Talk:Witenagemot

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Is it Witenagemot or Witangemot? -- Jim Regan 22:44 4 Jul 2003 (UTC)

It's witenagemot...witangemot just seems to be a spelling error. Adam Bishop 22:47 4 Jul 2003 (UTC)

Are ealdormen and thegns spelled correctly? Should they be changed to modern English (aldermen and ??) -Aion 00:29 27 Jul 2003 (UTC)

Ealdormen are never modernized, as they're so different from modern aldermen. There isn't a modern form of thegn, just Shakespeare's thane and Tolkien's thain. -- Gritchka 00:38 27 Jul 2003 (UTC)

is this where j. k. rowling got the word Wizengamot? Donthaveaspaz 19:05, 19 June 2006 (UTC)

Who appointed members of the Witan?--Camaeron (talk) 11:49, 24 February 2008 (UTC)

Bishops and Ealdormen would have sat in it. Bishops are appointed by the two archbishops and they by the pope. Ealdormen were generally appointed by the king or were hereditery (though not always)and others were co-opted. Edmund Ironside and Cnut both summoned rival Witenagemots to elect them both simultaneously. It was felt necessary -especially after Dunstan- to include an archbishop if you wanted to get crowned. THe power of the Witan to acclaim the king was eroded, particularly by the Danes, but also by Edmund I who made a pact with the Danish leader that each would inherit the whole kingdom upon the death of the other (Edmund narrowly won). It is not certain whether this arrangement was ratified by the Witan, or if the king could personally give away the kingdom on his own authority. The Danish rulers - Swein, Cnut, Harald and Hardicnut seemed to barter their kingdoms as if their own possessions without the Witan having much say in the matter. Upon the death of Hardicnut, it seems that Godwin strong armed the Witenagemot into acquiescing with his choice of Edward, whom no doubt he felt he could manipulate - as he did in the end, but with more difficulty than he anticipated. So it seems that at times the Witan chose the king but sometimes he chose them. Streona (talk) 00:44, 25 February 2008 (UTC)

license your contributions under the GFDL*.

[edit] Witan = Curia Regis?

It what way did the Curia Regis "replace" the Witan? Surely it was just a new Latin name for the same instituation. It had the same types of people in it (top landowners and ecclesiastics), it did the same things, and was even called the "Witan" into the 12th century, as the article states. TharkunColl 12:54, 24 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Powers of the Witenagemont

If the Witan was subject to the will of the king and could only meet when summoned by the king, how could it CHOOSE the king, and how could it DEPOSE kings? This seems to me a contradition in the article. Shulgi 09:13, 21 March 2007 (UTC)

One of the major functions seems to have been choosing the King. Succession was a system otherwise known as tanistry- the candidate would have to be from the royal line- essentially that of Cerdic and the Witenagemot had to judge between claimants and would have sat therefore between reigns. Thus Alfred, the brother of King Ethelred, was chosen over the son of Ethelred, Ethelwald. The succession of Athelstan was extremely complex, due to his illegitimacy, Edred succeeded his brother, Edmund I as Eadwig was too young, the Witenagemot would have had to split the kingdom between Eadwig and Edgar. In the succession of Edmund Ironsides and Cnut, rival witengamots sat to proclaim both of them king. In the Danish period the witenagemot was defunct, due to the king's autocracy, but was re established after Hardicnut's death under the dominance of Earl Godwin, who offered the throne to Edward the Confessor, despite Edward pleading that he did not want it and bursting into tears. So they must have had a busy time at pivotal moments in history. Unfortunately they did not keep proper minutes. Streona 09:37, 22 October 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Wizengamot

The link to "wizengamot" of the Harry Potter books books directs straight back to "witenagemot". This is not good. There is no site for wizengamot but it can be found under "Ministry of Magic". -Streona —Preceding unsigned comment added by Streona (talk • contribs) 11:00, 15 May 2008 (UTC)