I am watching the BBC Television series, “ Monarchy”, which traces the history of the English monarchy from the end of Roman rule in 410 through a series of invasions, Norse occupations, Danish occupations, and Norman invasions, to the reign of Victoria.

I spent my first three years of college as an history major, but I’d be the first to admit my English history is sketchy at best, especially prior to the civil war which culminated in the Treaty of Paris 1783, in which The United States of America was officially recognized by England, France and Spain as a sovereign nation.

Congress declared that name on September 9, 1776, but until the treaty was signed we were still most often known as “The United Colonies” by our friends, and “the colonies in rebellion” or other more pejorative sobriquets by the friends of the English crown. But I digress –

I was fascinated by the early history of the crown, about which, as I have said, I really know very little.

According to the program, in 1050, Godwin, Earl of Wessex was becoming a real threat to the succession of the throne from Edward (the Confessor). He claimed a direct descendancy from Wodin, and had the support of many descendants of Viking heritage.

So, to counteract Godwin’s power, Edward, in 1051, sent a letter to his great nephew, William Duke of Normandy. In the letter, Edward promised the crown upon his own death. That letter carried with it certain caveats, of course. First, Edward, being king, might decide to change his mind; and, second, he was still a presumably virile man, although by that time not young. It was possible though unlikely, that he might have had a son who could lay, with some sketchily legal backing as it was not yet codified, claim to the throne. (There are some historians who believe Edward took a vow of celibacy, though there is no proof of that in the written records.) Clearly William’s ascension to the English throne was not entirely sure, but it seemed very likely at the time.

What I find interesting though, is that the historian who wrote “Monarchy” for BBC would have us believe Edward was forced into this questionable political act by Godwin. I tend to wonder.

Remember, Edward’s mother is Emma, who was originally Norman. She was said to be a "handsome woman", and there is no doubt from the historical record that she was both intelligent and manipulative. She was also a Catholic, paying homage to Pope Gregory. With Pope Gregory’s permission, she marries Ethelred, in hopes her children will inherit the throne. Ethelred is hoping this pact with Normandy will help him in his fight against the Danish invasions. Unfortunately for Emma, the Danes prevail, and both her sons are killed by Canuk and his forces. She then, in a stroke of political genius, marries Canuk, the conquering Dane after the death of his first wife.

She convinces Canuk to convert to Christianity. He becomes “more English than the English”, and essentially gives up his Danish religious heritage. Edward is the son of the marriage between Emma and Canuk. But Emma keeps her son, Edward separated from both his father and his elder stepbrothers from Canuk’s first marriage. She sends him to Normandy, where he is raised essentially as a Norman.

We also have to remember that, because of Ethelred’s marriage to Emma, Pope Gregory was able to extend his power from Europe, across the channel to England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales. Ethelred, as a gift to Emma, established the first Catholic chapel and Pope Gregory, realizing the advantages was quick to staff it with his monks and priests.

With Emma’s marriage, and Canuk’s subsequent conversion, The Roman Catholic Church controlled all of western Europe, from southern Scandinavia southward to the Mediterranean, and from Germany westward to the Atlantic, which was essentially the edge of the known world.

Oh, it was generally known among the European educated classes that the world was round, and that it was theoretically possible to sail around the world. But sailing across the Atlantic Ocean to go around the world was the equivalent during the Middle Ages of going to another galaxy today.

One wonders if the letter to William is something that was instigated by Edward’s mother, Emma, or possibly even by the pope.

Of course, after Edward’s death, there was all that civil war business between Godwin’s children, culminating in the disaster with Harold. But one has to wonder if it was Emma who put the seed if an idea of capturing the English throne into William’s head.