Comments on: Oldest bones of English royal found in Germany

By: gpoole

gpoole — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 08:02:51 +0000

“Thusly” ??? or “thuswise” Alfred would have been shocked.

By: livius drusus

livius drusus — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 21:38:59 +0000

Ah, fascinating. Thank you for following up. What a shame there are no giant Alfred bones to gawk at.

By: Sarah

Sarah — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 21:34:41 +0000

Our conversation intrigued me and so I did some looking around. It appears I was either misinformed or misheard – the English king at Glastonbury was Edgar I, a later descendant of Alfred (which would make Eadgyth the earliest).

By: Sarah

Sarah — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 20:34:16 +0000

That would make sense, and to be honest I have to say I don’t know. But my IMPRESSION is that he was buried under the floor at some point long before the dissolution and therefore wouldn’t have been damaged by the destruction of the cathedral.

Similarly, though on a slightly fantastic note, (during it’s physical existence) the cathedral boasted of having the bones of Guinevere and King Arthur. There was a very large tomb built for them which WAS destroyed during the dissolution, but unless I’m mistaken, the pair of bones are now buried in a marked spot in the cathedral ground.

By: livius drusus

livius drusus — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 19:44:00 +0000

Oh way cooler. Alfred was 6’4″! He’s still the tallest king England has ever had.

Do they think maybe the bones were destroyed/hidden/messed with during the destruction of the monasteries? That’s why they think Athelstan’s tomb is empty.