Historian Tom Licence highlights how revisions in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle post-1066 may serve to legitimize Harold Godwinsonâs ascension to power. His recent analysis of versions C, D, and E reveals gaps and inconsistencies that suggest omissions of critical events, particularly regarding rival claims to the throne. Licence posits that certain uncomfortable truths were deliberately erased, with the accounts favoring Haroldâs narrative, including claims about his role in recognizing Earl Morcar and the omission of pivotal figures in history. This evidence points towards a concerted effort to reshape historical memory.
In all three scenarios, those annals were written some time after the alleged events they describe, and - in the case of /E and D - by chroniclers who were collaborating to create a narrative that had been purged of uncomfortable details.
The DE account dates to the 1070s and makes a set of bogus claims that shore up the rebels' position: that Morcar had been confirmed in office by King Edward.
Collection
[
|
...
]