Æthelstan and 'Æthelstan A'

Question 1

How many groups of charters are there for Æthelstan?

Answer 1

Six distinct groups

Question 2

When is Æthelstan Group C

Answer 2

The charters of 955-9

Question 3

When is Æthelstan Group A

Answer 3

The charters of 925-6

Question 4

Years in which Æthelstan A operated

Answer 4

928-935

Question 5

How many charters in group A? (925-6)

Answer 5

4

Question 6

Why/ how can we break the Æthelstan A charters down into such distinct groups?

Answer 6

They are quite distinctly perfect groups; they show a clear and striking progression of one scribe and composer

Question 7

How many Æthelstan A charters are there?

Answer 7

19, but only 2 survive in their original

- But many of them are from different archives, meaning their similarity must go back to the point of origin

Question 8

Discuss Æthelstan A group I

Answer 8

• There are only 2 in this group, both dated to Exeter in April of 928
• Æthelstan A appears not to have yet quite got the hang of it or how to structure a charter, so he then tweaks things

Question 9

Discuss Æthelstan A group II and example

Answer 9

• There are 2, both dated to 3 April 930

- Grant of land in Selsey to Bishop Beornheah

Question 10

Discuss 930 charter : Grant of land in Selsey to Bishop Beornheah

Answer 10

Æthelstan A group II

• April 930
• A grant of land in Selsey to bishop Beornheah at Selsey.
• Has a vernacular endorsement which says the king has to recite the psalms on the king’s behalf.
• Preserved at Chichester Cathedral

Question 11

Discuss Æthelstan A group III and example

Answer 11

• 931-3
• There are 11 documents from this period, all from various archives.
• Lots of charters from this group require the subject of the charter to sing the psalms for the king, or give food o the destitute.

Example= Grant to Wulfgar for land in Devon, 931

Question 12

Discuss facts of Grant to Wulfgar for land in Devon, 931 (example for group III)

Answer 12

• Dated 12 November 931 at Lifton, Devon and preserved in the Old Minster at Winchester in the original.
• Æthelstan grants 9 cassatae to his thegn Wulfgar
• This has a huge witness list
• Written in square miniscule in a single state, but with space left for two more witnesses to be added (as if his memorandum supplied no more) and two names are added later by a different scribe.

Question 13

Discuss importance of the witness list of Grant to Wulfgar for land in Devon, 931

Answer 13

• 101 witnesses
• The witness list has the names of many Scandinavian earls (such as Haward, Gudrun and Gunner)– Testifies to Æthelstan’s rule of the Danelaw
• Also bishops and ecclesiastics who do not appear anywhere else
• Welsh rulers Howæl and Idwal are on the list.

Question 14

Typical features of Æthelstan A

Answer 14

• Huge and spectacular witness lists

- His inclusion of the date and the place and which the charter was commissioned/ written

Question 15

Who was Æthelstan A?

Answer 15

• Throughout witnesses lists, Bishop Ælfwine of Lichfield is placed in a higher position than his rank warranted– Keynes has argued this is because A was a king’s priest from Merica, who respected Ælfwine as a fellow Mercian.

Question 16

Scholars to cite when thinking of the identity of A?

Answer 16

Keynes and Woodman

Question 17

Historical significance/ implication of A commencing in 928?

Answer 17

• Commence shortly after Æthelstan’s conquest of Northumbria in 927
• Keynes does not think this is a coincidence; argues that the main aim of A was to display the grandeur of Æthelstan’s kingship.

Question 18

Why are charters useful as historical evidence for Æthelstan?

Answer 18

• Allow us to reconstruct his itinerary.
• Particularly useful as the ASC for .stan is so useless.
• Fact that A is the sole author; shows .stan taking unprecedented control over his royal governance and royal functions.

Question 19

Contrasting scholars views on A.

Answer 19

Lapidge describes him as pretentious, whilst Gretsch denounces the complexity of his latin. Drögereit and Woodman are kinder.

Question 20

Why is A. so shocking?

Answer 20

His documents are completely different from any previous example of an A.S. diploma
– He completely reinvented the diploma

Question 21

Woodman on the identity of A.

Answer 21

Like Keynes, Woodman considers a Mercian origin likely but also puts forward the alternative idea that A had a connection with Glastonbury Abbey as it housed many texts which informed A’s idiosyncratic Latin style.

Question 22

When is Æthelstan A Group I?

Answer 22

928

Question 23

When is Æthelstan A Group II?

Answer 23

930

Question 24

When is Æthelstan A Group III?

Answer 24

931- 933

Question 25

When is Æthelstan A Group IV?

Answer 25

934- 935

Question 26

An example of charters from A group IV?

Answer 26

1) 934 Diploma for Æthelwald, thegn, granting him land in kent 2) 934 diploma of land at Amounderness to the church of St Peter's, York

Question 27

Discuss the 934 Diploma for Æthelwald, thegn, granting him land in kent

Answer 27

Example of A IV - Written in square minuscule, and has some unusual things with the thegns in the witness lists which illustrates the scribes' use of a memorandum. - Single state

Question 28

Discuss the 934 diploma of land at Amounderness to the church of St Peter's, York

Answer 28

- An example of A IV - Preserved in york minster - It is unusual as it is northern, and is very far north for an Anglo-Saxon king; this is why Amounderness is so odd, and it is a remarkable document as most of Æthelstan's diplomas are for the home counties

Question 29

What changes are there between A and C?

Answer 29

- No more precise dating, just years | - The charters of Æthelstan C are much smaller and more restrained

Question 30

What is the diploma granting land to Eadwulf from 939 an example of?

Answer 30

- C - An example of the 'new' type of diploma that developed after the departure of A, likely introduced in 935. - Written in square minuscule in a single stage, but with an unused cross at the end of the witness list and space for another column

Question 31

What do the witness lists from Æthelstan A's diplomas tell us?

Answer 31

- That royal assemblies were a big deal, with many important people gathered in one place - See Welsh kings, such as Hywel Da, kings of Strathclyde's and Scandinavian names testifying to AÆthelstan's rule of the Danelaw.

Question 32

Discuss the diploma for Wulfswyth for land in Wiltshire in 939

Answer 32

- Original, seems single stage | - Space left for more witnesses

Question 33

Name the original diplomas surviving for Aethelstan

Answer 33

- Grant to Wulfgar for land in Devon, 931 - Grant for land in kent to Eadwulf, 939 - The diploma for Wulfswyth for land in Wiltshire in 939