Tuesday 23 July 2013

The King's Chalice - reading notes


Buy your copy HERE

After the death of King Alfred, a small town in Wessex is plunged into conflict and kinship rivalry. A royal prince flees leaving his slave behind. Udda lives in hiding but renders a service to a noble.
From slavery to owning land, the Saxon descendants of Udda are involved in murder and conflict in order to keep what is theirs.
Brutal Danish raids threaten the very existence of the family and the town; tales of brutality and cruelty lingering in the memories and sagas of the times. Each successive ruler struggles to impose his will on the people to whom survival is more important than allegiance. Love and duty collide in the brief lifetime of the Saxon people when invasion, plague and hunger are everyday hazards.
Remarkable events follow the owners of the farm, whose loyalty to their King brings riches and tragedy in equal measure.

CHARACTERS

Genuine Historical Figures in order of appearance

Prince Aethelwold – Nephew of King Alfred, uncle of King Edward

King Edward, son of King Alfred

*Osric             Prince Aethelwold’s seneschal

*King Ethelred – buried in Wimborne Minster

*Lady Elise   nun at Wimborne taken by Prince Aethelwold

Waergan of Worcester – Saxon noble

Algar of Winchester - Saxon noble, King’s server

Queen Aethelflaed – second wife of King Edward

Prince Aethelstan – son of King Edward, possibly illegitimate, King

*Ecgwina – Prince Aethelstan’s mother, handfast wife of King Edward

Lord Cenwulf, thegn of Dorsetshire

Brihtric, son of Lord Algar of Winchester

*Brihtric, son of Lord Brihtric

Aelfweard – son and heir of King Edward

Prince Edwin – son of King Edward

*Lady Ethelfleda of Mercia

*Earl of Chester’s son

Lady Eadgifu – King Edward’s 3rd wife.

*Frithstan – Archbishop of Canterbury

Alfred, a thegn, supporter of Prince Edwin

*Edith – daughter of King Edward

Edmund – son of King Edward, King 940-946

Eadred – son of King Edward, King 946-955

Edwy –son of King Edmund, King 955-959

Aelfgifu – wife of King Edwy

Edgar – son of King Edmund, King 959-975

Dunstan – Abbot of Glastonbury, then Archbishop

Carwulf – early Sheriff of Dorset

Bishop Wulfric of Salisbury – succeeds Carwulf as Sheriff of Dorset/Somerset

Leofa – thief supposedly banished

Archbishop Odo

Lord Alward succeeded Bishop Wulfric as Sheriff

Lord Sigferth, the King of Northumbria, hostage

Godwin, Earl of Wessex

Elfrida, 2nd wife of King Edgar

Lady Wulfhere, formerly a professed nun ravaged by King Edgar

Prince Edward eldest son of King Edgar, later King 975-978

*Prince Edmund son by King Edgar’s 2nd wife

Prince Ethelred son by King Edgar’s 2nd wife, later King 978-1016

*Ordgar, earl of Devon founder of Horton abbey

Brithric, Keeper of Cranborne Forest

Wulfstan – Queen Elfrida’s dwarf

*Alfhere – lord of Mercia

*Aelfric – son of Alfhere, inherited Earldom of Mercia

Bishop Aelfwold – Bishop of Sherborne, deposed Archbishop of Canterbury

Ealdorman Aethelmaer succeeded Lord Alward as Sheriff

*Ealdorman Aelfric of Exeter, friend of Queen Elfrida, traitor

Thored – Danish leader of raids

*Aelfgin – wife of King Ethelred

Aelfgar – son of Aelfric - hostage

Emma – wife of King Ethelred

Edmund – son of King Ethelred II, later Edmund Ironside King 1016

*Alfred – son of King Ethelred,

Edward – son of King Ethelred + Queen Emma, later King 1042-1065

*Bishop Beorhtwold ealdorman of Dorset

Sweyn – leader of Danes, King 1013-1014

Hugh of Wareham – Sheriff of Dorset

Wulfwen of Canford, a large estate

Cnut – Danish leader then King of England 1016-1035

*Eadric Streone – Earl who married King Ethelred’s daughter

Sigferth and Morcar, Danish peace emissaries

*Bishop Aelfmaer of Sherborne

Earl Godwin – Earl of Wessex

Archbishop Wulfstan

King Harold Ist– reputed son of King Cnut’s first wife King 1035-1040 Harthacnut – Son of King Cnut and Emma, later King 1040-1042

Harold, son of Earl Godwin, Earl of Wessex, later King 1066

Edith daughter of Earl Godwin married King Edward

Odda – temporary Earl of Wessex

Hugh D’Orivalle – first Dean of Wimborne

Almar – farmer at Walford

*Captain Edward of Salisbury, new owner of Canford

*William Chernet owner of Hampreston land

*Aiulf of Hampreston land

*Stigand – Archbishop of Canterbury

*Tostig, brother of King Harold II


No comments:

Post a Comment