Bloodfeud: Murder and Revenge in Anglo-Saxon England - Hardcover

Fletcher, Richard

3.82

177 ratings by Goodreads

9780713993912: Bloodfeud: Murder and Revenge in Anglo-Saxon England

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 071399391X ISBN 13: 9780713993912

Publisher: Allen Lane, 2002

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One damp morning in March 1016, Earl Uhtred of Northumbria came with forty followers to a wooden hall at a place called Wiheal outside York, to parley with the recently crowned King Canute who was attempting to bring his mighty northern subjects properly under his control.They were given guarantee of safe conduct, and came unarmed. But they were ambushed in the hall by an old enemy of Uhtred's, with Canute's connivance, and murdered, every one. Thus was set in motion the dramatic saga of feud and revenge which is the subject for this book. By following the unfolding of these dramatic events, Fletcher is able to illuminate England in the eleventh century, at the time of the Danish and Norman conquests, in entirely new and surprising ways.

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Review:

"It would be hard to imagine a better, more reliable introduction to the last days of the Anglo-Saxon world than this stirring book."--Michael Dirda, Washington Post

"A swift and, by necessity, highly speculative account of some murders between 1016 and 1074 that reveal much about 11th-century English politics, religion, codes of honor, and kingship....A graceful examination of the intricate tapestry of a culture so distant in time and temperament as to be virtually extraterrestrial."--Kirkus Reviews

"Fletcher writes with precision and wit. He has a nose for nuance, a ready supply of pithy phrases, and no time for the jargon that besets so much contemporary academic writing...Bloodfeud dazzles and delights."--Christopher Silvester, Sunday Times

"[Fletcher] enlarges skilfully on the historical context in which all the events took place and artfully on their other dimensions, taking the opportunity at the same time to expound his views on...apprehension of the millennium and the quality of the Anglo-Saxon taxation system."--Simon Keynes, The Spectator

"An excellent book." --Frank McLynn, Literary Review

Synopsis:

On a gusty March day in 1016, as King Canute was completing his subjugation of the north of England, he commanded the appearance of teh greatest of his northern subjects, Earl Uhtred of Northumbria, at a place called Wiheal, probably near Tadcaster in Yorkshire. Uhtred had been loyal to Canute's predecessor, Ethelred the Unready, but realized that Canute had an overwhelming upper hand, and came with forty retainers to Wiheal to make his submission. However, as Richard Fletcher recounts in his opening to this book, "Treachery was afoot". Uhtred and his men were ambushed and slaughtered by an old enemy of Uhtred's called Thurbrand, with Canute's connivance. This book analyzes the long bloodfeud which resulted from this act of treachery.

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