David Woodman's "The First King of England"

David Woodman is Professor and Fellow in History at Robinson College, University of Cambridge. His books include Edward the Confessor: The Sainted King and The Chronicle of John of Worcester, Volume IV: “Chronicula.”

He applied the “Page 99 Test” to his new book, The First King of England: Æthelstan and the Birth of a Kingdom, and reported the following:

On page 99 of my book, readers will find a discussion of Æthelstan’s law-making activities, the ways in which he tried to govern and, more specifically, his attempts to deal with the issue of theft. It discusses the difficulties he encountered in trying to ensure that law was maintained and the sophistication of early tenth-century governance.

Readers opening page 99 of my book would certainly get a good idea of one aspect of Æthelstan’s extraordinary life - that is, of his approach to kingship, the reforms that he implemented and the ways in which he tried to impose law and order across his kingdom. Page 99 shows that Æthelstan was an early medieval ruler of exceptional energy who relied on relatively sophisticated systems of governance. But this is only one aspect of Æthelstan’s kingship. Perhaps the principal reason he should be remembered is for his formation of the ‘kingdom of the English’ for the first time in the year 927, which makes him England’s founding father. This vital detail is not mentioned—or alluded to—on page 99.

The remainder of my book offers a full narrative account of all aspects of Æthelstan’s life and time as king. It details: what little we know (and can surmise) about his childhood; how he first came to power in 924 and secured his position as king; his formal coronation on 4 September 925; his dealings with other kings of Britain (over whom he sometimes claimed authority); his nurturing of the church; his strategy with regard to contemporary European rulers; and finally his death and legacy. In the end we know frustratingly little about details such as Æthelstan’s appearance or temperament, but we can see from surviving royal documents that he must have been ruthlessly ambitious, that he saw through his ambitions by means of war, but that he also supported learning and cultural advances, and encouraged scholars and others from across Europe to attend his court. He was an extraordinary individual. To my mind, the date when he first formed ‘England’—927—should be as well known as those other famous dates of English medieval history, 1066 (the Norman Conquest) or 1215 (the signing of Magna Carta).

Visit David Woodman's website.

--Marshal Zeringue