Benedict Biscop

I’ve gained a new appreciation for Benedict Biscop this week after rereading the History of the Abbots and the Life of Ceolfrith, along with Ian Woods’ contribution to the new Cambridge Companion to Bede. What follows is a little musing on Biscop and questions his life open up.

I used to think of Biscop as a restless retired warrior who spent his time seeking ecclesiastical treasures. The History of the Abbots reminded me first that Biscop was not an old or retired warrior but in his mid-twenties when he left the king’s service to explore the church. When King Oswiu made him a thane and gave him land it was recognition that it was time for him to begin the life of an active adult male. His warrior days were not expected to be over. In any major campaign the thegns would be expected to participate along with what ever men they could bring. The kings retinue that Biscop would have left were mostly teenagers in various levels of training and responsibility. Biscop was a young man in his prime when he began his first trip to Rome.

Biscop’s contacts

He must have been a very charismatic person. Just think about all the contacts he made across England and the continent. Setting out on his first trip with young Wilfrid (future bishop of York) he knew well enough not to get bogged down in Lyon with Wilfrid. After his visit to Rome he made his way to Lérins, one of the most influential monasteries of the late antique world, where he stayed for two years, learned their rule and was tonsured. We all probably way underestimate the influence of Lérins on Biscop and ultimately Bede. It was probably at Lérins that he took the name Benedict. He must have been good with languages, speaking at least fluent Latin and probably learned Frankish. He must have known Latin before he left Britain, or he couldn’t have been Theodore of Tarsus’ translator, much less navigated his way to Rome or had a meaningful stay at Lérins.

Thinking of Theodore, Biscop just happened to be handy to the Pope in Rome for an assignment to escort Theodore to Britain. While Biscop may have sought out the English group in Rome when the grapevine brought him news of their arrival, it is still significant that he was chosen to be Theodore’s escort rather than a survivor of Wighard’s party. Theodore liked and trusted Biscop enough to make him Abbot of St Peter’s monastery in Canterbury for his first two years, until Hadrian arrived from Gaul. When Biscop then returned to Northumbria (after a detour to Wessex), he told King Ecgfrith of his travels and his close relationship with the new Archbishop of Canterbury. Ecgfrith then gave him 70 hides of land, a large grant, at Wearmouth. We shouldn’t underestimate Biscop’s connections with Canterbury through Archbishop Theodore and the monks at St Peter’s whom Biscop worked with for two years. Biscop’s dedication of his new monastery to St Peter may not only be due to his dedication to Rome, but also because he had just ended his tenure as abbot of St Peter’s monastery in Canterbury. We need to see Bede’s connections to Canturbury and admiration for Theodore through the lens of Biscop and his personal connections.

Biscop’s secular contacts were impressive too. It is well-known that Biscop received land from two Bernician kings, more on that below. He  had a close relationship with King Alchfrid of Deira who wanted to accompany Biscop to Rome but was stopped by his father. (This is the same trip that Wilfrid did accompany Biscop on.) Like Wilfrid, he also had a close relationship with King Cenwealh of Wessex, but apparently not with his successor. He only goes home to Bernicia/Northumbria because King Cenwealh has died.

What are the underlying connections? An obvious connection between Northumbria/Deira and Wessex is King Oswald’s widow, who was the sister of Cenwealh. Both Biscop and Wilfrid were too young to be associated with King Oswald, but his widow and children may have continued on in Northumbria, possibly Deira specifically, even under Oswald’s cousin King Oswine.  (I remember reading somewhere that Oswine may have been sheltered in Wessex during Oswald’s reign.) If Oswald had his main seat at York, where he completed the cathedral, then his widow and sons may have continued to live in York. Given that Oswald himself was the son of Acha of Deira, sister of Edwin, he may have spent his childhood more in York than Bamburgh. The continued presence of Oswald’s widow and children in Deira could explain how Bishop Aidan was welcomed so warmly by Oswine (but that is another topic). If Oswine was given refuge from Oswald in Wessex, then he could hardly have retaliated against Oswald’s sons because they were also the grandsons of King Cynegisl and nephews of King Cenwealh of Wessex. This could explain how Oswald’s son Oethelwald, nephew to both King Oswiu of Bernicia and possibly king Cenwealh of Wessex, became king of Deira. If he did not have an adult heir, King Oswine could have made King Cenwealh of Wessex’s sister’s son  Oethelwald son of Oswald his heir in Deira. After Oethelwald’s death/disappearance, his successor Oswiu’s son Alchfrith also had a close relationship with King Cenwealh of Wessex specifically on ecclesiastical issues.

The relationship between Deira and Wessex was longstanding. It seems likely that King Edwin of Deira, Oswald’s maternal uncle, was instrumental in Cynegisl becoming the sole (or primary) king of Wessex after Edwin drove out previous kings in c. 625. King Oswald’s role in standing as godfather to Cenwealh’s father Cynegisl and confirming the land grant to Bishop Birinus, Apostle to Wessex, could have provided a way in for Wessex to play a role in bringing first Deira and then all of Northumbria into the sphere of Rome. Recall that Birinus’ mission was part of the Roman church but sponsored from Gaul, initially independent from Canterbury. As part of the Roman church, Bishop Birinus accepted the authority of Canterbury, although Gaulish influence is strongly felt for another two generations. Birinus’ successor, the Frankish bishop Agilbert was very influential on Wilfrid.

Biscop was part of the relationship between Deira/Northumbria and Wessex not only in his early travels. As the familial relationship between the house of Cyngisl and Edwin eventually faded they were renewed by another royal marriage, between King Aldfrith and the sister of King Ine of Wessex, a probable cousin of Aldhelm of Malmesbury. Significantly, not only were Aldfrith and Aldhelm friends, but this marriage likely occurred during a time when Biscop was an adviser to King Aldfrith.

Biscop’s land

Benedict Biscop (Source: Wikipedia commons)

In his contribution to the Cambridge Companion to Bede, Ian Wood demonstrates that the land ownership for Wearmouth and Jarrow are not as simple as Bede or the Anon. Life of Ceolfrith claim. Like much hagiography on founders, there is reason to believe that Bede wrote the History of the Abbots to establish land claims, even though he didn’t list specific pieces of property. I want to come back to this in another post someday but just to point out one of the discrepancies:  in the History of the Abbots, Bede writes that King Oswiu gives Biscop land due a thane, but he never says that land is at Wearmouth or part of the monastery’s holdings. Bede writes in the introduction and later in the work that Wearmouth was given to Biscop from his own (Ecgfrith’s) royal land. So we have to consider the claims of Biscop’s blood family to his lands and the monastery’s desires to keep as much land as possible. Did Biscop’s brother have a claim to his thane land, or did that thane land intended to be familial land give him a claim to more of Biscop’s property? The land ownership discrepancies are food for further thought.

Biscop as founder

I suppose I also have a renewed appreciation for Biscop as an ideal monastic founder, perhaps in no small part to Bede’s skills. Biscop did the two things that a founder must do: provided their rule with careful consideration from the best of what he learned in his many travels, and provided a physical space with all the supplies in enviable quantities. His many connections outside of Northumbria also established ecclesiastical ties that the monastery could build upon over the next two generations. Without Biscop there would not have been a scholar of Bede’s quality in Britain because Bede’s skills were only honed with the library Biscop built.

So this is what I have been pondering this week. I hope to be able to blog on a more regular basis this fall on a variety of topics.

References:

The History of the Abbots of Wearmouth and Jarrow and the Anonymous History of Ceolfrith. in  The Age of Bede, trans. DH Farmer. Penguin Classics, 1998.

Ian Wood. “The foundation of Bede’s Wearmouth-Jarrow” in Cambridge Companion to Bede, Cambridge University Press, 2010.

The Realm of Humbria

Humbria is a hypothetical proto-over-kingdom in the extreme. The area discussed under the term Humbria seems to be the region around the Humber River, not surprisingly. This region includes the kingdoms of Deira, Elmet, Lindsey, and proto-Mercia. In effect, references to Humbria suggest that it was the core of Deira’s hegemony. While Edwin had extended his power far beyond this core of principalities, this may have been the core of hegemony under previous Deiran kings, particularly Edwin’s father Ælle who is reputed to have reigned for 30 years. Deiran hegemony over ‘Humbria’ also explains why Northumbrian kings tried to exert rights over land south of the Humber until 679. Think of Humbria being something like the Thames river hegemony group early on being usually dominated by Kent. Around the Thames the kingdoms seem to have more parity preventing one from controlling all, and the kings of Kent don’t seem to have the same military skills as any of the Humbrian (or East Anglian) kings. Mercia developed as an offshoot of the Humbrian group, perhaps largely as Wessex developed as an upriver offshoot of the Thames group. I believe this is what the Historia Brittonum means when its says that Penda first separated Mercia from the northern king. Compared to the kingdoms of the two main hegemony groups (Humbrian and Thames), both Mercia and Wessexare frontier kingdoms in that the both expand away from the two main river systems. Bernicia begins so far out on the fringe that they are almost an island thathas tobe reconnected to the other English by conquest.

Drainage zone of the Humber Estuary. York is on the River Ouse and the kingdom of Elmet was between the River Warfe and River Don.

Defining Humbria

Æthelfrith’s movement southward was not only a conquest of the Anglican kingdom of Deira but also the realm of Humbria. When Æthelfrith had taken Deira, Ælle’s grandson Hereric fled only to neighboring Elmet, part of the hegemony group where he might expect assistance to expel an invader, even if Elmet was British. Around the same time, Ælle’s younger son Edwin (about the same age as Hereric) fled to king Ceorl of Mercia where the exiled prince married Ceorl’s daughter, probably part of a formal agreement between exile and host. That both Ceredig of Elmet and Ceorl of Mercia cooperated by initially giving refuge to the exiled Deirans probably suggests that Humbria was a well established regional hegemony group and though Deira had recently been dominant, it may not have always been so. It is possible that the British were major players in this hegemony group in the recent past. Also the rival I know, who is now beholding to me, is better than an invader any day. Soon Æthelfrith had contrived to have Hereric assassinated by poison in Elmet, no doubt securing Elmet’s alligiance, and had driven Edwin’s family out of Mercia, where Ceorl is heard from no more. Whether Edwin fled to the British first before finally arriving in East Anglia is uncertain, but suggested by British lore.

Either way, we could interpret Æthelfrith’s next two battles as defending or defining his hegemony over Humbria. In 613 Æthelfrith destroys Powysian forces at the battle of Chester, breaking coordinated Powysian power for a generation and in effect probably enlarging Humbria’s western flank. Æthelfrith’s last battle on the River Idle is exactly at the crossroads on the Roman road system between Lindsey, Mercia and East Anglia. He is traveling without all his forces, according to Bede, expecting to be on a diplomatic mission to collect a troublesome exile from the East Anglian king who is expected to take payment for him and probably acknowledge Æthelfrith’s power. Of course, boldness was rewarded when Rædwald of East Anglia ambushed Æthelfrith and slew him and his bodyguard. The point here is not so much Æthelfrith’s career as to look at the territory he is defending or defining.

So after Æthelfrith falls, Edwin of Deira seems to immediately take control of all of Humbria. His first action is to depose Ceredig of Elmet, presumably for killing his nephew Hereric, and he seems to have direct control over Elmet during his reign. Paulinus of York takes part in the consecration of a new Archbishop of Canterbury at Lincoln where the highest ranking official is a reeve.

Low lands of the Humber estuary. Around the Lincoln edge was the Isle of Axholme in early medieval times. Lindsey was a virtual island surrounded by marshes and rivers.

Humbrian names

Then there is the importance of Humbria in all names for the northern Anglian kingdom. Before Bede’s time there were a number of names for what we now consider Northumbria, but they all involved “Humbria” — Ultra humbria (above the Humber), Transhumbria (across the humber, Northumbria (north of the humber). While the Humber is surely an important estuary (and much more important then when there were more wetlands), once they were restricted north of the Humber there is much less of a reason for it to be retained in their name. It seems clear that for much of the long seventh century, northern Anglian kings insisted on being called kings of a version of Humbria. If we compare to Mercia, the name of the original core kingdom of the ruling dynasty was extended for the new swollen kingdom. Yet, the ruling dynasty of Northumbria was with a 17 year exception for Edwin’s reign, a Bernician dynasty but the whole kingdom never incorporated the name of Bernicia.

One State, Multiple Nations

Northumbria was essentially a state composed of several nations that each kept their identity too much to adopt the Bernician name. They sought a new name, Northumbria, that is different than any other Anglo-Saxon kingdom — geographic, north, and regional, Humbria. In taking the name Humbria they adopted a regional name that clearly enclosed two (or more) nations, two ethnicities. Elmet and Craven clearly retained some of their British characteristics through Bede’s lifetime. Lindsey and Deira both were both Anglo-Saxon kingdoms but they also were capitals of Roman provinces and likely had significant Romano-British influence. Recall that the British kings Gwrgi and Peredur of York were the sons of Eliffer Great Retinue and that ‘great retinue’ at York may have had English mercenaries or immigrants. Its interesting that Edwin only seems to have brought his court to York after Bishop Paulinus arrived. The English may have preferred to stay where they had been settled in toward the peninusla by the British and let the former Roman captial remain ruins. Moving into the ruins of York no doubt fueled by Bishop Paulinus also gave Edwin dreams of grandure and empire. Britons continued to be a reality as long as Northumbria existed as they expanded into Cumbria and west of the Humbria, as Britons melded into a Northumbrian English existence in the oldest areas around Humbria.

Kingdom of Mercia showing its constituant parts.

Mercia is clearly the late developing entitiy in Humbria. North Merica, cradled in the River Trent, is typically believed to be the original Mercia. Its royal genealogy is not as well developed and Penda is really the first king to be more than a name. Based on name evidence, it seems likely that South Mercia was an area added by Penda and his immediate predecessors. Outer Mercia may have been only added at the height of Penda’s career along with Middle Anglia where he placed his son Peada. Its interesting that Penda is also open to working with British allies, and that they are open to working with him, pagan and all.

In the end the peoples of the Humbrian hegemony group dominated Britain until the Norse invasions. Ultimately Humbria was split nearly in two: Deira and most of Elmet to Northumbria, while Mercia,Humbria’s fringe territory, breaks free taking part of Elmet and Lindsey with it. Eventually, Mercia will in turn take control of the Thames group as well. In the end, both Northmbria and Mercia crumbled in the face of the new Norse invader faster than the Romano-British had gave way before their invasions/immigration 400 years earlier. Unlike the Romano-British, the Engish never learned to defend themselves from sea-bourne threats and it seemes didn’t learn to defend against land based threats that were not states who behaved by the rules of war they established among themselves.

Three British Chieftains of Bernicia and Deira

I was browsing through Rachel Bromwich’s Triodd Ynys Prydein (The Welsh Triads) today and I came across the triad of the Three Chieftains of “Deiuyr a Brennych”, Deira and Bernicia, that reminds me of some of the usual nearly lost material among the ‘Men of the North’ lore.  The variant triad 10W combines it with the three fortunate slayings and is a glimpse at the stories these fleshed out triads contain.

Triad 10W: Three Chieftains of Deira and Bernicia, and they were three bards, and three sons of Dissynyndawd, who performed the Three Fortunate Slayings;

• Diffeidell son of Dissynyndawd, who slew Gwrgi Garwlwyd (Rough-Grey). That man used to slay every day one of the Cymry, and two every Saturday so as not to slay one on the Sunday;
• Snagfnell son of Dissynyndawd who slew Edelfled Ffleisawg (‘Twister’) king of Lloegr;
• Gall son of Dissnyndawd who slew the two Birds of Gwenddolau, who were guarding his gold and silver: two men they used to eat for dinner, and as much again for supper. (p. 10-11)

Another variant of the triad calls them all three the sons of a bard, suggesting that Dissynyndawd was the bard. It is possible that we have an old bard singing songs about his ‘sons’ who fell heroically. There are stories behind all these victims though not much is found among the chieftains.

I understand that Gwrgi Garwlwyd means Rough-Grey Dog and it has been speculated that he was a werewolf, or someone disliked so much that werewolf stories grew up around him. He may reappear in these lines from the Arthurian poem Pa Gur:

	On the heights of Eidyn
	He fought with champions [or dog-heads].
	By the hundreds they fell	45
	To Bedwyr’s four-pronged spear [or Bedwyr the Perfect],
	On the shores of Tryfrwyd,
	Combating with Garwlwyd
	Furious was his nature
	Both with sword and shield.

Eidyn here would be Caer Eidyn, or Edenburgh. Tryfrwyd is usually interpreted as one of several rivers in Lothian. Dogs may have been important symbols in Lothian.

The second victim, Edelfled Ffleisawg king of Lloegr is Æthelfrith of Bernicia. His epithet ffleisawg (or sometimes flesaur) is based off of the Latin word for flexible. The translation ‘twister’ was made long ago, and though I’ve never particularly liked that translation it does seem to have stuck. Personally I’d like something like flexar or flexor. What exactly it means  has also been controverisal. Pro-British interpretations have always claimed this meant he could twist out of the British grasp. This really seems at odds with the historical record of Æthelfrith being a dominating king who conquored more Britons than any previous king. It could also mean cleaver or a flexible stratagist. Lloegr is a general British name for the English that means something like borders. It is the typical word used for the English in Arthurian literature.

[On a side note, it just occurred to me looking at the British Edelfled for Æthelfrith that the female name element -fled/-flæd found in names like Eanflæd could be the feminine version of the male -frith names. Consider that Eanflæd had two brothers named Osfrith and Eadfrith. Likewise three of Oswiu's sons have -frith names Ecgfrith, Alchfrith, and Aldfrith and one of his daughters is Ælfflæd.]

The third victim is some kind of watchman or watch animal for Gwenddolau who fell at the battle (or seige) of Arthuret (Arfderydd) listed in the Annals Cambriae in 573. It may be one of a couple stories about what provoked the battle. Archaeological investigations at the Mote of Liddel which is were the siege is believed to have taken place near Carwannok (Caer Gwenddolau) showed signs of high status metal working. This is the battle where Mryddin (Merlin) went mad.

One of the interesting things about this triad and a few others like it is that some events can be dated to within a reasonable lifespan of brothers. The battle of Arfderydd is dated to 573, Æthelfrith died in 616 and Edenburgh was in British hands during this period. Craig Cessford wrote a paper some time ago exploring the possibility that a British chieftain from the north was part of Edwin’s retinue when he slew Æthelfrith. I suppose that safest interpretation is that these events would be within the lifetime of one bard and it is not unusual in British poetry for a bard to use exploits of a reputed son as a device (also used in the Llywarch Hen cycle).

References:

Rachel Bromwich, trans. (1978) Trioedd Ynys Prydein: The Welsh Triads. Cardiff: University of Wales Press.

Criag Cessford (1994) ‘The Death of Aethelfrith of Lloegr’ Northern History 30: 179-183