The Anglo-Saxon Chronicals
A source that has become more relevant as I look deeper into the History of Belchamp Walter is The Anglo-Saxon Chronicals.
Along with many medieval historians, mainly monks, the Chronicals narate the history of the country from the time of Alfred the Great (9th century) to the end of King Stephens reign (the start of Henry II). The Chronicals say little about the Norman Conquest, in relation to say William of Poitiers, but does cover the period of the 12th century in more detail. It could be a clue to the events that led to the earls descending from the Normal Conquistadors and the reasons for Magna Carta and the Barons Revolt.
The interest in The Anglo-Saxon Chronicals has been prompted of late due to David Michell's book - Unruly. Here David starts with the myth of King Arthur and then goes on to discuss some of the possible monarchs that preceeded William the Conqueror.
I have a copy of Anne Savage's "modern" translation and there is a Gutenberg version on-line of the J. A. Giles and J. Ingram translation from 1823 and 1847. Both are collations of the nine known fragments that have been discovered. The Gutenberg translation gives the references to these.
Some names from the Anglo-Saxon era
David Mitchell throws in a few names which do turn up in the Chronicals:
- Vortigern
- Hengist and Horsa
- Wehha
- Aescwine
- Aelle
- Aella,
- Icel
- and Cerdic
David continues his narative with a discussion starting with Vortigern
- Ælfgifu - aelfgifu
- Cnut
- Emma
The 904 date on the Millenium Village Sign
This has always been a puzzle to me.
883 AD Pope Marinus sent King Alfred the "lignum Domini" ('Wood of the Lord') - something to do with the Brussels Cross
Note on Artificial Intelligence and Copywrite
Having taken great pains to ensure that Google index my pages and that they result in Impressions for those making searches for names and places that I have featured on my pages, I must say that I lot of what I have on this page is an interpretation of David Michell's book.
My prime goal in this endeavour is to expand on the history of Belchamp Walter for anyone making a search for it.
My secondary goal is to understand how Chritianity took hold in the way that it did, particuarly in respect to Great Britain and the UK.
The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle is a collection of annals in Old English, chronicling the history of the Anglo-Saxons. The original manuscript of the Chronicle was created late in the ninth century, probably in Wessex, during the reign of Alfred the Great (r. 871–899). Its content, which incorporated sources now otherwise lost dating from as early as the seventh century, is known as the "Common Stock" of the Chronicle.[2] Multiple copies were made of that one original and then distributed to monasteries across England, where they were updated, partly independently. These manuscripts collectively are known as the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. Almost all of the material in the Chronicle is in the form of annals, by year; the earliest is dated at 60 BC (the annals' date for Caesar's invasions of Britain). In one case, the Chronicle was still being actively updated in 1154.