ABSTRACT
The murder of King Edward the Martyr in 978 was followed by the return of the Vikings to English shores from the late 980s, the failures of King Aethelred and, ultimately, Danish conquest in 1013–16. At the centre of affairs, however, the church’s primary duty remained the same: in return for the protection he swore to give it, the king was crowned and anointed and given his unique, divinely approved status. The English Church was not always a focus for stability or political harmony during the tenth century. From the middle of the ninth century until the Danish conquest of 1013–16, the kings of Wessex and England had all come from the same family. The attitude of the leading English churchmen to the new regime was therefore crucial, and from the start they seem to have backed it and done their best to sustain it.
