#anglo Saxon England

[memories-of-ancients]

Hey Everyone! Look at this Gold and Rock Crystal Bottle from the Galloway Hoard!

In September of 2014 an avid metal detectorist named Derek Mclennan discovered one of the grandest historical finds in Scottish archaeological history. While searching on church lands near Balmaghie, Mclennan uncovered the Galloway Hoard, a viking age treasure hoard consisting of over 100 objects dating to around 900 AD. While the hoard has some gold objects, most are silver including pieces of jewelry, hack silver, and silver ingots.

Among the objects, the most incredible is a rock crystal bottle that is decorated with gold. The bottle was found inside of a silk pouch, the silk coming from either Byzantium or Asia. The crystal jar itself is not from the middle ages but is Roman and dates to the 4th century. Later in the early middle ages the jar was decorated in gold filigree, at the behest of Bishop Hyguald according to an inscription on the gold work. While the identity of "Bishop Hyguald" is unknown, it is thought that he mostly likely came from Northumbria, an Anglo-Saxon kingdom in northern England. Northumbria would be conquered and occupied by Danish Vikings in the 9th century, which explains how the bottle became a part of the Galloway Hoard.

Today, the bottle along with the rest of the Galloway Hoard is housed at the National Museum of Scotland

[city-of-ladies]

"That Æthelswith was the bestower of such gifts is consistent with the other things we know about her. In 868 she witnessed a West-Saxon charter, in which she made a grant of fifteen hides of her own land in Berkshire. She also witnessed all of her husband King Burgred’s charters. Though we only see glimpses of her influence, Æthelswith, like other Mercian queens before her, was a politician.

In 874, twenty one years after Æthelswith married Burgred, the royal couple were forced out of their kingdom by an encroaching Viking army. They fled together to safety in Rome. While Burgred died soon after they arrived, Æthelswith outlived him for another decade, which she spent in Italy.

Queen Æthelswith passed away in 888 in Pavia, and was laid to rest there. She may have been undertaking a pilgrimage when she died. Her body and the ring that she once bestowed were both buried underground a thousand miles apart. And they say medieval women didn’t travel…"

[grayjoy15]

Day 15: Seaxburh, queen of Wessex. After the death of her husband Cenwalh, she ruled Wessex in her own right for over a year, possibly two. She is the only woman listed in the regnal list of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle.

[coloursofunison]

Mercia: Exploring the Heartland of Saxon England and Its Lasting Influence

Mercia: Exploring the Heartland of Saxon England and Its Lasting Influence #TalesOfMercia #Penda #Coelwulf #Æthelflæd #Leofwine #histfic #nonfiction #royalwomen

Having written more books than I probably should about the Saxon kingdom of Mercia, and with more planned, I’ve somewhat belatedly realised I’ve never explained what Mercia actually was. I’m going to correct that now. Having grown up within the ancient kingdom of Mercia, still referenced today in such titles as the West Mercia Police, I feel I’ve always been aware of the heritage of the Midlands…

[liberty1776]

King Alfred the Great planning a church,

Alfred the Great  c. 849 – 26 October 899) was King of the West Saxons from 871 to 886, and King of the Anglo-Saxons from 886 until his death in 899. He was the youngest son of King Æthelwulf and his first wife Osburh, who both died when Alfred was young. Three of Alfred's brothers, Æthelbald, Æthelberht and Æthelred, reigned in turn before him. Under Alfred's rule, considerable administrative and military reforms were introduced, prompting lasting change in England.

He is primarily remembered for his successful defense of his country against the Viking invaders.

[mapsontheweb]

The Anglo-Saxon occupation of England

[vox-anglosphere]

One of the oldest Saxon churches in England - Escomb, Co. Durham

[illustratus]

The Boyhood of Alfred the Great by Edmund Blair Leighton

[hikaruchen]

I shine only with the light you gave me. — The Moon Will Sing by The Crane Wives

INPRNT

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This is a recreation of The Meeting on the Turret Stairs (1864) by Frederic William Burton. Credit to the wonderful @soulhollow for giving me the brilliant idea and commissioning this 💚

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The costume design for Alfred

They said they wanted to see Alfred in purple/gold tones, so I self-indulgently designed a costume for Alfred (though again not necessarily trying to be historical accurate)

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Details for archaeology nerds (So it happens again I guess)

1. The tablet-woven bend

Design is loosely taken from an actual archaeological find from the Taplow Barrow in Buckinghamsire, dating to the early 7th century. The original piece really had the gold threads on it by the way. You can see the modern reconstruction here.

2. Pattern on the tunic

Taken from a part of an arcade illustration in the Royal Bible (Royal 1. E. vi, 4r.) c. 1000-1025 in British Library, London. Added some vine patterns that are quite common to see in insular art for reasons.

3. Pattern on the shawl

Taken from a part of the stole and the maniple in St. Cuthbert’s coffin, dated to early 10th century, now in Durham Cathedral Museum.

4. Embroidery on Alfred’s sleeves

The pattern is from an illustration in the manuscript of Bede’s Life of St Cuthbert (MS 183, f. 1v) c. 937 in Parker Library, Cambridge, which depicts King Æthelstan showing the book to St Cuthbert himself.

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The process

Such a pleasure to work on this one! Thank you again for giving me the chance✨

[artifacts-archive]

Ring

Anglo-Saxon, 775-850 CE

The inlaid gold and filigree jewellery of the seventh century was largely replaced in the early eighth century by silver work as a consequence of the increasing scarcity of gold. The focus on silver gave rise to new decorative schemes: the material lent itself to different techniques such as repoussé, chip carving and the openwork seen on the present ring. The growth in popularity of these decorative techniques was accompanied by a distinctive development of zoomorphic style, characterized by lively beasts, interlaced meshes and speckled surfaces, all of which are present in the central roundel of this ring. Examples of high quality silver jewellery of the period from which the present ring dates are relatively rare. The abandonment of the pagan burial practice of interring grave goods with the deceased has led to the survival of fewer pieces. The majority of those that have been found were preserved as a result of their casual loss and the provenance of this ring, found in the Thames, suggests that it too is an example of accidental misplacement.

[ancestorsalive]

Photo: Statue of Aethelflaed, Lady of the Mercians, who passed away in 918. Her nephew Aethelstan, future king of all England, looks up at her.

"Aethelflaed was one of three daughters of Alfred the Great, and her name meant "noble beauty". She married Aethelraed of Mercia at some point during the 880s and while this union meant a strong alliance between Wessex and Mercia the pair embarked on a "Mercian revival" with the city of Worcester at its centre.

When Aethelraed died in 911 after years of ill-health Aethelflaed remained as Lady of Mercia and held this position until her death, making her the only female ruler of a kingdom during the entire Anglo-Saxon era. The only compromise she made was to agree to her brother Edward, now king of Wessex, taking some of Mercia's southern lands under his control.

Their father Alfred the Great had fortified dozens of Wessex towns as "burhs" and Edward continued this work, connecting his burhs with those in Mercia to represent a united front against viking incursions, and it wasn't long before this was put to the test.

A force of vikings, pushed out of Ireland, landed in the mouth of the Dee after unsuccessfully trying to take land in Wales, and asked Aethelflaed if they could settle for a time outside the old Roman walled town of Chester. Permission was granted but the Norsemen raided and robbed the area at will so Aethelflaed led a force to shut them down. She had Chester fortified and waited for the inevitable viking attack, it came and was repulsed, the Scandinavian chancers sent packing in complete disarray.

This same Norse army was brought to battle at Tettenhall near Wolverhampton where Aethelflaed's forces destroyed them. The writing was now on the wall - the vikings had to go. Together with Edward she raided deep into Danelaw territory on a mission to rescue the bones of St Oswald - who had been killed and ritually dismembered by the pagan king of Mercia Penda - from a church in Lincolnshire then brought the relics down to Gloucestershire where a new church was built to house them...more on that presently.

The burhs continued to be built, and the Dane strongholds fell as Aethelflaed campaigned hard against them. Her forces defeated three Norse armies before finally taking the city of Derby, then Leicester, before the Danes of York came to her to pledge their loyalty. The vikings in Anglia capitulated to Edward and so all of England south of Northumbria was now back under Anglo-Saxon rule.

Aethelflaed died at Tamworth in 918 and so will be forever associated with the town, but she was carried down to Gloucestershire to be buried in the church she had built for St Oswald. Unfortunately the monastery there fell into decline over the centuries, was dissolved in 1536, then almost completely destroyed during the English Civil War. Nobody knows where Aethelflaed's resting place is now, but the ruins of St Oswalds are as good a place as any as a pilgrimage destination for those wishing to follow in the footsteps of the Lady of Mercia." - Source: Hugh Williams via Medieval England on FB.

Photo: Statue of Aethelflaed and Aethelstan at Tamworth Castle, by EG Bramwell, unveiled in 1913.

[dreamingbrownie]

Chapter Summary:

“Sire?” Biting back the many regrets constricting his lungs, Arthur breathed through his strip of cloth shielding his eyes against the sick sun. “What happens usually when Merlin slips away with a lie that lasts just long enough for the rest of us to stumble after him an hour or two late?” Percival hesitated, but in the end, his honesty won out. “Things are usually on fire.” “The magic sort.” “Unfortunately. But he also is heralded as the most powerful sorcerer in the world, so he will probably be fine.”

[grayjoy15]

Day 28: Wolf - Aelfthryth, third wife of Edgar the Peaceful

[okaydrawboy]

An Anglo-Saxon Warrior - Thane/Thegn

[fumblingmusings]

Honestly I hope to God Arthur went absolutely apeshit on some puritan parliamentarians the 1640s, because if I were him and these miserable sods kept desecrating the graves of my oldest and most precious kings and queens I think I could commit war crimes too.