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Episode 3 of 3 Aethelstan: The First King of England

埃塞尔斯坦：英格兰的第一位君王

59 minutes

Tue 20 Aug 2013 21:00

BBC FOUR

In this third episode, Alfred's grandson Aethelstan fulfils the family plan and creates a kingdom of all England.

Travelling from Devon to Cumbria, Scotland and Rome, Michael Wood tells the tale of Aethelstan's wars, his learning and his lawmaking, showing how he created a national coinage and tracing the origin of the English parliament to the king's new assembly politics. But there's also a dark side, with later legends that the king had his brother drowned at sea. In his last desperate struggle, Aethelstan defeated a huge invasion of Vikings and Scots in what became known as the Anglo-Saxon 'Great War'.

Wood argues that Aethelstan was one of the greatest English monarchs, and with his grandfather Alfred, his father Edward and his aunt Aethelflaed, a member of our most remarkable royal family and 'even more than the Tudors, the most gifted and influential rulers in British history'.

Credits

Presenter: Michael Wood

Writer: Michael Wood

Series Producer: Rebecca Dobbs

风景很美，是诺曼人进入英格兰之前的盎格鲁-撒克逊的历史，好不容易统一了英格兰。不小心从第三集开始看了，不过没事，后面就快要到诺曼的威廉了，所以还是挺顺的……

Aethelstan是Alfred大帝的孙子，当Alfred在世时，唯一的孙辈继承人，就很正式地册封了一下。但是他不是父亲Edward的正妻所生，后来父亲也有了正式继承人，于是Aethelstan被送去姑姑Aethelflaed的封地Mercia，在那里长大和被教育。之后，为继承王位，Aethelstan还要发誓不结婚不生继承人，在自己之后让父亲指定的继承人弟弟Edwin王子继任。

不过一上位，Aethelstan就是一位能干的君主，没有留下传记，只能各方寻找证据。比如统一了Wessex和Mercia之后，制定了各种法律法规，从国王土地注册上来看，也是跑遍各地。还要接待各色人等，制定更文明的法律，国家制度可以延续到13世纪，是很有作为的。还跟Wales国王和主教等一起，去罗马进行合法化地申请，从此有了不列颠帝国。还是很有抱负和想法的，不仅仅是一位武士国王，更是一位知识分子。

对于判处弟弟Edwin是叛国罪，也是很后悔的，建了大教堂来忏悔，很有基督徒的表现……在苏格兰开始叛变之后，马上率军北上，水陆一起，大获全胜。在苏格兰国王几年后从都柏林又打回来之后，先是祈祷求助，再率军一举歼灭，等于统一了英格兰。对于最后这次战役的残酷，本人也是非常不能忍的，捐出的祈祷书上还有一段题记，希望所有使用此书来祈祷的人都替他祈祷一下……

在位14年，但是功勋显著，是继承了Alfred事业的有用的孙子……可惜后来这个王朝无后了，让诺曼血统进入统治阶级了。

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