Heavenfield

Its not too difficult to do little known kingdoms. Its possible to seem comprehensive when you don’t have a lot of information. I could keep to those practically forgotten kingdoms, but I think a regional approach is more fair. So there is no dancing around it, Deira is one of the two giants of the Humbrian region. I suspect that in the beginning, as Rome pulled out of Britain and new Germanic immigrants arrived, Deira was the dominant region. Deira is essentially a more controllable portion of the land controlled by the Roman colony and province campital Ebrauc /York.

According to British poetry and legend, the city state of Ebrauc was controlled by a Romano-British warlord called Eliffer of the Great Retinue. We really know nothing about him except his epithet — well, it would take a large retinue to man the fortress at York, wouldn’t it? — and that he was the father of Peredur Steel Arms and Gwrgi who were opponents of both Gwenddolau (Mryddin’s lord at the battle of Arthuret) and Ida of Bernicia. Eliffer’s wife was the sister of Urien Rheged and his grandson Gwrgant Gwron (Hero) was one of the lords who lost the lands he had a right to. Now, if there is even a hint of truth that Eliffer’s sons died fighting Ida of Bernicia who died in the 540s, it only one generation until we have our first recorded Anglican king of Deira, Aelle who is said to have begun his reign in about 569. A big problem here is that Peredur and Gwrgi are said to have taken part in the battle of Arfderydd in 573 (AC) and are among those who descend upon Urien Rheged’s sons after his death in the 570s. Obviously this is rather mixed up…but it suggests that Eliffer’s family fought the early English. We also have to keep in mind that we can’t take Aelle’s 30 years too seriously either; 30 years is another way of saying that he ruled for a generation (or more). It is interesting that their opponents are Bernicians (and mostly other Britons). John Koch has suggested that the English of Deira were allied with the Britons, Urien specifically.

What is most interesting here though is that Eliffer, his sons Peredur and Gwrgi, and grandson Gwrgant are all listed in the sixth century when the transition to English rule occurred. Makes me wonder if Eliffer’s Great Retinue could have included English federates. The deaths of Eliffer’s sons when their retinue abandoned them in a battle with the English (Welsh traids) could mark the struggles for power between the Romano-British elites and the English soldiers, but that is purely speculative. The Welsh Triads claim that they were fighting Ida of Bernicia really doesn’t match their other literary opponents, so Ida may be standing in for his dynasty. It’s a natural part of the mythmaking process for a dynastic founder to stand in for unspecified or less known members of his dynasty.

Of this dynasty Peredur survives as a literary hero, becoming incorporated in a late section of Y Gododdin and the Arthurian story, particularly in the Mabinogion story Peredur son of Efrawg. Efrawg is the Romano-British name for York. His use in Peredur son of Efrawg is probably only because of the similarity of his name to Perceval. Peredur Steel-Arm survives in Welsh poetry as one of the many heroes who names are dropped in poetry. It seems likely that there were once more stories about him and his family, as the triads also suggest. There is no doubt that he was a prominent hero in the stories of the battle of Arthuret which his alliance won and where Mryddin went mad.

With the passing of Eliffer’s dynasty, Yorkshire was left open for the English. The Deiran genealogy in the Historia Brittonum claims that they had been in Britain for at least five generations before Ælle. His fifth ancestor Soemil ‘first separated Deira from Bernicia’ (Historia Brittonum), what ever that means. The name Deira probably derives from the British word for waters, Deifr, and we know that the main population center for the English at Goodmanham was closer to the marshy areas of the Humber. Further, the upper reaches of the Derian royal genealogy seems to have more sea-related names like Seawulf (Zegulf) and Soemil is the British form of a name that may incorporate Sea-, maybe Seamael? or Seamall? If they were primarily located east of York, then they were in a triangle of land surrounded on two sides by the Humber estuary and North Sea.

Kings of Deira

1. Aelle son of Yffi son of Usfrea, King of Deira c. 597 (30 years, reputed to be 569 to 599): It is possible that Ælle’s reign began during the time of Peredur and Gwrgi and that one of Ælle’s big advances was to incorporate York’s territory into the English kingdom but still didn’t inhabit York. Gaining York’s hegemony may have given Ælle some control over Elmet, Craven and Lindsey. Deira’s territory is believed to have extended all the way to the River Tyne with north of the Tees being a dangerous frontier zone. It is likely that Deira would have relied on a mixture of English and British warlords to hold the territory. It held the entire eastern half of the former Roman province making it the northern prize. Although its long western flank looks exposed, it was butted up against the mountains that would have meant that controlling a few mountain passes like Catterick would have controlled the flank from large forces. The fact that Catterick is such a critical place for Deiran security and also is the likely site of the battle of Catraeth is significant.
2. Aethelric (5 years, reputed to be 599-604): We don’t know how Æthelric was related to Ælle but it seems mostly likely that he was Ælle’s son and the father of Ælle’s grandson Hereric, father of St. Hild. It is clear that Ælle had older children and that Edwin and Acha were younger children probably of a second wife. Edwin and his nephew Hereric were very close in age. His short reign probably means that he was killed by Æthelfrith. He may have married his probable sister Acha to Æthelfrith in an earlier attempt to make peace between the kingdoms.
3. Æthelfrith of Bernicia rules Deira c. 604-616: There have been many guesses how Æthelfrith took Deira but it was almost certainly by conquest. This has been muddled because his father was named Æthelric and from an early date he was confused with Æthelric of Deira, and because his wife was Acha daughter of Ælle of Deira. There is no reason to think that Æthelfrith came to the throne in any way other than conquest and he spent most of the rest of his time hunting the Deiran princes Hereric and Edwin (and probably others).
4. Edwin son of Aelle 616-633: The most successful Deiran king in the historical record. He extended his direct rule over Bernicia, Lindsey and Elmet and his hegemony over the rest of the former Roman Britain territory. He was the first to move the capital of Deira to York, and only then under the influence of Bishop Paulinus. As far as we know, he made no attempt to control beyond the Antonine wall and perhaps didn’t care to. He clearly liked to take on the mantle of Rome perhaps encouraged by Bishop Paulinus of York, who accompanied his second wife Ætehlburgh to their marriage in c. 625. Bishop Paulinus began the evangelization of Northumbria. Bishop Paulinus and King Edwin baptized hundreds if not thousands and built many churches, but no monasteries. It seems that Bishop Paulinus preferred to be a metropolitan bishop without monastic ties. Edwin faced continual rebellions most prominently led by Cadwallon of Gwynedd, who he drove into exile at least once. Cadwallon spent his exile in Ireland and returned to lead an alliance, who second most important member was an English noble named Penda of Mercia. After a long campaign they managed to kill Edwin and his eldest son at Hatfield Chase in October 633. Edwin’s second son was captured by Penda of Mercia who later executed him. Edwin’s infant son Usfrea and his grandson Yffi were sent to Dagobert of Gaul where they died of disease. His daughter Eanflaed, who had been the first Deiran to be baptized, was his only child to live a long life. She married Oswiu of Bernicia and two of her sons became kings over Deira. Edwin’s remains where moved to Whitby by his daughter Eanflaed or granddaughter Ælfflaed about 50 years after his death.
5. Osric son of Aelfric brother of Aelle 633: Immediately after Edwin’s death his first cousin Osric appears to have been chosen to lead the resistance against Cadwallon who was pillaging Deira. Cadwallon chose to spend the winter in the North and Osric attempted to lay seige to the fortified city (perhaps Leeds? or Catterick?) where Cadwallon was but Cadwallon sallied forth and destroyed the Derians. Osric’s reign lasted less than a year.
   
6. Cadwallon of Gwynedd 633-634: According to Bede, Cadwallon occupied Deira for a full year before he was killed by Oswald at Denisesburn in the next summer or fall. He would have been viewed as an occupier, though its uncertain how differently the peasants may have viewed him. It is known that he pillaged what he could find and burned what churches Edwin had built. Sometime before his death in the summer of 634, Cadwallon executed Eanfrith of Bernicia who had returned from exile and retaken his homeland of Bernicia. Eanfrith reputedly came to sue for peace and Cadwallon executed him. There is some suggestion in the Irish annals that Eanfrith’s request for peace may have come after a battle, which would make more sense of his execution.
7. Oswald son of Aethelfrith and Acha daughter of Aelle 634-642: After Oswald killed Cadwallon he seems to have been genuinely accepted as king of Bernicia and Deira in ways that neither Æthelfrith in Deira or Edwin in Bernicia probably were. Unlike either of them, he did have a blood tie to both royal dynasties as his mother was the sister of Edwin. Under normal circumstances distaff links would not qualify him for the Deiran throne, but these were not normal times. Two members of the Deira royal dynasty had been killed in the previous year, Edwin appears to have no other available heirs (Eadfrith in Penda’s ‘care’ and the others children), and Osric had been such a disaster his sons seem to have fled and been out of favor. Under these circumstances, Oswald who had managed to get vengeance for his uncle, was successful. There is some suggestion in Bede that Oswald made a lot of out his kinship with his uncle Edwin. Oswald’s eventual completion of York cathedral and its enshrinement of Edwin’s head was almost certainly part of his efforts to show himself as Edwin’s heir. After Oswald’s death on 5 August 642, there are no Deiran kings listed for the next two years. It seems that either Oswald’s slayer Penda took control of Deira or his successor Oswiu managed to keep Deira for two years.
   
8. Oswine son of Osric 644-651 Two years after Oswald’s death, his second cousin Oswine son of Osric came to the throne, probably with the help or at least approval of Penda of Mercia. It seems likely that he went into exile during Oswald’s reign. Its not sure who protected him. Where ever he was, he accepted Aidan of Lindisfarne as his bishop rather than trying to import a bishop from where ever he was in exile. He also seems to have allowed Penda to travel through Deira to attack Bamburgh in Bernicia at least once before his death in 651. In the end, he backed out of a battle with Oswiu of Bernicia, was captured and executed. The monastery of Gilling was founded to pray for the souls of Oswiu and Oswine. Oswine’s death ended all hope for the desendents of males from the Deiran dynasty. Now only those with blood ties to Bernicia would be allowed.
   
9. Œthelwald son of Oswald c. 651-655. Oswine was succeeded by Oswiu’s nephew Œthelwald son of Oswald. It is unclear if he was placed there by his uncle or was raised in opposition. All went well initially. He got along very well with churchmen from Lindisfarne, and gives Lastingham to Bishop Cedd to found a monastery. This would have given Cedd a place to stop over between his work in Essex and Lindisfarne. In the end, he cooperated with Penda of Mercia against his uncle Oswiu and although he did not take part in the battle of Winwæd, he is not heard from again.
10. Alchfrith son of Oswiu son of Aethelfrith c. 655-c. 665 After the battle of Winwæd, Oswiu of Bernicia was at his height in control of Deira, Lindsey, Mercia and Middle Anglia. He rewarded his eldest son Alchfrith with the throne of Deira. In time, Alchfrith came to favor Roman rites. He was an early supporter of the Roman cause, Wilfrid to whom he gave the monastery of Ripon, and was one of those demanding the Synod of Whitby. After his cause won, he convinced his father to have Wilfrid made Bishop of York. While Wilfrid was gone he rebelled against his father and disappears from history. There is then about a 5 year gap in the rule of Deira and it is unclear if Oswiu rules it directly or places his other son Ecgfrith there.
11. Ælfwine son of Oswiu c. 670-679. We actually don’t know when Ælfwine’s became king of Deira. he was only about 18 when he died in 679. If he did succeed to Deira in 670 he would have only been about 9 years old and the first child king (rather than his nephew Osred). He seems to have had a good life up to his last days. He had visited his sister Osthryth who was Queen of Mercia and apparently a favorite at court there and he had been in his brothers court (or perhaps his brother was in his) when Bishop Wilfrid of York was exiled. Æthelred of Mercia’s decision to attack along the Trent, probably the Mercian-Deiran border, in 679 to regain Lindsey may have been influenced by the youth of the king and probably most of his retainers. It is unclear if Ecgfrith and his forces were there or not. Ælfwine’s death had nearly caused a major Northumbrian-Mercian war until Archbishop Theodore intervened and brokered the peace. I personally believe that the foundation of St. Oswald’s cult at Bardney was weregeld (formal or not) from King Æthelred to his wife Queen Osthryth. If he pays her brother King Ecgfrith it is likely she could demand something for her brother as well. Lastly, Ælfwine was probably buried at Whitby with his father and grandfather. He (and possibly his brother Alchfrith) are probably the other royals that Bede refers to as being buried with Oswiu and Edwin at Whitby.
    
12. Ecgfrith son of Oswiu and Eanflaed daughter of Edwin unifies the country for the last time. With Ælfwine’s death Ecgfrith takes direct control of Deira and it never has its own king again. See Ecgfrith’s recent person of the week post for more on him. Ecgfrith’s successor was his half-Irish brother Aldfrith who had no Deiran blood but retained a unified kingdom.

Deiran Women

Deira is unusual in that we know as much or more about some of the Deiran women as any early kingdom. As important as kings Oswald and Ecgfrith were to uniting Northumbria, much of their claims came through their mothers Acha daughter of Ælle and Eanflaed daughter of Edwin. We don’t know much about Acha and we have to keep in mind that Æthelfrith would have almost certainly been polygamous, weakening the importance of individual wives during his reign. In a polygamous situation, most of their honor would have come as the mothers of their children. Eanflaed was a critically important queen who played a role in uniting Northumbria and a major role in calling the Synod of Whitby. She later retired to Whitby where she was co-abbess with her daughter Ælfflaed and was likely instrumental in establishing the family sepulcher in the church of Whitby where Edwin and Oswiu were both buried. Her daughters both played important roles in Northumbrian politics as Abbess of Whibty (Ælfflaed) and Queen of Mercia (Osthryth). Eanflaed’s cousin Hild was also a very critical player in the church of all England, not just Northumbria, and was a major ally of Archbishop Theodore, proving that those trained by Lindisfarne could have a good relationship with Canterbury very early after the Synod of Whitby.

Bishops of York

There is quite a bit known about the bishops of York as well. The first bishop was Paulinus of York who focused on rebuilding former Roman churches, particularly in York and Lincoln. He also built churches at or near royal palaces. He focused on baptizing but it is unclear how much teaching he did. There is no evidence that Paulinus was a monastic or established any monasteries for his church. This also has important implications for training clergy. Paulinus seems to be relying entirely on clergy supplied from Rome. With all that being said, the more we study Deira, the more we see of influence of Paulinus’ mission. After the death of Edwin, Paulinus fled to Kent with the wealth of the church, leaving behind only one deacon.

Thereafter Deira was primarily under the influence of Lindisfarne until the turn of the century. From c. 635-664, Deira was under the care of the Bishops of Lindisfarne until the synod of Whitby in 664. It was not until Archbishop Theodore arrived in 669 that the Romanist Wilfrid actually got control of the church of York that he had been consecrated for. His pro-Roman tenure only lasted about 9 years until he was expelled and the vast see of York divided into three dioceses. From then on the monastery of Whitby, Deria’s primary monastery, had been trained by Abbess Hild through the lifetime of her protege Ælfflaed and Wilfrid never regained York. Wilfird II was trained by John of Beverly, who was trained by Hilda. His deposition was probably political to allow the king’s brother Egbert to become Bishop of York, set to be the first Archbishop of York since Paulinus. By then, Deira had been merely a territorial unit within Northumbria that it can no longer be considered a kingdom. Indeed it would soon York will be controlled primarily by Archbishop separately from the rest of Deira.

The bishops of York were:

1. Paulinus of York c. 626-633
2. Bishops of Lindisfarne : Aidan, Finian, Colman, Tuda c. 635-664
3. Chad c. 665-669
4. Wilfrid of York c. 666, 669-678.
5. Bosa of Whitby 679-705
6. John of Beverly 705-718
7. Wilfrid II 718-732
8. Ecgbert, first Archbishop 735-766
9. Lists of the Archbishops of York

Major Deiran monasteries

• Tynemouth, pre-651: We know nothing of the details of Tynemouth except that it is the place were King Oswine was buried.
• Hartlepool, 648-650: Given to Abbess Hild by Bishop Aidan before the death of King Oswine.
• Gilling, 651: Founded to pray for the souls of King Oswine and King Oswiu. It was the family monastery for some of King Oswine’s family including Ceolfrith of Jarrow. It is quite likely that the church provided a safe space for Oswine’s male kin, who otherwise may have needed to go into exile.
• Lastinhgam, c. 653: Given by King Œthelwald to Bishop Cedd to be Œthelwald’s family monastery where they would be buried.
• Whitby, c. 658: Given by King Oswiu along with five other monasteries in Deira and six more in Bernicia in thanksgiving for victory over Penda of Mercia. It was also a better home for King Oswiu’s young daughter Ælfflaed who initially was given to Hild in 655 at Hartlepool. From the first exile of Bishop Wilfrid in 678 through the death of Abbess Ælfflaed in c. 714, Whitby managed to retain bishops of their own training and probably bishops friendly to them until at least 732.
• Ripon, c. 660: Given by King Alchfrith to Abbot Eata of Melrose; he later took it away from Eata when he refused to convert to Roman rites and gave it to the young monk Wilfrid
• Beverly, c. 710: Possibly the last major monastery founded by Bishop John of Beverly as his personal monastery where he retired to in 718. John of Beverly was a more popular saint that his biography might suggest.

Deiran Missionaries

The last topic I’m going to cover is the existence of specifically Deiran missionaries. There are only two who really stand out — Willibrord and his younger cousin Alcuin. Willibrord grew up in his father’s small monastery and went to Ripon at age 7. He was initially trained under Bishop Wilfrid but when Wilfrid was exiled, Willibrord seemed to seize his opportunity to join other Deirans/Northumbrians in Ireland. He remained there 12 years with St Egbert until he was sent to Frisia as a missionary. His mission was approved by the Pope who made him Archbishop of Utrecht. He is considered the Apostle to Frisia (Low Countries).

About a generation later, his younger cousin Alcuin who had been trained by Bishop Egbert of York was recruited to the court of Charlemagne’s court. Alcuin was brought in to personally oversee the remodeling of the educational system in Charlemagne’s kingdom. He was personally known to the king and most of the major church leaders. He became Abbot of Tours and wrote copiously. He wrote a prose and verse Life of Willibrord among many other things. It appears that Alcuin inherited the monastery of Willibrord’s father and the abbot of Willibrord’s major monastery Echternach was also another cousin. Alcuin was also the primary advocate of Bede’s work in Gaul and responsible for much of its popularity on the continent in later centuries.

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Although the kingdom of Deira only existed for less than a century in the historic record, it left a lasting impression on Northern England and its heartland is mostly enshrined in the diocese of York and the Yorkshire counties (one county until the 1970s). The presence of four kings - Oswald and his son Œthelwald, Ælfwine and Ecgfrith - with blood ties to royal Deiran women allowed the kingdom to eventually be assimilated into the greater kingdom of Northumbria.

So I was thinking about ole Maelgwn Gwynedd reputedly dying of plague in c. 544. Now, granted the evidence doesn’t stand up because the earliest evidence is well, at least, 500 years after his death. However, its not impossible because we know archaeologically that the British were in contact with Byzantine traders. As one of the most powerful kings of his age, its likely that the best trade goods made their way to his conveniently coastal court on North Wales.

So lets say for the sake of argument that the Justinian plague did make it to Britain, how would you detect it? Given that the population was not nearly as dense as the Black Death of the 14th century, it is possible that you would not find plague pits like those created in the later epidemic. I mean after all, Britain is supposed to be in decline without the plague because the Romans have left and they are being preyed upon by Picts and Scots and Saxons. So you have economic decline, population decline, warfare/raiding activity - how do you archaeologically detect a plague?

Now add in that it would have easily spread to Anglo-Saxon areas because settlement was much more patchwork with Britons and you don’t have to be friendly to spread disease. (I believe I have read British sources that claimed that disease spread from unburied bodies after battle, for example.) Pagan Anglo-Saxons practiced cremation so there are no bodies to find. It would be even easier to deal with large numbers of bodies by creation. I imagine there was no ceremonial objection to burning bodies from the same family together, for example. Burning all the dead of a village together would be little different than a plague pit, if you normally practice cremation anyway. Makes me wonder if even Christians would have reverted to cremation rather than plague pits in 664. Not likely in monasteries, but in villages? These types of problems are found all over the West for the Justinian plague.

Its interesting that there seems to be a trend to widen the time period of the Justinian plague to possibly as late as the 750s. I’m not sure what I think of that.

Today is the feast day of St Egbert of Iona.

“The monks of Iona accepted the catholic way of life under the teaching of Egbert, while Dunchad was abbot [707-717], about eighty years after they had sent Bishop Aidan to preach to the English. The man of God, Egbert, remained for thirteen years on the island which he had consecrated to Christ, lighting once more, as it were with the gracious light of ecclesiastical fellowship and peace. In the year of our Lord 729, when Easter fell on 24 April, after he had celebrated a solemn mass in memory of the Lord’s resurrection, he departed to be with the Lord on the same day. … It was a wonderful dispensation of the divine providence that the venerable man not only passed from this world to the Father on Easter Day, but also when Easter was being celebrated on a date on which it had never been kept in those places.” (Bede, HE V. 22, McClure and Collins, p. 287)

It is interesting that Bede notes that Egbert had been on Iona 13 years, placing his arrival in 716 the very year that the monks had been driven out of Pictland and the same year that King Cenred, brother of Bede’s King Ceolwulf became King of Northumbria. Given that Bede credits Columba as the missionary (apostle?) to the Picts in his chronological summary (HE V.24), their expulsion from Pictland 52 years after their similiar expulsion from Northumbria is significant. Here Bede couldn’t help himself but to note that Egbert consecrated the island for Christ - meaning that St. Columba’s consecration of Iona had to be repeated.

I believe I have noted elsewhere that Bede is a bit loose on this date, manipulating it to suit his purposes. Here he wants to show Egbert’s coming to Iona with the explusion from Pictland. In HE III.4 he claims that the Columban calculations of Easter lasted until 715, 150 years after the coming of Columba to Iona. If he allows these dates to slide a little, then the 52 years since Whitby should be considered about 50 as well.

So Bede’s chronology in the summary of HE V.24 goes like this:

• 449: English arrive in Britain
• 565: St Columba founds Iona.
• 597: Augustine arrives in Britain, noting its roughly 150 years after the English arrive. [In III.4 he notes Columba dies about 32 years after arriving on Iona, ie. 597! - expressly not noted in the summary even though the summary notes he was the missionary to the Picts]
• 716: Egbert converts Iona to Roman Easter calculations (and reconsecrates the island!) about 80 years after Aidan arrives in Northumbria. [Therefore, Egbert converts Iona 150 years after Columba comes to Iona; Augustine converts the English 150 years after their arrival in Britain. Aidan's arrival about 80 years earlier nearly splits that time in half...]

Makes me wonder what kind of symbolism Bede saw in those 150 year intervals. It seems that it took both Iona and ‘the English’ 150 years to fully mature for Iona to come into the Roman fold and for the English church to produce missionaries, correcting the primary source of their own missionaries. The only symbolism I can think of that is 150 is the 150 psalms, but I may just have psalms on the brain. Given that the Irish divided their pslater into thirds of 50 pslams each; 50 years from Whibty to explusion from Pictland would also fit the symbolism.

Egbert is one of the few fellow Englishmen that Bede specifically called a saint in his History. The entry in the chronological summary actually calls him “St. Egbert”; he is the only one so designated in the summary. To me, the entry in the Greater Chronicle is the most remarkable considering how few Anglo-Saxons Bede records there. Bede is a little odd in which Englishmen (and women) who he includes in the Greater Chronicle: Kings Aethelfrith and Aelle, Aethelberht and Edwin, and saints Aethelthryth (with K. Ecgfrith), Egbert, Willibrord, Cuthbert, and his abbot Coelfrith. Many of these references are pretty slight, but Bishop Egbert’s entry is every bit as elaborate as Cuthbert or Willibrord. A further study of Egbert and his importance to Bede seems merited.

One of my long standing pet peeves about Anglo-Saxon studies is the absolute dearth of study of Hengest and Horsa, reputed to be the leaders of the Anglo-Saxon migration to Britain. The usual excuses — that there isn’t enough information on them and they are not historical– are utter rubbish. Since when does a character need to be historic for primarily literary scholars to deal with him? There is more known about Hengest and Horsa than most of the figures in Beowulf, about whom there is endless ink spilled. Even Vortigern has his defenders , where are those who study Hengest?

So lets start with the supposed lack of sources:

1. Bede’s Ecclesiastical History of the English People is the first to mention Hengest in his relation to the Kentish royal family and in listing him within their royal genealogy.
2. Historia Brittonum (825, alas the link is a poor cobbled together translation) gives a very long and detailed account of Hengest and Horsa, including the first description of battles between Hengest and Horsa and the Britons from the British viewpiont. Also a different version of the Kentish royal genealogy. It also includes the first references to Vortigern and Hengest’s daughter and the ‘night of the long knives’ motif.
3. Anglo-Saxon Chronicle (c. 875-900) also list Hengest in genealogies and a variety of dates, including battles with the Britons from the English viewpoint.
4. Anglican Collection of genealogies dates from about 850, a couple generations after the genealogies of the Historia Brittonum.
5. Armes Prydain Fawr (’The Great Prophecy of Britain’) Welsh poem from the time of Aethelstan. Mentions Hengest and Horsa in its recounting of the marks against the English, section II out of IX.
6. Beowulf and the ‘Fight at Finnsburg’ give accounts of Hengest before coming to Britain.
7. Welsh triads refer to Hengest and Horsa, if I recall correctly.
8. The Matter of Britain: Geoffrey of Monmouth’s History of the Kings of Britain, (Welsh) History of the Kings, Wace’s Roman de Brut, and Layamon’s verison, etc.

I just don’t get the lack of interest. There are far more sources in different types of texts (chronicles, genealogies, poetry) than most other early English figures. The Kentish genealogy starting uncharacteristically with Hengest is one of the best to track the development of royal genealogies (Bede, HB, and Anglican collection, Anglo-Saxon Chronicle in that order of age). You can track the development of a legendary and literary figure from Bede to modern Arthuriana. Oh..perhaps that’s the rub… you might get an Arthurian lurgy (or cooties).

[Updated 27 March 2008]

This month’s lost kingdom is Lindsey, which makes up most of what is considered Lincolnshire. The kingdom of Lindsey is a hypothetical kingdom because it never appears in the historical record as such. It is based on the Roman city of Lincoln and its environs. Lindsey apparently means Isle of Lincoln. Cut off by rivers and marshes, in the early medieval period, Lindsey was a large island or set of islands with the district of Hatfield to its northwest along with the Isle of Axholme.

A Conflict Zone

From the earliest period, Lindsey appears to be under the control of her neighbors. The highest ranking secular figure in Lindsey that Bede lists is a reeve. A series of battles were fought on Lindsey’s western flank with control over the Isle of Lindsey being the major prize.

This northwestern corner near Lindsey (but perhaps outside of it) was a conflict zone for 6th and 7th century kings. The first battle located in this area was on the east bank of the River Idle on the Mercian boder in 616 when Aethelfrith of Bernicia was slain by Redwald of East Anglia on behalf of Edwin of Deira. This was at a fork in the Roman road system on Lindsey’s western flank that may have marked a boundary between petty kingdoms and the extent of each kings hegemony over those petty kingdoms. Aethelfrith’s death there without his full army suggests that he felt comfortable traveling in this region with just his normal retinue/body guard. It is possible that Lindsey passed to Aethelfrith with his conquest of Deira, and that he felt secure there.

Edwin is the only northern king we see actually active in Lindsey. Bede tells us that Bishop Paulinus of York was particularly active in Lincoln. The reeve of Lincoln Blaecca and his family are converted (apparently he is the highest ranking man in Lindsey) and Paulinus builds a stone church there (HE II.16). Now this is strange as the stone church in York was still incomplete when Edwin died. It seems more likely that Paulinus refurbished a Roman building, perhaps a church. Bede says that in his time the roof has fallen in from neglect but that miracles still occur there so apparently the current Bishop of Lincoln did not use the same church. It was in this church in Lincoln rather than in York that Paulinus consecrated Archbishop Honorius of Canterbury in about 627. Bede goes on to relate a story told to him by Abbot Deda of Partney about Bishop Paulinus’ preaching in Littleborough (Tiowulfingacaestir) that unusally describes the appearance of Bishop Paulinus as “tall, with a slight stoop, black hair, a thin face, a slender aquiline nose, and at the same time he was both venerable and awe-inspiring in appearance”(HE II.16, McClure and Collins, p. 100). This account also apparently mentioned James the Deacon who survived up to the synod of Whitby in 664. Added on to this is Bede’s discussion of Edwin’s royal standard (tufa/thuf). I wonder if this addition was inspired by the place name Tiowulfingacaestir?

Lindsey also figures in the death of King Edwin of Deira whose death is located at Hatfield Chase just northwest of Lindsey on 12 October 633. His body was miraculously found there sometime after 679 and relocated to the church at Whitby.

When Queen Osthryth sent her uncle Oswald’s body to Bardney the monks initially tried to reject it because they said that he had once conquered them. This suggest that the men of Lindsey had met Oswald in battle and lost. The Irish record a southern uprising against Oswald in 637 [rec 641?] that appears to be independent of his last campaign against Penda. (The Annals of Tigernach give this as being one year before it records his death in 638 [rec 642], placing the siege of Edinburgh in between.) Given the importance of this conflict zone it is possible that the uprising was focused in the region of Lindsey and that Lindsey had sided with Oswald’s opponents. If so, it would appear that Oswald successfully put down this revolt. It makes me wonder if Oswald was chasing the ring leader of the revolt in 642 when he fell at Maserfelth. The sentiment that Lindsey may have preferred Mercian rule over Bernician could even go back to the apparent Deiran cooperation with Mercia against Bernicia seen in Edwin’s marriage in exile, and Oswine’s and even Oethelwald’s later cooperation with Mercia. This fits well into ideas I have been developing about the “Humbrian” region that I will have to save for another day.

The next the battlefield shifts slightly north to near Leeds, where Penda of Mercia is killed by Oswiu in 15 November 655. The location of Penda’s death is not specifically known. Somewhere in the marshy fenlands around the upper Humber River in the region of Loidis (Leeds). From the time of Penda’s death in 655, Lindsey appears to have passed securely into Northumbrian hands under King Oswiu.

The fate of Lindsey from the revolt against Oswiu in Mercia that placed Wulfhere on the throne in 658 is unknown. We know that Wulfhere granted land to Chad before 672 and that Chad’s deposed successor Wynfrith retired there. Yet, Oswiu died in 670 so it is still possible that Northumbria/Bernicia retained control of Lindsey until the death of Oswiu and it wasn’t disputed until the time of Ecgfrith (670-685). We know that Wulfhere attacked Northumbria in 674 but was defeated. Lindsey was the usual conflict zone between these kingdoms but the exact time and location of this battle is lost. The Life of Wilfrid suggests that Lindsey passed back to the Northumbrians after this defeat. But it Wulfhere was attacking Northumbria, how did he loose Lindsey? How did Northumbria on the defense gain Lindsey for their victory?

Again in 679 a battle is fought due west of Lindsey again on the River Trent when King Æthelred of Mercia invaded Northumbria. King Ælfwine of Deira was slain in the battle. It is significant to know that the River Trent was considered an invasion of Northumbria. This last battle seems to be specifically over control of Lindsey. After Ælfwine’s death the border skirmishes threatened to turn into a blood feud until Archbishop Theodore stepped in and mediated a settlement that allowed Mercia to keep Lindsey but pay weregeld for Ælfwine’s death.

Monastic Networks

The primary means of controlling the region of Lindsey appears to have rested in its monastic network. The kings of Mercia in particular invested heavily in monasteries that controlled key fords or bridges over the main rivers that provided access to Lindsey.

The monasteries of Bardney and Partney both fall into this category and were at one time, along with a convent, controlled by one family who also provided Lindsey with an early bishop, Aethelwine Bishop of Lindsey 680-692. His brother was Abbot Eadlwine of Partney and there sister was Abbess Aethelhild, whose monastery was somewhere near Partney. Although the early monks of Bardney may have favored Merican rule, this family does seem to have been well entrenched with the church of Lindisfarne. Another brother of this family, Aethelhun, died in Ireland with Egbert in about 664 and another monk of Lindsey, Higebald, later visited Egbert in Ireland.

We know that Bardney was heavily invested in by King Aethelred of Mercia, who became its abbot after his abdication. It was at Bardney that Aethelred and his queen Osthryth established the shrine of her uncle King Oswald and where both were later themselves buried. His burial of Queen Osthryth there after her murder (also by Mercian rebels), which when placed next to her martyred uncle, must have further enhanced the prestige of the site. St Oswald’s shrine at Bardney seems to have been the most major shrine in Lindsey during the Anglo-Saxon period, although St Guthlac’s Croyland and St Audrey’s Ely, and Peterborough (Medeshampstead) where not that far away in the fen lands bordering Lindsey.

It is interesting to note that unlike in other regions, Lindsey’s monasteries are along inland waterways, but I don’t know of any on the seaward side. This suggests that their placement was to control internal trade and travel, but not to be part of a port as we find near Whitby, Jarrow, Whithorn, St David’s Menevia and other monasteries.

Lindsey’s Pseudo-Royal Family

Only one instance of a royal genealogy for Lindsey has survived. It is in an Anglican Collection of genealogies that are believed to have come from Offa’s Mercia. By this time Lindsey was securely under Mercian control and probably had been for all of living memory. We know that King Offa gave the shrine of St Oswald at Bardney expensive gifts, as mentioned in Alcuin’s poem on the Bishops, Kings and Saints of York.

The Lindsey genealogy is obviously non-royal. It is probably a noble who is being particularly honored by Offa, perhaps one who rose to sub-king, but not from a royal family. Just as Offa killed off his son’s rivals, he would have boosted those who he expected to help his son. Offa may have considered this sub-king/ealdorman to have been important in helping secure the succession of his son Ecgfrith. This lineage disappears after its single mention in Offa’s genealogical collection, so it is possible that this family fell from power with the death of Offa’s son. Its last member Aldfrith is a witness to one charter in Offa’s time. However, given that it isn’t that long before the arrival of the Danes it is not surprising that the fate of this family is a mystery.

If we look at the genealogy in detail there is just enough alliteration and common naming patterns to believe that it could be real back to Winta, the last man before Woden. Winta may reflect the placename Winteringham (homestead of Winta’s people) (Wikipedia). His son Cretta looks like a reasonable name for a son of Winta so they may come from local Lindsey lore. Note that most of the kingdoms are founded by duos, father and son (Ida and Eoppa), or brothers (Hengest and Horsa). It does not follow any other pattern to show linkage between royal houses, but neither does Mercia. (For example, Wessex and Bernicia claim to be descended from the same son of Woden.) The genealogy is noticeably shorter than the others in the collection (ie. it reaches Woden sooner) and then unlike the others extends beyond Woden to Geot (Geat) to make it as long as the others in the collection. This all adds up to suggest it is probably a fairly recent act of creative writing.

Medieval Legends

In early medieval legends, Lindsey/Lincoln is often mentioned in Arthurian stories. The earliest mention is the Historia Brittonum where Arthur fights three of his twelve battles over the ‘district of Linnis’, usually interpreted as Lindsey. This section of the Historia Brittonum (written in c. 825) is widely accepted to be a battle listing poem that has been incorporated as a bridge in the historical narrative. Whether or not the poet originally intended Linnis to be Lindsey, it is likely that by 825 the author of the Historia Brittonum would have been thinking of Lindsey when he compiled that work. Even in legend, Lindsey is an area of conflict.

Modern Legends

As far as I can tell the early antiquarian guess that the name and people of Lindisfarne are somehow linked to Lindsey is just that, a guess based on the name. I don’t think there is any real connection between the two place names.

References:

I owe my knowledge of conflict zones to the PhD thesis of Tim Clarkson and many conversations over the years.

Clarkson, Tim. 2001. Warfare in early historic northern Britain. Unpublished PhD dissertation. Manchester: University of Manchester.

Bede, Ecclesiastical History of the English People

“The Kingdom of Lindsey” at Wikipedia.

The Bonedd y Sant (Lineages of the Saints) survives from the early 13th century in multiple copies and is believed to have been compiled in 12th century Wales. An extensive and fanciful lineage of Oswald is one of the only Anglo-Saxon entries.

“[70] Osswallt ap Oswydd aelwyn ap Ydolorec vrenin [71] Eda Glynuawr ap Gwynbei drahawc ap Mwc Mawr Drevydd ap Offa kyllellvaw, vrenin Lloeg, y gwr a ymladdodd yn erbyn Arthvr gNgwaith Vadon.” (Bartrum,1966, p. 64)

My (loose) translation:

[St.] Oswald son of Oswiu Fair (Eye-)Brow son of Æthelric the King. [son of] Ida Great Knee son of Gwynbei the Arrogant son of Mwng of Great Towns son of Ossa Great Knife, King of England, the warlike man who contended with Arthur at the battle of Badon.

(ymladd = fight/fighter; erbyn= meet)

There is a general agreement that lineages 70 and 71 are supposed to be one lineage. There is some really warped similarity to the Historia Brittonum and Anglo-Saxon Genealogies that should read like this:

Oswald and Oswiu [sons of Æthelfrith Flexor] son of Æthelric [the King] son of Ida [Great Knee] son of [rec. Eoppa] son of Ossa [Great Knife]

These epithets are strongly attached to each of these figures in Old Welsh and Cambro-Latin literature.

Considering how strong Æthelfrith Flexor was in Welsh folklore, its surprising that he is omitted from the lineages, but I believe that that he and his father Æthelric were occasionally confused. Both are mentioned several times in the Welsh triads, but its odd that Æthelric who only ruled for 4 years when Bernicia was restricted to the territory immediately near Bamburgh would be so well known.

The error in making Oswald the son of his brother Oswiu is a fairly easy scribal error from a genealogy something like the Historia Brittonum which lists brothers in the terminal generation. In Old Welsh ’son of’ is sometimes abbreviated as “ap” from “map”, which is easy to confuse with “a” short for “and”. Bartrum notes that a late medieval poem by Cynddelw on St Tysilo that mentions the battle of Cogwy/Maserfelth and used “Osswallt vab Oswi Aelwyn”.

It appears that the author knew that some of these famous figures were part of St Oswald’s ancestry, but he also knew that with only these famous ones it was too short. With the addition of Gwynbei ap Mwc (inserted as a unit) the pedigree does get long enough to reach back to the Annals Cambriae’s date for the battle of Badon in 516.

Over the next several weeks, I’ll be discussing the folklore of these Bernician ancestors of St Oswald from Old Welsh literature in the folklore Friday posts. Incidentally, the Bernician kings are virtually the only English figures to have specific epithets in Welsh lore, even though Edwin and Penda are also well known.

PC Bartrum, ed and trans. 1966. Early Welsh Genealogical Tracts. Cardiff: University of Wales Press.

PC Bartrum, 1993. A Welsh Classical Dictionary: People in History and Legend up to about AD 1000. National Library of Wales.

Jonathan Jarret has tagged me with a mutated meme on favorite historical figures. Who else would I pick other than St Oswald of Northumbria? So how this works is that I have to replicate the instructions (mutated meme only), give seven interesting or unusual facts about this figure and then tag several other people to pass the meme on. Given that Jonathan has already tagged several people I would have tagged, I better hurry up!

Instructions:

1. Link to the person who tagged you.
2. List 7 random/weird things about your favorite historical figure.
3. Tag seven more people at the end of your blog and link to theirs.
4. Let the person know they have been tagged by leaving a note on their blog.

And the last shall be first: I am tagging Dr. Nokes, Jennifer Lynn Jordan, Chris Laning, Dr Mike Drout, Nicola Griffith, and for good measure I’ll tag Derek the Ænglican, and Larry Swain again.

So why did I pick St Oswald, King of Northumbria? Well, I’ve been working on him for nearly 10 years now. He is certainly the most persistent topic in my studies. My early interest in historical roots of the Arthurian legend, led me to Bede’s History who presented me with a historical figure who embodied so much of what is appealing about Arthur (and is a saint to boot!). In Oswald I see much of the richness of legend and heroism of Arthurian lore, and yet, he is a bona fide historical figure who made a significant impact on history. Perhaps someday I will write a post comparing Arthur and Oswald…

Odd historical facts about Oswald:

1. His name means “Ruler of the Gods”, a name for Woden. The power of his name may have affected his ability to be an evangelist, his immediate appeal as a saint, and for his ability to be a Christian role model in Frisia and Germany. Five of Æthelfrith’s seven known sons have names that begin with Os- referring to Woden.
2. Oswald was only about 13 years old when he went into exile among the Scots of Dalriada. He would have gained all his military experience among the Scots. He remained there for 17 years and was baptized among them. Oswald was accepted into exile by the King Eochaid, son of his father’s greatest northern rival, Aedan mac Gabran, who Æthelfrith defeated at the battle of Degsastan in English territory in c. 603. Defeat of Aedan allowed Æthelfrith to turn his attention south to Deira and beyond the Humber, and was the turning point in Bernician-Northumbrian history.
3. Royal or noble women have had the greatest impact on spreading Oswald’s veneration: his niece Queen Osthryth of Merica (founds his cult at Bardney), Lady Æthelflæd of Mercia (moves his relics from Bardney to Gloucester), Eadgyth (Edith) of Wessex (married Otto the great of Saxony), and perhaps most significantly for his universal veneration, by Judith of Flanders (who takes his cult to Bavaria) and re-enforced by Matilda daughter of Henry II who married the Welf Duke Henry the Lion. [The male controlled relics – his head and arm(s)- are not available to the public.]
4. Oswald’s icon is the black raven, which doesn’t appear in writing until the 12th century, simultaneously in England and Germany. This talking raven is analogous to Woden’s talking ravens.
5. The Oswaldian romances of the raven and the ring are based on Oswald’s marriage of Cyngisl’s daughter and his standing as godfather to Cyngisl of Wessex. This is probably one of the strongest historical facts of Bede’s account of Oswald. The poetic epic romance Oswalt is one of the earliest pieces of vernacular German literature.
6. Oswald is the patron saint of the canton of Zug Switzerland and its cathedral. His image (with the raven) was once found on Swiss coins. St Oswald’s church in Zug claims that his arm was brought there in 1485. Patronage of St Oswald was once wide-spread throughout Bavaria and Switzerland.
7. Pope Benedict XVI was baptized in a Bavarian St. Oswald’s Church, which is becoming a pilgrimage site to pray for him, and featured on 80th birthday celebration stamps from the Vatican. He said his first mass and 25th anniversary mass in another Church of St. Oswald (of Northumbria) in Freising, Germany. Wouldn’t it be nice to see a new medal with Pope Benedict XVI on one side and St. Oswald on the other?