Rhun (Rum) ap Urien figures prominently in the Historia Brittonum, where he is mentioned three times. This suggests that he or his court may have supplied a source text for the Historia Brittonum. If Rheged was successfully integrated into Northumbria with its British aristocrasy or at least clerics largely intact, it is possible that Rheged [...]
Archive for the ‘Person of the Week’ Category
14 Jun
PW: Abbot Berhthun of Beverly
You might be wondering, who is Abbot Berhthun and why should we care about him? First of all, he was someone known and respected by Bede and second, we owe practically everything we know about St John of Beverly to Berhthun. According to Bede, Berhthun was John’s deacon while he was Bishop of Hexham [...]
23 May
PW: King Ecgfrith of Northumbria
On May 20th, 685 King Ecgfrith of Northumbria fell deep in Pictland at Dunnichen to King Bridei, who was somehow his cousin. As far as we know, Ecgfrith’s death at Dunnichen marked the deepest incursion into Pictland that we know of in the Anglo-Saxon period. Given that Ecgfrith invaded to prevent loosing hegemony, it [...]
23 Apr
PW: St Egbert of Iona
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 [...]
16 Apr
PW: St Magnus of Orkney
Today is the feast day of St Magnus of Orkney, the only Viking saint that I know of in early medieval Britain. Unusually, Magnus was an Earl of Orkney, and a well known raider. He came from a family that had ruled Orkney in at least the previous generation. He was a kinsman of the [...]
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