S4.05 Edward the Exile

Summary

Rex Factor Podcast: S4.05 "Edward the Exile"
Date: June 5, 2026
Hosts: Graham Duke and Ali Hood

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Episode Overview

This episode dives into the extraordinary and often overlooked life of Edward the Exile, the son of Edmund Ironside and the last male-line heir to the House of Wessex. The hosts trace Edward’s journey from an endangered royal child at the heart of the early 11th-century succession crisis, through decades of exile in Scandinavia, Russia, and Hungary, all the way to his brief, ill-fated homecoming to England in 1057. The episode casts Edward as both a pivotal figure in the run-up to the Norman Conquest and as a man whose life might have changed the entire course of English history.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Who Was Edward the Exile?

• Edward, son of Edmund Ironside (heroic English king briefly in power in 1016) and Eldgith.
• Born into chaos: 1016 sees the death of his grandfather, Aethelred the Unready, and the conquest of England by the Viking king, Cnut.
• As a royal child, immediately regarded as a threat by the new regime.

“Edward the Exile is one of two sons of Edmund Ironside and Eldgith, born in 1016, which is a tumultuous year for English history." —Ali Hood (03:20)

2. Early Life: From Royalty to Exile

• After Canute becomes king, Edward and his brother Edmund are captured.
• Initially spared from execution, possibly due to Cnut’s desire to avoid the taint of infanticide or to uphold a facade of magnanimity.
• The boys are first in royal custody in England, then sent away—possibly to Denmark, then Sweden, and ultimately to Kievan Rus (Russia).

"They're taken away from their mother by Edric... sent to Canute. And apparently Edric urges Canute to have the boys killed... but apparently he balks at infanticide." —Ali Hood (04:21)

3. Life in Exile: Denmark, Sweden, and Kievan Rus

• Sources conflict about the brothers’ movements, but the hosts make a strong case that Kievan Rus (Kyiv) under Grand Prince Yaroslav the Wise became their key home.
• Yaroslav’s court hosted exiled princes from all over Europe, including Olaf II of Norway and Harald Hardrada (future claimant for the English throne).

"It must have had a profound impact on Edward because he's just entering adolescence at this point. So it's a really formative period for him to be there." —Ali Hood (14:19)

• Edward marries Agatha, likely Yaroslav's daughter, connecting him to European royalty.

4. Edward in Hungary

• Edward moves to Hungary with his brother Edmund alongside their friend (and possible brother-in-law) Andrew, who becomes King of Hungary.
• Edward receives significant estates and appears to settle as a senior member at the Hungarian court.

"So this chap Edward now has lands in Hungary." —Graham Duke (23:03)

• His brother Edmund dies around this time, marking a significant loss after decades of shared exile.

5. The English Succession Crisis

• Edward the Confessor becomes king in 1042 but has no heirs.
• By the 1050s, England needs a male-line heir; Edward the Exile is the only eligible male-descended ætheling.
• Tracking Edward down is a major diplomatic challenge, involving misadventures by English envoys and complex European politics.

"How do they even know where he is?... How do they get hold of him?" —Graham Duke (26:16)

6. Return to England & Untimely Death

• In 1057, after almost 40 years of absence, Edward returns to England—only to die almost immediately, before seeing the king.

“As soon as he steps foot back on England, he dies on 19 April 1057.” —Ali Hood (36:59)

• Hints of intrigue: Was Edward murdered? The evidence is inconclusive, but his sudden death removes the best hope for peaceful succession, paving the way for the chaos of 1066.

“Did he really just happen to drop dead the moment he'd set foot in England?” —Ali Hood (37:29)

7. Edward's Legacy

• Edward’s children: Edgar the Ætheling, Margaret (later Saint Margaret of Scotland), and Christina.
• Through Margaret, Edward is ancestor to Scottish and later English monarchs.
• His death arguably makes Hastings and the Norman Conquest possible; had he lived, English history might have been very different.

"Without Edward the Exile’s death, 1066 does not happen." —Ali Hood (57:35)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On the challenge of tracing Edward’s journey:
  “Accounts of Edward's life are frustratingly inconsistent. So we have reports of them going to Sweden or Hungary. Possibly it was actually both, but also neither.” —Ali Hood (08:14)

• On Yaroslav’s shrewd marriage alliances:
  “He’s fully trying to create like this alternative Europe. He's a crux of it.” —Graham Duke (15:42)

• On tracking down Edward:
  “Do you remember there was that guy 30 years ago called Edward? He got his number?” —Graham Duke (26:16)

• On Edward’s abrupt death:
  “This year came Edward Ethelink, son of King Edmund, to this land and soon after died. ... We know not for what reason it was done that he should not see his relation, King Edward.” —(Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, quoted by Ali Hood, 36:25)

• On Edward’s deep European legacy:
  “So actually England, Scotland and the UK, they do all have dynastic legacy from Edward the Exile.” —Ali Hood (56:08)

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Important Timestamps

• Edward’s background/set up: 03:20–05:07
• Exile and Scandinavian politics: 07:32–09:51
• Life in Kievan Rus/Yaroslav’s Court: 12:54–16:01
• Marriage & family discussion: 16:05–19:36
• Move to Hungary and Edmund’s death: 20:29–24:19
• English succession and search for Edward: 24:32–33:31
• Failed first mission to retrieve Edward: 32:11–33:18
• Edward’s return and sudden demise: 35:41–37:08
• Burial, suspicions of intrigue, and legacy: 39:49–40:33
• Review and scoring sections: 41:48–56:47
• Discussion of his lasting historical impact and 'Rex Factor': 56:46–58:22

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Episode Structure

• Introduction and Framing (01:30–03:20): Context of “nearly monarchs”—people who could/should have become rulers.
• Biography (03:20–36:03): Chronological narrative of Edward’s life, travels, and political significance.
• Scoring Section (41:48–56:47): Analysis and score for "battliness," scandal, subjectivity, longevity, and dynasty.
• Rex Factor Verdict (56:46–58:22): Hosts agree Edward is a truly "Rexy" figure, awarding him the Rex Factor—first of the nearly monarchs series.

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Takeaway

Edward the Exile’s life is a sweeping, pan-European saga encompassing intrigue, displacement, and near-ascendancy. His story—obscure yet pivotal—reminds us that the fate of kingdoms often hinges on the most dramatic twists of fortune and on people almost lost to history. Had he survived, the Norman Conquest might never have happened, forever changing the shape of Britain.

Rex Factor Verdict:
Edward the Exile—though never king—earns the coveted Rex Factor for his epic journey, significance, and legacy.

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Recommended For:
Anyone curious about medieval succession, the tangled threads connecting British and European royals, and the forgotten personalities who nearly changed everything.

Transcript

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[Graham Duke]

Welcome to Rex Factor. This week Edward the Exile. With your hosts Graham Duke and Ali Hood.

[Ali Hood]

Hello, hello and welcome to Rex Factor. Reviewing all the nearly monarchs of England and the United Kingdom from Aetherworld to Albert Victor, the people who could or should have become monarch only for fate to intervene. Now, as you've heard this week we are reviewing Edward the Exile. Probably not a name that a lot of people are necessarily familiar with. Edward it isn't it? Well, the Edward bit. Absolutely, yeah.

[Graham Duke]

The Exile. Have we even mentioned him before?

[Ali Hood]

He will have been mentioned, but he won't have been the sort of star person in an episode before. He'll always be a little bit on the side, but as you'll see, he's actually quite a crucial part of the 1066 story.

[Graham Duke]

Right.

[Ali Hood]

Quite a fascinating life, even if one that is forgotten. So I think he's going to be an interesting one for us. Okay, if you want to find out more about us, go to our website rexfactorpodcast.com where you get links to all of our social media and further news. And if you want to listen to more of us, then you can sign up to patreon.com rexfactor Join the privy Council and get access to an ad free version of this podcast, over 450 bonus episodes and our Discord Channel. You got it now.

[Graham Duke]

I would. No, I was wondering if I had said it at the same time, Tom would be able to.

[Ali Hood]

I just put it onto your list. Plus you can now watch the podcast on Spotify or YouTube. As long as we've been doing it right all day. Otherwise we've got four wasted episodes.

[Graham Duke]

Yeah.

[Ali Hood]

So let's find out. And with the Exile, who he is Biography. Edward the Exile is one of two sons of Edmund Ironside and Eldgith, born in 1016, which is a tumultuous year for English history. It sees his grandfather, Aethelred the Unready, die amidst an invasion by the Viking Canute. Then his own father, Edmund Ironside, fights an heroic resistance until the treachery of the turncoat Edric Streona sees Edmund defeated in battle and forced to partition the kingdom. And then a few weeks later, Edmund Ironside conveniently dies and Canute becomes king of the whole country.

[Graham Duke]

Well, at least he's brought it back together. Yes. Do you reckon how much admin had been done in those six months or whatever? It was like dividing up the country and all that work's gone to waste.

[Ali Hood]

There'd be a point to chief executives of all these divisions in different kingdom, we'd have to merge them together.

[Graham Duke]

There'd be letters in the paper that was like 3 million quid just on changing the station.

[Ali Hood]

But yeah, a big year. 10, 16. A lot happening there. So what of Edward and his and his brother? Well, according to Geoffrey of Gaimar, writing a century later, the boys were removed from their mother and to cnut they were brought directly, this did Edric the traitor. Thus he thought to increase his honour. So they're taken away from their mother by Edric, the treacherous Edric, sent to Canute. And apparently Edric urges Canute to have the boys killed.

[Graham Duke]

Wow.

[Ali Hood]

Now, Canute certainly does bump off many of his rivals, most notably Edmund's last sort of full brother, Edwig. Right, is killed, but apparently he balks at infanticide.

[Graham Duke]

Oh, good.

[Ali Hood]

Now, it might seem a bit unlikely that Cnute would be unduly squeamish at murdering, so it's probably more to do with prison, because Canute very much makes an ostentatious point of not murdering the children. So instead he places them in the care of the Abbot of Westminster, while there is a great council to meet and agree the succession and apparently also to discuss the status of the boys and their provisions. So we don't have any details on what was decided.

[Graham Duke]

I mean, so really, this is a path that Richard III could look carefully at.

[Ali Hood]

Indeed, yes. See how I do not kill these boys. What about all of. Don't. Don't look at those.

[Graham Duke]

Yeah.

[Ali Hood]

Bodies.

[Graham Duke]

Yeah. But these specifically. These two. Yes. Oh, my gosh. Roo has totally taken to that whole mystery now.

[Ali Hood]

Oh, the Princess and the Tower.

[Graham Duke]

Yeah, he completely. Because we were playing the Top Trumps. Oh, this is Tuesday talk stuff.

[Ali Hood]

So instead, in 1017, it's Edric Streiona who is murdered at Knut's order.

[Graham Duke]

Oh, brilliant.

[Ali Hood]

Not the boys.

[Graham Duke]

Brilliant. But he gave him the boys.

[Ali Hood]

He did. And said, kill them.

[Graham Duke]

And he said, no, thanks, will kill you.

[Ali Hood]

Yeah.

[Graham Duke]

Why? He.

[Ali Hood]

Well, he's a traitorous so and so. And maybe Knute felt that he got his. Yeah. Now let's kill you before you do something to me. So the boys still live, but for how long? Reportedly, Canute's new wife, Emma of Normandy, the widow of Aethelred, the Unready, had maybe a bit of an uneasy relationship with Edmund Ironside. And apparently she wants to prioritize her own children, the line of succession. So she now urges Canute to get a bit tougher. Sir, believe me, you must take other steps. These are the right heirs of the land. If they live, they will make war while you can have peace. If you take my advice, cause it to be known that they are taken to another land. Beware of their doing harm. Trust them to such a man that they may be kept from evil.

[Graham Duke]

She's saying that he's the right. They're the rightful heirs.

[Ali Hood]

Well, in terms of, you know, bloodline and whatnot, they are the sons of Edmund Ironside, who is the Royal line of Wessex. So people will always see them as rightful heirs. She's not saying they should be king instead of you. It's a bit like with Richard III is saying, look, as long as these boys are alive, there's going to be a lot of people saying that they should be on the throne instead of you.

[Graham Duke]

Yeah.

[Ali Hood]

What are you going to do about it?

[Graham Duke]

And she says, give them to Poland.

[Ali Hood]

Yeah. Send them away. Get rid of them in that sense. Now, this might sound a bit like the traditional Blame the Woman legend.

[Graham Duke]

Yeah.

[Ali Hood]

But we assume Canute would have been sufficiently savvy and brutal to have made this decision for himself, or at least agreed with it and seen the logic. So he doesn't want to be seen to be murdering the boys and mistreating them. So incent instead send them into exile. Question is where to send them. Now, accounts of Edward's life are frustratingly inconsistent. So we have reports of them going to Sweden or Hungary. Possibly it was actually both, but also neither.

[Graham Duke]

So it wasn't far wrong with Poland.

[Ali Hood]

You weren't far wrong with Poland.

[Graham Duke]

Between the two, yeah.

[Ali Hood]

And Poland. Poland might have been a little bit in the mix of what some people suggested. Not for where they go, but a part of the story, because Canute's mother, Sigrid the Haughty, said to be from Poland. So Poland is part of the Scandinavian world. Nice. So Gaimar and Orderik Vitalis report that they are entrusted to a Danish nobleman, Walgar, and he is charged with raising them in a manner fit for the children of Cnut's brother. Because Canute likes to position himself as if he is the brother of Edmund Ironside, a brother in arms. So that's part of why he wants to treat the boys fairly, or to be seen to treat them fairly, because he is portraying himself as the brother of Evan Dyneside. Sounds a bit romanticized, but perhaps by entrusting them to a figure in his own territory of Denmark, because Canute is King of Denmark as well as King of England, Canute can keep them away from prying English eyes. And if he does feel like they're becoming difficult and need to be dispatched, he can do so easily and without the English being witness to it. So it's a good place to put them away. Out of sight, out of mind. Now, in 1028, Knut's focus shifts from England back to Scandinavia, and he plans a campaign to conquer Norway and ultimately part of Sweden. So taking advantage of his absence, apparently a plot is discovered in London to have the boys, now age 12, restored to the throne. So, according to Gaimar, Emma pipes up again and urges, I told you so.

[Graham Duke]

Well, yes.

[Ali Hood]

So basically tells him, you got to buy the bullet now. So Canute gives orders to take the lads and maim them secretly so they could not be cured.

[Graham Duke]

Blind them.

[Ali Hood]

Exactly.

[Graham Duke]

Really?

[Ali Hood]

They love a good blinding.

[Graham Duke]

Yeah.

[Ali Hood]

Simon Kean dismissed this tale as elaborate, confused and, one suspects, largely fanciful. But even if there isn't a grand restoration plot, and even if Emma isn't just sort of frothing at the mouth wanting to have these children killed, the fact of Canute going off campaigning in Norway does present an opportunity for anyone who wants to kick him off the throne to take advantage. And even if there wasn't Actually an active plot that Canute's worried about. It does make sense that he might think, hmm, these boys, what I'm gonna do with them.

[Graham Duke]

Yeah, what are you gonna do with them?

[Ali Hood]

And I'm going to Denmark, where they are. Might be easier just to kill them now. I don't think anyone's so bothered about the Edmund Ironside thing anymore.

[Graham Duke]

And they're less cute.

[Ali Hood]

Less cute. However, thankfully, someone from Canute's entourage gives Earl Wolgar a tip off, telling him that if he held them dear at all, he should send them away. So it's most likely now in 1028 that he probably does take the boys to Sweden. Some accounts have him going straight to Sweden.

[Graham Duke]

Right.

[Ali Hood]

But the one that we're going with is that they go to Denmark initially, But then in 1028, they go to Sweden, because this is what a lot of people are doing. They're sort of effectively fleeing from Canute. If they're not on Canute side of this grand campaign. You're trying to get away from where he is.

[Graham Duke]

So he's lost the boys, then?

[Ali Hood]

So he's lost the boys.

[Graham Duke]

Who was this fellow who whipped them away?

[Ali Hood]

Walgar.

[Graham Duke]

And he's the guy that was entrusted to her, and he's formed a bond with them. Need to change that person every week, don't you?

[Ali Hood]

Yeah. If I was going to ultimately kill some children. Now, it's often stated that they went to the court of Olaf Skotkonen, who's king of Sweden, cnut's kinsman and an ally, which would have made sense if they went straight to Sweden and Cnut wanted them killed. But if there's a bit of a delay going on. By 10:28, Olav Skotkonunning is dead, and Cnut is now campaigning against Sweden. So you can imagine now that Sweden might receive them more sympathetically than they would have done 10 years ago. And indeed, there are a number of people passing through Sweden, but going further into exile to really get away from Knut. Now, at this point, that's what happens with the boys as well. But probably they go not to Hungary, as a number of sources suggest, but to Russia, really. So obviously, we're a long way from England now, and it feels a completely distant world when we're in the early 11th century. But Russia is close geographically and culturally to Scandinavia. Scandinavia, yeah. So Olaf Skotkunning's sister is actually married to the Grand Prince of Kyiv, Yaroslav the Wise, and she's still there. So her court, his court, becomes A refuge for a large number of Scandinavian exiles at this time, when Canute is going around conquering everyone.

[Graham Duke]

Right.

[Ali Hood]

Yaroslav is the sort of founding father of his nation. So sort of Kyivan Rus, as it's known. So. And from that, Ukraine, Belarus and Russia all trace their origins. Yeah. He controls the seaborne trade between Scandinavian Byzantium. And his court, indeed, is a sort of hybrid culture of Byzantine, Nordic, and then sort of Eastern kind of military traditions and religions. Yeah. He's still solidifying his power in 1028. And one of his strategies is to play host to Europe's exile princes.

[Graham Duke]

Yeah.

[Ali Hood]

Because the hope is that if they all come to your core, a, it gives you a certain amount of lustre, but if they then go on to reclaim their thrones and you are now an ally. Well, sudden.

[Graham Duke]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Ali Hood]

That's a good idea. Part of that. So the Legers Edwardi Confessoris recorded that Yaroslav received Edward well, along with other notable arrivals at a similar time that included Olaf II of Norway, who is overthrown by Cnut in this conquest. Andrew of Hungary and Harald Hardrada. No way. So Harald Hardrada and Edward of Edward the Exile, both at the court of Yaroslav.

[Graham Duke]

Harald Hardrada is fleeing Canute.

[Ali Hood]

Harald Hardrada is a younger sort of half brother of Olaf II of Norway. So he and Olaf on the run.

[Graham Duke]

Okay.

[Ali Hood]

From Knuth. So it's quite. It's quite. It's the place to be, I guess, if you're in exile in Europe at this time. Yeah.

[Graham Duke]

Nice.

[Ali Hood]

Off to Kyiv. It must have had a profound impact on Edward because he's just entering adolescence at this point. So it's a really formative period for him to be there. So he probably goes up more sort of Kievan rust than he does English. That's really the dominant forming period of his life. Yaroslav is a cultured man in his prime. He produces new law codes, expands his territories as further military campaigns. And indeed, it's probably quite likely that Edward and his brother would have earned their spurs in one of Yaroslav's campaigns, because it's something that's expected of royal princes in their mid teens to win their spurs at a young age.

[Graham Duke]

So that's how he's earning his keep. He would help in wars.

[Ali Hood]

Yeah. So even though he's only sort of just entering adolescence, actually the point to which he's a teenager, probably would have been expected to start getting involved in that sort of stuff. Horrible. Another way that Yaroslav utilizes the royal princes at his Court is to build up international alliances, in particular at the moment in opposition to Denmark. Yeah. And Canuten is great big empire. So one daughter marries the future Henry I of France.

[Graham Duke]

Yeah.

[Ali Hood]

But otherwise he engages in what's sort of been termed marital speculation. So he gambles on the exiled princes. So Harald Hardrada, Andrew of Hungary both marry daughters of Yaroslav. So if they ever become king, he's the father in law.

[Graham Duke]

He's, he's like fully trying to create like this alternative Europe. Yeah, he's a crux of it.

[Ali Hood]

Yeah. So he's not, he's not going to campaign for them, he's not going to lead armies into their countries and help them, but he's giving them a refuge for now. And if ever they do become the

[Graham Duke]

monarch, he stands, he sees his investment come back.

[Ali Hood]

And seemingly he also speculates on Edward, who marries his daughter Agatha. Okay, now I say seemingly because Agatha's family background has generated an awful lot of historical debate and indeed I probably got more notes on who Agatha's father was than the entirety of the rest of Edward's life. Really, it was all about who is her father. And there are lots of different versions of this. So the Anglo Saxon chronicle simply states that she was the Emperor's kinswoman, but which emperor and what kind of kin is not specified. After this, we have medieval chroniclers taking on something of a veritable merry go round across Europe. So perhaps a daughter of Emperor Henry ii, but he's probably too old. Maybe Emperor Henry III or perhaps his niece by a half brother. Some suggest a Hungarian monarch like King Stephen, though he'd probably be too old, or King Solomon probably be too young. Okay, so the theory that I'm going with is that she was a daughter of Yaroslav. So Adam of Bremen, writing just 30 years after the events, Roger of Howden and the Leges Edwardi Confessoris all state that she was married in Rus, with the Leges specifying that she was of Rus royal. And Roger of Howden states that her father was a Rus king, all of which point to Yaroslav. Adam had close connections to the Rus court and the Leggers also seems to have had access to family traditions that other medieval chroniclers didn't have to draw upon. Right, so these kind of independent sources have all got quite good connections to say this, and they all say Russia. So also that gives some links to the Hungarian and the imperial courts, which also helps to explain some of the accounts which suggest kinsman of the emperor or perhaps the daughter of the King of Sweden, of Hungary. They have these connections through Russia, which makes sense of those other names as well. Right. You can see why confused chroniclers, not really knowing who any of these people are, would have gone, yeah, it's probably the Emperor's brother. Brother, let's say.

[Graham Duke]

I love the idea of a monk on his lunch break chatting to another monk, saying, how's it going? Really struggling at the moment. No idea how to pitch this together.

[Ali Hood]

I don't even know where it is, let alone who these people are.

[Graham Duke]

The other fellas just saying, just make it up, no one will know.

[Ali Hood]

Also, onomastic analysis. So that's effectively family names in the family tree.

[Graham Duke]

Right.

[Ali Hood]

And where those names come from show that whilst traditionally Greek names like Agatha are actually quite rare in Western Europe at this time, they are actually quite common in Kievan Rus dynasty, because that Byzantine element. Exactly. And that's something that we see with Edward and Agatha's daughters, Margaret and Christina. These are both traditionally Greek or sort of Latin names and not common in Western Europe.

[Graham Duke]

So that's the first Margaret.

[Ali Hood]

Well, it's not the first Margaret, but probably it's the reason that Margaret is a name in the UK is because of his daughter Margaret. But Margaret and Christina at this point, having those names, Agatha having that name, that all again, points to Russia being quite likely. Yeah.

[Graham Duke]

It's like coming back and calling your son Vlad.

[Ali Hood]

Yes. Where have you been? Denmark. Yeah. Anyway, so this means, if true, that Edward is not just part of the Russ corps, but thanks to the marriages of Yaroslav's other daughters, he's a brother in law to Henry the First of France. And technically he's a brother in law to Harold Hardrada.

[Graham Duke]

Yeah. So this is why he's important in 1066, then.

[Ali Hood]

Well, yeah. And you see these again, like you said, this sort of this difference nexus axis in Europe that he's got the connections to. He's also a brother in law to Andrew of Hungary. Now, Andrew is another exiled prince of a similar age to Edward, and they grew up together at Yaroslav's court and seems to have developed a close connection. Like Kievan Rus, Hungary at this time is a very new Christian kingdom. So it's founded by King Stephen I in 1000. But a succession crisis sees Andrew and his two brothers forced into exile, hence why they end up with Yaroslav. However, in 1046, we have a nationalist uprising in Hungary and that gives Andrew the opportunity to return to claim the throne. And it seems that Edward and his brother Edmund go with him. Really now you might wonder, why do they go? Why do they go to Hungary?

[Graham Duke]

They're mates.

[Ali Hood]

Why do they leave Russia? Well, exactly, in one sense, yes, they're mates. There's a brotherhood there, I suppose. Literal brother in law from Edward's perspective. But as you said, they've grown up together, they've been.

[Graham Duke]

What else they're going to do with their time?

[Ali Hood]

Well, yeah, exactly. And they may at this point feel like they've come to a bit of a dead end in Russia, particularly because in England at this point, 1042, Edward the Confessor has come to the throne. So the Viking dynasty that Canute set in place has now ended and we've gone back to the Saxons. So while Canute and the Vikings were there, Yaroslav would have been machinating and hoping perhaps to get Edward or Edmund on the throne and thinking the Saxons would want them back. But now there is a Saxon on the throne and at this point you would assume Edward would have children. At that point, the prospects of Edward ever being asked to come back are

[Graham Duke]

pretty remote because everyone's happy with this new king that they know and is

[Ali Hood]

Saxon and is Saxon. So at that point maybe Yaroslav is like, ah, okay, this one hasn't really worked out. They may feel like, oh, we're never getting to go back. That destiny perhaps they had in mind isn't very likely. 30 years old now as well. Just a slight little switch in mindset and maybe they're thinking, well, what are we gonna do with our lives? Chance for an adventure in Hungary with Bethany mates Andrew.

[Graham Duke]

Yeah, yeah, that makes sense.

[Ali Hood]

Now, we don't have any details, unfortunately, of their involvement in Andrew's campaign, but it is likely that they would have had an important role in his army. The Nationalists are actually pagans. So in spite of his committed Christianity, Andrew is sort of reliant on an army that's filled with like wizards and warlocks and all sorts of bizarre characters.

[Graham Duke]

He's probably thinking he can convert them after.

[Ali Hood]

Well, exactly. He's using them to get onto the throne and then once he is king, he just sends them all away and is like, no, no, no, he's definitely Christian. Yeah. But as such, given that he's having to deal with all these sorts of people that he presumably doesn't really like or trust very much, having people that he's known for basically his whole life who definitely are proper Christians, like Edward and Edmund, that he might have fought alongside in Russian campaigns, you imagine that they would be quite close and trusted lieutenants.

[Graham Duke]

Yeah.

[Ali Hood]

That he Would definitely. Still, it's a very different environment, obviously, for Edward to have to get used to as well. But nevertheless, he likely enjoys a privileged position with Andrew having secured the throne and is now King Andrew of Hungary, granting large estates to his most trusted barons. And Interestingly, there's a 1235 land deed which references the Terra Britanorum de Nadsad, which means the lands of the Briton at Nadazd.

[Graham Duke]

So this chap Edward now has lands in Hungary.

[Ali Hood]

So yes, extensive estates and potentially a castle wrecker castle in Hungary. So it seems like he and his family live in this grand estate and that presumably, thus he is quite a senior person at Andrew's court.

[Graham Duke]

Yeah. And Hungarian by now, or Eastern European.

[Ali Hood]

Yeah. Culturally, Hungary will be a change again. Kyiv. And he probably is a bit weird being in Hungary because that probably feels a bit odd.

[Graham Duke]

Yeah.

[Ali Hood]

And obviously the first 10 years he's in Denmark, then he's in Kyiv, then he's in Hungary, so he's always sort of having to adapt quite different environments.

[Graham Duke]

But I mean, I think of all of those, all of the places England is the least like home.

[Ali Hood]

Now, sadly, it's around this time that his brother Edmund dies on 10 January. Don't know what year, but it was 10 January, probably about 1047. So, like the first 10th of January after the Hungarian uprising.

[Graham Duke]

Oh, right.

[Ali Hood]

When they return, you imagine that's probably a decent time. Must have been a devastating loss for Edward after, you know, 30 years in exile together. Just 30 years of life together. They've been. That's his one constant throughout all of this upheaval.

[Graham Duke]

Yeah.

[Ali Hood]

Is his brother. Brother. But at the same time, it seems that he is now finally settled. He has a wife, three children, large estates, close relationship with the King.

[Graham Duke]

Life's pretty good, I'll stay.

[Ali Hood]

But unexpectedly, destiny will come calling.

[Graham Duke]

Oh, he's gonna muck it up, isn't he?

[Ali Hood]

Now, back in England, as we said, Edward the Confessor coming back to the throne, restoring the Royal Saxon line, everything seems fine. But unfortunately the marriage doesn't produce any children. And by 10:51, it's pretty clear that it is not going to produce any children. He's not going to remarry, there will be no royal heirs. Now, we're going to be speaking to the historian Tom License a little bit later on about what exactly Edward the Confessor did intend for the succession and who he was thinking of and who he was planning. So we're going to go into that in a bit more depth. But obviously the focus traditionally lands on the two men who would battle for the throne in 1066. Harold Goblinson, William Duke of Normandy and Harold. Well, but in terms of the people that were likely claimants, Harold Hardrada is a bit left field. Yeah. Surprises everybody.

[Graham Duke]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. He's the Lib Dem.

[Ali Hood]

I mean, on the one hand, probably the least Lib Dem of them.

[Graham Duke]

Yeah, maybe.

[Ali Hood]

I'm not sure that any of them are particularly.

[Graham Duke]

Just takes troops and votes from the other two.

[Ali Hood]

So Harold Godwinson is the country's most powerful nobleman, while William, Duke of Normandy reportedly was promised the throne by the Confessor when he was at odds with the Godswins in 1051. But neither man has a blood claim to the English throne.

[Graham Duke]

Uh. Oh, I know someone who does.

[Ali Hood]

Well, yes. Now, barring the Danish usurpation of 1016-42, Wessex has only been ruled by royal princes since its origins in the 6th century. And since the 9th century, which is obviously when we, you know, started this series, it's only been ruled by men who were Ethelings I, a son of a previous king.

[Graham Duke]

Yeah.

[Ali Hood]

And there is only one man alive who fits that description.

[Graham Duke]

How do they even know where he is? You say, oh, do you remember that there was that guy 30 years ago called Edward? He got his number. How do they get hold of him?

[Ali Hood]

Well, yes, it's one of those things. We think it's sometimes presented as if they rediscover him, as if he just appears somehow on a. Yeah, circular. I was like, sir, look. Look who's in the press. Look who's done the marathon in Hungary.

[Graham Duke]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, exactly. No, look beyond the person. Who's that in the crowd?

[Ali Hood]

Probably, you know, they have contacts with other nations, although they don't have probably close contact with Hungary. They obviously initially have contact with Scandinavia. Scandinavia has contact with Russia. The Holy Roman Emperor has got close contact with Hungary. So not directly. They won't have been directly connected to Edward the Exile, but they probably are aware that he should be out there and roughly, an idea of where he should be.

[Graham Duke]

And he's got some power, he's got a life over there.

[Ali Hood]

Yeah. They might not know much about him and they probably don't have his postal address, but they probably do have a sense that he is alive and he's out there.

[Graham Duke]

Right.

[Ali Hood]

So he's the only man who fits the description. And he is the son of a king and indeed a celebrated king, Edmund Ironside. His memory is very much celebrated as a heroic resister to the Vikings. Someone that still evokes feelings in the English nation. So someone thus his son might.

[Graham Duke]

Yeah, but he'll come back dressed differently and eating goulash.

[Ali Hood]

Well, at the moment they have no idea about this. Now, Edward the Confessor does have other nephews on the English side of things, but they're through the female line, so sisters rather than brothers. And also thus they have sort of like normal French parentage, which isn't hugely popular as well. But Edward male line, which is how it's always been. And he's not associated with France and Hungary or Kyiv, don't really have any particular associations for England, I. E. They don't have any negative associations. It's no kind of threat. There's no sense that, oh well, all the Hungarians will come swarming over. Yeah, it's so far away they think, well he'll come over, but he's not. Yeah, bring them all with him.

[Graham Duke]

Yeah.

[Ali Hood]

So it's kind of a safer choice than maybe a French nephew. Right. That you think, well then the French will just won't come in. Yeah, Edwards. A bit more neutral in that sense. Plus, you know, one of the key things we mentioned this series, he's an adult, he's about 38 years old in 1054 when it seems that Edward the Confessor starts to really pursue this and he's already got a son and heir.

[Graham Duke]

Yeah, that's looking good, isn't it?

[Ali Hood]

So you got a succession problem and actually there's a fully grown adult with a son, the European Court. He's a ready made solution to all the problems.

[Graham Duke]

It's like Michael Gove always used to talk about his Brexit deal. It's oven ready. It's an oven ready deal.

[Ali Hood]

Now your point though is relevant. The question is actually how are they going to get hold of him? Yeah, as I said, it's not probably that he was just suddenly discovered, but nevertheless, how they actually track him down specifically enough to talk to him is very different to just knowing that he is alive.

[Graham Duke]

This is such a well worn movie trope though, isn't it? Turning up to the ranch saying, do you know where Edward the Elder is? Edward the Exile, rather. And Edward turns around and says, no, not interested, we need you back.

[Ali Hood]

So they know he's alive and they know he's in Hungary, but beyond that they probably don't have a lot to go on. And indeed it's doubtful that really anybody think of Scott even really knows entirely where Hungary is, never mind somewhere within Hungary.

[Graham Duke]

How do you get to Hungary? Well, exactly how do you Know when you're in Hungary. Yeah. You just get across the Channel and there's someone there who's guiding around that way, Spain that way, everywhere else.

[Ali Hood]

Well, that's the problem. Basically whoever they send, they're going to be sending pretty much blind into Eastern Europe countries. They don't know the lie, the land or really the political or geographical or any sort of context.

[Graham Duke]

Exactly.

[Ali Hood]

It's a risk. It's a very risky and dangerous assignment.

[Graham Duke]

Send anybody on with asking for directions as well. You get to a fork in the road and there's a local, you know you're going to Hungary. But that chap won't know where Hungary is, he'll just know which of the next road. So you have to sort of have this weird macro micro level of where you're going.

[Ali Hood]

Exactly. It's a very difficult mission. It's potentially a very dangerous mission. International travel, high stakes diplomacy. Who you gonna call a bishop? So they send Eldred, the Bishop of Worcester.

[Graham Duke]

Right.

[Ali Hood]

Who to be fair, does have a bit of experience because he had previously been to Rome on the King's errand, which is a much more well trodden path that is easier to find. But nevertheless he has at least travelled.

[Graham Duke]

You want to get that bishop on it. He's been across the sea. Yeah.

[Ali Hood]

And he's a key advisor at court as well, so you know, he's got that sort of level of seniority. So in 1054 he sets off on a mission to bring Edward the Exile back to England. But he doesn't go to Hungary.

[Graham Duke]

Because he doesn't know where it is.

[Ali Hood]

Probably. Yes, because he doesn't know where it is. Distance, the uncertainty about the journey, etc. So instead he goes to Cologne and Emperor Henry III.

[Graham Duke]

Right.

[Ali Hood]

Now Henry was Cnut's brother in law, so he'd been married to Canute's sister, Gunnhild. Now Gunnhild isn't alive anymore, but it means England has had close contact with Henry iii. There's a good relationship between the two countries. So he's got close connections with Hungary. He knows Hungary well. England know him, perfect intermediary. Let's go ask the Emperor what to do. Unfortunately, what Eldred doesn't appear to appreciate is that relations between Hungary and Henry at this point are at an all time low. Ah. So the nationalist uprising which Andrew had taken the throne was actually against Henry's client king.

[Graham Duke]

Right.

[Ali Hood]

And what's more, in recent years Andrew's been taking an increasingly independent course of action, even now supporting a rebellion against Henry from the Duke of Bavaria. Uh oh. As such, Henry, whilst perfectly friendly to Eldred whilst he's there, delays and stalls and does absolutely nothing whatsoever to in any way further Eldred's mission. Now this seems a bit harsh. It means he doesn't like Andrew in Hungary. It seems a little bit harsh given how important this is to England. So the only logical explanation is that he's all too well aware that Edward the Exile must have had a prominent role fighting for Andrew in the revolution, effectively against him. So consequently he potentially has no desire to see Edward the Exile become King

[Graham Duke]

of England, his enemy.

[Ali Hood]

Exactly. So Eldred, perhaps not being quite the super sharp international man of mystery that maybe he was made out to be, doesn't seem to have realized that he was being played. So he spends a very happy year in Cologne being feted, receiving gifts and even accepts an invitation to go and spend a year studying the ecclesiastical organization of the German Church.

[Graham Duke]

He's somewhat losing sight of his mission here, isn't he? Yes.

[Ali Hood]

Before eventually returning in 1055, having made absolutely no progress whatsoever.

[Graham Duke]

Couldn't find him. But I did write this book.

[Ali Hood]

I know so much more now about the German Church.

[Graham Duke]

You'd be furious with him.

[Ali Hood]

However, in 1056, Henry III dies and perhaps that obstacle now being removed, England have another go at contacting Edward the Exile.

[Graham Duke]

Yeah.

[Ali Hood]

This time the rather savvy Harold Godwinson is sent on a mission to the continent. And one suspects one of his tasks might have been to sort out the particulars. Contact with Edward the Exile. We don't know, of course. What does Edward the Exile himself think of all of this? Like you said, maybe he's out, maybe he's done, maybe he's happy.

[Graham Duke]

Yeah.

[Ali Hood]

You know, maybe the delay might have been him as much as Henry iii. He was only a baby when his father, Edmund Ironside died, an infant when he sent into exile his potential subjects having accepted a Viking invader taking his throne. And he's not been back to England since. Yeah, he settled in Hungary, brother in law to the King, brother in arms to the King. He's got a young family, prominent position at court. He may have by now reconciled himself not to returning to England. So is it worth giving everything up for a country that turned its back on him 40 years ago?

[Graham Duke]

And what's the answer?

[Ali Hood]

Also, of course, it's not necessarily a guarantee that he's going to be King, because it's unlikely perhaps that they would have absolutely promised it without seeing him.

[Graham Duke]

Yeah.

[Ali Hood]

So probably we've Got slightly conditional offers, semi promises made second hand across thousands of miles by intermediaries, which could be lethal. So, you know, you can understand if he might have been reluctant. Yeah. And yet, would Yaroslav have married his daughter to an exiled prince who doesn't have any ambition to recover his throne?

[Graham Duke]

Good point.

[Ali Hood]

Would a man who's given up in the English throne, having given his two daughters Greek names, called his son Edgar.

[Graham Duke]

Oh,

[Ali Hood]

that's a pointedly royal Saxon name that he's given his son.

[Graham Duke]

Yeah.

[Ali Hood]

So perhaps, you know, with a life shaped by this sense of home and royal destiny, that one day the elusive crown now being freely offered without the need of an army or an invasion is too good an offer to refuse.

[Graham Duke]

Yeah, yeah.

[Ali Hood]

So in 1057, after 40 years in exile, Edward returns to England. The last Etheling

[Graham Duke]

Edgar returns to.

[Ali Hood]

Sorry, Edward. Well, and probably Edgar with him. But yes, Edward the last Etheling returns to England, probably dressed in rather strange Hungarian fashions, might not even have been able to speak English.

[Graham Duke]

Wow.

[Ali Hood]

Likewise, his sort of little entourage he would have had with him. You can only imagine what his new subjects or potential new subjects thought of him and what he thought of them.

[Graham Duke]

Yeah. God, he would, he would be so alien to them.

[Ali Hood]

Yes.

[Graham Duke]

And they to him. Wow.

[Ali Hood]

Sadly, we'll never know what they made of each other. This is the Anglo Saxon Chronicle for 1057. This year came Edward Ethelink, son of King Edmund, to this land and soon after died. His body is buried within St Paul's Minster at London. We know not for what reason it was done that he should not see his relation, King Edward. So after all that time, 40 years in exile, pretty much as soon as he steps foot back on England, he dies on 19 April 1057.

[Graham Duke]

God's like an elephant going to a graveyard. Oh, dear.

[Ali Hood]

Now, of course, as we've said before, people do die. Alfred's line are a short lived bunch. I had a little look. The average age of death for the previous monarchs is 34. So, you know, 41's not actually that unusual as an age. But did he really just happen to drop dead the moment he'd set foot in England?

[Graham Duke]

Who would have killed him? Harold Goblinson.

[Ali Hood]

Now, the Anglo Saxon Chronicle doesn't suggest murder, but it does hint at some sort of conspiracy because he's obviously not. He wasn't able to see the King and it's suggested that it's unusual that he wasn't able to. So he obviously doesn't just step off the ship and just plonk down There straight away. So he's obviously there for enough time that he could have gone to see the King and it doesn't happen.

[Graham Duke]

Maybe just caught like a strain, a virus that he didn't have access to over in Hungary. Hungary dropped him down dead.

[Ali Hood]

Maybe. But then it wouldn't be strange, would it, if he was really ill and sickening?

[Graham Duke]

Yeah.

[Ali Hood]

So there's no evidence that he was unwell prior to his arrival, so. Yes, exactly. Could he have been killed? Who would have killed him? Obviously the leading candidate there is Harold Godwinson. If he does harbour ambitions for the throne, that would have been completely gone with Edward the Exile. There's absolutely no way that Harold Godwinson could have contemplated trying to claim the throne after Edward's Confessor. If you had a 40 year old male prince there.

[Graham Duke]

Well, I can't believe he went out to go trip. Or maybe you couldn't believe his luck and he poisoned him on the way.

[Ali Hood]

Yeah. So you can actually see the ambition now. Obviously on one hand it's still, you know, we're still nearly 10 years off. 1066. Harold's not quite the figure that he will be at that point, so maybe it's a bit far off to see him doing that, but, you know, that's a potential explanation and yet there's no contemporary suggestion of foul play. And what's more, if Howald or anyone else wanted to eliminate royal rivals, why didn't Harold either just stop him coming in the first place or kill him over in Europe before he crossed the Channel? And if he was murdering him to keep him out of the line of succession, why does nobody kill Edward's little boy Edgar, who then is brought up at court.

[Graham Duke]

Yeah, the Etheling.

[Ali Hood]

Okay, the Atheling. So who knows? But Edward has come agonizingly close to fulfilling his destiny and he is given a royal funeral. So notable the fact that it's at St. Paul's because that's alongside Edward the Confessor's father, Aethelred the Unread, rather than at Glastonbury where Edmund Ironside is buried.

[Graham Duke]

Is he really? I went to Glastonbury Abbey the other day, didn't see any of that.

[Ali Hood]

So that suggests probably a state funeral. And the Edward Confessor has chosen to bury him somewhere that is part of his royal, part of the family, his dynasty. So it's a way of symbolizing that Edward the Exile had been brought back properly into the royal family. And maybe it's also a symbol of the hope that it might still continue with his Son.

[Graham Duke]

Yeah, why not Westminster? Was that not built at this point?

[Ali Hood]

Well, that is what he's. He's literally building it.

[Graham Duke]

Yeah, okay.

[Ali Hood]

Yes, or so. Yeah. Anyway, that's the life and non reign of Edward the Exile. We'll now move on to review him after a quick break.

[Commercial Narrator]

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[Ali Hood]

So just a quick message to say that Rex Factor are going to be doing a live show at the Ludlow assembly rooms on Friday 21st August at 7 o' clock pm. We're going to be looking at the four main contenders for the throne in 1066. Harold Godwinson, William the Conqueror, Harald Hardrada and Edgar the Atheling. And we're going to ask the audience who comes to the show to decide who should have become the king. We've had lots of fun, we've been to Ludlow in previous years and we've really loved getting the chance to meet Rex Factor fans in person. So if you are able to then please do come along to join us on Friday 21st of August at the Ludlow Assembly Rooms. You can get tickets directly from the Ludlow Assembly Rooms website or we will have a link to it on our website, rexfactorpodcast.com hopefully we'll get to see you there. A lot of Edward's story has to be sort of put together by supposition, so we don't technically have any direct evidence of any military action at all. We can't say he was in this battle. He was in this campaign.

[Graham Duke]

He definitely was, though.

[Ali Hood]

Well, exactly. But there's very good reason to suppose that he would have had extensive military experience. As we said, it's expected that young princes in Rus would earn their spurs. And Yaroslav has plenty of military campaigns where Edward might have got stuck in. Perhaps most likely to start off with a campaign against the nomadic Pechenegs in 1036, where Yaroslav inflicted a heavy defeat on the tribes when they attempted to capture Kyiv. So at that point Ed would have been 20 years old.

[Graham Duke]

Yeah, right in the thick of it.

[Ali Hood]

And Yaroslav certainly looked to the foreigners at his court to help him in military matters, so particularly obviously all these Scandinavian wearers coming across. But we know from Howard Hardrada's story as well that he's given sort of military positions and stuff. Like that. So. Absolutely. Yaroslav would have expected them to.

[Graham Duke]

Yeah. Because they had like Byzantine, because some. What are they called, like Vikings.

[Ali Hood]

Varangians.

[Graham Duke]

Yeah. Went down to Byzantium.

[Ali Hood]

Exactly. And a lot of them initially do come from.

[Graham Duke]

From that court.

[Ali Hood]

Yeah. Wow. So it seems probably. It seems more unlikely that Edward wouldn't have been involved in military affairs. Definitely that he would. So we can see that there's stuff going on in Russia.

[Graham Duke]

Right.

[Ali Hood]

At the point at which Edward would have been earning his spurs and doing stuff. So. Absolutely.

[Graham Duke]

And he's rewarded.

[Ali Hood]

Yeah, yeah. So that's in Russia, most likely winning his spurs. And then we have the military adventure in Hungary where he helps his brother in law, Andrew, take the throne. So essentially Andrew was piggybacking onto a pagan nationalist uprising. So, as we said, it's quite peculiar company. We've got warlocks, magicians, seers, all sorts of weird stuff going on. But as you said, that gives you reason to believe that Andrew would thus have put a particular weight of reliance on Edward and Brother Edmund and people like that that come with him. Because he knows that he can trust me. He knows that they're proper Christians and they fought alongside each other. He knows they've got his back. Whereas these other nationalists, he knows that there's a.

[Graham Duke]

Well, he knows he's going to betray their cause and.

[Ali Hood]

Exactly. Well, I know I'm going to betray them, so I certainly should assume that they might try and betray me as well.

[Graham Duke]

Yeah.

[Ali Hood]

Yes. But it's a successful uprising. Andrew does take the throne, so we assume that Edward is involved in that. In the 1050s, as we mentioned, Andrew also comes into conflict with Emperor Henry iii. Henry launches a mini invasion which Andrew is able to see off. So again, there's potential there for Edward to have gotten involved and fighting off. And as we saw, we know that Henry III seems to have done all he can to resist England getting into contact with the exile, which one must assume is because it's personal, because he sees Edward as somebody that has fought against him.

[Graham Duke]

Yeah, yeah, definitely.

[Ali Hood]

Unfortunately, of course, it is all supposition. We don't have any accounts that says he took part in this battle or in this campaign or whatever. Weirdly, the only comment we actually get directly addressing it is William of malmesbury in the 12th century, who said of him he was neither valiant nor of great ability.

[Graham Duke]

Oh.

[Ali Hood]

But for no apparent reason. We can't see any reason why he would have suggested that. So it feels quite sort of harsh and unwarranted.

[Graham Duke]

Feels like he's Just heard an opinion and repeated it.

[Ali Hood]

Yeah. So don't have any particular reason to say that of him at all. And, you know, as I said, it feels to me like it's much more likely that he was involved in these military campaigns.

[Graham Duke]

Yeah.

[Ali Hood]

But we just don't have any detail around it. Definitely.

[Graham Duke]

Unsuccessfully in everyone, it seems.

[Ali Hood]

Well, yes, actually, that's true as well. Yes. I haven't really thought about it. Yes, they are successful military campaigns as well as being military campaigns.

[Graham Duke]

I'm gonna go five because we don't know.

[Ali Hood]

Yeah. I think five feels fair as well. It absolutely feels like, again, if you were in the Wii Tan and thinking about whether this guy's good enough or not, you think? Yeah, look, he's done. He's. He's got some stuff here. This is a guy. He could probably lead a battle. He could. Probably has some kind of idea of what he's doing.

[Graham Duke]

Yeah, he can. He can whang a sword about. And there's enough of us here as well that we can pull this. They just needed a king.

[Ali Hood]

Yeah.

[Graham Duke]

With that. Ticked that box.

[Ali Hood]

Yeah.

[Graham Duke]

Yeah.

[Ali Hood]

So five from you. Five for me. That's a ten for battliness.

[Graham Duke]

Scandal.

[Ali Hood]

We do have a rather juicy scandal from Hungary provided by Geoffrey of the seduction of a royal princess. An unplanned pregnancy. Unfortunately, it relates to his brother Edmund rather than Edward.

[Graham Duke]

Oh, darn it.

[Ali Hood]

Also, the details are so sketchy, it's hard to find anything credible in it at all. So Guy Ma actually calls him Edgar rather than Edmund.

[Graham Duke]

I sympathise.

[Ali Hood]

The princess that he identifies would only have been. Well, might not even have been eight years old. Definitely wasn't pregnant. And also, he goes on to claim that King Andrew adopts him as his heir, which is demonstrably nonsense.

[Graham Duke]

Who's this guy? William of Armsbury?

[Ali Hood]

Geoffrey of Guymar. So, I mean, if we're being generous, maybe Guy Mar caught wind of some kind of scandal relating to Edmund in Hungary. And like you said, he isn't able to piece it together. He can't really understand who he's had an affair with and what's happened or why. So, like you said, he's saying to his friend, what do I do? And he says, just. Just make it up. Just add some. Throw some names in and make it up. No one's heard of them. Anyway.

[Graham Duke]

There's a book about early Russian history somewhere, and it said something about an affair to stick that in. It makes sense.

[Ali Hood]

So there might be a kernel of truth that Edmund was a bit of a. Bit of a Wild one and had an affair with someone prominent and it was a bit of a scandal. But any of the other details are nonsense. And of course the crucial one is that it's Edmund, not Edward. Edward is married with children. It doesn't preclude him from doing it, but he doesn't seem to have inspired any scandal at all. His Pan European adventures make it hard to imagine that he was a complete dullard. Yeah. But equally, I haven't got a single thing I could reference as being scandalous for him. It's nothing.

[Graham Duke]

Is it 00 for scandal. Subjectivity.

[Ali Hood]

It's always a challenge to consider subjectivity, as we've been seeing so far in the series, when the person in question A never got to be monarch and B doesn't really have much detail of much of a detailed biography that allows us to judge what they might have done, never mind, you know, millennium old accounts of their fundraising efforts at the local Hungarian village. Fate. We do have a little bit to go on. So it's been observed that the St. Stephen Crown of Hungary is quite similar in appearance to the St. Edward's crown. And also that an Anglo Saxon ordo, so sort of order of ceremony was used for the coronation of King Solomon, Andrew's son in 1059. Who's Andrew?

[Graham Duke]

Oh, that fella. Yeah, yeah.

[Ali Hood]

Brother in law. So it's hard to imagine who else could have provided that English influence in the Hungarian court, apart from Edward.

[Graham Duke]

Yeah.

[Ali Hood]

Now also the fact that Edward leaves when he's about a year old, you wonder how he would have had an awful lot of knowledge or whatever of it it might have been fed into him. You never know. But someone must have.

[Graham Duke]

Amazing. The crown. Is it coincidence or do you reckon designed?

[Ali Hood]

Yeah. In a funny way, we also have a sense of his popularity, if not for who he was and at least for what he was. So after relating his arrival and death in England, the Anglo Saxon Chronicle lamented, alas, that was a rueful time and injurious to all this nation that he ended his life so soon after he came to England to the misfortune of this miserable people. So, you know, after years of uncertainty over the succession, Edward appears really. He's like the returning saviour.

[Graham Duke]

Yeah.

[Ali Hood]

He solves all their problems. Anything other than an heir of the royal blood is going to be contentious domestically and internationally. He's perfect. It's effectively inviting anyone with an army to try their hand at England if they can't find somebody. And he's absolutely the perfect person. He solves all those Problems.

[Graham Duke]

Yeah.

[Ali Hood]

So they don't actually know Edward, but they needed Edward and he did heed the call.

[Graham Duke]

You don't have to. Have to like the person. It's just someone to fill the office that ticks those boxes.

[Ali Hood]

And he came. They called and he came. He travelled, you know, thousands of miles to. For him, a completely different world of uncertain loyalty to him and all that business. But nevertheless, he did come,

[Graham Duke]

oh, so close.

[Ali Hood]

On the other hand, of course, we don't have very much concrete to go on. As we said, some of the English envoys who did meet Edward might have thought, crikey, what on earth have he done? He's really weird.

[Graham Duke]

Yeah. You know, he collects all his old stool samples. I mean, we can't have this person as king.

[Ali Hood]

Doesn't even speak English. So.

[Graham Duke]

Yeah.

[Ali Hood]

So it's a weird one. Subjectivity where he sort of. On the one hand, we don't really have an awful lot that he's done. And yet that. I mean, maybe that's a bit more for the Rex factor, the. That counterfactual of what he represented, what he might have been, what he might have done.

[Graham Duke]

There's nothing there.

[Ali Hood]

But he was wanted and he came. You know, that's the service to the country, isn't it? He came thousands of miles. He had a happy little life in Hungary. Happy little life. He had quite a happy big life, didn't he? And you were saying, no, stop there. Just.

[Graham Duke]

Yeah, and he still went, but so there's nothing actually there is there?

[Ali Hood]

We don't know that. He didn't be like, finally, I will be able to get my revenge in blood.

[Graham Duke]

Yeah, yeah, exactly.

[Ali Hood]

Now I have a deep, wretched nation. Yeah.

[Graham Duke]

Always said I was gonna slaughter every child. Everyone knows that. Zero for me.

[Ali Hood]

I'm gonna. I'm gonna perhaps a little romantically give him some points.

[Graham Duke]

Oh, very nice.

[Ali Hood]

Just as I say, because, you know, because he heeds the call, because he. He, you know, makes a nice little English crown in Hungary or whatever he does. I'm gonna give him a little bit. So I'm gonna give him a three for some activity. Yeah, it doesn't. I mean. Well, I mean, that is still a low score, isn't it? Yeah, still a low score. I feel heeding the call in this nation's moment. They needed him, he came.

[Graham Duke]

Yeah. That's three total, isn't it?

[Ali Hood]

So. Yeah.

[Graham Duke]

Longevity.

[Ali Hood]

Now, Edward's longevity is another one of those debatable affairs. So if we're being ultra generous, we could say that he and his brothers were the right, his brother were the rightful heirs of Edmund Ironside in 1016 and thus would be the heir from 1016 until his death when he returns in 1015.

[Graham Duke]

Yeah, well, that's why he's exiled now.

[Ali Hood]

Against that a. I don't really know why. But nevertheless, there does tend to be an acceptance that the older brother is actually Edmund rather than Edward.

[Graham Duke]

Oh, right.

[Ali Hood]

Which would mean that he wouldn't technically be the heir until after Edmund had died.

[Graham Duke]

Oh, well, that's right then, yeah.

[Ali Hood]

Also you could say, well, he's not really the heir because you've also got Edward the Confessor who's hanging around, you've got other Saxon princes and indeed Edward the Confessor becomes king in 1042. So is Edward the exile really heir from 1016-42, when actually the one that eventually comes back is Edward the Confessor?

[Graham Duke]

Yeah, I see what you mean. So, like, it's never. He's never.

[Ali Hood]

He's not really next to your line. So you could argue that he's not really the heir at all until ever until 1054, when the motion is then to bring him back. Or technically, maybe he's never actually named. Yeah, maybe he's not officially ever the heir.

[Graham Duke]

I think that. I think that's the case because I was going to go with after his brother, but actually, until. Well, no, maybe.

[Ali Hood]

Well, I. My sort of compromise inclination is to say that it doesn't seem like we really know that the brother's definitely older. And if we were to say that from Edward the Confessor onwards, even if they didn't necessarily realize it, Edward the exile is effectively the heir. Obviously, Edward the Confessor is planning to have children, but he doesn't. And when he realizes that he's not going to have any children, it's like, right, let's find this other guy. Yeah. And they go to quite a lot of effort to find him and to bring him back, it's pretty implausible that they were bringing him back for any reason other than for him to be heir.

[Graham Duke]

Yeah.

[Ali Hood]

Alright, so I think if we say from Edward the Confessor's accession onwards, 1042, he is effectively, even though nobody really knows it. Yeah, the heir. So that would mean that he is the heir from 8 June 1042 to 19 April 1057.

[Graham Duke]

Alright, well done.

[Ali Hood]

So that's a nearly reign of 14.83 years, which gives him a score of nine and a half out of 20, just 15th best for the series.

[Graham Duke]

Well done, that man. Dynasty, not the program.

[Ali Hood]

Edward has three surviving children, Edgar. Edgar the Etheling, who we shall discuss in a future episode of.

[Graham Duke]

And Don't Tell Me Margaret. And. And the other one, it was something like. Something really modern, like Beverly or something, isn't it? What is it?

[Ali Hood]

Christina.

[Graham Duke]

Oh, Christina. Yeah, maybe.

[Ali Hood]

So Christina becomes the Abbess of Romsey Abbey. Margaret becomes known as Margaret of Scotland, St Margaret of Scotland, Queen of Scots.

[Graham Duke]

That's her.

[Ali Hood]

That's her. His daughter. And Edgar the Etheling, who we'll discuss in a future episode, is another nearly monarch. And of course, through Margaret's daughter Edith, but she becomes Matilda. Edward the Exiles royal line will return to the English throne because she marries Henry I and then they have children and that line continues. So Edward the Exile is the great grandfather of the Empress Matilda. Wow. Another nearly monarch. Yeah. And then finally the great, great grandfather of Henry ii. Yeah. So Edward the Exile, as much as he doesn't become king, nevertheless he comes back and as a result that royal line does return.

[Graham Duke]

So it sort of worked.

[Ali Hood]

Yeah.

[Graham Duke]

Him coming back.

[Ali Hood]

Ultimately, that dynasty does continue because Edward came back. So all that, he went through all of that, as much as he didn't become king. Actually, the dynasty does.

[Graham Duke]

Interesting.

[Ali Hood]

And of course, all the Scottish monarchs.

[Graham Duke]

Yeah, yeah.

[Ali Hood]

You know, we have several kings that are the son of Margaret and then that whole line is all from Margaret as well. So actually England, Scotland and the uk, they do all dynastic legacy from Edward the Exile.

[Graham Duke]

So what does he get?

[Ali Hood]

Well, he only gets. Well, actually. No, it's pretty good. He gets 11 and a half for Dynasty, which is the joint fifth best for the series. So that gives him a total score of 34, which is the second best that we've had thus far. But it's not all about the score. Does he have that certain something, that lasting legacy, the great achievement, the star quality that we call Rex factor, I think.

[Graham Duke]

So.

[Ali Hood]

You can so easily see how this is an epic film or series, isn't it?

[Graham Duke]

Yeah, completely.

[Ali Hood]

Son of the heroic Edmund Ironside escapes the murderous clutches of Edric Streona and Canute Exile takes in Denmark, Sweden, Russia,

[Graham Duke]

Hungary and all that that allows visually, all the. You know, that court, Hungary, you've got

[Ali Hood]

a nationalist uprising with wizards and warlocks running around, the heroic but tragic returning denouement. And then of course, the epilogue of. Yeah, the line continuing. And, you know, and it's the. The counterfactual for Edward the Exile is an incredible one because he's someone that gets forgetting. Forgotten about. It's funny because he's born in the midst of the Danish conquest and his death is the thing that makes possible the Norman Conquest.

[Graham Duke]

Gosh. Yeah.

[Ali Hood]

But that's the thing, like, without Edward the exile's death, 1066 does not happen. Harold Godwinson does not become king. William the Conqueror would not have invaded England. There was no way they would have had any hope of challenging Edward the Exile if he'd still been alive in the air. So the whole course of English history changes, because that is with the Exile.

[Graham Duke]

That is a big one. That is rexy, isn't it?

[Ali Hood]

Very, very rexy. And I just think his life, even though we miss the pertinent details of it, obviously. Yeah. But what we do know, that life of exile all around Europe, all these places that never usually come anywhere near this story.

[Graham Duke]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Ali Hood]

And then he comes back.

[Graham Duke]

It's very rexy. Yes from me, definitely.

[Ali Hood]

I think it's a yes for me as well. So that means Edward the Exile, the forgotten man, has got the Rex factor. Well done. Edward the Exile. And that is the first Rex factor of the nearly monarchs.

[Graham Duke]

Oh, good, good. So, but weirdly, he's not an early monarch, then. Not an early Rex fact.

[Ali Hood]

So it's not a nearly nearly correspondence corner. So that was Edward the Exile. So let us know if you agree. If you would be giving him the rect. Head to our website rexfactorpodcast.com to get more information about the show and links to all of our social media accounts. And if you would like to hear more from us, then you can join the privy [e-mail] RexFactor where you get an ad free version of this podcast and over 450 bonus episodes, including a Privy Chamber episode on Edward the Exile, where we'll go into some more detail about him, where he did or didn't go into exile and all the people that Agatha might have been descended from.

[Graham Duke]

What a fun thing to buy membership to this.

[Ali Hood]

And you can gift it as well. Yeah, you know, stuff.

[Graham Duke]

You get rid of stuff eventually. Can't get rid of knowledge. Although I am living proof that you

[Ali Hood]

can get rid of knowledge within the hour.

[Graham Duke]

Yeah, yeah, I know. But these trainers won't wear out, basically.

[Ali Hood]

And we have some new Privy councillors to welcome to the fold.

[Graham Duke]

Diana Bowler, Alison Schwartz, Elizabeth Hartley, Velveteen Cat Nut, Eva Johansson, Charlemagne, Amanda Herbert, Hannah Parker Sparks, Luca Skooken, Lockhart Jamieson, Tom Dewar, Marilyn R. Pukila, Krista Kitty Noah August, David Gregson, Rebecca Palmer, Sam Waller and Tim Seeley. Thank you.

[Ali Hood]

So that is all from us today. That's the end of Edward the Exile. Now we are going to be doing Edgar the Ethering, but he's not going to be the next episode. We're going to finish the sort of Saxon mini series with Edgar. So that means that the next one we're going to do before Edgar will be brother in law of Edward the Exile. Harold Hardrada.

[Graham Duke]

Brilliant.

[Ali Hood]

One of the most remarkable figures of the age. See you next time.

[Graham Duke]

Cheerio.

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