Hywel Dda

Hywel ap Cadell was known as Hywel Dda ("Howel the Good"), a Welsh king who accomplished so much that his name is attached to the government of Wales even now.

His father was Cadell ap Rhodri (854–909), king of Seisyllwg from 872 until his death in 909, when it passed to Hywel. A few years before Cadell's death, he and Hywel had conquered the kingdom of Dyfed, and Hywel ruled a combined Seisyllwg and Dyfed, calling it Deheubarth.

Controlling a large part of Wales made Hywel a force to be reckoned with, but rather than fight the Anglo-Saxons, he made an alliance with them. Edward the Elder (King of the Anglo-Saxons from 899 to 924) and Hywel joined forces to fight Vikings. Another first for a Welsh leader was Hywel's pilgrimage to Rome in 928.

He continued an alliance with Edward the Elder's son, Æthelstan. Æthelstan wanted to rule the entire island of Britain, but Hywel's voluntary alliance or "submission" to Æthelstan meant he was not subject to attack or even scrutiny, while Æthelstan focused on conquering the territories to the north. Hywel supported Æthelstan's invasion of Scotland in 934, for instance.

When another of Edward the Elder's sons, Edmund, became king, Hywel's cousin Idwal, King of Gwynedd, took a stand for Welsh independence and raised an army against English forces in 942. Idwal was killed fighting against Edmund, and Hywel was able to prevent (with Edmund's approval) the throne of Gwynedd from going to Idwal's sons. Hywel exiled the sons and made himself ruler of Gwynedd, putting him in control of almost all of Wales.

The modern Welsh parliament, the Senedd Cymru, is housed in a building called Tŷ Hywel, which means "Hywel House." The original assembly chamber (now outgrown) is Siambr Hywel ("Hywel's Chamber"). Why is his name honored this way a thousand years after he ruled? I'll explain his impact on Welsh governance tomorrow.

Æthelstan's Reign, Part 2

Like his grandfather Alfred the Great (and to a lesser extent his father, Edward the Elder), Æthelstan had close ties to the Church.

He not only made bishops out of some of his close friends, but also made friends out of bishops and priests who were welcome at royal feasts and who were invited into the assemblies where he heard disputes and made decrees.

Æthelstan was a great collector of holy relics, and showed great respect to shrines. When he invaded Scotland in 934, he took along 18 bishops. When he reached the market town of Chester-le-Street, he paid his respects to the shrine of St. Cuthbert, presenting gifts including a stole and maniple for use of the priests who maintained the shrine. (This was before Cuthbert's final resting place at Durham Cathedral.)

His interest in relics was described as þæt he mid þam gewytendlicum madmum, þa unateoridenlican madmas begitan sceolde, Old English for "that he should use his ‘transitory treasures’ to obtain ‘everlasting ones'." The idea was that venerating and preserving these holy relics would help him get into Heaven, so he sent men out to find them. Keepers of shrines also sent him some.

He donated to churches, but did not found as many as the later legends suggest. His reputation in this area seems to have exceeded the evidence that some churches were founded during his reign as they believe in their local histories. Æthelstan also made donations to churches outside of England. When a delegation went to the court of Holy Roman Emperor Otto I with two of Æthelstan's half-sisters, so that Otto could pick one as a wife (he chose the 19-year-old Eadgyth over the older Eadgifu), the priest accompanying the delegation continued throughout Germany, visiting monasteries and presenting gifts from Æthelstan. In exchange they were asked to pray for the king.

Unfortunately, Æthelstan's kingship did not last very long after he united England, and I'll go into his final days tomorrow.

Charles the (Not) Simple

Charles the Simple

Charles III, called "the Simple" (from Latin Carolus Simplex) was a King of Francia (what we think of today as France) and Lotharingia (what we think of today as the Rhineland, western Switzerland, and the Low Countries).

He was born 17 September 879, the third son of Louis the Stammerer (son of Charles the Bald) and Adelaide of Paris. His father died before Charles was born, and Charles might have succeeded him as king, but his cousin Charles the Fat was put on the throne by the nobility. When Charles the Fat was deposed in 887—he was increasingly seen as spineless after paying off the Vikings and showing little inclination to military solutions—the nobility again skipped over Charles in favor of Odo of Paris. Eventually, however, a faction within Francia decided that Charles the Simple should be made the rightful ruler; he was crowned king in 893, but only assumed the throne once Odo died in 898.

Charles negotiated with the Vikings whom Charles the Fat had paid off. In exchange for peace, he granted them lands on the continent. Their leader, Rollo, was baptized and married Charles' daughter, Gisela. Their heirs became the Dukes of Normandy, leading eventually to William the Conqueror.

Charles himself married (for the second time) to Eadgifu, a daughter of the English King Edward the Elder. Their son was the future King Louis IV of France.

The initial opposition to Charles was not due to the nickname. Although we translate Carolus Simplex as "Charles the Simple," the adjective has become...umm..."simplified" over time. When attached to Charles, it did not mean he was unintelligent; rather, that he was straightforward and direct, acting without subterfuge or guile.

But this quality did not endear him to everyone. Not everyone appreciated giving territory to the Vikings, or some of his other decisions. Odo's brother Robert became the fiscal point for revolt in 922, and Charles had to flee. Returning with a Norman army, he was defeated on 15 June 923, captured and imprisoned, where he died on 7 October 929. Eadgifu fled to England when the revolt took place, but her son Louis would return to become king of France in 936.