Vita Ædwardi Regis
The Vita Ædwardi Regis qui apud Westmonasterium Requiescit (Life of King Edwards, who rests in Westminster), also simply as Vita Ædwardi Regis, is a biography of the English King Edward the Confessor , written by an unknown author around 1067. The script was commissioned by the Anglo-Saxon king's widow Edith von Wessex , who was also the sister of the immediate heir to the throne, Harald Godwinson . The work was created at least partially after the conquest of England by the Norman Duke Wilhelm . The author is unknown. However, it is certainly a member of Queen Edith's household, who was from Flemish. Possible candidates are Goscelin and Folcard, both monks of the Saint Bertin department in Saint-Omer.
The text consists of two parts. The first deals with England in the decades before the Norman conquest in 1066. It also goes into detail about the activities of the Godwin family, of which Edith of Wessex was the daughter of Jarl Godwin . The second part deals with the holiness of King Edward. It is likely that the two parts were originally planned independently. The first part is a secular history, while the second part is more hagiographic.
Time of origin
The historian Frank Barlow describes the dating of the Vita as relatively easy. The last historical event referred to in the text is the Battle of Hastings in October 1066, and work on the text must have been completed before Archbishop Stigand was deposed and the king's widow Edith died. The two events take place in 1070 and 1075. Edith von Wessex, who is also discussed as a possible client of the Bayeuxs tapestry , had a work created with the Vita in which her husband Eduard, her father Godwin von Wessex and her brothers in particular Tostig and Harald Godwinson were celebrated. A vita that her predecessor Emma von der Normandie had written with Encomium Emmae Reginae possibly served as a model for the Queen's commission . The author of the Vita had access to information that can only be explained by a member of the royal household. There is evidence that part of the first part was written during King Edward's lifetime. He still plays a relatively minor role in the first volume, much larger parts are dedicated to Edith, her father and her brothers. After the events in 1066, when Edith's brother Harald ascended the English throne after Edward's death, he successfully repelled a Scandinavian attack at the Battle of Stamford Bridge , but a few weeks later he was defeated by the Duke of Normandy and together with two of his brothers in battle von Hastings fell, whereupon William the Conqueror ascended the English throne, work on the first volume was probably interrupted and only later incorporated into a volume more dedicated to King Edward.
The second part of the vita is relatively short and names a number of miracles or miracle-like events that underline Edward's holiness. This part was almost certainly written before Archbishop Stigand was deposed. The historian Frank Barlow believes that it was likely to be built in 1067.
supporting documents
literature
- Barlow, Frank (2004), "Folcard (d. After 1085), monk, musician, and hagiographer," Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/9783 , accessed Aug. July 2009
- Barlow, Frank, ed. (1992), The Life of King Edward who Rests at Westminster Attributed to a Monk of Saint-Bertin (second ed.), Oxford: Clarendon Press, ISBN 0-19-820203-2
- Gransden, Antonia (1997), Historical Writing in England, 1, c. 550 – c.1307, London: Routledge, ISBN 0-415-15124-4
- Grassi, JL (2003), "The Vita Ædwardi Regis: The Hagiographer as Insider", in Gillingham, John, Anglo-Norman Studies: Proceedings of the Battle Conference, XXVI, Woodbridge: Boydell & Brewer, pp. 87-102, ISBN 1-84383-072-8 , ISSN 0954-9927 , http://www.battleconference.com/battle/43830728.HTM