On this page you'll find 10+ example sentences with Witan. Discover the meaning, how to use the word correctly in a sentence.
Witan in a sentence
Witan meaning
The Anglo-Saxon national council or witenagemot.
Using Witan
- The main meaning on this page is: The Anglo-Saxon national council or witenagemot.
- In the example corpus, witan often appears in combinations such as: the witan, witan was.
Context around Witan
- Average sentence length in these examples: 23.5 words
- Position in the sentence: 3 start, 6 middle, 4 end
- Sentence types: 13 statements, 0 questions, 0 exclamations
Corpus analysis for Witan
- In this selection, "witan" usually appears in the middle of the sentence. The average example has 23.5 words, and this corpus slice is mostly made up of statements.
- Around the word, met stand out and add context to how "witan" is used.
- Recognizable usage signals include as the witan and by the witan. That gives this page its own corpus information beyond isolated example sentences.
- By corpus frequency, "witan" sits close to words such as aami, abada and abbottabad, which helps place it inside the broader word index.
Example types with witan
The same corpus examples are grouped by length and sentence type, making it easier to see the contexts in which the word appears:
Kingship and kingdoms Anglo-Saxon king with his witan. (9 words)
The witan's powers are illustrated by the following event. (10 words)
Within a few weeks, however, Sweyn died and Æthelred was called back to England by the witan. (17 words)
At the second of them the floor of the hall where the Witan was sitting gave way, and all except Dunstan, who clung to a beam, fell into the room below, several men were killed. (35 words)
Liebermann, The National Assembly, p. 2. Still, he was able to give a relatively detailed description of its constitution: From the time of Ine the Witan was composed of the aristocratic élite created by monarchy. (35 words)
His nickname of the 'Unræd' or 'Unready' means ill-advised, indicating that contemporaries regarded those who sat in the witan as in part responsible for the failure of his reign. (30 words)
Example sentences (13)
According to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, the witan would only receive him back under the condition that he promise to rule better than he had.
At the second of them the floor of the hall where the Witan was sitting gave way, and all except Dunstan, who clung to a beam, fell into the room below, several men were killed.
Chadwick, Anglo-Saxon Institutions, p. 308. Reference to the witan's acta or official decisions are also preserved in law codes.
Foot, Æthelstan: The First King of England, pp. 71–72 A key mechanism of government was the Royal Council (or witan ).
Hindley, p. 220 The Blackwell Encyclopaedia of Anglo-Saxon England prefers 'King's Council', but adds that it was known in Old English as the 'witan'.
His nickname of the 'Unræd' or 'Unready' means ill-advised, indicating that contemporaries regarded those who sat in the witan as in part responsible for the failure of his reign.
Kingship and kingdoms Anglo-Saxon king with his witan.
Lawson, Cnut, P.86 If this chronology is correct, he probably went from Canterbury to the Witan at Oxford, with Archbishop Wulfstan of York in attendance, to record the event.
Liebermann, The National Assembly, p. 2. Still, he was able to give a relatively detailed description of its constitution: From the time of Ine the Witan was composed of the aristocratic élite created by monarchy.
The surviving members of the witan met in London and elected King Edward's young nephew Edgar the Ætheling as king.
The witan's powers are illustrated by the following event.
The witan was noted by contemporary sources as having the singular power to ceosan to cyninge, 'to choose the king' from amongst the (extended) royal family.
Within a few weeks, however, Sweyn died and Æthelred was called back to England by the witan.
Common combinations with witan
These word pairs occur most frequently in English texts: