Source for the exact date of death for Edward the Exile

[DaHoorn]

According to the Anglo Saxon Chronicle, Edward the Exile died in
1057. Is there an exact date of death for Edward? If so, what is the
source? I have seen multiple references to April 19, 1057 and August
1057.

See here:

April 19, 1057:

http://www.anglo-saxons.net/hwaet/?do=g ... d=04191057


http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Aegean/3532/edgar.htm


August 1057:

http://www.channel4.com/history/microsi ... arold.html

Any assistance in locating a "primary" or "contemporaneous" source
would be appreciated.

[Peter Stewart]

"DaHoorn" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...

According to the Anglo Saxon Chronicle, Edward the Exile died in
1057. Is there an exact date of death for Edward? If so, what is the
source? I have seen multiple references to April 19, 1057 and August
1057.

That's an interesting question - I hope someone else has the answer, as I
don't.

The two most recent biographers of Edward at at odds on the point: Michael
Lawson in ODNB says 19 April, while Gabriel Ronay in _The Lost King of
England_ (1989) says that he arrived in England in the middle of August, and
elsewhere has said that the death followed within 48 hours of arrival.

The precision of the last detail is suspect, and so are other aspects of
Ronay's accounts - for instance, he includes Ingulf of Croyland amonsgt
sources that allegedly don't mention any illness, whereas Ingulf actually
specified that Edward did fall sick. Freeman thought that this was probably
the reason he was unable to see the king, and this seems plausible enough.
If Edward was murdered, as Ronay conjectures, to prevent his being declared
heir to the throne, why would his young son be left alive to inherit the
claim?

Ronay appears to settle for Edward's death in August because a subsequent
entry under 1057 in a version of the Anglo-Saxon chronicle was probably
written on 31 August. However, it's not clear why he thinks that Edward
reached England in mid-August, unless this is his estimate working back from
the supposed time of death.

Peter Stewart