Edward the Confessor by David Woodman

Author:David Woodman [Woodman, David]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780241383025
Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd
Published: 2020-11-05T00:00:00+00:00

It is clear from the details in this vision and the way in which they are expressed that reference is being made to the cataclysmic events that transpired with the Norman conquest, and that the author must therefore be writing this part of the text in full knowledge of how things turned out after Edward had died. In discussing the prophecy further, the author comments that Edward’s vision (of the green tree) was unlikely to be fulfilled: no tree, split into parts in the way described, could ever be made whole and healthy once again without some kind of intervention. The allegorical message is that, for as long as the English people would not repent, they could not hope for remission of their sins, with the result that the punishment sent from God in the form of the Norman invaders would be an enduring one.56 This prophecy was recast by authors later in the twelfth century in a much more positive light, as we shall see in the next chapter. But, taken in its eleventh-century form, it is remarkable for its demonstration of the bleak outlook that was felt in some quarters following the end of Edward’s reign.

The Vita Ædwardi contains a description of those who were present to hear the prophecy uttered by the dying Edward. They included Queen Edith, who was at Edward’s feet, Earl Harold, Robert fitzWimarch (a high-ranking secular official), Stigand (now Archbishop of Canterbury) and a few more who are not named but whose presence was requested by Edward when he awoke.57 The Bayeux Tapestry, thought to be near-contemporary with the Vita, includes a scene which relies on this literary account for its depiction of Edward as he lay on his deathbed. The scene itself is one of the few in the Tapestry to be divided into two parts, with each unfolding within the confines of the same building. In the scene in the upper part we find Edward lying in bed, his head propped up by a man who may be Robert fitzWimarch while he speaks to a noble who may be Earl Harold; there is also a woman, who may be Edith, weeping at his feet and a priest, who could be Stigand, standing on the other side of the bed.58 The scene is framed by the inscription: Hic Eadwardus rex in lecto alloquitur fideles (‘Here King Edward, in bed, speaks to his faithful followers’). In the lower part Edward has died, announced by the inscription Et hic defunctus est (‘And here he is dead’); he is now being prepared for burial by two attendants while a priest, who may once again be Stigand, looks on. The compression of the scene into two parts might be an artistic device intended to convey the rapidity with which Edward’s health deteriorated. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, having told us that he had become so unwell by 28 December 1065 that he was unable to attend the consecration of Westminster Abbey, then records that Edward died shortly later,

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