The British History Podcast

105 – Sutton Hoo: Treasures of the Dead

Alright, so last episode we learned all about Edith and Basil’s experience at Sutton Hoo, and we covered the opening of four of the 18 mounds… and the excavation of the Burial Chamber of Mound 1. But we haven’t discussed what was actually found and what it means. So guess what we’re going to be talking about today? Support the Show

It’s all too easy to look at a burial, even a magnificent burial, and see it in isolation.  This is a grave… and it a grave for this individual person… and that’s as far as we might look.  But really, there is a great deal more going on here.  The reality is that the dead don’t bury themselves.  So even on the surface level, when we look at a grave, we are seeing elements of how the individuals involved in the burial, often the deceased’s community, processed the experience of death.  But we are also seeing how they related to the individual who had died.  Different individuals receive different burials, and the status and relationship between the deceased and the people responsible for burying them can result in widely varied styles of burials.  Consider the difference between a mass grave following some sort of massacre, and a burial for some sort of general or leader.  The same group of people could carry out both burials, but the gravesites would look radically different.  And that is generally determined by the relationship that the deceased had with the community that was burying him or her.   And that relationship can change over time… for example, Oliver Cromwell received a funeral at Westminster Abbey with all the pomp you might expect… only to be later dug up, hung, beheaded, and chucked into a pit.  And while the attention paid to Cromwell certainly had to do with his actions in life, the state of his burial, exhumation, posthumous execution, and low altitude headless basejumping was entirely centered around the feelings of the community.   So that’s one level of what we should be looking at when we look at these burials.  That this is an expression of the community in relationship to the dead.  But there’s another aspect as well.  Namely, the dead aren’t always passive in this circumstance.  

104 – Sutton Hoo: The Finding of Raedwald… and Rabbits

Raedwald… King of East Anglia… Bretwalda. When he is mentioned, if you had heard that name before this show, chances are you heard it in connection with Sutton Hoo, which is possibly his burial site. And Sutton Hoo is one of the most famous archaeological digs in Britain. Just the name conjures images of the great Anglo Saxon helmet, with its impressive faceplate and ornate decorations in bronze, iron and tin. But there’s much more to it than that. And today, we’re going to talk about some of what makes Sutton Hoo so special. Support the Show

Raedwald… King of East Anglia… Bretwalda. When he is mentioned, if you had heard that name before this show, chances are you heard it in connection with Sutton Hoo, which is possibly his burial site. And Sutton Hoo is one of the most famous archaeological digs in Britain. Just the name conjures images of the great Anglo Saxon helmet, with its impressive faceplate and ornate decorations in bronze, iron and tin. But there’s much more to it than that. And today, we’re going to talk about some of what makes Sutton Hoo so special. Our story begins in the late 16th century when tomb raiders came across the mounds at Sutton Hoo and dug a shaft straight down into Mound 1. They were over ten feet down into the mound and only inches above the burial chamber, but for some reason it looks like they stopped and lit a fire. And at that point it’s assumed that the shaft collapsed and the ransacking of the mound ended, leaving the chamber in tact. These digs are often connected to Queen Elizabeth’s astrologer and alchemist, Dr. John Dee, who might have been given a commission to go find buried treasure in East Anglia. But the reality is that there’s no evidence for Dee actually conducting the digs, and all of this might have been a coincidence. But the point is… based on archaeological evidence, in the late 16th century, someone was digging around in Sutton Hoo. And not without reason. The River Deben, which is right next to Sutton Hoo, was probably part of the trading network during the early Anglo Saxon period, and settlements would have popped up all along it. While most would have been farming communities and the like, there were probably towns where the elite congregated as well, and some have argued that Rendlesham, Melton, Bromeswell, or Sutton Hoo may have functioned as political centers for the region. So looking for buried treasure in the area was a fairly reasonable conclusion for the 16th century robbers to make, despite it’s lack of fame or notoriety.

103 – Edwin the Conqueror

Alright, last week we finally saw the fall of AEthelfrith and the rise of Edwin of Deira and King Raedwald of East Anglia… Bretwalda! As you probably gathered, that was not the last would will hear of Edwin. In fact, right when we left off, there was a bit of a cliff hanger. Sure, the battle had just concluded and AEthelfrith was bleeding out on the banks of the River Idle. But what now? Nearly every time we talk about the North what do we talk about? Dynastic struggles, right? Well here we have the King AEthelfrith of Northumbria dead… but not his sons. His sons have legged it. So that’s a problem. Not only that, but while some in Deira might not be that crazy about this Bernician King ruling over them, scholars argue that AEthelfrith had been rather efficient in eliminating rivalries and solidifying his powerbase while he was in charge. If that’s the case, even in Deira this might not be seen as a liberation and a return of the rightful dynasty… the resistance could well be rather entrenched. So just winning on the battlefield might not be enough for Edwin and Raedwald to secure their position over the Northern Anglian Kingdoms. It’s a bit of a headache, when you think about it. Sure, Edwin and Raedwald had an organized army and following that battle, it’s pretty clear that Northumbria… didn’t… They didn’t even have a King anymore, though Raedwald had some ideas about that. And so if you look at it from that direction, going up there and taking the Throne might seem like a natural decision. After all, why fight AEthelfrith if it wasn’t to take control? And what better time to take the throne than right after the King is dead and the army is scattered? But still… what a nightmare! By all indications, this region was a powderkeg of dynastic troubles, and by taking the throne, they could find themselves spending the rest of their lives fighting an insurgency… or worse, they could end up like one of Ida’s sons. And no one wants that.

Alright, last week we finally saw the fall of AEthelfrith and the rise of Edwin of Deira and King Raedwald of East Anglia… Bretwalda! As you probably gathered, that was not the last would will hear of Edwin. Support the Show

102 – Have Exile, Will Travel

Ok, when we left off, Edwin... the exile from Deira, had been on the run for quite some time. The King of Bernicia, AEthelfrith, now occupied the throne held by his father, and his father's father, and so on and so forth. His sister, Acha, had given birth to a child with the man who was hunting him (and we aren't sure what the circumstances to that were). His nephew, Hereric, had been poisoned at the court of Ceretic of the Elmet. He had married a Mercian princess, possibly as a condition for ensuring his safety and an attempt to build alliances with common enemies of King AEthelfrith. War had broken out between his former home and the British kingdoms that had offered him safety... and things had been turning against the British and towards Northumbria (with the British kingdoms of Wales being effectively cut off from their compatriots to the north, following the Battle of Chester). King Iago of Gwynedd was now dead, as well as a number of other British leaders who had stood against this menace that had risen in the North that was relentlessly pursuing him. Edwin was trying to put together an insurgency, but his list of options were growing thin. The British could not break AEthelfrith, and now an Anglian kingdom had made it as far west as the Irish Sea... it probably seemed unlikely that salvation would come from the West. But there was another option. In the South, AEthelfrith had a counterpart. A man who desired the title of Bretwalda... and with the recent death of AEthelberht of Kent, a way had opened up. And so Edwin's improbable journey had lead him from the Court of Deira, to exile, to North Wales, through the midlands, and now to East Anglia. All while being pursued by one of the most powerful kings in all of Britain. As luck would have it, King Raedwald accepted him in and offered him guest rights. It's possible that Raedwald just liked the vagabond prince. But there were also solid political advantages to taking Edwin in.

Ok, when we left off, Edwin... the exile from Deira, had been on the run for quite some time. The King of Bernicia, AEthelfrith, now occupied the throne held by his father, and his father's father, and so on and so forth. His sister, Acha, had given birth to a child with the man who was hunting him (and we aren't sure what the circumstances to that were). His nephew, Hereric, had been poisoned at the court of Ceretic of the Elmet. He had married a Mercian princess, possibly as a condition for ensuring his safety and an attempt to build alliances with common enemies of King AEthelfrith. War had broken out between his former home and the British kingdoms that had offered him safety... and things had been turning against the British and towards Northumbria (with the British kingdoms of Wales being effectively cut off from their compatriots to the north, following the Battle of Chester). King Iago of Gwynedd was now dead, as well as a number of other British leaders who had stood against this menace that had risen in the North that was relentlessly pursuing him. Support the Show

101 – I Ran (So Far Away): The Life and Times of Edwin of Deira

LISTENERS! Here is a link to the Family Tree I mentioned in this episode! Today we’re going to talk quite a bit about Northumbria. And actually, Northumbria is going to start to get really important in our story going forward. Now much of what we know of Northumbria during this period is due to the efforts of Bede, and other Northumbrians who maintained his tradition of keeping annals. And actually, it’s been argued that even the term “Northumbria” might have been coined by Bede himself. So clearly this is a very important source for us. But something to keep in mind with this fact, is that Bede wasn’t writing from personal experience. He wasn’t yet a twinkle in his grandfather’s eye when these events occurred. He wouldn’t be born for another 56 years, and wouldn’t be writing his annals for much longer than that. So where does the information come from? After all, no one alive would have any memory of the events. Well, a large portion of it comes from oral sources. And we need to keep in mind that oral stories can shift depending on who’s doing the speaking, what is remembered, and how it is remembered. Naturally, simply because something is written down doesn’t make it true. I’m sure you already knew that from being internet savvy. But the fact that Bede is dealing with oral sources does create a bit of uncertainty with these accounts. Another aspect to keep in mind is that the information regarding Northumbria is coming out of the educated men of society. Learned men. Men who knew how to write. So… men who lived in monasteries. Monasteries (Northumbrian or otherwise) did not have a single unified culture on the island and, as we’ve touched on several times now, not all monasteries were created equal. A Northumbrian Monastery might not behave the same, nor see things the same, as a monastery in Canterbury for example. We are dealing with cultural differences, both in terms of clergy vs. laymen, but also in northumbrian vs. southern, english vs. welsh, and Monkwearmouth Monastery (which was Bede’s monastery) vs. all the other monasteries. Bede had a very specific point of view and, like everyone who has ever lived, he wasn’t immune to bias.

Today we’re going to talk quite a bit about Northumbria. And actually, Northumbria is going to start to get really important in our story going forward. Now much of what we know of Northumbria during this period is due to the efforts of Bede, and other Northumbrians who maintained his tradition of keeping annals. And actually, it’s been argued that even the term “Northumbria” might have been coined by Bede himself. So clearly this is a very important source for us. Support the Show