Edward the Confessor: life of the week

Hello and welcome to Life of the Week, where leading historians delve into the lives of some of history's most intriguing and significant figures, from ancient Egyptian pharaohs and medieval warriors to daring 20th century spies. Edward the Confessor, England's penultimate Anglo-Saxon king, has long been remembered as a saintly pious monarch. but some sources would have us believe he was also the weak ruler whose indecision paved the way for the Norman conquest. Is that fair on Edward? And if not, how should we understand him?

I spoke to historian Tom Licence to explore the life of this medieval monarch, from his early years in exile and his ambitions for the crown, to the subsequent political challenges he faced that ultimately shaped the fate of England. Thank you so much for joining me to talk all things Edward the Confessor. Edward is famed for events surrounding his death in 1066, but we're going to be tracing his life story from the very beginning. So can you give us a top-line 60-second introduction to Edward for those who might be familiar with the name but not actually know much about him? Certainly, well, he was the son of the English King Ethelred, better known as Ethelred the Unready, and of the Norman Emma, sister of the Duke of Normandy, so he's half English, half Norman, from an ancient line of English kings of Wessex, born about the year 1005, driven into exile in 1016 when the

Danes come over and conquer England, spends a long time in Normandy in exile at the court of the Dukes of Normandy, until 1041, when he comes back to England, reigns on the throne for 24 years, dies at the beginning of 1066, and the throne passes to Harold. Perfect. Now these are all key moments that we are going to be chatting about. But before we really delve into Edward's life, Could you explain to us what was the situation in England in the beginning of the 11th century?

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