It is a little known fact that Germanic or Anglo-Saxon polytheism (i.e. ethnic/native paganism) actually retained political power in parts of what is now England for almost a century beyond the first conversions to Christianity that occurred in Kent in 597 AD.
The influx of Scandinavians into the seven kingdoms that are now modern day England during the ninth century would have bolstered clearly the religious practices and beliefs of the local Saxon population. They were the last pagans in the British Isles during the late antiquity, they didn't leave many traces thus information is scarce.
A real curiosity is a charm dating from 1073, found in Canterbury in 2006. This charm makes reference to the Saxon god Thunor, using the Norse name of Thor. This is the most recent artefact that has been found dating from pagan Britain.
Christianity had created mixed reactions amongst the Anglo-Saxons, as some people were driven apart, when a Christian king's successor reverted to paganism, whilst others were brought together, either willingly or by conquest.
As with Rome and with other Christian groups throughout Europe one of the primary motivations for conversion was power, another was wealth. Gifts from European allies such as the Franks. Conversion was occasionally even needed in order for marriage, which was how Kent became Christian in the first place. The King of Kent wanted to marry a Frankish princess and was pressed into conversation.
A real curiosity is a charm dating from 1073, found in Canterbury in 2006. This charm makes reference to the Saxon god Thunor, using the Norse name of Thor. This is the most recent artefact that has been found dating from pagan Britain.
Christianity had created mixed reactions amongst the Anglo-Saxons, as some people were driven apart, when a Christian king's successor reverted to paganism, whilst others were brought together, either willingly or by conquest.
As with Rome and with other Christian groups throughout Europe one of the primary motivations for conversion was power, another was wealth. Gifts from European allies such as the Franks. Conversion was occasionally even needed in order for marriage, which was how Kent became Christian in the first place. The King of Kent wanted to marry a Frankish princess and was pressed into conversation.
The penultimate kingdom to leave behind the old religion was the kingdom of Sussex, whose king Æthelwealh converted in 680. History would show this to also be the last peaceful change of religion for an English kingdom. His reason for converting was primarily a bishop, Saint Wilfred, who helped the kingdom recover from a period of famine by teaching the populous to fish.
The last king to profess any belief in this old religion ruled what is now the Isle of Wight, then called Wihtwara after Wihtgar, a Jute who originally conquered the territory about two centuries earlier. The king's name was Arwald, his date of birth is unknown as are many facts about him. He held to the old ways, and thus became an enemy of the new Christian kingdoms who had the majority of power in England. Wihtwara was particularly threatened by Mercia, the modern day Midlands and Wessex.
Mercia had, under King Wulfhere, invaded the island in 661. This was quite probably within Arwald's lifetime, perhaps contributing to his later will to defend his kingdom. Mercia attempted to force the islanders to embrace Christianity, but as soon as the occupation force left the islanders reverted to their old ways. Therefore, the inhabitants of Wihtwara were not just heathens in the view of other Saxon kingdoms, but apostates as well. King Cædwalla of Wessex sought to extinguish this remaining pagan kingdom, for though he himself was unbaptised, he nonetheless wished to replace the inhabitants of Wihtwara. He planned to crown himself king and divide the land with himself and his own followers, promising a quarter to the Church.
This was not Cædwalla's first attempt to conquer another kingdom as the earlier mentioned Æthelwealh was killed by Cædwalla in 685 but it would be his first successful conquest, for Sussex threw out the invading king. It is not known how many men invaded Wihtwara, nor is it known how many stood for its defence, but it is nonetheless recorded that Arwald himself was slain in battle in 686.
Considering that death in battle is viewed as honourable in Scandinavian variants of Germanic paganism it is possible that Arwald being a Jute (the people that came from Jutland in modern Denmark) was prepared for this likely event; perhaps his soldiers even did the same. Two of the Arwald brothers fled the island, to what is now called the New Forest, but were betrayed to Cædwalla, who had them executed, allowing them to be baptised beforehand. There's no clear evidence that these baptisms were willing or forced. It's possible they did this to avoid execution. Curiously, as they were baptised and Cædwalla was not at this time, this has caused the two brothers to be seen by some as saints; ironically named after Arwald their pagan brother for their own names are not known. his saint's day is the 22nd of April.
Arwald also had an unnamed sister, who survived and was married to the king of Kent, becoming an ancestor to Alfred the Great. Nonetheless the fate of religion in England was effectively sealed by this point. Although elsewhere, where the slaughter of pagans had not taken place, polytheism would continue to be practiced by some of the peasantry. it would no longer by practiced by any king in Britain, until the invasions of the Norsemen in the 800s.
As for Cædwalla, he did not get away from the conflict unscathed; indeed it is believed that the wounds he sustained in the campaign were what caused his death in Rome, where he was baptised shortly before dying in 689.
Interestingly even Bede who lived from 672 to 735, the well-known Northumbrian monk who functions as our source for most early Anglo-Saxon history, appears to have been shocked by the 'merciless slaughter' committed by Cædwalla; perhaps the entire population of Wihtwara was eradicated or perhaps it was merely the king and the aristocracy, but regardless it is clear that this was an event whose scale was remembered in Bede's time and even in other Saxon kingdoms.
There are many things about the whole event which we will never know; its scale, the size of the armies, who killed whom, and of course, what Arwald and Cædwalla really looked like. Prerhaps sometimes it is best to merely have an idea of a particular historical period or event; indeed, the old term "Dark Ages" was traditionally used for the 7th Century for that precise reason records are obscure, poetic, non-existent or blended into legend and folklore.
Mercia had, under King Wulfhere, invaded the island in 661. This was quite probably within Arwald's lifetime, perhaps contributing to his later will to defend his kingdom. Mercia attempted to force the islanders to embrace Christianity, but as soon as the occupation force left the islanders reverted to their old ways. Therefore, the inhabitants of Wihtwara were not just heathens in the view of other Saxon kingdoms, but apostates as well. King Cædwalla of Wessex sought to extinguish this remaining pagan kingdom, for though he himself was unbaptised, he nonetheless wished to replace the inhabitants of Wihtwara. He planned to crown himself king and divide the land with himself and his own followers, promising a quarter to the Church.
This was not Cædwalla's first attempt to conquer another kingdom as the earlier mentioned Æthelwealh was killed by Cædwalla in 685 but it would be his first successful conquest, for Sussex threw out the invading king. It is not known how many men invaded Wihtwara, nor is it known how many stood for its defence, but it is nonetheless recorded that Arwald himself was slain in battle in 686.
Considering that death in battle is viewed as honourable in Scandinavian variants of Germanic paganism it is possible that Arwald being a Jute (the people that came from Jutland in modern Denmark) was prepared for this likely event; perhaps his soldiers even did the same. Two of the Arwald brothers fled the island, to what is now called the New Forest, but were betrayed to Cædwalla, who had them executed, allowing them to be baptised beforehand. There's no clear evidence that these baptisms were willing or forced. It's possible they did this to avoid execution. Curiously, as they were baptised and Cædwalla was not at this time, this has caused the two brothers to be seen by some as saints; ironically named after Arwald their pagan brother for their own names are not known. his saint's day is the 22nd of April.
Arwald also had an unnamed sister, who survived and was married to the king of Kent, becoming an ancestor to Alfred the Great. Nonetheless the fate of religion in England was effectively sealed by this point. Although elsewhere, where the slaughter of pagans had not taken place, polytheism would continue to be practiced by some of the peasantry. it would no longer by practiced by any king in Britain, until the invasions of the Norsemen in the 800s.
As for Cædwalla, he did not get away from the conflict unscathed; indeed it is believed that the wounds he sustained in the campaign were what caused his death in Rome, where he was baptised shortly before dying in 689.
Interestingly even Bede who lived from 672 to 735, the well-known Northumbrian monk who functions as our source for most early Anglo-Saxon history, appears to have been shocked by the 'merciless slaughter' committed by Cædwalla; perhaps the entire population of Wihtwara was eradicated or perhaps it was merely the king and the aristocracy, but regardless it is clear that this was an event whose scale was remembered in Bede's time and even in other Saxon kingdoms.
There are many things about the whole event which we will never know; its scale, the size of the armies, who killed whom, and of course, what Arwald and Cædwalla really looked like. Prerhaps sometimes it is best to merely have an idea of a particular historical period or event; indeed, the old term "Dark Ages" was traditionally used for the 7th Century for that precise reason records are obscure, poetic, non-existent or blended into legend and folklore.
Lastly, an image of Anglo-Saxon warriors is positioned below in order to give a glimpse as to what the soldiers of Arwald's time looked like.
Sources
- Bede, Book 4, which covers the effect of Christianity on kingdoms such as Whitwara and Sussex. From The Ecclesiastical History of the English People.
- Bede, this is a physical copy of the above book, complete with Book 9, which covers information about Bede's own life and times.
- Canterbury Charm and related information about runes, amulets etc.
No comments:
Post a Comment