Æthelstan's Reign, Part 3

King Æthelstan (c.890s - 27 October 939) united England under a single ruler, prevented invasion, reformed the law, and donated to the Church. He did all the things you would want a leader to do, but of course, nothing lasts forever.

Æthelstan died almost exactly 40 years after the death of his grandfather, Alfred the Great. There is no particular reason given for his death. It is likely that, as a man in his 40s who had led armies through some fierce battles and pushed his body to its limits as the leader of a country, he was simply aged to the point where his body had enough. The fact that so many king's deaths raise the specter of poison, but not here, is telling that it seemed a natural death.

He was buried at Malmesbury Abbey. The 12th-century chronicler William of Malmesbury stated that the king had devotion to the memory of the 7th-century St. Aldhelm, but there may have been another reason. When Æthelstan first was crowned, he had an older sibling, Ælfweard, with a claim to the throne. Winchester—where Æthelstan's grandfather, father, and Ælfweard were buried—seems to have preferred Ælfweard over Æthelstan. Æthelstan might have avoided Winchester as part of a grudge.

With the king's death, the Viking king of Dublin, Olaf Guthfrithson, was chosen by York to rule them. The unification of northern England to the rest of the island was broken. It got worse: Olaf conquered the East Midlands as well. Upon Olaf's death in 941, Æthelstan's half-brother Edmund managed to regain control of the midlands in 942 and York in 944, but that victory was short-lived. Edmund died in May 946, and the Vikings once again took control of York.

I once wrote of Æthelstan as the Forgotten King. The truth is that we have little source material about his life. William of Malmesbury wrote about him long after his death, and his account is considered unreliable, but some historians argue that William must have had access to some lost biography. Still, the charters and coins give evidence of a very active king. Also, the illustration in yesterday's post was made in Æthelstan's lifetime, making his likeness one of the earliest contemporary portraits of an English king in existence.

Speaking of York: northern England swayed back and forth from Anglo-Saxon to Viking hands. Anglo-Saxon rule did not become permanent until the northerners decided to drive out their Viking rule themselves. Tomorrow we'll start the story of that Viking ruler, Eric Bloodaxe.

Æthelstan's Reign, Part 2

Like his grandfather Alfred the Great (and to a lesser extent his father, Edward the Elder), Æthelstan had close ties to the Church.

He not only made bishops out of some of his close friends, but also made friends out of bishops and priests who were welcome at royal feasts and who were invited into the assemblies where he heard disputes and made decrees.

Æthelstan was a great collector of holy relics, and showed great respect to shrines. When he invaded Scotland in 934, he took along 18 bishops. When he reached the market town of Chester-le-Street, he paid his respects to the shrine of St. Cuthbert, presenting gifts including a stole and maniple for use of the priests who maintained the shrine. (This was before Cuthbert's final resting place at Durham Cathedral.)

His interest in relics was described as þæt he mid þam gewytendlicum madmum, þa unateoridenlican madmas begitan sceolde, Old English for "that he should use his ‘transitory treasures’ to obtain ‘everlasting ones'." The idea was that venerating and preserving these holy relics would help him get into Heaven, so he sent men out to find them. Keepers of shrines also sent him some.

He donated to churches, but did not found as many as the later legends suggest. His reputation in this area seems to have exceeded the evidence that some churches were founded during his reign as they believe in their local histories. Æthelstan also made donations to churches outside of England. When a delegation went to the court of Holy Roman Emperor Otto I with two of Æthelstan's half-sisters, so that Otto could pick one as a wife (he chose the 19-year-old Eadgyth over the older Eadgifu), the priest accompanying the delegation continued throughout Germany, visiting monasteries and presenting gifts from Æthelstan. In exchange they were asked to pray for the king.

Unfortunately, Æthelstan's kingship did not last very long after he united England, and I'll go into his final days tomorrow.

Æthelstan's Reign, Part 1

Because of the Battle of Brunanburh, historians hale King Æthelstan as first of the true kings of the English in that the country was united under one ruler. Part of that status is due to bringing northern England under his rule, despite the fact that it was claimed by Olaf Guthfrithson, King of Dublin. (Olaf was defeated at Brunanburh.) Æthelstan even purchased the Amounderness Hundred, one of the six subdivisions of Lancashire in northern England, and gave it as a gift to the Archbishop of York, who managed the region for the king. Let's talk more about the man I once labeled the "Forgotten King."

Needing to manage a much larger realm than his predecessors meant creating an organized central government. Charters of grants of land could formerly be made by those overseeing their corner of the kingdom, but from 928 to 935, all charters came from a single royal scribe referred to as "Æthelstan A." These charters provide more detail as to dates, previous ownership, and lists of witnesses.

Rather than traveling around his kingdom constantly and meeting with officials, Æthelstan instead summoned them to him in Wessex. A large number of lords, bishops, and other officials attended his meetings, which some see as the rudimentary beginning of a Parliament.

He also reformed the law. After focusing on clerical matters, he turned to citizen safety. He decreed the death penalty for anyone over the age of 12 who was caught stealing goods worth more than eight pence. Enforcement was sketchy, and later he observed

I, King Æthelstan, declare that I have learned that the public peace has not been kept to the extent, either of my wishes, or of the provisions laid down at Grateley, and my councillors say that I have suffered this too long.

He changed tactics, declaring amnesty for robbers if they paid back their victims. This produced no results, so he went back to harsh penalties, raising the age to 15 to avoid killing too many young people. He also instituted the idea of "tithing," not the paying of a tenth of one's goods to a church or lord, but a group of ten men who voluntarily swore to keep each other honest and keep the law. This was later called the frankpledge, which you can read about here and see the words of the oath here.

Tomorrow we'll look at his relationship with the Church, with whom he kept very close connections.

The Battle of Brunanburh

We saw yesterday how in 937 an alliance of former enemies came together to attack King Æthelstan, who had in the past proven superior in battle to some of them individually. The final battle of that conflict was decisive, but not in the way the attackers expected.

The antagonists were Olaf Guthfrithson, King of Dublin, Constantine II, King of Scotland, and Owain, King of Strathclyde. Olaf sailed from Dublin in August, and the battle must have taken place before winter, but we don't know exactly when. Nor do we know exactly where Brunanburh was. We know the name "Brunanburh" from the Old English poem about the battle that is found in four of the nine surviving copies of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle.

The poem, our source of information about the battle, begins by praising Æthelstan and his brother, Edmund:

King Athelstan, the lord of warriors,

Patron of heroes, and his brother too,

Prince Edmund, won themselves eternal glory

In battle with the edges of their swords

Round Brunanburh; they broke the wall of shields,

The sons of Edward with their well-forged swords

Slashed at the linden-shields; such was their nature

From boyhood that in battle they had often

Fought for their land, its treasures and its homes,

Against all enemies. Their foes fell dead,

The Scottish soldiers and the pirate host

Were doomed to perish; and with blood of men

The field was darkened from the time the sun

Rose at the break of day, the glorious star,

God the Eternal Lord's bright candle passed 

Across the land, until this noble creature

Sank to its resting-place. [source]

As the poem says, the battle lasted all day. The invaders broke ranks and fled, and Æthelstan's men pursued them. Olaf sailed back to Dublin and Constantine fled northward to Scotland, but the fate of Owen of Strathclyde is not mentioned.

The battle is corroborated in the Annals of Ulster, recording that several thousands of Norsemen were killed, including five kings and seven earls who accompanied Olaf. Constantine's son was killed. English losses were not zero: the Annals of Clonmacnoise list Æthelstan's cousins among the deceased. Over three dozen medieval texts— Anglo-Saxon, Irish, Welsh, Scottish, Norman, and Norse—mention the battle. The Annales Cambriae simply lists "war at Brune" as its sole 937 entry, but others offer detail that coincides with the Anglo-Saxon poem.

Historians refer to the Battle of Brunanburh and its decisive victory over invaders as the moment when all of the smaller kingdoms in England came together and established their unity as "England." Æthelstan is considered by some to be the first king of a united England. Unfortunately, he did not have long to enjoy this status. I'll explain tomorrow.

Forging a United England

Yesterday's post mentioned Saint Nectan appearing in a vision ages after his death to give advice about the Battle of Brunanburh. The title of today's post may take a couple days to understand, but the events we are about to discuss led perhaps to the first time that the inhabitants of Great Britain considered "England" to be a united country. We start with Æthelstan, whom I once wrote about as the "Forgotten King."

Æthelstan (c.894 - 27 October 939) became king of the Anglo-Saxons in 927, the same year in which he defeated Vikings in York. That battle convinced several other kings— King Constantine II of Scotland, King Hywel Dda of Deheubarth (south Wales), Ealdred I of Bamburgh (in Northumbria), and King Owen I of Strathclyde (southern Scotland and northern England)—to accept Æthelstan as their "high king" or overlord.

Æthelstan invaded Scotland in 934 (according to monk and chronicler John of Worcester writing decades later, Scotland had violated the 927 agreement), traveling unhindered through the land as a show of force. After this, King Constantine apparently decided that an alliance was necessary to put Æthelstan in his place. Constantine, King of Dublin Olaf Guthfrithson, and Owen King of Strathclyde had all been enemies in the recent past, but made an alliance to conquer and carve up the rest of Great Britain. Constantine had married his daughter to Olaf to help forge the alliance. Olaf also claimed part of Northumbria, but Æthelstan had expelled him from it, so Olaf had several reasons to join.

In August 937, Olaf left Dublin to meet up with Owen and Constantine. The first harrowing of their enemy's territory would have started in the north and the northwest. We know no details. We do not even know where the final encounter took place. (The illustration shows several suggested locations based on place names or other suppositions.)

Despite this last detail, it was one of the most significant battles in English history, and the subject of a famous Anglo-Saxon poem. I'll tell you about the battle and the poem tomorrow.

Saint Nectan

Yesterday's post on Saint Endellion alluded to her siblings also being saints. One of them, her brother Nectan (c.468 - 510), had a life at least as interesting as hers.

Nectan was the oldest child of King Brychan of Brycheiniog, a 5th-century king in mid-Wales who had two dozen children by three wives. Inspired by the legend of the first hermit, St. Anthony, Nectan was determined to adopt an ascetic lifestyle. He left Wales and settled first in a forest at Hartland on the Devon coast, and years later in a remote valley where he built a chapel by a well (see illustration). His siblings were also very religious and interested in converting others to Christianity. Legend says the siblings all gathered at Nectan's place every year on New Year's Eve.

He is also linked to St. Nectan's Glen in Cornwall, near Tintagel, where it is claimed he would stand on the coast and ring a bell during stormy weather to warn ships they were getting too near the rocks. He also helped someone who lost their pigs. After helping find the pigs, Nectan was gifted with two cows. When the two cows were stolen from him, he tried to convert the robbers to Christianity.

The robbers were not having this, so they cut off his head. Nectan's body picked up the head and walked back to his own chapel before collapsing. One of the robbers went mad at the sight, but the other repented and buried the body. We are told (in a 12th-century Life of Nectan) that miracles took place at the gravesite.

Long after his martyrdom, Nectan appeared in a vision to a young man. In 937, on the eve of the Battle of Brunanburh, the soldiers were suffering from plague. In the vision, Nectan appeared and healed the young man with a touch. The next day, the man told King Æthelstan about the vision, and urge him to pray to God for victory. Æthelstan did so, and not only did he win the battle, but also the plague passed away.

The Reformation did away with the trappings of the Nectan shrine, but there are still churches dedicated to him. His feast day is 17 June.

If you clicked on the link about King Æthelstan, you would have seen the title "The Forgotten King." I have mentioned him before, but never gone into his crucial victory at the 10th-century Battle of Brunanburh. I'll tell you more tomorrow.

Vale of York Hoard

The Vale of York Hoard was the largest hoard of Viking coins since the Cuerdale Hoard (you will see the words "largest" and "Cuerdale" again in the very near future). The illustration shows the silver bowl in which someone decided to stash and bury over 600 silver coins and other artifacts in 927CE.

It was discovered in 2007 by a father-son team using metal detectors in an unplowed field. They brought the find intact to the British Museum. An archaeological dig in the spot shortly after revealed no sign of a settlement, suggesting that the person who hid it went far afield to keep it away from others.

The silver bowl had been lined with gold, and filled with 617 silver coins and 65 other artifacts, including hacksilver and a gold arm ring. The whole had been enclosed in sheets of lead to preserve it. The coins were not all of the same minting: there were coins with Christian, Islamic, and Norse pagan symbols. Dating the coins to the late 9th and early 10th century gave a date after which the hoard could not have been assembled.

The variety of sources for the coins was not the only surprise. The owner was widely traveled, or was the recipient of widely traveled goods. The silver vessel seems to have come from a Carolingian artist, and one coin is a dirham, from Samarkand (present-day Uzbekistan).

How did research lead to such a specific date for burial as 927? In that year, Æthelstan captured York from the Vikings, the final stage of his campaign to recapture Britain from the Vikings. In July of that year he met with the kings of Scotland and Wales to receive their acknowledgement of his authority. He struck silver coins commemorating himself as EDELSTAN REX TO BRIE ("Æthelstan, King of all Britons"). One of these coins in mint condition exists in the hoard, suggesting that it was one of the last additions to the collection and the hoard would have been hidden shortly after.

The Vale of York Hoard (also called the Harrogate Hoard and the Vale of York Viking Hoard) gives a glimpse into the economic breadth of early 10th century Britain. Labeled officially as a "treasure," it had to be offered to museums (instead of kept by the finder or given to descendants of the original owners). Valued at a little over 1.4 million dollars, it was purchased jointly by the British Museum and the York Museums Trust. It is displayed now in the Yorkshire Museum.

Now, let's look at another "largest" hoard, the Staffordshire Hoard.

King of the Broken Kingdom

The various Anglo-Saxon kingdoms

Poor Æthelbert! All the attention this blog gives him is in regard to wergild. He deserves attention for more than putting a price on murder and dislodged teeth. But not today. Today we get side-tracked by the title given to him.

According to Bede, Æthelbert (c. 560 – 24 February 616) was the third of eight kings to be a bretwalda. In context, it is clear that it refers to a ruler who holds sway over various Anglo-Saxon kingdoms. The term is used by various authors, but is spelled differently. Remember that, at the time, there would be no universal education that would ensure "standard spelling" among all Anglo-Saxon writers. So some manuscripts describing the same status use Bryten-wealda or Breten-anweald.

Because we are talking about Britain, the reader who knows no Anglo-Saxon might hazard a guess that the bret/bryt- root refers to "Britain" and weald might have something to do with "wield" as in "to wield power." This would be an excellent guess, and satisfied scholars for a long time.

One king however, Æthelstan, was referred to as brytenwealda ealles ðyses ealondes, which is best translated as "ruler of all these islands." If brytenwealda already meant "Britain-ruler" there would be no need for the rest of the phrase referring to "all these islands."

The likeliest source of the bret/bryt- root is now thought to the verb breotan which means "to break" or "to disperse." The origin of the phrase used to describe the kings who rule over more than their local kingdom therefore refers to their rule over the "broken" or widely dispersed territories of the Anglo-Saxons. The resemblance to the word "Brit" is coincidental.

A step closer to a true King of all Britains would wait until the late 9th century with King Alfred the Great.

Æthelstan—The Forgotten King

In the history of the Middle Ages, there must be many "forgotten kings"—those whose rules were too short or too obscure or too trivial to add any momentous events to the modern consciousness (many people know the phrase "The Norman Conquest" even if they couldn't tell you details). In the case of Æthelstan (c.894-939), however, his reign was significant enough for the history of England that it is a shame that he is not known better.

Perhaps there is irony that part of his undeserved obscurity is actually paired with elements that should have helped to make him more noteworthy. To a modern world who wants only a few highlights from studying the past, his accomplishments are overshadowed in classrooms by those of his grandfather, Alfred, the only king in English history to have earned the epithet "the Great."

Also, we have an account about him from William of Malmesbury (c.1095-1143) who said of Æthelstan "no one more just or more learned ever governed the kingdom." Most modern scholars, however, mistrust the Malmesbury account (although some have argued that internal evidence suggests that Malmesbury is actually drawing on an earlier and probably reliable biography). A 10th century Latin poem says of him: "Holy King Æthelstan, whose esteem flourishes and whose honor endures everywhere."

The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle often only mentions military engagements, and therefore neglects his administrative and economic achievements. But in his lifetime, he was praised as "the English Charlemagne." He financed Catholic churches. He regulated currency and controlled the weight of silver coins and passed laws to penalize currency fraud. (In the image below of the Æthelstan penny, note the "braiding" around the edge that prevents "coin clippers" from shaving off silver in order to spend a coin of less weight.) He regulated commerce, confining it to the burh (Anglo-Saxon "town"; think Modern English "burg"), encouraging the growth of towns. He consolidated the wilderness areas and settlements in the Midlands, creating new shires, asserting royal control and law more consistently over the entire country.

Æthelstan silver penny

He also made valuable alliances. He married off his half-sisters to European noble families, so that he had connections with brothers-in-law such as the future Holy Roman Emperor Otto. King Harald Fair-Hair of Norway sent his son Haakon to foster at Æthelstan's court. When Harald died and Haakon's brother Eirik Bloodaxe proclaimed himself king, Æthelstan equipped Haakon with ships and men to take his rightful place as King of Norway (which he did).

He won a decisive battle, the Battle of Brunanburh in 937; summed up by Winston Churchill:

The whole of North Britain—Celtic, Danish and Norwegian, pagan and Christian—together presented a hostile front under Constantine, king of the Scots, and Olaf of Dublin, with Viking reinforcements from Norway. [History of the English-Speaking People]

After Æthelstan's victory, he could rightfully call himself "the King of all the English"—the first ruler on that island to be able to do so.

Upon his death in 939, he was laid to rest in Malmesbury Abbey—a place for which he had great affection—rather than the traditional Winchester, which was the seat of power for the royal family of Wessex.

Perhaps, as one fan of Æthelstan put it, his fame is tenuous because there are too many things about his life that cannot be grasped succinctly and with certainty: did he possess the greatest collection of sacred relics at the time, including the Spear of Longinus? Why did he not marry and have children? Did he have a half-brother killed? Was his mother a concubine? These questions, however, should not prevent knowing something about a remarkable and forward-looking figure from England's past.