Booklist on Bloodstone January, 1381.As guests of the Regent, John of Gaunt, Brother Athelstan and Sir John Cranston have been attending a mystery play performed by the Straw Men, Gaunt’s personal acting troupe, in St John’s Chapel in the Tower of London when the evening’s entertainment is rudely interrupted by sudden, violent death. Who would have the audacity to murder two of Gaunt’s VIP guests and the wherewithal to strategically position two severed heads on the stage without being noticed? The Regent orders Athelstan to find out. Could there really be a spy at the heart of the royal court? Could it be the work of the Upright Men, the band of rebels led by Wat Tyler? Could there be a connection with the mysterious female prisoner Gaunt has locked up in the Tower? Whose are the severed heads and what is their significance? Athelstan is about to tackle his most baffling case yet.

Download or read book The Stone of Destiny written by Paul Doherty and published by Severn House Publishers Ltd. This book was released on 2021-02-01 with total page 223 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A series of grisly deaths are linked to the sacred Stone of Scone in this compelling medieval mystery featuring friar-sleuth Brother Athelstan. "This abbey is a strange place, Brother Athelstan. A hall of ghosts, a place of flitting shadows. The dead throng here. I can hear them whispering as they ride the air." During the harsh winter of 1381 murder stalks the streets of London in all its grisly forms. The city's prostitutes are falling prey to a silent, deadly assassin known as The Flayer who carefully peels his victims' skins for his collection. At the same time, Westminster Abbey, which houses the sacred Stone of Scone, is plagued by a series of hideous poisonings. Could there be a connection between these brutally violent deaths and the stone, which the English crown cherishes as a symbol of its rule over Scotland? Then there are the two former Upright Men, leaders of the Great Revolt, who are found mysteriously hanged in the Piebald Tavern, close to Brother Athelstan's parish church of St Erconwald - and Athelstan is faced with his most baffling investigation to date. Can he navigate this deadly maze of murder and intrigue and pull the various threads together?

Download or read book Herald of Hell written by Paul Doherty and published by Severn House Publishers Ltd. This book was released on 2015-12-20 with total page 223 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A medieval mystery featuring sleuthing monk Brother Athelstan May, 1381. The Great Revolt draws ever nearer. The Upright Men openly roam the streets of London, waiting for the violence to begin. Their mysterious envoy, the Herald of Hell, appears at night all over the city, striking terror into the hearts of those who oppose them. But who is he? When his chancery clerk is found hanged in a notorious Southwark brothel, the ruthless Thibault, John of Gaunt’s Master of Secrets, summons Brother Athelstan to investigate. Did Amaury Whitfield really kill himself following a visit from the terrifying Herald of Hell? Athelstan is unconvinced. In the dead man’s possession was a manuscript containing a great secret which he had been striving to decipher. If he could only unlock the cipher and interpret the messages being carried to the so-called Herald of Hell, Athelstan would be one step closer to catching the killer. But can he crack the code before the Great Revolt begins?