Northumbria in Stone: Material Evidence and Tenth Century Politics
By Shawn Hale
Historia, Vol.22 (2013)
Introduction: The dominant narrative surrounding the history of Anglo-Saxon England features the House of Wessex as the primary catalyst in the formation of an English state. Northumbria, on the other hand, usually plays the obstacle to such unity. In these works Alfred the Great, and the Wessex kings put the disparate English kingdoms, in the ninth and tenth century, on the path to unification through retaining independence, reforming royal administration, and town planning. Thus winning the game of chess played in Northumbria against various rival kings of Viking descent. Sir Frank Stenton declared that King Alfred of Wessex’s ability to defend and expand his dominion in the face of Viking invasion was “the achievement of a new stage in the advance of the English peoples,” and “expressed a feeling that he stood for the interests common to the whole English race.” Whereas the feats of Alfred’s progeny illuminate our knowledge of Wessex, our understanding of Northumbria is comparatively fragmented. The reason for this north-south disparity is due to the fact that the only surviving records were produced by ecclesiastical writers who were indelibly linked to the Wessex monarchs.
Our primary guide to tenth century England is the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, a series of copied texts that survive in a handful of different forms, each with its own particular interests and caveats. These documents are largely concerned with events happening within Wessex and occasionally mention important events elsewhere. Many questions surrounding the Northumbrian kingdom, however, are left unanswered. For example, an entry for 941 devotes a few sentences to the death of King Aethelstan of Wessex and announces his heir and ends with a final sentence: “This year the Northumbrians abandoned their allegiance, and chose Anlaf of Ireland for their king.” Such a remark raises a number of questions concerning the political and cultural makeup of tenth century Northumbria. To further complicate matters, chronicle writers refer to the inhabitants of Northumbria as Northumbrians as well as Danes, often interchangeably. Anlaf, whose name corresponds to the Norse Olaf, was a prominent leader of the Norse-Gaels of Dublin. Did a clear ethnic distinction exist between Danish Vikings inhabiting Northumbria prior to Anlaf’s arrival and newcomers from Dublin’s Norse-Gael population? What was Anlaf’s relationship to the Northumbrians that they would willingly choose him as king? Finally, how does this convoluted episode of Northumbrian-Viking relations fit into the bigger picture of English unification?
By Shawn Hale
Historia, Vol.22 (2013)
Introduction: The dominant narrative surrounding the history of Anglo-Saxon England features the House of Wessex as the primary catalyst in the formation of an English state. Northumbria, on the other hand, usually plays the obstacle to such unity. In these works Alfred the Great, and the Wessex kings put the disparate English kingdoms, in the ninth and tenth century, on the path to unification through retaining independence, reforming royal administration, and town planning. Thus winning the game of chess played in Northumbria against various rival kings of Viking descent. Sir Frank Stenton declared that King Alfred of Wessex’s ability to defend and expand his dominion in the face of Viking invasion was “the achievement of a new stage in the advance of the English peoples,” and “expressed a feeling that he stood for the interests common to the whole English race.” Whereas the feats of Alfred’s progeny illuminate our knowledge of Wessex, our understanding of Northumbria is comparatively fragmented. The reason for this north-south disparity is due to the fact that the only surviving records were produced by ecclesiastical writers who were indelibly linked to the Wessex monarchs.
Our primary guide to tenth century England is the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, a series of copied texts that survive in a handful of different forms, each with its own particular interests and caveats. These documents are largely concerned with events happening within Wessex and occasionally mention important events elsewhere. Many questions surrounding the Northumbrian kingdom, however, are left unanswered. For example, an entry for 941 devotes a few sentences to the death of King Aethelstan of Wessex and announces his heir and ends with a final sentence: “This year the Northumbrians abandoned their allegiance, and chose Anlaf of Ireland for their king.” Such a remark raises a number of questions concerning the political and cultural makeup of tenth century Northumbria. To further complicate matters, chronicle writers refer to the inhabitants of Northumbria as Northumbrians as well as Danes, often interchangeably. Anlaf, whose name corresponds to the Norse Olaf, was a prominent leader of the Norse-Gaels of Dublin. Did a clear ethnic distinction exist between Danish Vikings inhabiting Northumbria prior to Anlaf’s arrival and newcomers from Dublin’s Norse-Gael population? What was Anlaf’s relationship to the Northumbrians that they would willingly choose him as king? Finally, how does this convoluted episode of Northumbrian-Viking relations fit into the bigger picture of English unification?
Click here to read this article from Eastern Illinois University
Related Posts
Subscribe to Medievalverse