Anglo-Saxon History (2025)

27/09/2025

Queen Cynethryth of Mercia, wife of King Offa.

Cynethryth is unique amongst all the queens of the Anglo-Saxon period in that she had coins minted in her name - no other Anglo-Saxon queen before or after is known to have done so, in fact no queen did so until the reign of Henry VIII almost 800 years later!!

This picture shows both sides of a silver penny, the left view has a depiction of Cynethryth and the name of the person who minted them, Eoba of Canterbury. The right hand view shows the inscription naming her as queen (Regina).

Cynethryth took an active part in the politics of Mercia alongside her husband including being a witness to several charters - she was addressed in some charters as ‘Cynethryth, by the Grace of God, Queen of the Mercians’. Upon the death of Offa, Cynethryth became Abbess of the monastery at Cookham and in doing so remained a woman of great power and influence within Mercia and to a certain extent beyond.

Picture credit: British Museum

25/09/2025

- 25th of September marks the anniversary of the Battle of Stamford Bridge in 1066, fought just 5 days after the Battle of Fulford.

Harold’s forces march from London caught the invaders by surprise splitting their forces, with many of them not even having the time to put their mail on.

The Abingdon manuscript of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle describes the battle:

‘Then Harold, king of the English, came upon them beyond the bridge by surprise, and there they joined the battle and were fighting very hard long in the day; and there Harald, king of Norway, was killed and Earl Tostig and countless people with them, both of Northmen and of English. And the Northmen fled from the English.’

The Abingdon manuscript ends at this point, however, a 12th century scribe added a supplementary page detailing how one Norwegian held the bridge preventing the English from crossing until he was speared from below allowing the English to engage the unprepared Forces on the other side.

The Worcester manuscript adds more detail telling how the English pursued the Norwegians back to their ships where Harold gave safe conduct to Hardrada’s son, Olaf, after receiving oaths that they would ‘keep peace & friendship in this land’.

The victory was overwhelmingly complete. Of the 300 ships that Hardrada had arrived with, only 24 sailed away. Such was the scale of the defeat, this battle is seen as the end of the Viking Age in England.

The image depicts the battle and is taken from ‘The Life of Edward the Confessor’ by the chronicler Matthew Paris, dating to c.1240.

#1066

20/09/2025

The Battle of Fulford, Wednesday the 20th September 1066.

Today marks the 959th anniversary of the Battle of Fulford, with the English earls Edwin & Morcar on one side and Harald Hardrada (King of Norway) and Tostig (brother of King Harold) on the other.

The Sagas of the Norse Kings (written by Snorri Sturluson in the 13th century) records that Hardrada sailed up the Humber before landing and forming up with his men at Fulford Gate ready to face an ‘immense army’. One end of Hardrada’s army stood at the edge of the river, whilst the other turned inland along a ditch. The line at the ditch was the thinnest with the least experienced troops, and when attacked, retreated. The English followed the retreating Norse line across the ditch and it was here that Hardrada led a charge into the English forces. The charge was so devastating that the English forces broke and ran. The Saga records that the ditch was so full of the English dead that the Norse army could cross it without getting their feet wet. The Saga also records that it was here that Earl Morcar was killed, however both he & Edwin survived the battle.

The victory was so complete that Harald & Tostig were later able to take York without a fight on around the 24th September. If Morcar and Edwin had known that Harold was marching his army north, they may well have held off facing the Norse invaders until they could have joined their forces. A tantalising ‘what if’ that could well have changed the outcome of the Battle of Hastings and the subsequent Norman Conquest.

The image depicts the Battle of Fulford and is taken from ‘The Life of King Edward the Confessor’ by the chronicler Matthew Paris, dating to c.1240.

#1066

18/09/2025

Spong Man, Norfolk.

This is what is known as Spong Man, a cremation urn lid. It is not only rare as a cremation urn lid, but also as one of the very few 3 dimensional examples of a human figure from the Anglo-Saxon period as a whole.

It was found in a rabbit burrow in 1979 during excavations carried out at Spong Hill in Norfolk, the largest known Anglo-Saxon cremation cemetery. The cemetery was first discovered in c.1711 when workmen came upon urns whilst repairing a fence, with several small excavations carried out over the next 250 years. Damage to the site from ploughing, and the possibility of gravel extraction, led to a large scale excavation taking place from 1972 to 1984. Over 2000 cremation burials and 57 inhumation burials were discovered spanning from the 5th to 7th centuries.

The lid is made of local clay and is 14.5cm tall. The figure is considered to be male due to lines at the ankles which are thought to indicate trouser legs. There are no signs of any hair, beard, or moustache, and the extension to the back of the head is probably some kind of headdress or hat. The figure may represent the deceased person or it could be a mythological character who would guard over them in death.

Urns were probably designed to show off the social status of the dead (and the living family who remained) and would have been seen by those attending the burial. We don’t have the urn that this lid went with but examples from Spong Hill vary from plain to highly decorated.

It is possible that organic matter may have been used to seal cremation urns, which would explain why very few urn lids have been found in England - the use of lids is likely an imported tradition from continental Europe, with this one being the finest one found so far.

15/09/2025

The Osberg ship has been moved in to its new home (see my shared posts for a video), so I thought now is a good time to share this post again!

Ship burials are rare in England and as seen at Sutton Hoo little actually remains of the ship itself when excavated. This makes the Oseberg ship of great importance. Discovered in 1903 and excavated the following year, the ship was part of a high status burial located near Tønsberg in Norway. The burial dates to c.834 and the ship to a few decades earlier.

The ship has been described as one of the finest surviving artefacts from the Viking Age and took 21 years to move, preserve and rebuild it - over 90% of the reconstructed ship is original timber. The ship is on display at the Viking Ship Museum in Bygdøy near Oslo, Norway.

The ship in Mound 1 at Sutton Hoo is about 20 feet larger than the Oseberg ship and must have been quite a sight as it was dragged from the river up to the burial site. It is thought that both ships were in use prior to being buried - the Sutton Hoo ship shows signs of having been repaired. An attempt is being made to build a full size replica of the Mound 1 ship across the River Deben in Woodbridge - check out for details, progress updates, and ways to support the project.

14/09/2025

I want it!! 😃

13/09/2025

During an archaeological dig in the nave of Lichfield Cathedral, archaeologists uncovered the remains of this panel carved with what is thought to be a depiction of the archangel Gabriel.

Fragments of colour can still be seen on it and analysis shows that the robes were painted a shade of red gold, the wings were shaded in red, pink and white, whilst the halo was gilded.

It is thought to have been part of the structure that enclosed the coffin of St Chad (brother of St Cedd), the first bishop of Mercia to establish his see at Lichfield in c.664. The carving dates from the late 8th or early 9th century.

Lichfield was briefly an archbishopric during this period starting in c.787 during the reign of King Offa before reverting back to an bishopric in c.803 during the reign of King Coenwulf.

Offa’s power at this time was immense. Not only was he friendly with Charlemagne (Charles the Great, the future Holy Roman Emperor), but he was also styled as the King of the English in at least 4 charters from the period.

After the Archbishop of Canterbury refused to anoint his son as king, his power enabled him to convince Pope Hadrian to create an archbishopric within Mercia, creating a religious power within his own kingdom to rival that of the Northumbrian’s at York and Canterbury in Kent. Offa could then have his son anointed king in the same way that Charlemagne had done to his own sons.

As a result of the archbishopric reverting back to a bishopric, Mercia once again came under the ecclesiastical power of Canterbury.

12/09/2025

Finally got round to visiting (very briefly) Whitby Abbey in November 2021, too late to get in and have a wander around, so I had to settle for a peek over the boundary wall whilst balanced on a bin!

The first religious house was founded here in c.656 by St Hilda and was a double monastery. Double monasteries gave great power and influence to women during the Conversion Period, not just in the spiritual sphere but also in the secular sphere in what was a male dominated world.

Need to plan my next trip better and get here when it’s open!

09/09/2025

William the Conqueror died on this day in 1087 after falling ill during a campaign against the French king.

The reason for his illness is not known, however one suggestion is that he was wounded when his horse jumped a ditch and his saddle pommel was driven into his bloated stomach. He never recovered and passed away in Rouen on the morning of the 9th September 1087.

His body was moved to Caen to be buried at the abbey he had founded there, but just like at his coronation, chaos ensued. A fire broke out just as his body arrived at Caen causing the crowd of mourners to panic, destroying much of the town in the process.

They say there is no dignity in death, something that was definitely the case with William - as his body was being placed into the stone sarcophagus it was found to be too small. The monks efforts forcing his body in burst his swollen bowels, filling the great abbey with his rotting stench and causing mist of the occupants to flee to fresh air outside!

07/09/2025

Gloucester Cathedral.

Moustachegate - much has been said about William having a moustache whilst Harold is clean shaven in King & Conqueror, which gives me the opportunity to share this post again.

In the crypt there is this intriguing carving of a moustached face, believed to be a depiction of an unknown Anglo-Saxon. The features are remarkably similar to those of the Anglo-Saxons depicted on the Bayeux Tapestry (pic 2). William is shown as clean shaven - pic 3 is William raising his helmet and rallying his troops.

The Normans would have used Anglo-Saxon masons to build their new churches, so it does make you wonder if this was an act of defiance from a defeated Anglo-Saxon or if, as one theory suggests, a mason made an error and used this carving to hide the mistake. Either way, it’s a great piece of work and well worth the visit to go and see it!!

Anglo-Saxon History

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