page_title: Ansgar the Staller
section_title: Career
hierarchical_section_title: Ansgar the Staller / Career
caption_attribution_description: English: Bayeux Tapestry. Scene 26 HIC PORTATUR CORPUS EADWARDI REGIS AD ECCLESIAM S[AN]C[T]I PETRI AP[OSTO]LI Here the body of King Edward is carried to the Church of Saint Peter the Apostle w:Bayeux Tapestry tituli#26
context_page_description: Ansgar the Staller or Esegar was one of the wealthiest and most powerful nobles in late Anglo-Saxon England. He escaped badly wounded from the Battle of Hastings in October 1066, then led the defence of London.
  His family were of Danish origin and held extensive estates in the Thames Valley, as well as Perivale and Northolt in North-West London. In 1044, he replaced his father as hereditary Portreeve of London, and Sheriff of Middlesex. Edward the Confessor also made him a Staller, a term of uncertain origin, used for senior officials in his personal household.
  Ansgar served Edward throughout his reign, then backed Harold Godwinson as his successor, rather than William the Conqueror. After Harold died at Hastings, he supported Edgar Ætheling, 1051 to 1126, elected King of England by the Witenagemot, but never crowned.
  He successfully repulsed two attacks on London, but when other surviving Anglo-Saxon leaders accepted William as king, he surrendered. His power and support for Edgar made him dangerous; he was arrested, his lands distributed to William's supporters, and he is assumed to have died in prison shortly thereafter.
context_section_description: The redistribution of English estates after the Norman Conquest in 1066 is relatively well-known, but the equally far-reaching grants made to Danish nobles by Cnut the Great less so. Ansgar's grandfather, Tovi the Proud, was a Danish thegn who came to England with Cnut, and received extensive lands in Oxfordshire, and Middlesex. His father Athelstan, thought to have been born before 1020, died sometime after 1045, served his son, Harthacnut, who formally succeeded his father as King of Denmark and England in 1035. 
  However, his brother Harold Harefoot was appointed regent of England, and in 1037 usurped the throne of England, supported by Leofric of Mercia. Only when he died in 1040 was Harthacnut able to take possession, and after his own death in 1042, his half-brother, Edward the Confessor, became king. As the son of Cnut's Anglo-Saxon predecessor, Æthelred the Unready (966 to 1016), he was backed by Earl Godwin, father of Harold Godwinson, and head of the 'English' faction. This was centred on the old kingdom of Wessex, while London, the economic hub, was dominated by Anglo-Danish supporters of Leofric, including Ansgar's father Athelstan, Portreeve of London, and sheriff of Middlesex.
  In early 1044, Athelstan was implicated in a conspiracy against Edward, losing his estate of Waltham Abbey as a result. Edward could not afford to isolate so powerful a family, especially one that shared his dislike of the Godwins; his titles were transferred to Ansgar, who was also appointed 'Staller'. A title used by Edward for his senior household officials, its origin, and exact meaning, is disputed. One suggestion is it derives from comes stabuli, literally Count of the Stable, a title first used by the Byzantine Empire, then adopted by the Franks. Another it is taken from the criteria for becoming a thegn, which required a seat, or steall, and special office in the kings hall. However, this is unproved. 
  There are few details of Ansgar's life over the next twenty years, but he appears to have served Edward faithfully until his death in January 1066. He was part of a group of powerful nobles who supported Edward, centred in Berkshire, among them Eadnoth, and Bondi, two other stallers. In 1065, he, Bondi, Robert Fitzwymark, and Ralph, appear as witnesses on a charter, in which they are described as Royal stewards.
caption: Funeral of Edward the Confessor, depicted in the Bayeux Tapestry; Ansgar served him throughout his reign
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