A One Thousand Year Old Murder Mystery

Look out for my article on the murder of King Edward the Martyr ('A One Thousand Year Old Murder Mystery') over at Royal Central http://www.royalcentral.co.uk/blogs/a-one-thousand-year-old-murder-mystery-17416.

On 18 March 978 the teenaged King Edward set out for Corfe to visit his stepmother, Queen Elfrida, and half-brother, Ethelred. He never made it into the building. For the first time, find out just who was responsible for this ancient crime. You can also read more about the murder, and Queen Elfrida, in my book: Elfrida, The First Crowned Queen of England.

The History of the Boleyn Family Talk

I will be giving a talk on the History of the Boleyn Family for the Historical Association (Chichester Branch), next Thursday (17 October). The talk, which will take the family back from its peasant roots at Salle in Norfolk, will be at 7.30pm at Friends' Meeting House, Priory Road, Chichester, PO19 1NX. Tickets are free for Historical Association members and £3 for non-members. Further details are available at http://www.history.org.uk/resources/he_resource_1488_9.html

Come along if you are in the area, I hope it will be an interesting talk! Also, even if you are not able to attend, you can learn more about the Boleyns in my book, The Boleyn Women, which was published by Amberley earlier this year.

Find Family Before 1800

Issue 135 of  Your Family Tree magazine hit the shops today. I wrote the section on medieval records for the cover feature 'Find Family Before 1800'. I also wrote the records expert article on Heraldic Visitations. You can buy copies of the magazine in all good newsagents and also direct from the website (http://www.yourfamilytreemag.co.uk/).

Trying to trace your family back before the sixteenth century can seem daunting. Unfortunately, you will find that some lines of descent are impossible to trace that far back. People changed their names or moved to unexpected places or simply went unrecorded in the records. However, by 1600 you will have had many hundreds of ancestors alive and a good proportion of these will have left a trace. Both my articles in this month's issue of Your Family Tree magazine are concerned with helping readers to trace back as far as possible With hard work and good luck you should be able to take at least one line of your family back to 1066.

I'm on Twitter @ENortonHistory

I'm feeling very social media-savvy today! Follow me on Twitter @ENortonHistory. I will be tweeting details of research I am working on, as well as things that interest me.

Elizabeth Norton Facebook Page

I've recently set up a Facebook page, where you can find the latest information about my work and also links to news items and other blog posts that you might find interesting. Feel free to like the page and comment, it would be great to hear from you!

https://www.facebook.com/elizabethnortonhistorian

Elfrida Review

Carolyn Harris, a Canadian royal historian, has just published a review of 'Elfrida: The First Crowned Queen of England' over at her Blog. It's a great review and always lovely to get positive feedback. I recommend Carolyn's Blog, it's always interesting reading.

http://www.royalhistorian.com/

1 October 959 - Death of King Eadwig

OK, another on this day in history...

On 1 October 959 King Eadwig died suddenly, leaving the throne of England to his brother, Edgar. Following a rebellion in 957, Edgar had been proclaimed king of Mercia and so, in reality, Eadwig was only still in control of the kingdom of Wessex. Whether he was murdered or not cannot be proved, but the history of Anglo-Saxon kingship is littered with the suspiciously sudden and early deaths of princes when there was a disputed succession.

Eadwig was only around eighteen at the time of his death, but had packed a lot into his brief life, becoming king in 955 on the death of his uncle, Eadred. It was Eadwig who reputedly left his coronation banquet to bed two noblewomen (a mother and a daughter), before being dragged back to the celebrations by St Dunstan. Eadwig later married the younger woman, suggesting that events were not quite as depicted.

You can read more about Eadwig's queen, Aelfgifu, in my books England's Queens: The Biography (Amberley, 2011) and She Wolves: The Notorious Queens of England (The History Press, 2008). For a more detailed account of Eadwig's reign and the accession of his brother, read my newest book: Efrida, The First Crowned Queen of England, which is the first biography of Edgar's queen, Aelfthryth/Elfrida.