Edward the Confessor of Edward's lands exceeded that of the greatest earls, but they were scattered among the southern earldoms. He had no personal powerbase, and he does not seem to have attempted to build one. In 1050–51 he even paid off the fourteen foreign ships which constituted his standing navy and abolished the tax raised to pay for it. However, in ecclesiastical and foreign affairs he was able to follow his own policy. King Magnus I of Norway aspired to the English throne, and in 1045 and 1046, fearing an invasion, Edward took command of the fleet at Sandwich. Beorn's elder brother,
Iste confessor Iste confessor Iste confessor is a Latin hymn used in the Divine Office at Lauds and Vespers on feasts of confessors. It exists in two forms. "Iste confessor Domini sacratus" is the original 8th Century hymn and "Iste confessor Domini colentes" is a 1632 edition, published by Pope Urban VIII with improved Latin style. The hymn is written in Sapphic and Adonic meter. The earliest versions of the hymn can be found in 8th century manuscripts for the feast of St Martin of Tours (d.397) and this is reflected in the third verse which originally referred to the shrine of