Kings Flashcards
(71 cards)
1
Q
Archbishop of Canterbury in Coenwulf’s reign
A
Wulfred
2
Q
Issues Coenwulf had with Archbishop of Canterbury
A
- Fighting over two rich monasteries
- Wulfred wins
- Coenwulf takes it to Rome and has Wulfred declared wrong and suspended
- c. 808 - Coenwulf’s death and even beyond
3
Q
Ceolwulf I
A
821-823, Mercia
4
Q
Coenwulf
A
796-821, Mercia
5
Q
Ceolwulf I’s issues
A
Trouble maintaining support
Anonymous coins without his name on them
Deposed after 2 yrs by Beornwulf
6
Q
Ecgberht
A
King of Wessex 802-839
7
Q
Ceolwulf’s successes
A
Conquered Powys
Ruled Kent directly
8
Q
9th c. Mercia
A
Infighting between C, B and W dynasties
9
Q
Battle of Ellendun
A
825, ended the Mercian supremacy with Ecgbert’s victory over Beornwulf
10
Q
Unusual about Judith
A
Named queen in Wessex when married in 856, unprecendented, likely owing to power of Charles the Bald
11
Q
Rulers during Æthelwulf’s pilgrimage
A
Æthelbald King of Wessex
Æthelberht King of Kent
12
Q
Proof Æthelberht (W) wasn’t subregulus to Æthelbald
A
Only coins minted in Æthelberht’s name in Kent 858-60
13
Q
Why Æthelbald of Wessex revolt
A
Judith and Æthelwulf’s potential children would have a higher status than him
Also some nobles didn’t like Judith being named as queen as it wasn’t the custom
14
Q
Divided Kingdom of Wessex
A
Either Æthelbald kept Kingship of Wessex and Æthelberht gave up Kent to Æthelwulf
Or Æthelberht kept Kent and Æthelbald (west) and Æthelwulf (east) split Wessex between them
15
Q
Result of Æthelbald’s death
A
Æthelberht king of Wessex and Kent as a unified nation
16
Q
Æthelbald (W) rule
A
855-60
17
Q
Æthelberht’s rule (W)
A
860-865
18
Q
Alfred’s rule
A
871-899
19
Q
Æthelred (W) rule
A
865-871
20
Q
Evidence of friendliness between Wessex and Mercia mid 9th c.
A
- Berhtwulf and Æthelwulf shared a moneyer and had coins made with the same dye-cutter
- Berhtwulf’s son Bergred married Æthelwulf’s daughter (853)
- Bergred and Æthelwulf campaign against the Welsh together (853)
- Fight together against the Vikings
21
Q
Debasement of coinage in Wessex
A
General debasement of coinage early 860s
Coin reform under Æthelberht - very pure silver coins
However no reform in Mercia so people hoarded Wessex coins
Æthelred gave in and adopted Mercian-style coinage
22
Q
Offa
A
757-796
23
Q
Offa’s control
A
Directly over pretty much everywhere
Not directly controlling Wessex, Northumbria or the Welsh but Wessex and Northumbria still acknowledged Offa’s overlordship
24
Q
Offa and Kent
A
760-770 Offa and the 2 Kentish kings issue charters side by side = equal power
All had own coins
776-780 Offa vanishes
25
Offa and Dynasty
- Consecrated his son Ecgfrith as king in his life time (imitating Charlemagne)
- Has his son witness charters with him
- Created Archbishopric of Lichfield 786 (because on bad terms with Canterbury\) with support of Pope Hadrian
26
Offa's Archbishopric
Lichfield, 786
27
Offa's daughters
Charlemagne suggested his son Charles marry Offa's daughter. Offa said only if his son married Charlemagne's daughter.
Charlemagne offended by this.
Offa's daughters marry the king of Northumbria and the King of Wessex - places not directly under Offa but now allied
28
Offa imitating others in coins
- Offa's Dinar, copying Islamic coinage, with islamic writing on it, but also Offa's name
- Some images of him make him resemble King David
- Cross before his face mimics Constantine the Great
29
Where coins Offa
Minted in London and Canterbury and maybe Ipswich
Mainly found in the east rather than actually in the Mercian heartland (maybe because demonstrating control, or maybe because more trade)
30
Tribal Hidage
List of Anglo-Saxon peoples arranged by size
Probably 7-8th c.
Unclear why it was written
Doesn't include Northumbria
- so maybe from a Northumbrian perspective?
Refers to Oswald and Oswiu of Northumbria as king of all Britian
No mercian kings of britian
- mercian/northumbrian tensions
31
Middle-Saxon shuffle
Moving across the land through generations
Ends in the 7th century
Ages of animals being slaughtered increase
32
percentage of population that worked directly on the land pre 7th c.
c. 90%
33
peak in crafts
8th c.
Lindesfarne Gospels, Codex Amiatinus, famous highly decorative embroidery
34
Wearmouth-Jarrow Bible
Codex Amiatinus, 34 kg, made from over 300 animals. Three of these bibles were produced
34
First English towns
Ipswich, Southampton, London, York in the 7th century
No monumental buildings, public spaces or central administrative buildings, instead a collection of workshops dedicated to intense production
All on the coast or on a large river - focus on trade
35
Lundenwic placement
easy access to Wessex, Essex, Sussex and the sea and is part of Mercia
36
Ipswich and York placement
more central in their kingdoms
(York = Northumbria, Ipswich = East Angles)
37
Early Anglo-Saxon coins
Imitate Carolingian coins
Rarely give mint or date
Gold coins were debased with silver, and then became purely silver coins
Wide and bountiful distribution of coins
No dominating coinage, lots of mixing
No restrictions on the making of coins
Anyone could start a mint - churches and moneyers did so
38
Raid on Lindesfarne
8th June 793
39
Raids early 9th century
seems that raids stopped, but may be a lack of records
40
9th c. viking raids
viking forces significantly larger - sometimes over 100 vessels
Stayed over winter, Kent 851
Not just monasteries on the coast any more, rich towns and populous places for hostages
41
Vikings first winter in England
Kent, 851
42
Evidence of ransoming objects vikings
Stockholm Codex Aureus, Alfred bought back the codex and gave it to Canterbury Cathedral
Very well preserved - lack of damage despite ransoming
43
The Great Army
865-early 880s
Conquering and settling
"Made peace" - probs tribute
44
The Great Army progress
Started in East Anglia 865 and then to Northumbria 867 took York killed claimants to the throne
45
Tactics of the Great Army
targeted centres of royal power - Chippenham, Repton etc.
Warfare very elite, so killing royals and nobles
Also likely these places had wealth and weapons
Sometimes had preexisting defenses they could use themselves
46
Archaeological evidence for the Great Army and women
Almost half of viking finds in England 9th c. belonged to women (brooches, pendants etc.)
47
Viking settlements
Torksey
Repton
48
Torksey
- natural island so defensible
- actively engaged with locals
woodworking, metalworking etc.
- Coins from Mercia, Wessex and Northumbria (indicates contact? and movement?)
- Hack metal, gold, silver dirhams etc.
49
Repton
River on one side and a barrier on the other
Mass burial of over 200 individuals
50
Alfred's claim about learning
Very few new texts in Latin
Charters continued, but more evident of lack of learning when less formulaic
Coenwulf vs. archbishop Wulfred very bad
2nd half of 9th century even worse - lack of understanding of convention (witness lists being unrelated to charter)
51
Truth of Latin
- Severe drop-off in production of Latin books and composition of Latin texts
- Severe decline in standards of Latin (charters)
- Some regional variation, North doing much better than the south (Carmen de Abbatibus (810/820s) Latin long poem from Northumbria)
52
Minsters in the 9th c. (aristocracy)
- close relationship with aristocracy and royalty
- secularisiation, used as storehouses etc.
53
Minsters in the 9th c. (bishops)
interfering with the small minsters, basically becoming an overlord
54
What happened to the minsters
significant portion survived to become 'mother churches' that had control over surrounding churches
- significantly varied geographically, most survival in the west esp. south west, much less survival in the east
55
Consequences of the failing minsters
Fewer places able to produce manuscripts and books
not enough wealth, not enough educated people and a focus on their waning autonomy
56
Land and population equation
High population = land expensive
Low population = land cheap
57
Imma the thegn
was afraid to admit he was a thegn
his captors realised he was not a commoner because of his speech, appearance and bearing
Suggests that there is a distinction between the classes but perhaps not a particularly large one because it did take a while for his captors to work it out
58
Æthelbald and the Church
Told to mend his ways in an angry letter from St. Boniface.
Stop taking church property and sleeping with nuns
59
Æthelbald soft overlordship
East Angles - Life of St. Guthlac is dedicated to the king of the East Angles but spends a lot of time praising Æthelbald
60
Offa and overlordship
South saxon rulers now Dux not kings any more
Kills claimant to the throne in EA. Ealdorman of Offa ruling the Hwicce. EA does have own kings for a long time though
61
Offa and London
major powerbase
often emphasised on coins
Major mint in London
62
Subrulers in Wessex
Called Prefectus
Suggests they were put in place by the king
63
Ecgberht and his sons
Appoints Æthelwulf as subking in Kent
64
Peace and cooperation Mercia/Wessex
Mid 9th c. fought together against the Welsh
Late 840s moneyers in London cooperating with moneyers in Rochester
65
Old English before Alfred inscriptions
Inscriptions - The Ruthwell cross has latin and old english on being used for different purposes
Gold rings are inscribed with names of kings, makers, owners etc. Secular use of OE
66
Old English manuscripts before Alfred
Cædmon's Hymn
Account of Bede's final days and death
Trace of an OE sermon
Legal and administrative documents (wills, lawcodes, boundary declarations, charter of Berhtwulf
67
Old English / Latin equation
Expansion of OE often inversely proportional to use of Latin
68
Æthelberht of Kent conversion
Converted shortly after 597
His wife was Merovingian (therefore Christian). Married on the condition she could be christian
Augustine's mission landed in 597, and was greatly aided by Bertha
69
Issue with the conversion in the east
Sæberht of the East Saxons and Æthelberht of Kent both die in c.616, leaving the area without any strong Christian patrons, as all their heirs were pagan
70
Name of the Mercian coinage that Æthelred of Wessex adopted
Lunettes design
