So I am currently working on a timeline with a POD during the Third Crusade (it probably won't be posted for a while - unlike my other two abandoned timelines, I shall write the bulk of the story before posting it, so I don't abandon the project mid-stream) and I have thought about including an idea which I speculated on
in a WI post two months ago. Essentially, my idea is to have an earlier POD prior to the Third Crusade which changes England, although keeps world history more or less the same, thereby preventing any major divergences which would butterfly away the Third Crusade (or make it unrecognisable to the one which occurred during our timeline).
My idea is to have William the Conqueror (or William the Liberator, as he is known in the scenario I will post below) ascend to the throne of England with the support of the Witenagemot, thereby leading to the Normans Anglicising and consequently leading to Anglo-Saxon culture (including Old English) remaining dominant in England post-1066. I will post the scenario below, and I hope that I have done it in such a way which minimises external butterflies and contains changes to the British Isles, thereby allowing history to progress to my main POD.
Any feedback on this scenario would be greatly appreciated, and if it is too implausible, then I will duly remove the idea from my timeline and carry on with the original POD during the Third Crusade.
Without further ado, here is the scenario:
1066
January: Edward III ‘the Confessor’, King of the English [1], passes away childless, leaving no clear successor for the Witenagemot, upon meeting after the passing away of the late King, to appoint. Eventually, the Witan resolves to appoint Harold Godwinson, Earl of Wessex and the most important nobleman during Edward III’s reign, as King Harold II. This enraged two other claimants to the throne – Duke William of Normandy (first cousin once removed of Edward III and the man whom Edward III had allegedly proclaimed as his heir) and King Harald Hardrada of Norway (a descendant of Canute the Great, King of England, Denmark and Norway). Both men start to prepare armies for separate invasions of England to assert their claim to the throne.
September: Harald lands his Norwegian army (accompanied by Harold II’s exiled brother, Tostig Godwinson, who is supporting the Norwegians) on the bank of the Humber in Northern England and defeats a local English army, led by Earl Morcar of Northumbria, in battle. Harold II soon learns of this and quickly moves north to confront the Norwegian invasion with his own army – the two forces clash at the village of Stamford Bridge, near York, on the 25th.
Initially, it appears that the battle will be an easy win for Harold II and the English – Harald and the Norwegians are caught by surprise at the quick response to their landing, while the English army is larger than its Norwegian counterpart. As the battle progresses, it appears that the English forces are close to triumph, yet disaster strikes when Harold II is hit by an arrow in the throat [2] and falls down dead, leaving the English army leaderless. When it becomes clear to the English soldiers that their King is dead, panic ensues and, in the confusion, Harald is able to rally his men and push the English line back. Eventually, a confused withdrawal occurs of English soldiers and the Battle of Stamford Bridge ends in a Norwegian victory. It is, however, a pyrrhic one – the Norwegians lose 4,000 of their 9,000 men in battle.
Following their victory at Stamford Bridge, the Norwegian army moves upon Eoforwic [3], which is defenceless as the English army has retreated south following the disaster at Stamford Bridge, and capture the city. Tostig duly proclaims Harald as King of the English on the 26th, yet this is not recognised by the nobility in the South, who prepare to assemble the Witenagemot to appoint their own successor to Harold II.
The Witenagemot meets on the 27th and the earls and clergymen present initially decide that Edgar the Atheling, the grandson of King Edmund Ironside and therefore the last member of the House of Wessex, should be appointed as the new King. Yet, when news reaches the assembled Witan that a Norman army shall set sail for England within days, the noblemen present agree to a different course of action – they agree to offer William the throne of England, in exchange for defeating Harald and the Norwegians in the North, maintaining the existing Anglo-Saxon nobility in place in England and respecting the rights and customs of the Anglo-Saxon population of England.
This proposal reaches William the following day, only hours before the Norman forces are set to sail for England, and the Duke puts on hold his invasion to consider the Witan’s offer. Eventually, on the 30th, William decides to accept, and envoys are duly sent across the Channel to inform the Witenagemot of his decision. When news of the agreement between William and the English nobility reaches the Duke’s prepared army, most foreign mercenaries (who enlisted in William’s invasion force based on a promise of land in England) disband and return home, yet the main force (Normandy’s own army) remains loyal to William and agrees to cross with the soon-to-be King to England.
October: William lands at Pefensea Bay [4] on the 1st and travels to Lundenburh [5], where he is crowned by the Archbishop of Cantwareburh [6], Stigand, as King of the English on the 3rd. The new King then prepares to confront the advancing Norwegian army (which, by October, has reached Ledecestre [7] and intends to march on Lundenburh to assert Harald’s claim to the throne) by combining the English army previously commanded by Harold II with his Norman army and moving north to meet Harald in battle.
Eventually, on the 5th, William’s Anglo-Norman forces and Harald’s Norwegian forces meet in battle outside of the town of Rodewell [8], starting the Battle of Rodewell. From the start of the engagement, William’s men hold an advantage, as they enjoy numerical superiority while Harald’s forces have yet to recover from Stamford Bridge (Norwegian reinforcements having not yet arrived) and have been unsuccessful in its attempts to recruit English armies in the North to their cause. Therefore, by the end of the day, the battle is over in an Anglo-Norman victory, as Harald falls in battle, leaving the Norwegian army in disarray.
William and his forces then pursue the Norwegians, who are now in a scattered retreat and leaderless, north, where several minor skirmishes finish off their adversaries - in one such skirmish, Tostig, who managed to escape death at Rodewell, is slain. The last Norwegian noblemen present in England offer the new King generous payments for safe passage out of England to return to Norway, which William accepts, and by the 10th the last Norse invasion of England is at an over – thereby marking the point at which most historians accept as being the end of the Viking Age. Meanwhile, William, for successfully evicting the Norwegian invasion, subsequently becomes known as ‘William the Liberator’ and starts his new reign over England.
1066 – 1087
William reigns as King of the English. During this time, William gradually shores up his position in England by filling vacant positions in the English nobility with Normans who accompanied him in 1066 [9], yet also makes several overtures to the Anglo-Saxon population and government of England in the meantime – for instance, his third son William the Red [10] (whom William intends to inherit England, while his eldest son, Robert Curthose, will inherit Normandy) is married to Cristina, daughter of Edward the Exile and sister of Edgar the Atheling, and therefore a member of the House of Wessex [11]. Meanwhile, in Normandy, William starts to appoint Anglo-Saxons to positions in the Norman Court, so as to have officials in the Duchy who are above the typical intrigue which has marked Normandy since William's ascension to the position of Duke in 1035 [12]. Other developments overseen by William during his reign include the collection of the Domesday Book, a major survey of the population of England done so as to provide William with an idea of the state of the land of his new Kingdom, how it is occupied and by whom, while several castles and fortresses are also constructed by William during his reign to solidify his control [13].
1087
September: William I passes away and his plans for succession are duly implemented by the Witenagemot [14] – William the Red receives England, and is crowned King of the English, while Robert Curthose receives the Duchy of Normandy. Neither of the brothers are satisfied with the succession, however, (Robert having already been in open revolt against his father during his final years with the support of the King of France) and conflict will erupt between William II and Robert shortly after the death of their father.
1087 – 1189
The following Monarchs reign as Kings of the English [15]:
- 1087 – 1100: William II
- 1100 – 1135: Henry I
- 1135 – 1154: Stephen I
Note that, at the time of the death of Henry, the succession to the English throne is disputed, between his last surviving legitimate child, Matilda, and Stephen, Count of Blois. In order to reinforce Matilda's position, Henry has the Witenagemot meet during his lifetime and appoint Matilda as his successor-designate. However, upon the death of Henry, the noblemen of England, who prefer Stephen over Matilda, decide to take the unprecedented step of declaring their decision made during Henry's reign to be null and void, and so a second meeting of the Witenagemot appoints Stephen as King. This triggers a civil war in England known as the Anarchy, which pits forces loyal to Stephen against forces loyal to Matilda, who remains a rival claimant to the throne.
- 1154 – 1189: Henry II
Note that Henry II appoints his son, Henry, as co-King of the English during his reign, yet Henry II ultimately outlives his son, who passes away in 1183.
1189
July: King Henry II of the English passes away and the Witenagemot meets shortly afterwards, voting to confer the throne to his eldest son, Richard. Richard (who becomes known as Richard ‘the Lionheart’ during his reign) duly becomes King of the English and prepares to embark upon the Third Crusade alongside King Philip II of France to link up with Holy Roman Emperor Frederick Barbarossa and evict the forces of Saladin from the Holy Land.
***
[1] In this timeline, the Anglo-Saxon title of ‘King of the English’ is still used by English monarchs post-1066, and England is officially the ‘Kingdom of the English’ (although the nation is almost universally referred to as ‘England’, much like in our timeline the ‘French Republic’ is referred to as ‘France’). In addition to this, one will note that, as well as being ‘the Confessor’, Edward is also referred to as ‘Edward III’ – this is because, in this timeline, the continued dominance of Anglo-Saxon culture post-1066 means that the Anglo-Saxon Monarchs of England are included in the regnal numbering system.
[2] This is the first Point of Divergence – in our timeline, it was Harald Hardrada who was hit by an arrow and died at Stamford Bridge.
[3] The Anglo-Saxon name for York. With Anglo-Saxon culture remaining dominant in this timeline, and Old English unchallenged, pre-1066 place names in England continue to be used up until the present day.
[4] The Anglo-Saxon name for Pevensey Bay.
[5] The Anglo-Saxon name for London.
[6] The Anglo-Saxon name for Canterbury.
[7] The Anglo-Saxon name for Leicester.
[8] The Anglo-Saxon name for Rothwell.
[9] Consequently, by the end of William’s reign in this timeline, the English nobility is more or less the same as it was in our timeline at the end of William’s reign. Yet there are two crucial differences – first, there are only two ranks in the English nobility post-1066 – ‘Earl’ and ‘Thane’. These were the two ranks of nobility (aside from the titles given to Royals) in Anglo-Saxon England, and with William agreeing to abide by Anglo-Saxon customs, they remain the only two titles (in our timeline, the position of Earl survived post-1066 while the position of Thane faded away).
The second difference is that, since William’s appointment of Norman lords in England is more gradual in this timeline, the Normans (including William) are Anglicised, as they spend their time before vacancies emerge in an English Court where the nobility speaks English. Therefore, nearly all Normans appointed as Earls and Thanes by William in this timeline can speak fluent English – this means that there is no language gap between the aristocracy and population of England in this timeline.
As a consequence of this, Middle English never develops and so Old English continues to be used by in this timeline for several centuries more, until the language naturally morphs as into what is referred to in this timeline as 'Modern English'. The differences between Old English and this alternate Modern English (which begins around 1300, and is spoken to the present day of this timeline by English-speakers) are as follows:
- Vowel reduction (in our timeline, this was a major feature of the transition from Old Dutch to Middle Dutch, which the transition in this timeline between Old English and Modern English mirrors), and
- A few Latin loanwords entering the English language. Due to the existence of a Norman nobility, almost all of these loanwords relate to Government - so, in this timeline, 'Ealdorman' would still become 'Earl' in this timeline, 'Thegn' would still become 'Thane', and so on.
Nonetheless, this alternate Modern English retains many aspects of Old English, including (to list a few notable examples):
- The vast majority of the vocabulary of the English language remaining of Germanic origin, with English still being considered a fully Germanic language,
- The word order of English remaining freer, and
- The Old English alphabet being retained, so words such as æ (ash) and þ (thorn) continue to be used.
Now, for everyone's convenience, I shall use our timeline's Modern English, rather than this timeline's Modern English, when writing this timeline, so when a Chapter in prose arrives featuring people from England, then you must use your imagination and pretend that they are speaking in this timeline's English, while when I write an extract from a history book, newspaper or any other media from this timeline, also pretend that it is written in this timeline's English. I will, however, use this timeline's Modern English names for places in England (as I have been doing already), which remain the same as they were in Old English.
[10] Known as ‘William Rufus’ in our timeline (the future William II). ‘Rufus’ is ‘the Red’ in Latin, so it is likely that in this timeline his nickname would be translated into English due to the Anglicisation of the Normans. Also, William I's second son, Richard, still dies in a hunting accident in this timeline.
[11] Although this marriage does not produce children, and so William II still dies childless in this timeline (dying in the hunting accident in New Forest like in our timeline).
[12] Unlike the Norman noblemen whom William appoints in England in our timeline and this alternate timeline, the Norman lords who remain in Normandy do not owe their existence to him, and so their loyalty is more suspect. Therefore, in a timeline where William has better relations with the Anglo-Saxons, it is likely that the King would appoint Anglo-Saxons to positions in Normandy so as to have impartial figures in the Duchy who cannot be bribed and coerced by any lords in there who are still secretly hostile to William.
[13] Obviously, in our timeline the vast number of castles which William oversaw the construction of were to prevent local rebellions breaking out, as there was significant discontent against the Conqueror after his ascension of the throne. However, in this timeline, the threat of local rebellions is less, due to William having ascended with the support of the Witenagemot, agreed to respect English culture and evicted a Norse invasion – nonetheless, William still builds several castles (albeit less than in our timeline) as a precautionary measure, due to mistrust with the nobility he receives upon ascending to the throne.
[14] Which, now filled with Norman noblemen, rarely meets, as neither William nor his successors are keen on a body keeping their power in check and so do not summon the Witenagemot during their lifetimes to consult them on policy. Nonetheless, the Witenagemot continues to control succession to the English throne and so continues to meet after the passing of each Monarch in this timeline - after William II passes away, the Witan appoints Henry I as King. The succession between Henry and Stephen is discussed in detail in the timeline, while, after Stephen's own death, his agreement to allow Henry II to ascend to the throne is supported by the Witenagemot when they assemble in this timeline shortly after Stephen's passing. Nonetheless, the Witan continues to be unused during the reigns of English monarchs until the passage of the Provisions of Oxford in 1258 (which, in this timeline, lead to a strengthened Witan rather than the establishment of a Parliament – although this shall be discussed in greater detail later on).
[15] The reigns of the subsequently mentioned monarchs proceed more or less the same as in our timeline.