Old Ironsides: WI Edmund II Won In 1016?

In 1016, Edmund II was defeated at the Battle of Ashingdon by Cnut the Great. But WI Edmund had won? Could the Norman Invasion have been butterflied away-or would the power struggle that led to it have been delayed, perhaps allowing Edmund's grandson to be crowned King?

A long shot, I know...but could Edmund have helped keep England in English hands, at least for another generation?
 
In 1016, Edmund II was defeated at the Battle of Ashingdon by Cnut the Great. But WI Edmund had won? Could the Norman Invasion have been butterflied away-or would the power struggle that led to it have been delayed, perhaps allowing Edmund's grandson to be crowned King?

A long shot, I know...but could Edmund have helped keep England in English hands, at least for another generation?

WestVirginiaRebel

If Edmund won a decisive victory that forced Canute to give up his claim permanently then your unlikely to see a Norman invasion. That only came about, in part, because the deposed royal family of Wessex took refuge in Normandy and married into it. [This gave William he blood claim that he used as an excuse to invade].

It would need either the deposition of the Royal family at a later date or a very agressive Norman ruler to risk such a bid without such a link. True strictly speaking the English crown wasn't hereditary at the time but a blood claim was more common on the continent and it had generally been in the hands of the Wessex royal family. Without that and a king [Harold II] who didn't have a strong direct blood link William would have been on even thinner ground than he was OTL. As history showed he was a ruthless bugger so given weakness and disorder in England at the time an ATL equivalent might have made a bid and possibly even succeeded.

Steve
 
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