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Kings and kingdoms of early Anglo-Saxon England PDF

233 Pages·1990·6.19 MB·English
by  Yorke
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Kings and Kingdoms of early Anglo-Saxon England Barbara Yorke London and New York To the several generations of King Alfred’s College History students who have explored kings and kingdoms in early Anglo-Saxon England with me First published 1990 by B.A.Seaby Ltd © Barbara Yorke 1990 Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2003. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data Yorke, Barbara 1951– Kings and Kingdoms of early Anglo-Saxon England. 1. England. Kings, to 1154 I. Title 942.010922 Library of Congress Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the Library of Congress ISBN 0-203-44730-1 Master e-book ISBN ISBN 0-203-75554-5 (Adobe eReader Format) ISBN 0-415-16639-X (Print Edition) CONTENTS Foreword v List of tables and illustrations vi I INTRODUCTION: THE ORIGINS OF THE ANGLO-SAXON KINGDOMS 1 Written sources: British 1 Written sources: Anglo-Saxon 3 Archaeological evidence 5 The political structure of Anglo-Saxon England c. 600 9 The nature of early Anglo-Saxon kingship 15 Sources for the study of kings and kingdoms from the seventh to the ninth centuries 19 II KENT 25 Sources 25 The origins of the kingdom of Kent 26 The history of the kingdom of Kent 28 The Kentish royal house 32 Royal resources and government 39 Conclusion 43 III THE EAST SAXONS 45 Sources 45 The origins of the East Saxon kingdom 46 The history of the East Saxon kingdom c. 600–825 47 The East Saxon royal house 52 Conclusion 57 IV THE EAST ANGLES 58 Sources 58 The origins of the East Anglian kingdom 61 The history of the East Anglian kingdom 62 Sources of royal power 64 iii iv Contents The royal family and administration 67 Conclusion 71 V NORTHUMBRIA 72 Sources 72 The royal houses of Bernicia and Deira and the origins of Northumbria 74 The early Northumbrian kings and the kingdoms of southern England 81 Northumbria and the Celtic kingdoms in the seventh century 83 Northumbrian kingship in the eighth century 86 Eighth-century Northumbrian kings and the other kingdoms of Britain 94 Northumbria in the ninth century 95 Conclusion 97 VI MERCIA 100 Sources 100 The origins of Mercia 101 Mercia in the seventh century 103 Mercia in the eighth century 111 Mercia in the ninth century 117 Conclusion: the evolution of the Mercian state 124 VII THE WEST SAXONS 128 Sources 128 The origins of Wessex 130 The growth of Wessex to 802 132 The pattern of West Saxon kingship to 802 142 The West Saxon kingdom 802–99 148 Conclusion 154 VIII CONCLUSION: THE DEVELOPMENT OF KINGSHIP c. 600–900 157 Kingship and overlordship 157 Royal resources 162 Royal and noble families 167 King and Church 172 Conclusion 177 Notes 179 Bibliography and Abbreviations 196 FOREWORD There are many excellent general surveys of Anglo-Saxon history, but their drawback for anyone interested in the history of one particular kingdom is that there is not usually an opportunity to treat the history of any one kingdom as a whole. This study surveys the history of the six best-recorded Anglo-Saxon kingdoms within the period AD 600–900: Kent, the East Saxons, the East Angles, Northumbria, Mercia and Wessex. The chapters, like many of the available written sources, approach the histories of the individual kingdoms through that of their royal families. Dynastic history is a major concern of the book, but the intention is to go beyond narrative accounts of the various royal houses to try to explain issues such as strategies of rulership, the reasons for success or failure and the dynamics of change to the office of king. More generalized conclusions suggest themselves from the studies of individual kingdoms and these are brought together in the final chapter which examines four main facets in the development of kingship in the period under review: kingship and overlordship; royal resources; royal and noble families; and king and church. The first chapter is also a general one and deals with the difficult issue of Anglo-Saxon kingship before 600 and introduces the main classes of written record. Another aim of the work is to alert the general reader to the exciting research into early Anglo-Saxon England which has been carried out in recent years by historians and archaeologists, but which may only be available in specialist publications. Any writer is, of course, dependent on the primary and secondary works which are available and differences in the material which has survived or the type of research which has been done have helped dictate the shape of the chapters for the individual kingdoms. Readers who wish to follow up individual references will find full details through the notes and the bibliography. Notes have been primarily used for referencing secondary works, but there are some instances in which additional commentary has been provided through them. The reader is alerted to many major problems of interpretation through the text, but shortage of space and the nature of the book have prevented detailed discussion of the more complex issues. Although I have been able to indicate the written works to which I have been indebted, it is more difficult to demonstrate the immense benefit I have gained from discussions with other Anglo-Saxonists. It would be impossible to name all those from whom at one time or another I have received advice and encouragement, but I hope that if they read this they will know that I am grateful. My thanks go, in particular, to Professor Frank Barlow with whom I began my study of Anglo-Saxon kingdoms for my doctoral thesis and to Dr David Kirby who very kindly read the book in manuscript and generously made many suggestions for its improvement. I am also most grateful to those who provided me with photographs and captions and to a succession of editors at Seaby’s for their patience and assistance. Finally, on the home front, I must thank my husband Robert for without his continuing support 1 doubt if this book would ever have been completed. WINCHESTER 30 SEPTEMBER 1989 v LIST OF TABLES AND ILLUSTRATIONS 1 Regnal list of the kings of Kent 33 2 Genealogy of the Oiscingas kings and princes of Kent 36 3 Female members of the Kentish royal house and their connections by marriage 37 4 Regnal list of the kings of the East Saxons 51 5 Genealogy of the East Saxon kings 52 6 Regnal list of the kings of the East Angles 67 7 Genealogy of the East Anglian royal house 68 8 Regnal list of the kings of Bernicia, Deira and Northumbria of the sixth and seventh centuries 75 9 Genealogy of the royal houses of Bernicia and Deira 76 10 Regnal list of the kings of Northumbria of the eighth and ninth centuries 87 11 The rival families of eighth-century Northumbria 90 12 Regnal list of the kings of Mercia 103 13 Genealogy of the Mercian royal house 104 14 The rival lineages of ninth-century Mercia 119 15 Regnal list of the rulers of the West Saxons 133 16 Genealogy of the West Saxon rulers 134 Conventions used in the tables d=died; k=killed; m=married; †=died in infancy; A broken line in the tables indicates a hypothetical link. For further information on the chronologies and family relationships of the Anglo- Saxon royal houses see the Handbook of British Chronology (Dumville 1986b) with which these tables are broadly in agreement. Figures 1–7 appear on plates between pp. 90–91 and figures 8–14 on plates between pp. 106–107. Fig. 1 The Benty Grange helmet. Fig. 2 The Sutton Hoo helmet. Fig. 3 The Sutton Hoo ‘sceptre’. Fig. 4 The Sutton Hoo purselid. Fig. 5 The Alfred jewel. Fig. 6 Offa’s Dyke. Fig. 7 Hamwic. Fig. 8 Cowdery’s Down. Fig. 9 Yeavering. Fig. 10 Repton Church. Fig. 11 The Repton sculpture. Fig. 12 Bradwell-on-sea, Essex: St Peter’s. Fig. 13 Brixworth, Northants: All Saints. Fig. 14 Seven coins of the early Anglo-Saxon period. Map 1 Anglo-Saxon provinces at the time of the composition of the Tribal Hidage (? late seventh century) 12 Map 2 Bernicia and Deira and their Celtic neighbours 14 vi Chapter One INTRODUCTION: THE ORIGINS OF THE ANGLO-SAXON KINGDOMS There is a sense in which the history of the early Anglo-Saxon kingdoms can be said to have begun with the arrival of Augustine and a band of nearly forty monks at the court of King Æthelbert of Kent in 597. Augustine and his followers had been despatched by Pope Gregory the Great ‘to preach the word of God to the English race’ and, as far as we know, their mission was the first sustained attempt to bring Christianity to the Anglo-Saxons.1 Not surprisingly the arrival of Augustine and his followers was an event of the utmost significance to Bede, whose Ecclesiastical History of the English People (completed in 731) is our main narrative source for the seventh and early eighth centuries, and he began his detailed discussion of the history of the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms at this point. Bede as a monk naturally believed that the conversion of his people began a new phase in their history, but it would also be true to say that it was only after the arrival of the Augustine mission that Bede was able to write a detailed history of his people. For Augustine and his fellow monks not only brought a new religion to the Anglo-Saxons; they also brought the arts of reading and writing. Although the arrival of the Gregorian mission clearly marked a very important stage in the religious history of the Anglo-Saxons and in the production of written records, it is not an ideal point at which to begin an investigation into the history of the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms. For it is evident that the majority of Anglo-Saxon kingdoms were already in existence by 597 and that the complex political pattern of interrelationships and amalgamations which Bede reveals in his Ecclesiastical History had its origins in the pre-Christian period. This is frustrating for the historian for it means that many vital stages in the early growth of Anglo-Saxon kingdoms took place offstage, as it were, before the provision of adequate written records had begun. Fortunately the history of the country between AD 400 and 600 is not purely dependent upon written records and the evidence of place-names and archaeology has transformed our appreciation of the period. As new archaeological sites are constantly coming to light, and as much work which has already taken place has not yet been fully written up, the full potential that the archaeological evidence has for the understanding of the sub-Roman period is far from being realized. Written sources: British The settlement of the Anglo-Saxons in Britain and the origins of the Anglo- 1 2 Kings and Kingdoms of early Anglo-Saxon England Saxon kingdoms are two closely related, but not identical problems. Our nearest contemporary written source for the period of the Anglo-Saxon settlements is the homiletic work ‘The Ruin of Britain’ (De Excidio Britanniae) in which a British cleric called Gildas reviews the events of the fifth century from the vantage point of one of the surviving British kingdoms in the western half of Britain at a date (probably) around the middle of the sixth century.2 Gildas’ subject is not so much the advent of the Anglo-Saxons, but the sins of the British which, to his way of thinking, were ultimately responsible for provoking the vengeance of God in the form of Germanic and other barbarian piratical attacks. Gildas briefly sketches a picture of Saxons being utilized by the British as federate soldiers in eastern England following the recall of the Roman legions, of the federate settlements growing in size and confidence until they were strong enough to overthrow their paymasters, and of the Saxons then wreaking havoc on the hapless British until the famous victory of Mons Badonicus (Mount Badon) some forty-four years before the time that Gildas was writing.3 The account is brief and lacks dates, and is clearly inaccurate on certain points such as assigning the building of the Hadrian and Antonine Walls to the fourth century. Gildas was relying on oral tradition rather than written records and gives an impressionistic version of events that had taken place before his birth; however, his is the only narrative we possess for the period of the Anglo-Saxon settlements and so it has provided the framework for a discussion of the events of the sub-Roman period from the time of Bede onwards. Although Gildas is best known for his information on the adventus of the Anglo-Saxons, his testimony is equally important for the nature of British society in the sixth century when he was writing from personal knowledge. The castigation of this society was the real focus of Gildas’ polemic and among his principal targets were British kings ruling in south-western England and Wales.4 These areas had been part of the Roman province of Britain, but by the sixth century little that was characteristic of the late Roman world apparently survived except adherence to Christianity (which Gildas evidently saw as rather half-hearted). Control had passed to kings whom Gildas characterized as ‘tyrants’ and whose basis of power was their armed followings. It was a society in which violence was endemic. Gildas’ brief sketch of British society in the west in the sixth century is broadly in accordance with what can be discerned from later charters, saints’ Lives and annals from Wales.5 There would also appear to have been many points of similarity between the exercise of royal power in Wales and in the Celtic areas of northern Britain,6 and the ruler and his warband are portrayed in rather a different, heroic, light in the poem Gododdin which recounts a disastrous raid made from the kingdom of the Gododdin (in south-east Scotland) against the Deiran centre of Catterick.7 The tradition of events in the fifth century which Gildas reports seems to have been, in summary, that in part of eastern Britain those on whom power had devolved following the withdrawal of the Roman legions attempted to The Origins of the Anglo-saxon Kingdoms 3 provide for their defence by hiring Germanic forces who eventually seized power from them, whereas in the western half of Britain comparable circumstances saw the rise of native warlords who filled the power vacuum and established kingdoms within former Roman civitates. Written sources: Anglo-Saxon When Bede wrote his Ecclesiastical History in 731 he used earlier narrative sources to provide some history of Britain before the advent of the Gregorian mission and took the basis of his account of the Anglo-Saxon settlement from Gildas’ work.8 Gildas did not provide any identification of the Saxon leaders who commanded the federates ‘in the eastern part of the island’, but Bede interpolated a passage in which he identified the leaders as two brothers, Hengist and Horsa, who were claimed to be the founders of the royal house of Kent.9 The information presumably came from Abbot Albinus of Canterbury who was Bede’s chief Kentish informant.10 More detailed versions of the activities of Hengist and Horsa appear in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle and in the ‘Kentish Chronicles’ included in the Historia Brittonum, a British compilation written in 829–30 and attributed to Nennius.11 The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle also contains accounts of the arrival of Cerdic and Cynric, Stuf and Wihtgar and Ælle and his sons, the founders respectively of the kingdoms of the West Saxons, the Isle of Wight and the South Saxons.12 These founding fathers arrived off Britain with a few ships and, after battling against British leaders for some years, established their kingdoms. Briefer notices for Northumbria and the Jutes of mainland Hampshire seem to conform to a similar pattern of events. By the eighth and ninth centuries it had apparently become conventional to depict the founders of royal houses arriving fresh from the Continent to set up their kingdoms. There seems to have been a standard ‘origin tradition’ which was utilized to explain the establishment of the various Anglo-Saxon royal houses; even Gildas’ account may have been influenced by such a convention.13 It would be unwise to assume that these foundation stories are historically valid. Bede introduced his information about Hengist and Horsa with the phrase ‘they are said…’ (perhibentur), a formula he used elsewhere in his history when he was drawing on unverifiable oral tradition. Bede’s comment suggests that we should use the information on the Kentish adventus with caution and certainly when one looks at the fuller narratives of the foundation of Kent and at the activities of Cerdic and Cynric one can see further reasons for questioning their historical validity. One must remember that these sources are not contemporary with the events they describe, but written some three to four hundred years later. They contain a number of features which can be found in foundation legends throughout the Indo-European world.14 Particularly suspicious are the pairs of founding kinsmen with alliterating names, who recall the twin deities of the pagan Germanic world, and other characters whom the founders defeat or meet whose names seem to be derived from place-names. Thus the Chronicle describes a victory in 508 by

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Kings and Kingdoms of Early Anglo-Saxon England provides a unique survey of the six major Anglo-Saxon kingdoms and their royal families, examining the most recent research in this field. Abstract: A survey of the six major Anglo-Saxon kingdoms - Kent, the East Saxons, the East Angles, Northumbria, M
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Most books are stored in the elastic cloud where traffic is expensive. For this reason, we have a limit on daily download.