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Maldon (, locally ) is a town on the Blackwater estuary in Essex, England. It is the seat of the Maldon district and starting point of the Chelmer and Blackwater Navigation. Maldon is twinned with the Dutch town of Cuijk.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=The UK & the Netherlands: Town Twinning )〕 The charter between the two towns was signed in 1970 to cement the relationship.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Maldon–Cuijk twinning )〕 ==History== The place-name ''Maldon'' is first attested in 913 in the ''Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'',〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Seax Archeaology - Unlocking Essex's Past )〕 where it appears as ''Maeldun''. Maldon's name comes from ''Mael'' meaning 'monument or cross' and ''dun'' meaning 'hill', so translates as 'monument on the hill'.〔Eilert Ekwall, ''Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Place-names'', p. 312.〕 East Saxons settled the area in the fifth century and the area to the south is still known as the Dengie peninsula after the Dæningas. It became a significant Saxon port with a hythe or quayside and artisan quarters. Evidence of imported pottery from this period has been found in archaeological digs. From 958 there was a royal mint issuing coins for the late Anglo-Saxon and early Norman kings.〔(【引用サイトリンク】url=http://www.ancientworlds.net/aw/Places/Place/337631 )〕〔(【引用サイトリンク】url=http://etheses.nottingham.ac.uk/1818/1/481170.pdf )〕 It was one of the only two towns in Essex (Colchester was the other), and King Edward the Elder is thought to have lived here while combating the Danish settlers who had overrun North Essex and parts of East Anglia. A Viking raid was beaten off in 924, but in another raid in 991 the defenders were defeated in the Battle of Maldon and the Vikings received tribute but apparently did not attempt to sack the town. It became the subject of the celebrated Old English poem ''The Battle of Maldon''. The battle is commemorated by a window in St Mary's church and by a statue on the quayside of the slain Saxon warrior Byrhtnoth. According to the Domesday Book there were 54 households〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Maldon - Domesday Book )〕 and an estimated 180 townsmen in 1086. The town still had the mint and supplied a warhorse and warship for the king's service in return for its privileges of self-government. The town was awarded a charter by Henry II in 1171, stating the rights of the town as well as defining its borders and detailing its duty to provide a ship for the monarch "when necessary".〔(【引用サイトリンク】url=http://maldontowncouncil.gov.uk/history-heritage )〕 The town's All Saints' Church, unique in England in having a triangular tower, dates from around this period. While the precise building date is unknown, the church existed by 1180, the date of the foundation of nearby Beeleigh Abbey. A Charter of Richard I of December 1189 confirms “certain grants to Beeleigh Abbey, including the Church of Blessed Peter in Maldon and the Church of All Saints’ in the same town". St Mary's church, on the Hythe Quay has a grade 1 listed Norman nave from 1130, though evidence exists of an earlier church on the site from at least a hundred years before. There were strong urban traditions, with two members elected to the Commons and three guilds which hosted lavish religious plays until they were suppressed by Puritans in 1576. Then, until 1630, professional actors were invited to perform plays, which were also stopped by Puritans. From 1570 to about 1800 a rival tradition of inviting prominent clergy to visit the town also existed. In 1629 a series of grain riots took place, led by the wife of a local butcher. In the seventeenth century Thomas Plume started the (Plume Library ) to house over 8,000 books and pamphlets printed between 1487 and his death in 1704; the collection has been added to at various times since 1704. The Plume Library is to be found at St Peter's Church. Only the original tower survives, the rest of the building having been rebuilt by Thomas Plume to house his library (on the first floor) and what was Maldon Grammar School (on the ground floor). Maldon was chosen as one of the landing sites of a planned French invasion of Britain in 1744. However, the French invasion fleet was wrecked in storms, and their forces never landed. In the church of All Saints is a memorial window to George Washington, whose great-great grandfather, Lawrence Washington, is buried here. Unveiled by an American diplomat on 5 July 1928, the window displays Saint Nicholas with the Mayflower, Saint George and Saint Joan of Arc in the centre. At the top are the arms of the Washington family, and the arms of the USA, England, Scotland and Wales. At the bottom are depictions of George Washington, the landing of the Mayflower, the signing of the Declaration of Independence, and the Statue of Liberty.〔(【引用サイトリンク】url=http://www.itsaboutmaldon.co.uk/allsaints/ )〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Maldon, Essex」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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