This volume is the fine product of a conference, held in 2005, which formed part of the celebration of the millennium of the birth of Edward the Confessor. Interpretation of the Confessor's life and reign has been dominated by the achievement of Frank Barlow, notably with his major biography of the king. Many of the arguments in this book are inspired by his interpretations, and while alternatives are suggested, much that is in the papers can be seen as homage rather than as a challenge to Barlow's work.

There is much that is ambivalent about the Confessor. The last representative of an Anglo-Saxon dynasty, he was strongly influenced by his long exile in Normandy as a young man. He was a remarkable political survivor, particularly in the face of the house of Godwin, but his achievements were limited, and his failure to leave a direct heir created enormous problems. This book is not a revisionist exercise; what the studies in it reveal above all are the problems of the limited evidence for this period and the difficulties of reaching firm conclusions.

The editor provides an excellent analysis of the main sources for the period. He shows how the Godwin rebellion was interpreted in quite varied ways in different texts of the Anglo-Saxon chronicle; Edward's curious absence from the accounts at crucial points was, he argues, the result of embarrassment at the contrast between the king's actions and respect for the royal office. The Vita Edwardi, by contrast, understandably puts the king at the center of the stage.

Two papers look at Edward's career before he came to the throne. Simon Keynes examines his early years in England, and Elizabeth van Houts takes up the story with his exile in Normandy. Difficulties with the evidence provide “an object lesson in source criticism” (60). Edward must have learned many lessons during his boyhood in England during the difficult years of Æthelred's reign; the problems of interpretation are clear when Keynes suggests that, by 1012, Edward might have been either intimidated by his elder half brother Æthelstan or wholly relaxed about his position. Van Houts's paper starts with the unpromising statement that little is known about Edward's exile in Normandy from 1016 to 1040, but it then goes on to demonstrate how much can be gleaned from unpromising material. Her paper brings out the role of monastic houses in providing Edward with support; she also argues that the story in the Vita claiming that his activity as a healer began when he was in Normandy may have a basis in fact, with John of Ravenna, abbot of Fécamp, probably responsible.

It is perhaps a reflection of Edward's weakness as a king that there is no paper in this volume explicitly on the nature of his rule; he did not, for example, follow the precedent of so many kings and issue a law code. Much of the debate about him has centered on the question of what he intended should happen on his death. In the longest paper in the volume, Stephen Baxter concludes that, given the inadequacy of the evidence, “it is impossible to be sure what Edward's policy or policies with respect to the succession were” (114). Nevertheless, he suggests that Edward was “dangerously indecisive” (118). This paper provides a very useful analysis of the changing map of power in the Confessor's reign as the structure of the earldoms shifted.

Pauline Stafford undertakes the challenging task of reconstructing the role of Edward's queen, Edith, from the scrappy sources that survive. Her duty toward her husband, among other things, was not “preventing him going out in odd socks, but ensuring his sufficiently regal presentation” (127). Edith failed, of course, in a primary task of queenship in that she did not provide Edward with an heir. This, however, provided later writers with the opportunity to present the king as chaste, so it helped build his later reputation for sanctity. The important role women might play is also brought out by Van Houts. Edward's sister Godgifu went unnoticed in contemporary chronicles, but her marriage to the count of the Vexin was highly significant, as was her probable subsequent match with Eustace II of Boulogne.

The Confessor's contribution to the English monarchy lay more in legend than reality. As a royal saint, he added an important aura to the crown. Edina Bozoky examines his canonization in 1161, setting it in a broad European context of royal sainthood. The act was important in strengthening dynastic legitimacy, connecting as it did Henry II to the Anglo-Saxon past. It also served to emphasize the role of the papacy and the importance of miracles.

Three papers cover a different theme, with discussion of what was surely Edward's major achievement, the building of Westminster Abbey. There is sufficient archaeological evidence to make a reconstruction of the plan of the church possible, and Eric Fernie shows how mathematical principles underlay it. For example, the relationship of the nave and the cloister was set by that between a square and its diagonal. Responsibility for the design is difficult to attribute, but the link to Jumièges and its abbot, Robert, is clear. Richard Gem suggests that the abbot may have supplied Edward with his “church-wright,” Teignfrith, while the role of the Anglo-Saxons linked with the building project, Leofsi and Godwine, was probably administrative. Warwick Rodwell provides a fascinating account of the latest archaeological discoveries. Among other things, a “plain and somewhat battered door” in the chapter house vestibule is revealed to be the oldest datable door in England, constructed during the Confessor's reign.

This is a book intended for an academic readership. Its editor is to be congratulated on bringing together a group of important papers and its publisher on producing an attractive volume that does not skimp on the illustrations.