Timeline Calne: 997 Witan at Calne

Ethelred the Unready.

After the disatrous Witan of 978, which led to many deaths, the witan of 997, during the reign of Aethelred the Unready (see below) is said to have occured in the hall of the palace at Calne[1]. The hall, of course, being on the ground floor.

After a few days, the witan transferred to Wantage, with the result being a code of laws being drawn up, along with the standard confirmation of the King's grants of lands and privileges.

These laws deal with the administration of justice and the preservation of leace. The whole witan including an entire group of bishops, abbots leaders and noblemen and noblemen[2].



The relevant section of the passage:
"collecta haud minima sapientium multitudine, in aula villae regiae quae nuncupative a poppulis Et Calnea vocitatur"

General translation:
"the multitude of the wise is by no means the least be a solemn assembly, in the royal court of the people called the Calnea"

While nothing dreadful happened at Calne, 997 did see the return of the Danes, starting that year in Cornwall, Devon, western Somerset, and south Wales. Following years saw attacks on Hampshire, Sussex, and Kent, before leaving for Normanby, the English, this time, successful in denying the Danes.

However, the Danes returned and in 1002, the English bought a truce for the sum of £24,000. Aethelred continued to make frequent payments to the Danes and while payments such as these had been made for at least the previous Century, Aethelred's frequent payments are seen as illistrative of incompetant governance. At times, it must have felt that these payments were the only way to keep his people and their way of lives safe. By 1016, Cnut became king of the whole of England, with Ethelred's being buried in Old St. Paul's Cathedral in London, his tomb and monument destroyed along with the cathedral during 1666's Great Fire of London[3].



Interestingly, the above passage states that the Witan was held as the "Royal court", which may refer to the castle at Calne. An archeological dig in 2010 found evidence of a substantial fortified tower, which may have been part of a larger structure or attached to a manor house near the site of present day Castle House. Findings included a well lined with cut and shaped stone within one of the walls, to a depth of at least 7.3 metres. This hints that the tower, which was an estimated 13 metres tall, was defensive, to ensure water supply during a siege. The building, most likely here in the Middle Ages, was a crenelated semi-fortified tower house, which was a type of castle built for defense and habitation up until the 17th century.


References:
[1] Kemble, J., 1876. texts The Saxons in England : A history of the English commonwealth till the period of the Norman conquest. 1st ed. London: B. Quaritch.
[2]  Freeman, E A.,  The History of the Norman Conquest of England: Its Causes and Its Results. !st ed. 
[3]  Wikipedia. 2020. Æthelred the Unready - Wikipedia. [ONLINE] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%86thelred_the_Unready. [Accessed 12 January 2020].