STORY OF EDWY FROM "THE HISTORY OF ENGLAND" BY CHARLES KNIGHT CIRCA 1862
A.D. 956. EDWY HIS CORONATION FEAST.
Edwy, called the Fair, succeeded to the crown of his uncle by the voice of the witan. The boy-king, who was sixteen, or at most eighteen, years of age at his accession, has been stigmatised by the monastic writers as the most weak, profligate, and' tyrannous of unwise rulers. Henry of Huntingdon, supported by others who had not the prejudices of the cloister, says, "This king wore the diadem not unworthily; but after a prosperous and becoming commencement of his reign, its happy promise was cut short by a premature death." In the destruction of that happy promise, and in that premature death, we have a tragedy over which many eyes have wept. The participation of Dunstan in that tragedy has made his name hateful with all by whom the piteous tale of "Edwy and Elgiva" has been received with undoubting faith. Disputed as the popular belief has been by polemical writers, the poetical aspect of the story will always supersede the fanatical The one is natural and consistent; the other is unnatural, and disingenuous. Nor is the evidence, taken altogether, insufficient to rebut the calumnies with which the lives of these poor victims of an unscrupulous policy have been overshadowed. We have carefully examined that evidence, and we shall, tell the story as we collect it out of many contradictory narratives, most of them defiled by the prurient scandals of those who; in blackening Edwy and his beloved one, endeavour to justify their oppressors.
The coronation of the young king followed quickly after his accession. His witan had taken the oath of allegiance to him, and before the altar he had himself taken the oath to his subjects. The coronation feast succeeds. The king sits at the banquet surrounded by timid friends, and suspicions enemies He has taken the oath that he will hold God's Church, and all the Christian people of his realm, in true peace. But at that banquet there are ministers of God's Church who bear towards each other the most deadly hostility. "He despised the advice of his counsellors," eays Malmesbury. The counsellors that he found in possession of power, were Dunstan and his friends, the leaders of one great party. Edwy, who is accused with having considered Edred an usurper, fell into the hands of the leader of another party.
EDWY & ELGIVA - ODO
At this coronation feast the king retired early. As was the invariable custom at these Saxon banquets, there was excessive use of wine, and the passions of men were proportionately excited. The assembly murmured, with some reason, at the absence of the king. Dunstan and another went forth; and bursting into Edwy's private chamber, found him in the company of Elgiva and her mother Ethelgiva. The abbot seized the youth, and forcibly dragged him back to the hall. It has been called an act of sudden passion. To us it appears an act of the most profound policy. The authority of the monk was tottering; and he, for this reason, asserted his power before the assembled people Dr. Lingnad says of Dunstan, "As the treasurer of Elred, and the executor of his last testament, he had disappointed the rapacity of the prince. That rapacity consisted in demanding from the abbot of Glastonbury an account of his stewardship. "The king all along had entertained suspicions of Dunatan, because he had been entrusted with the custody of the royal, treasures. "Labouring under suspicion-perhaps reproached at that coronation feast, where even bishops might be inebriated without offence to public opinion; the bold minister of Edred seized upon a slight violation of propriety on the part of Edwy, to insult and degrade him. Dunstan was banished; and the king threw himself into the hands of the party who were opposed to the great abbot's authority. He chose his side, perhaps, indiscreetly. A strong party of the aristocracy, a fanatical and, therefore, influential party of the clergy, combined against him. In such contests there is little moderation; and Christian charity is trodden under foot by what is called Christian zeal. Edwy's new counsellors advised strong