Amerika

Most of the great kings are mostly lost to history because nothing officially happened during their reign, or what happened was so logical that it appears prosaic. A good leader anticipates and intervenes in events before they happen and therefore, has a boring biography.

Athelstan, the king who created Britain, falls into both categories. He achieved a lot but since it became the standard, it did not strike people as being as revolutionary as it was: he applied the ancient Greek model to medieval England and in doing so, laid the groundwork for modern Britain.

His first innovation was the use of organization to shape government into an effective force for uniting and advancing a civilization:

Woodman also argues that government became increasingly efficient during Æthelstan’s reign. “We can see him sending law codes out to different parts of the kingdom, and then reports coming back to him about what was working and what changes needed to be made.”

“There is also some of the clearest evidence we have for centralized oversight of the production of royal documents, with one royal scribe put in charge of their production. No matter where the king and the royal assembly traveled, the royal scribe went too.”

Woodman points out that Æthelstan brought England together just as parts of continental Europe were fragmenting. “Nobles across Europe were rising up and taking territory for themselves,” he says. “Æthelstan made sure that he was well placed to take advantage of the unfolding of European politics by marrying a number of his half-sisters into continental ruling houses.”

With what would become known as characteristic British efficiency, he carefully organized what were otherwise inconsisent systems. In addition, he saw the utility in unifying the British populations in order to fend off the opposition:

In consolidating the previously separate kingdoms of Wessex, Mercia and Northumbria, Æthelstan became the first king of all England.

“He knew what he was doing,” says Foot. “He knew that he’d created a new kind of realm and he’d brought a unity to the British Isles that they hadn’t known since Roman times.”

This unity was key to defending his newly formed kingdom. “He’s aware of the importance of bringing people together in the face of Viking attacks,” says Woodman. “But there’s also an element of personal ambition here. This is a way to extend his authority.”

Part of this involved establishing a shared identity based on Anglo-Saxon heritage, which was shared among the groups despite other elements also being present, with an English identity at the core of the isles, establishing a beneficial rule to all through standards:

Athelstan was the first king of all England, and Alfred the Great’s grandson. He reigned between 925 and 939 AD. A distinguished and courageous soldier, he pushed the boundaries of the kingdom to the furthest extent they had yet reached.

In 927 AD he took York from the Danes, and forced the submission of Constantine, King of Scotland and of the northern kings. All five of the Welsh kings agreed to pay a huge annual tribute. He also eliminated opposition in Cornwall. In 937 AD, at the Battle of Brunanburh, Athelstan led a force drawn from Britain, and defeated an invasion made by the king of Scotland, in alliance with the Welsh and Danes, from Dublin.

Under Athelstan, law codes strengthened royal control over his large kingdom; currency was regulated to control silver’s weight and to penalise fraudsters; buying and selling was largely confined to the burhs, encouraging town life; and areas of settlement in the Midlands and Danish towns were consolidated into shires. Overseas, Athelstan built alliances by marrying off four of his half sisters to various rulers in western Europe.

Unlike modern standards, those employed by Athelstan tended to be functional and very general, not ideological, which enabled unity where otherwise fractiousness would break out. Much of his focus involved rooting out bad behavior that had thrived in the anarchy:

Athelstan was elected king of Wessex and Mercia, where he had been brought up by his aunt, Aethelflaed, Lady of the Mercians. Crowned king of the whole country at Kingston on Sept. 4, 925, he proceeded to establish boundaries and rule firmly. He annexed the Viking kingdom of York in 927. His dominion was significantly challenged in 937 when Constantine of the Scots, Owain of Strathclyde, and Olaf Guthfrithson, claimant of the kingdom of York, joined forces and invaded England. They were routed at Brunanburh.

Six of Athelstan’s extant codes of law reveal stern efforts to suppress theft and punish corruption. They are notable in containing provisions intended to comfort the destitute and mitigate the punishment of young offenders. The form and language of his many documents suggest the presence of a corps of skilled clerks staffed by the cathedral of Winchester. Both his charters and the silver coinage he issued through strictly controlled regional mints bore the proud title Rex totius Britanniae (“King of all Britain”).

Most likely, Athelstan was erased from history for not doing anything weird, and for having established an order that succeeded. The herd hates those who rise above the rest; they attack and vilify competence because its presence makes their own shortcomings visible.

While his innovations evoked the best of ancient Greece and Rome, he also asserted a uniquely Germanic sense of order and fairness that allowed citizens to relax, since arbitrary acts against them were far less likely. While this built a thriving empire, it also had a downside.

Civilizations that rise and protect their citizens also protect the dumbest among them, who also tend to breed the most. This means that over time, the percentage of idiots rises while the number of useful people remains the same, paving the path for blood poisoning through attack of the idiotic.

Tags: anglo-saxons, athelstan, britain, collapse, monarchism