waybread
Staff member
John, have any of the studies of the Edgar coronation tied it to developments in English culture? I'm struck by the proximity of Edgar's coronation to the production of Beowulf, the primary surviving Old English text. The earliest surviving manuscript's earliest dating is 975, although it might have appeared within the following half-century.
Just to come full circle to the American presidency, there is a huge subtext of English law embedded in the founding US documents and early development of American law. Given your point that in Edgar's day (and throughout much of British history) laws basically flowed through the monarch, either from him to the populace, or back through him from parliament for signature. Royal assent today may be merely a formality, but it is legally required in Canada.
The point being, that Edgar rules: not because newly-minted Americans wanted a king, which they associated with tyranny, unfair taxes, billeting of unwanted Redcoats, &c. What they did want was some basic English law.
Re: Edgar, I am starting to quite like the old fellow. Much better than Æthelred the Unready, and leading to some other interesting rulers like Æthelflæd, Lady of the Mercians. But is it Edgar or Ædgar? (After checking some of the history, just curious.)
Best wishes (In Anglo-Saxon,) Weybroed
Just to come full circle to the American presidency, there is a huge subtext of English law embedded in the founding US documents and early development of American law. Given your point that in Edgar's day (and throughout much of British history) laws basically flowed through the monarch, either from him to the populace, or back through him from parliament for signature. Royal assent today may be merely a formality, but it is legally required in Canada.
The point being, that Edgar rules: not because newly-minted Americans wanted a king, which they associated with tyranny, unfair taxes, billeting of unwanted Redcoats, &c. What they did want was some basic English law.
Re: Edgar, I am starting to quite like the old fellow. Much better than Æthelred the Unready, and leading to some other interesting rulers like Æthelflæd, Lady of the Mercians. But is it Edgar or Ædgar? (After checking some of the history, just curious.)
Best wishes (In Anglo-Saxon,) Weybroed
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