Category: 9th Century

Medieval Quilting

28/5/2018

One of my favourite tales of Middle Ages is that of Tristan and Isolde, the doomed love affair between the Cornish knight Tristan and his Irish princess Isolde, which incidentally, the Arthurian legend of Guinevere and Lancelot is thought to be based on.

The couples tale is represented on this quilted bed cover, and is made up of fourteen different scenes from their story. There are two sections of the quilt, one at the Victoria and Albert Museum and the other in the Bargello in Florence. There is a third piece, but this is held by a private owner.

All three Tristan Quilts are the only known surviving examples of medieval quilts.

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Battling the Vikings: January 871

4/1/2018

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In the January of 871, three battles took place between the forces of King Ethelred against an invading Viking army, the first on this day, was outside the Berkshire town of Reading.

Vikings Arrive by Chris Collingwood

King Ethelred had ascended the throne of England on the death of his brother Ethelbert in 865, that was the same year that the men of the north arrived on our countries shores. Within five years the Vikings had defeated the forces of the king of Mercia and were making their way to Ethelred's Wessex.

It was on the 4th of January that Ethelred took on the enemy at the Battle of Reading. This battle ended with defeat for Ethelred's army enabling the Vikings to take the town which they used as their base.

Within days they continued their advance into Wessex and by the 8th of January, the two forces battled on the Berkshire Downs just the south-west of Ashbury village. Ethelred's scattered army had reformed, and he had placed his forces in two units, one under his command the other under his brother Alfred on either side of a ridge. A delay on Ethelred's part to order a charge forced Alfred to make his attack, Ethelred followed, eventually, the Viking army was defeated.

The final battle in January took place at Basing on the 22nd where Ethelred's army was once again defeated but there were heavy losses to both sides. Exactly two months later on the 22nd of March at Marton, the forces of the Anglo-Saxon's and the Danish army met again at a site that has never been confirmed (up to five sites have been suggested) that was another loss for Ethelred. In the April King Ethelred is thought to have died from wounds inflicted at Marton. Taking up Ethelred's sword against the Vikings would be Alfred named the Great, who according to English historian Edward Freeman was

"the most perfect character in history’

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Alfred becomes King

23/4/2017

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King Alfred the Great became King of England on the 23rd April 871 following the death of his brother Ethelred.

By 878, the kingdoms of Anglo-Saxon England had fallen into the hands of the Viking invaders, it was King Alfred’s kingdom of Wessex that stood alone.

At this point in time the position England was in can be summed up in one famous tale, that is, King Alfred burning the cakes of some poor peasant woman who left him in charge. It is unlikely that this event ever happened, but as a tale it shows quite clearly the danger that England's last kingdom faced, and how much responsibility was placed on Alfred’s head. In reality, by the May of 878 Alfred’s Wessex was secured, and after years of fending off the Viking invaders King Alfred finally struck a deal with the Scandinavians following his famous victory at the Battle of Edington in Wiltshire.

Not only did he gain some control of these marauding Vikings, but he paved the way for the future unity of England. Soon after the Viking defeat, Alfred encouraged the Viking leader Guthrum to convert to Christianity. Guthrum’s baptism is said to have taken place at Wedmore and where, it is also said, a formal treaty, sometimes called the Treaty of Wedmore, was signed. However, historians think that this may have occurred else where and that the passing of time has merged the two events into one. Regardless of this, under this ‘treaty’ the vikings agreed to leave Wessex in peace and return to East Anglia to the area we know now as Danelaw.

King Alfred the Great is an English hero, who in my opinion, is a match for Henry V and outshines Richard I by miles.

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Was King Alfred Great?

15/2/2017

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The discovery of jewellery and silver ingots in a field in Oxfordshire in October of 2015 has put the Anglo-Saxon period under the microscope, historian's suggesting that we should look again at how Alfred is perceived and whether he is entitled to hold the title of great.

The above mentioned find is known as The Watlington Hoard and it contained rare Anglo-Saxon silver coins that were stamped with images of two Roman emperors along with the faces of Alfred and Ceolwulf, the last king of Mercia who died in 879.

These coins are evidence that both men worked together to rid the country of the Viking's, but the suggestion that Alfred wasn't as great as we have been led to believe I would have to disagree with. Alfred's double success at Edington are a case in point, they show his skill as a warrior and a diplomat. Under Alfred, England took the first tentative steps to becoming a civilised, literate and an united country.

As the old adage states, history is written by the victors, and Ceolwulf, who may well have been an effective leader, was not just out gunned, he was out shined.

Alfred achievements were great, therefore, and in my opinion, it is a title deserved.

However, the Victorian cult of King Alfred is in part to blame for how we see Alfred today. To the Victorians, Alfred was a perfect symbol of their perfect nation, but this was a double edged sword, by glossing over their failings, (bad housing conditions, infectious diseases and the early deaths of the poor) with the use of paintings, poems and heroic stories to represent heroic kings, no only show how great was the divide between rich and poor it served to muddle our understanding of Alfred and the time he lived in.

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The Battle of Edington

5/1/2017

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King Alfred was, as Edward Freeman, English historian calls him "the most perfect character in history’ an English hero.

It was on the 6th May in 879 that Alfred's forces faced those of the Vikings in Wiltshire.

England had been over run by the dreaded Vikings, they had taken Northumbria, East Anglia and Mercia, only Alfred's
Wessex was left. Alfred's battle at Edington took place between the 6th and the 12th May in 879 was fought on the side
of a double ditched iron age hill fort, against an uncoordinated band of Vikings under its leader Guthrum, is not
often remembered. Forgotten too is that he persuaded Guthrum to convert to Christianity.

Alfred's control of these marauding Vikings paved the way for the future unity of England.

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King Arthur

13/9/2016

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King Arthur, a young man destined to become a great military leader or the stuff of legends?

His heroic tale and other tales linked with Arthur, set in wild Cornish lands around Tintagel are brought to us in stories such
as the Knights of the Round Table, Quest for the Holy Grail and the wonderful tale of Tristan and Isolde.

Our imagination draws from the romantic images of Pre Raphaelite armoured heroes and damsels and the ornate drawing
of Aubrey Beardsley. All these images and words are amassed and eventually stories are blurred and the 'real' facts are forgotten. An example of this is the tale of Arthur's most famous possession, his sword, Excalibur. It is often thought that Excalibur and the Sword (in the Stone) are one and the same, but they are not, they were two separate swords.

The word Excalibur is taken from the Welsh Caledfwlch, even the words meaning is confused in the different stories.

In the early traditional tales of the Arthurian legend by authors such as Geoffrey of Monmouth and Robert Wace, Arthur's sword is called Caliburn which Thomas Malory thought meant to cut steel. Malory wrote that the sword Arthur pulled from
the stone was not Excalibur as he had broken his sword in battle and received a new one, from the Lady of the Lake,
which was named Excalibur. The story of the sword in the stone appears in Robert de Boron's French tale about Merlin who created the sword/stone as a test where only the true king and could pull out the sword.

So was King Arthur really a fifth/six century leader who defended Britain against the Saxon invader or was he just a
imaginary hero of romantic medieval literature.

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Alfred the Great

16/5/2016

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I wonder how many people remember the story of Alfred burning the cakes from school? It was Rudyard Kipling who said “If history were taught in the form of stories, it would never be forgotten” and how right was he.

The retelling of the tale of Alfred's stint in a Somerset kitchen has kept him alive in our collective memories for over one thousand and nine hundred years. Alfred was, as Edward Freeman, English historian calls him "the most perfect character in history’ Alfred is an English hero, who in my opinion, is a match for Henry V and outshines Richard I by miles.

England had been over run by the dreaded Vikings, they had taken Northumbria, East Anglia and Mercia, only Alfred's
Wessex was left. Alfred's battle at Edington in 879, fought on the side of a double ditched iron age hill fort, against an uncoordinated band of Vikings under its leader Guthrum, is not often remembered. Forgotten too is that he persuaded
Guthrum to convert to Christianity. Alfred's control of these marauding Vikings paved the way for the future unity of England.

As time as passed, Alfred's popularity has waxed and waned. Over the centuries he has had to do battle with the cult of
King Arthur, whose was much loved by the Tudor King Henry VII and the Victorians. Alfred was popular during the French Wars, the opera Alfred, by Thomas Arne is about him. The opera famously ended in Rule Britannia, which isexactly what Alfred did.

Alfred the Great is not remembered for anything specific, he is remembered for his fairness and his military achievements, great achievements that lead to a kingdom being able to develop it own national identity.

King Alfred the Great died on the 26th October 899, at the age of about 50.

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The Martyrdom of St Edmund

1/11/2015

It has been written that the Saxon king Edmund the Martyr died on the 20th November in 869/70 tied to a tree, flogged and then used for target practice by archers until he was

“all covered with their missiles as with bristles of a hedgehog.”

Edmund was born around 840 and is thought to have been descended from our country's early kings, but according to
later legends he was born at Nuremberg, the son of King Alcmund of Saxony. He was said to have been fair haired, tall, well built and a 'natural majesty of bearing."

In 855, aged fifteen when he was crowned king, he was said to have shown great promise. As a peacemaker he was interested in justice, and in the world of war he saw off two small Danish invasions headed by Ivar and Ubba, who according to one Abbo were the

"devil's right hand men."

The Danish invaders returned in 870 with a much bigger force.

Edmunds piety, for which he was much respected, forced him to refuse their terms, he disbanded his troops and a fruitless massacre was avoided. Following this he left for Framlingham, but was captured and taken in chains to Ivar, whose demands Edmund again rejected. For this Ivar had him put to death.

According to Aelfric of Eynsham in the Passio Sancti Eadmundi, Kind Edmund.

"against whom Ivar advanced, stood inside his hall, and mindful of the Saviour, threw out his weapons. He wanted to match the example of Christ, who forbade Peter to win the cruel Jews with weapons. Lo! the impious one then bound Edmund and insulted him ignominiously, and beat him with rods, and afterwards led the devout king to a firm living tree, and tied him there with strong bonds, and beat him with whips. In between the whip lashes, Edmund called out with true belief in the Saviour Christ. Because of his belief, because he called to Christ to aid him, the heathens became furiously angry. They then shot spears at him, as if it was a game, until he was entirely covered with their missiles, like the bristles of a hedgehog (just like St. Sebastian was). When Ivar the impious pirate saw that the noble king would not forsake Christ, but with resolute faith called after Him, he ordered Edmund beheaded, and the heathens did so. While Edmund still called out to Christ, the heathen dragged the holy man to his death, and with one stroke struck off his head, and his soul journeyed happily to Christ."

The Anglo Saxon Chronicles suggest that Edmund was killed in battle fighting against the Great Heathen Army. However, later chroniclers preferred to show Edmund in an idealised light and this may be the reason Edmund's gruesome death is always associated with Ivar and Ubba, the pagan marauding sons of Ragnar Lothbrok. Chroniclers have a difference of opinion as to the relationship of these two men, some state that they are not related at all.

Which ever way Edmund the Saxon king met his death, he has gone down in history as an early Christian martyr.

Edmund is thought to have been buried first at Hoxne in Suffolk, his relics later removed to Beodricsworth, which is now
Bury St Edmund.

Edmund is the patron of a number of kings, pandemics, torture victims and wolves. He is celebrated on the 20th of November each year and represented in Christian art with a sword and arrow, the instruments of his torture.

Medieval Quilting

Battling the Vikings: January 871

Alfred becomes King

Was King Alfred Great?

The Battle of Edington

King Arthur

Alfred the Great

The Martyrdom of St Edmund

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