I've not seen this one anywhere else on here but apologies if it has been done to death.
On the death of Cnut in 1035, there was a power struggle over the succession to his Empire. One man who saw an opportunity was Alfred Aetheling, who had been exiled to Normandy as an infant and now saw a chance to regain England for the Saxons.
He landed with some Norman mercenaries intent on securing London. In OTL, he was betrayed and captured by Earl Godwin, his men massacred and he himself was blinded and left to die in the monastery at Ely.
Alfred had been heading for his power base at Winchester when he was lured into a meeting with Godwin but what if he had been more cautious, gone to Winchester, rallied support and faced Godwin, not just with a few bodyguards, but with an army ?
Could Alfred have secured London and the English throne against Harold Harefoot and established a new Saxon line preventing the invasion of William some thirty years later ?
On the death of Cnut in 1035, there was a power struggle over the succession to his Empire. One man who saw an opportunity was Alfred Aetheling, who had been exiled to Normandy as an infant and now saw a chance to regain England for the Saxons.
He landed with some Norman mercenaries intent on securing London. In OTL, he was betrayed and captured by Earl Godwin, his men massacred and he himself was blinded and left to die in the monastery at Ely.
Alfred had been heading for his power base at Winchester when he was lured into a meeting with Godwin but what if he had been more cautious, gone to Winchester, rallied support and faced Godwin, not just with a few bodyguards, but with an army ?
Could Alfred have secured London and the English throne against Harold Harefoot and established a new Saxon line preventing the invasion of William some thirty years later ?