Witenagemot

Also known the Witan, the Witenagemot was in English history an Anglo-Saxon convocation of the land's most powerful and important people including senior clergy, ealdormen[?] and the leading thegns[?]. Summoned by the king, they would advise on the administration and organisation of the kingdom, dealing with issues such as taxation, jurisprudence and both internal and external security. The best-known sitting of the council was that which on January 5, 1066 approved the succession to the kingship of Harold Godwinson following the death of Edward the Confessor.