Chapter 381: Serving as Regent

As a result of this battle, William established himself as heir to the throne of England through a council of wise men in the nature of a later parliament, and he was now the undisputed future King of England, William, Duke of Wessex.

In England, William was a vassal of King Edward, and he ruled many dukedoms and counties in East Anglia, Kent, and Hewess under the name of the Duke of Wessex in the Kingdom of England, and owned estates beyond imagination in the vast south of England.

In the entire Kingdom of England, only Leofric, Duke of Mercia, can be as strong as William, the Duke of Wessex, which still refers to the strength of the Duchy of Wessex, not counting William's strength in the Norman Kingdom and other places.

It is not easy to convene a council of the wise men, which plays a role similar to the court council of the Duke of Normandy, which is composed of the secular nobles of the kingdom, such as members of the royal family, the prince, the bishop, and the Cyne, and decides on major issues such as war and peace, taxation, and the promulgation of laws, and can even elect and depose the king.

In addition, on the eve of the Norman Conquest, the king's court developed into a central authority for the administration of the kingdom, and the members of the royal court were originally trusted personal servants of the king, but later developed into the king's right-hand men, responsible for handling paperwork, managing finances and taxes, etc., and following the king around the country.

In order to achieve the goal of the Normans controlling the center of England, William proposed that he be the regent of England, and recommended the Earl of Richard for the title of military chief and chief of police.

Regent: This is the de facto assigning of royal power and appeared in the early years of the Kingdom of England. At that time, the kings of England also had a more important role, that is, the Duke of the Franks, so the kings effectively stayed in France for a long time, leaving a regent to rule on behalf of the king of England. In fact, it was not until John the Lack lost most of France's possessions that the kings of England were forced to settle for direct rule of England.

The regent office, which last appeared in English history, was during the reign of Henry III. It is very subtle that although Henry III succeeded to the throne at the age of Chongling, he himself was the first king of England after the Norman Conquest to succeed to the throne by his own hereditary status alone (from the conqueror king to John I, the right to rule England depended more or less on the recognition of the parliament at that time).

Thus, from Henry III onwards, it became the English credo that "the king was never so young as to lose his ability to rule" that the "regent" for the young king became a "great rebellion" (implying that the king was incapable of ruling the country).

The Chief Military Officer, as the name suggests, is the commander in command of the entire military force of the Kingdom of England, and has the power to dispatch the Chamberlain, Theon, and the militia.

Chief of Police. This position is delicate and, if not the lord, in fact refers to the constable appointed by the king in the counties and hundred-household districts. Hence the name "Chief of Police" translated from it. In fact, however, Lord Constable was a military position, and his main duty was to command the armies of the Kingdom of England in times of war with the hereditary generalissimo of the royal family.

William's proposal was naturally met with fierce opposition from the Anglo-Saxon nobility, especially when he proposed that the Earl of Adolf of the Norman Kingdom also be the Keeper of the Seal of England.

In feudal times, the seal was seen as a symbol of state power, and in 1642 Charles I fled from London, taking the seal with him, almost making Parliament inoperable, and James II deliberately threw it into the Thames to obstruct Parliament when he fled. The English Parliament's custom law stipulates that the convening of Parliament must be ordered by the king, and if the king dies or is unable to express his opinion for some reason, then the Lord Chancellor can affix the seal under the convocation order, which can be regarded as the king's own order (that is, if the king is not available, the Lord Chancellor and the Lord of the Seals can jointly convene Parliament on behalf of the king, which is the only way to convene parliament in this case and continue the English political tradition).

Here, the Council of the Magi was the prototype of the later Parliament, and its role was much the same, and even its power was exceeded, and the Normans as Keeper of the Seals meant that William was in control of the Council of the Magichia, which the Anglo-Saxon aristocracy could not tolerate.

William's request for the Earl of Adolf to be the Keeper of the Seals was merely a quid pro quo for him, and he never imagined that he would be able to fully control the center of the Kingdom of England without an advantage in strength, as long as he was given the post of military chief and regent.

With the position of regent, William could justifiably give orders to the princes of the Kingdom of England in the name of King Edward.

The Anglo-Saxon aristocracy is aggressive, and the Norman nobles standing beside William are not weak, they are all noble knights canonized by King Edward during his reign in England, and they have been rooted in the south of England for several years, and after moving forward, the Norman nobles in England are not weak.

As the atmosphere grew more and more tense and the fight seemed to be on the verge of breaking out, the Irish priests joined forces with Archbishop Stigand of Canterbury and Bishop Eldred of York to interrupt the tension. Father Stigander looked at both sides and suggested:

"You might as well take a step back, have a good chat calmly, and always find a balance that can benefit both parties."

Father Stigander and the Bishop of York came together, and even William had to give them some face, let alone the other English nobles?

William and the Duke of Mercia each took a step back, he gave up his claim to the position of Keeper of the Seals, and after paying some concessions, he finally obtained the two important positions of regent and military chief that he had coveted, so that he could rightfully manage the military power of the Kingdom of England.

In order to better fulfill his role as regent of England and better control the Kingdom of England, William had to gain a deeper understanding of the political affairs of the Kingdom of England.

The central body of the Kingdom of England consisted of the Council of the Magi and the royal court, the central body that governed the kingdom.

As mentioned earlier, the king's court also developed into a central authority for the administration of the kingdom on the eve of the Norman conquest, and the members of the royal court were originally trusted personal servants of the king, but later developed into the king's right-hand men, responsible for handling paperwork, managing finances and taxes, etc., and following the king around the country.

Its members include the Crown Governor, the Military Chief, the Crown Treasurer, the Field Marshal, the Regent, the Governor-General, the Lord Chancellor, the Chief Policeman, the Chancellor, the Privy Councillor, the Parliamentary Secretary, and the Keeper of the Seals.

The most important of these are the Lord of the Seals and the Regent, equivalent to the Speaker and the Prime Minister, these two positions can use their powers to act on behalf of the King of England in special times, which can be said to be very powerful.