Posted on 08/25/2020 12:41:47 PM PDT by SunkenCiv
Alfred the Great, King of Wessex from 871 and King of the Anglo-Saxons from 886 to 899, is widely touted as establishing England's first Royal fleet but research led by Flinders Medieval Studies Ph.D. candidate Matt Firth has found evidence that the Anglo-Saxons' first recorded naval victory occurred 20 years before Alfred was crowned King of Wessex and 24 years before his first recorded naval victory...
Using a combination of tenth-century historical texts and the growing archeological evidence for medieval ship design, the new research shows that Alfred was not the first English monarch to coordinate a fleet to defend the country against Viking attack.
The Anglo-Saxon Chronicles report an engagement in 851 involving an ealdorman Elchere and King Waethelstan of Kent (839-c.853), who reputedly defeated a Viking force near Sandwich -- the first recorded instance of a victory for an English fleet. It implies that a tradition of defensive naval action existed from at least the reign of Alfred's father, Waehelwulf of Wessex (839-858).
The first recorded naval engagement of Alfred's reign is an attack on a fleet of seven ships in 875; the second being a skirmish with a flotilla of only four vessels in 882...
The new research also sheds fresh light on the famous burial ships of medieval England and Scandinavia -- a topical archeological issue because of new discoveries in Iceland and Norway in the past 18 months.
Similarities in burial configuration and in ship design across these regions demonstrate ongoing cultural contact, resulting in comparable technological innovations in warship design between England and Scandinavia, and common cultural attitudes to the importance and prestige of sea-power.
(Excerpt) Read more at phys.org ...
Landlubber / debunker type study.
History: Lies agreed upon...........
I didn’t know they were texting back then?!
I’m sure the Democrats will take credit for these victories. Watch the BBC crow anyday now that if not for the American Democrats of the time, England would be ruled by fools.
Hmmm. Wait a minute.
The headline, like usual, doesn’t really jive with the context of the article.
Nothing to do with the Royal Navy. Rum had not yet been invented. Mead, Buggery, and the Lash? I’m sure that the Saxons, the Vikings, and the Picts knew the lash and they only used buggery against their enemies (reportedly), so this has to be pre-Royal Navy.
Well, the current crown of England goes all the way back to Alfred, and so Alfred’s navy was just as much the “Royal Navy” as Elizabeth’s is today.
It’s the British Army, not the Royal Army. The Navy didn’t get the “Royal” until Henry VIII.
"Ew! With a gammy leg?"
Other than being verbatim?
Alfred was the first to call himself king of the Britons. Not just one part of England.
My Daughter went to Alfred University in NY. Their mascot is the Saxonsa big white Saxon.
We were laughing at how long that was going to last.
You don’t have to eat the leg.
“Dear Sir, I am glad to hear that your studio audience disapproves of the last skit as strongly as I. As a naval officer I abhor the implication that the Royal Navy is a haven for cannibalism. It is well known that we now have the problem relatively under control, and that it is the RAF who now suffer the largest casualties in this area. And what do you think the Argylls ate in Aden. Arabs? Yours etc. Captain B.J. Smethwick in a white wine sauce with shallots, mushrooms and garlic.”
[sudden stream of consciousness change of meme] "We wouldn't eat a pig like that all at once."
“The Britons? ‘Oo are the Britons?”
“We all are. We are all Britons. And I am your king.”
“Well, I didn’t vote for ya.” ...
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