Staffordshire Hoard: The Book of the Treasure

Eleven years ago today on 5th July 2009 local metal-detector Terry Herbert started to unearth some gold objects in a recently ploughed field near Hammerwich, near Lichfield, Staffordshire. Over the next few days he uncovered over two hundred gold objects. The discovery of the largest hoard of Anglo-Saxon gold and silver metalwork ever found had begun.

Herbert contacted the Staffordshire and West Midlands Portable Antiquities Scheme and Fred Johnson, landowner, gave permission for an excavation to search for more items. Finally 4,600 fragments were found consisting of more than 600 significant objects of mainly war gear, totalling around 4 kilos of gold, 1.7 kilos of silver and thousands of cloisonné garnets; there is nothing comparable in terms of content and quantity anywhere in the UK or Europe.

This historic find was called the Staffordshire Hoard and went on display at The Potteries Museum and Art Gallery, Stoke-on-Trent, and Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery. The discovery captured the public imagination and many of us stood in huge queues to see exhibitions of the muddy Anglo Saxon gold, before the conservators began work cleaning the finds before the difficult task began of identifying these thousands of objects which would take several years to complete.

It was announced in December 2012 that another 91 items of gold and silver metalwork had been found in the same field at Hammerwich where the Staffordshire Hoard was discovered. 81 of these items were declared treasure by the coroner.

Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery and the Potteries Museum & Art Gallery jointly purchased The Staffordshire Hoard for £3.285 million, where it is permanently on display with regular loans to historic Mercian sites at Tamworth Castle and Lichfield Cathedral.

Except for three religious objects, the Staffordshire Hoard is mainly composed of male war gear; 80% of the objects are decorative fittings from the hilts of swords or from their scabbards. It is estimated that over a hundred weapons are represented by these fittings.

About a third of the fragments in the Staffordshire Hoard come from a very high-status helmet, a very rare find; only a very small number have been found from this period, only five other reasonably-complete Anglo-Saxon helmets are known. Over a thousand pieces were reconstructed from the original Anglo Saxon helmet that had been cut into strips and buried with the Hoard. The detail and bold, crested design indicate that the Staffordshire Hoard helmet probably worn by an important owner.

Two reconstructions of the helmet were completed in 2018, nearly 10 years since the Staffordshire Hoard was discovered, by a team of specialist combining ancient craft techniques and modern technology. These two replica helmets can be seen on display in the museums in Birmingham and Stoke.

The Reconstructed Staffordshire Hoard helmets

It seems we will never know who buried the hoard and why; most people in Anglo-Saxon society would never have had access to such items. However, we do know the objects were worn by elite warriors, ranked among the upper classes of society. Their style suggests that most of the objects in the Hoard were crafted in different places over a long time period, between 550 - 650 AD, yet assembled and buried together between 650-675 AD in a remote area, just south of the Watling Street Roman road, barely 2 miles from the remains of the old Roman settlement at Letocetum (Wall, Staffordshire), in the heart of the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Mercia.

The Welsh poem Marwnad Cynddylan (Lament for Cynddylan), a 7th century king of Powys, describes an otherwise unknown battle near Lichfield and alludes to Cynddylan’s host taking great booty. However, although the discovery of the buried gold has generated much interest in this poem, the context of the elegy in relation to the Staffordshire Hoard is yet to be determined; yet, intriguingly it is argued the poem originates from around the time of Cynddylan's death.

Anglo Saxon Treasure
Since its discovery we have awaited publication of the full story of the Staffordshire Hoard. Obviously an immense amount of work has been done since 2009 in cleaning, conservation and analysis. For example, who would have thought on discovery of those near 5,000 fragments that a third of them would comprise a rare Anglo Saxon helmet? Until recently the only literature available on the Staffordshire Hoard was a couple of booklets serving as exhibition souvenirs.

A 48 page booklet The Staffordshire Hoard by Kevin Leahy and Roger Bland was published by the British Museum shortly after the Hoard’s discovery in 2009. Then in 2014 West Midlands History published a 40 page booklet Beasts, Birds and Gods: Interpreting the Staffordshire Hoard by Chris Fern and George Speake providing tentative interpretations of the symbolism and iconography employed in the decoration of selective objects from the Hoard. Both of these slim booklets were produced to accompany the exhibitions.

Then in 2016 local man Robert Sharp, a guide at Lichfield Cathedral where a selection of objects from The Staffordshire Hoard are on display, published The Hoard and its History: Staffordshire's Secrets Revealed (Brewin Books, 2016) which tends to focus on the religious items of the Hoard and religious artwork from the 7th century onwards.

Now a new book published by the Society of Antiquaries of London tells the complete story of the Staffordshire Hoard in detail, from its discovery in Hammerwich to the reconstruction of the helmets. The Staffordshire Hoard: An Anglo-Saxon Treasure (2019) edited by Chris Fern, Tania Dickinson and Leslie Webster, containing over 600 pages written by a team of specialists in Anglo-Saxon archaeology and history, together with expert conservators, illustrated throughout with full-colour photographs, maps and explanatory drawings. But be warned this is a big book!


From the publisher:

“The Staffordshire Hoard: An Anglo-Saxon Treasure tells the story of the Staffordshire Hoard’s discovery and acquisition, and the six-year research project that pieced its fragments back together, identified its objects and explored their manufacture. Key chapters discuss the decoration and meaning of the Hoard’s intricate ornament, the techniques of Anglo-Saxon craftsmen, the religious and historical background, and hoarding practice in Britain and Europe, to place this most exceptional find in context. Finally, the text explores the impact that the find has had locally, nationally and internationally in the twenty-first century.”

Table of Contents:

Introduction

Part One: The Hoard
Chapter 1. From discovery to acquisition
Chapter 2. Characterising the objects
Chapter 3. Workshop practice
Chapter 4. The lives of objects: wear, modification, repair and damage
Chapter 5. Styles of display and revelation Style and substance
Chapter 6. Date and origin Dating the Hoard

Part Two: The Broader Context
Chapter 7. The historical context: local, regional and national
Chapter 8. The archaeological context: matters of material and social significance
Chapter 9. Hoards and hoarding
Chapter 10. What does it mean?

Part Three: Catalogue and Guide to the Digital Component


>> The Staffordshire Hoard website

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WORLD BOOK DAY 2019

The Mabinogi: A Book of Essays
Edited by C. W. Sullivan III
First published 1996 by Garland Press
Reissued in 2015 by Routledge Revivals

The Lost Tale of Dylan in the Fourth Branch of the Mabinogi

"Throughout the Four Branches of the Mabinogi, the mystical Otherworld encroaches upon the realm of mortal kind, and one of the more powerful appearances of it takes the form of animals that participate in metamorphoses with human figures. These can signify an Otherworld incursion into mortal nature in several different ways. They can signal a thinning of the barriers between the realms of the Otherworld and this world; they can represent characteristics associated with the mysteries of fertility and tribal magic; and they can appear to enhance or, at times, take the place of the principal figures in the tales. It is this third role of Otherworld animals that I wish to concentrate on, because among the many named, and hence characterised animal shapes into which figures are transformed, we come across an unnamed animal whose dis-closure may shed light on the puzzle of the lost tale of Dylan in the Fourth Branch." - Sarah Larratt Keefer


The purpose of this collection, which was first published in 1996, is to provide both an overview of the major critical approaches to the Four Branches of the Mabinogi and a selection of the best essays dealing with them. The essays examine the origins of the Mabinogion, comparative analyses, and structural and thematic interpretations. This book is ideal for students of literature and Medieval studies.

Table of Contents
Preface
Introduction

Part 1: Origins
1. The Mabinogion and  Lady Charlotte Guest Rachel Bromwich
2. The Date of the Four Branches of the Mabinogi T. M. Charles-Edwards;

Part 2: Comparative Analysis 
3. The Calumniated Wife in Medieval Welsh Literature Juliette Wood
4. The Lost Tale of Dylan in the Fourth Branch of The Mabinogi Sarah Larratt Keefer
5. Branwen: A Study of the Celtic Affinities Patrick K. Ford
6. Manawydan fab Llyr: Wales, England, and the "New Man" Andrew Welsh;

Part 3: Structural Interpretations
7. A Thematic Study of the Tale Pwyll Pendeuic Dyuet Sean O Coileain
8. Pwyll Prince of Dyfed: the narrative structure Elizabeth Hanson-Smith
9. The Structure of the Four Branches of the Mabinogi J. K. Bollard
10. Prolegomena to a Reading of the Mabinogi: "Pwyll" and "Manawydan" Patrick K. Ford
11. Narrative Structure in Medieval Welsh Prose Tales R. M. Jones; Thematic Interpretations;
12. Thematic Structure in the Four Branches of the Mabinogi Jeffrey Gantz
13. The Role of the Myth and Tradition in The Four Branches of the Mabinogi J. K. Bollard
14. The Theme of Sovereignty in Pwyll Catherine A. McKenna
15. Gwydion and Aranrhod: Crossing the Borders of Gender in Math Roberta L. Valente
16. Inheritance and Lordship in Math C. W. Sullivan III

> CCC <

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Badon and the Early Wars for Wessex

Badon and the Early Wars for Wessex, circa 500 to 710

David Cooper
Pen & Sword Military, 2018

From the publisher:
“David Cooper's book reappraises the evidence regarding the early battles for Wessex territory. It charts the sequence of battles from the c. AD 500 siege of Badon Hill, in which the Britons defeated the first Saxon attempt to gain a foothold in Wessex territory, to Langport in 710, which consolidated King Ine's position and pushed the Britons westwards. Discussion of the post-Roman British and Germanic factions provides context and background to Badon Hill, which is then covered in detail and disentangled from Arthurian legend. In considering how the opposing commanders are likely to have planned their campaigns, enduring principles of military doctrine and tactics are discussed, using examples from other periods to illustrate how these principles applied in Dark Ages Britain. Going on to follow subsequent campaigns of the West Saxons in southern Britain, a credible assessment is made of how these resulted in the establishment of a viable Wessex kingdom, two centuries after Badon. Grounded in the latest academic and archaeological evidence, David Cooper offers a number of new insights and ideas.”

David Cooper OBE is a retired British Army Lieutenant Colonel with 36 years' service. He was initially taught military history and doctrine by the Burnham lecturers at Sandhurst and later gained a Masters degree in Defence and International Affairs. In the latter part of his career David instructed young officers in doctrine and tactics and wrote related publications for the British Army. Due to an abiding interest in the period he began to study the Dark Age Wessex campaigns in detail in 2002, and this book is the result.

Contents
1. The Fifth-century Tribes of Britain
2. The Hampshire Avon Frontier
3. Doctrine, Organisation and Tactics
4. The British in the South West
5. The Badon Campaign
6. The Siege of Badon Hill
7. Cerdic to Ceawlin – The Early Gewisse
8. The Fall of the British Glastenning
9. Wessex, Mercia and Dumnonia
10. Conclusions

Dark Age Warfare
This book is of a similar ilk to King Arthur's Wars (Helion, 2016) in which author Jim Storr, a former soldier turned academic, set out to chart the progress of the Anglo-Saxon conquest by examining placename evidence and defensive man-made landscape features such as earthworks and dykes. Storr located the battle of Badon in Eastern England and did not seem aware that many of the dykes are actually of prehistoric construction.

In Badon and the Early Wars for Wessex, Cooper follows the trail of Ceawlin in establishing the Anglo Saxon kingdom of Wessex as recorded in the Anglo Saxon Chronicle, written several hundred years after the events. Most historians today treat the foundation legends of the Anglo Saxon kingdoms in England with a due amount of suspicion and terms such as ‘barbarian invasion’, used to describe the increasing presence of Germanic immigrants in Britain , are no longer considered befitting or accurate.

There are three main themes running through Cooper’s pages. Firstly, he argues that the Germanic rise to power has its roots in post-Roman Britain in which diverse warbands fought localised wars over territory. Secondly, the battle of Badon Hill was the first conflict of larger armies as these localised warbands began to form alliances. Thirdly, that Wessex was not established and then expanded by immigrant Germanic tribes but emerged from much more complex circumstances.

Cooper envisages the Hampshire Avon as the Germanic frontier immediately prior to the Badon campaign with British territories defined by the earthworks Wansdyke and Bokerley Dyke. He argues, in consideration of that frontier, that Badbury Rings must have been the location of the battle of Badon Hill. Following the implication of Gildas writing in the 6th century, that Ambrosius, ‘the last of the Romans’, was probably the leader of the British led alliance at Badon.

Cooper uses chapters three, ‘Doctrine, Organisation and Tactics’, and five, ‘The Badon Campaign’ to discuss Dark Age battle tactics and takes us through the siege day-by-day in the next chapter. Here he introduces Sarmatian lancers as the charge of ‘Arthur’s cavalry’. 5,500 Sarmatian troops were sent to Britain in the 2nd century by Marcus Aurelius. They were stationed on Hadrian’s Wall and Ribchester (Bremetennacum) but there is absolutely no evidence for them fighting a campaign in Britain at that time, let alone their survival into the 6th century and fighting at the border of the Durotriges.

The very nature of this type of study demands a high level of conjecture owing to the limited primary sources.  But we are forced to question if people trained in modern conflict techniques have an advantage in relating to Dark Age warfare and the military tactics of poorly documented battles fought 1,500 years ago?

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Mercia - Annie Whitehead

Mercia: The Rise and Fall of a Kingdom

Annie Whitehead
Amberley Publishing, 2018

From the publisher:
“Many people know about Wessex, the ‘Last Kingdom’ of the Anglo-Saxons to fall to the Northmen, but another kingdom, Mercia, once enjoyed supremacy over not only Wessex, but all of the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms. At its zenith Mercia controlled what is now Birmingham and London ‒ and the political, commercial paramountcy of the two today finds echoes in the past.

Those interested in the period will surely have heard of Penda, Offa, and Æthelflæd, Lady of the Mercians ‒ but remarkably there is no single book that tells their story in its entirety, the story of the great kingdom of the midlands. 

Historically, the records are in two halves, pre- and post-Viking, in the way they have been preserved. Pre-Viking, virtually all the source material was written by the victims, or perceived victims, of Mercian aggression and expansion. Post-Viking, the surviving documents tend to hail from places which were not sacked or burned by the Northmen, particularly from Wessex, the traditional enemy of Mercia. The inclusion of those records here allows for the exploration of Mercia post-924.

Mercia ceased to be a kingdom when Alfred the Great came to power, but its history did not end there. Examining the roles of the great ealdormen in the anti-monastic reaction of the tenth century, through the treachery of Eadric Streona in the eleventh, and the last, brave young earls who made a stand against William the Conqueror, this book shows the important role the Mercians played in the forging of the English nation.”

Annie Whitehead, a member of the Royal Historical Society, specialises in the 'Dark Ages'. She has written three books about early medieval Mercia, the ancient Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Mercia; “To Be a Queen” (2013) tells the story of Alfred the Great's daughter; “Alvar the Kingmaker” (2016) features Aelfhere, Earl of Mercia in the 10th century;  “Cometh the Hour” (2017), the first of two volumes set in the 7th century telling the story of the Iclingas, the family who ruled Mercia. Annie Whitehead is also a regular contributor and editor for the English Historical Fiction Authors blog, as well as blogging for her own site; Casting Light upon the Shadow. Mercia: The Rise and Fall of a Kingdom (Amberley, 2018) is her first full-length nonfiction book.

Whereas there are ample books on Anglo Saxon England, there is a dearth of books on Mercia, with just a handful of popular accounts, including: Ian W Walker - Mercia and the Making of England (Sutton, 2000); Sarah Zaluckyj - Mercia: The Anglo-Saxon Kingdom of Central England (Logaston Press, 2011); John Hunt - Warriors, Warlords and Saints: The Anglo-Saxon Kingdom of Mercia (West Midlands History, 2016); and Chris Peers - Offa and the Mercian Wars: The Rise and Fall of the First Great English Kingdom (Pen & Sword, 2017).

Before Whitehead's latest offering, perhaps the most thorough examination of the Anglo Saxon kingdom was Mercia: An Anglo-Saxon Kingdom in Europe (Continuun, 2011), a collection of academic papers edited by Michelle P. Brown and Carol A. Farr.

Owing to the lack of primary source material for pre-918 Mercia, for the Anglo Saxon period most books tend to focus on Wessex using the primary text of the Anglo Saxon Chronicle, the so-called ‘A’ text, written in Winchester and detailing Alfred the Great’s defence against the Viking onslaught.

Mercia added to versions of the Chronicle that were continued in the Midlands but most of what has survived on Mercia was written by its enemies, such as The Venerable Bede, in his record of the ‘Golden Age’ of Northumbria. And of course Welsh poetry writes of many conflicts with their English enemy. Today the kingdom is probably best remembered for the earthwork separating it from Wales, the dyke said the have been constructed by King Offa.

As Michelle P. Brown and Carol A. Farr write in their introduction:

“There is a mystique associated with Mercia which is almost semimythical and of the sort which often surrounds lost kingdoms. Unlike the other major Anglo-Saxon successor states, there is little recollection of this former contender within the current regional topography of England.”

“The Mercian heartland has been largely overtaken by the visible legacy of the Industrial Revolution and King Offa has come to occupy a role in popular imagination as a shadowy warlord, notorious for his brutality and attributed with the construction of an enigmatic earthwork, Offa's Dyke, which, like its Roman precursor, Hadrian's Wall, is chiefly famed for the popular footpath which follows it.”

In Mercia: The Rise and Fall of a Kingdom Whitehead attempts to redress the balance and write a history of the Midland kingdom.

Mercians Arise
Some historians see the kingdom of Mercia as starting with the shadowy Creoda, but he is never given the title of king and owing to the lack of source material his very existence is doubted by many. Whitehead commences her story with the emergence of the mysterious Penda, the pagan king responsible for the death of the kings of several rival Anglo Saxon Kingdoms, particularly as a result from the wars with Northumbria. The author discusses the origins of Mercia and the meaning of the name from the Old English ‘Mierce’; to the Northumbrians these were the people south of the Humber.

Mercia was one of the great seven Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England, alongside East Anglia, Essex, Kent, Northumbria, Sussex and Wessex. Based around the Royal palace at Tamworth and its homeland around the upper Trent, Mercia went through rapid expansion from the foundations laid by Penda in the 7th century, through the reigns of Wulfhere, Aethelred and Aethelbald to become the dominant Anglo Saxon kingdom under Offa, a prince from the Hwicce, who took Mercia to its greatest achievements in the 9th century.

The historian Frank Stenton termed this period the ‘Mercian Supremacy’, between 600 AD and 900 AD, when the kingdom went on to dominate the Anglo-Saxon Heptarchy and effectively achieved the unification of England south of the Humber.

The Fall
Whitehead then charts the decline of Mercia from its golden age under Offa to its last independent king Burgred who was driven from the kingdom in 874 by the Great Heathen Army who had pillaged the kingdom and burnt the Royal palace at Tamworth. The Vikings installed Ceolwulf II as a puppet king over Eastern Mercia while in the West, English Mercia, Æthelred, Ealdorman of the Mercians emerged as ruler. Æthelred recognised Alfred of Wessex as his overlord and cemented the alliance by marrying his daughter Æthelflaed, Lady of the Mercians. After Æthelred’s death in 911, Æthelflaed ruled the kingdom alone.

But where most commentators see an independent Mercian kingdom ending with King Edward’s deposition of Æthelflaed’s daughter Ælfwynn in 918, Whitehead takes the story up to 1071 and the last ditch attempts by the men of Mercia to reverse the outcome of the battle of Hastings and the young earls who made a stand against William the Conqueror.


Annie Whitehead's Mercia: The Rise and Fall of a Kingdom  should have a place on everyone's Anglo Saxon bookshelf - Highly recomended.

- Edward Watson

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Aethelflaed - Tim Clarkson

Aethelflaed: The Lady of the Mercians 

Tim Clarkson

Published by John Donald (an imprint of Birlinn), 7th June, 2018

Paperback, 256 pages.

From the publisher:
“At the end of the ninth century AD, a large part of what is now England was controlled by the Vikings - heathen warriors from Scandinavia who had been attacking the British Isles for more than a hundred years. Alfred the Great, king of Wessex, was determined to regain the conquered lands but his death in 899 meant that the task passed to his son Edward. In the early 900s, Edward led a great fightback against the Viking armies. He was assisted by the English rulers of Mercia: Lord AEthelred and his wife AEthelflaed (Edward's sister).

"After her husband's death, AEthelflaed ruled Mercia on her own, leading the army to war and working with her brother to achieve their father's aims. Known to history as the Lady of the Mercians, she earned a reputation as a competent general and was feared by her enemies. She helped to save England from the Vikings and is one of the most famous women of the Dark Ages. This book, published 1100 years after her death, tells her remarkable story.”

Contents:
1. Introduction
2. Kingdoms
3. Princess
4. A New Mercia
5. Kinsmen
6. Losses and Gains
7. Frontierlands
8. The Final Years
9. Niece and Uncle
10. Legacy

Tim Clarkson’s latest book was published just before the 1,100th anniversary of the death of  Aethelflaed, Lady of the Mercians at Tamworth, twelve days before midsummer, 918. My copy arrived from the publisher in the summer, with no obligation, however, I must apologise for this late review.

Clarkson’s previous six books, The Picts, Strathclyde and the Anglo Saxons, Scotland’s Merlin, Columba, The Makers of Scotland, The Men of the North, have been highly detailed accounts of the subject matter, concentrating on early medieval Scotland. For Aethelflaed, Lady of the Mercians, he ventures south into the realm of Anglo Saxon Mercia and the story of its remarkable warrior queen. This is another highly detailed account, no stone is left unturned in his pursuit of the full story of Aethelflaed and the struggle against the Vikings.

Clarkson discusses the deficiencies of the sources in the first chapter, but where the sources leave gaps, and in Aethelflaed’s story there are plenty, Clarkson discusses the possible outcomes without delving into wild imaginative speculation. The second chapter sets the scene, discussing the origins and relationships between Mercia and Wessex and the arrival of the Danish Vikings.

The book follows Aethelflaed’s story in chronological order with the bulk of the book, chapters 3-7 dealing with her life, commencing with her birth in the late 860s, the oldest child of Alfred the Great, her name meaning “noble beauty”, childhood and her wedding to Aethelred, Lord of the Mercians in the 880s. Chapter 4, subtitled ‘Women and power’ starts with Mercian Queens who enjoyed a higher profile than their counterparts in Wessex. This would be to Aethelflaed’s advantage when her husband died in 911 and she ruled the Midland kingdom alone.

Chapter 4, ‘A New Mercia’, details Mercian successes on the battlefield against the Vikings at Buttington and Chester before examining the refortifications at Worcester, Gloucester and London, concluding with her father, Alfred’s death in 899. The next chapter continues with rebuilding Mercia with the burhs at Shrewsbury, the arrival of the Irish-Viking Ingimund and the restoration of Chester. Chapter 6 continues with burh building and Aethelred’s passing.

Chapters 7 and 8 cover the period of her widowhood and the height of her military career in the conflict with the Vikings. Clarkson suggests that Aethelflaed constructed the burh at Chirbury in response to tensions with Mercia’s old enemy, the Welsh.

In June 916 an abbot called Ecgberht was slain for reasons unknown. This would appear to be the same clergyman who had witnessed a charter issued at the burh at Weardbyrig (location unknown) the year before, perhaps indicating he was a close associate of Aethelflaed. Three days after his death the Mercians ventured into south-east Wales and attacked the royal site, the ‘crannog’ on Llangorse Lake (Brecananmere) in the kingdom of Brycheiniog. The king was not at home but his wife and thirty-four others were taken captive back to Mercia.

Clarkson suggests the raid on Llangorse Lake may have been more than a simple revenge attack for the murder of Ecgberht. In the 880s the kingdom of Brycheiniog had promised allegiance and submission to King Alfred of Wessex for protection from the North Welsh kingdom of Gwynedd. A decade later Brycheiniog had been among a number of Welsh kingdoms ravaged by Vikings encamped on the bank of the River Severn at Bridgnorth. This was clearly Mercian territory and may have resulted in a switch of allegiance to Aethelred and Aetheflaed for their support, yet Alfred’s son Edward may have not have recognised Brycheiniog’s switch of allegiance.

In 914 when a Viking fleet sailed into the Severn estuary, raiding up the Wye and taking the bishop of Llandaff hostage, King Edward of Wessex intervened to safeguard his release. Clarkson sees this as the act of an overlord stepping-in on behalf of a subordinate kingdom and the possibility that the Mercian attack on Llangorse in 916 and the taking of royal hostages as an act of restoring Mercian dominance over Brycheiniog. The episode suggests growing tensions with her brother Edward.

Aethelflaed was now at the peak of her power, she had refortified Mercia and was now pushing into the Danelaw. In 917 she took Derby, the following year Leicester and York submitted peacefully, probably to avoid conflict with the Mercian military machine.

But by June that year Aethelflaed was dead. The Anglo Saxon Chronicle tells us she died at Tamworth without divulging any further information. The Winchester version, or ‘A’ text, of the Chronicle makes a rare mention of Athelflaed, stating “[Edward's] sister Æthelflæd at Tamworth departed twelve days before midsummer;”

Aethelred and Aethelflaed had only one child from their marriage, a daughter named Aelfwynn (meaning ‘Elf-friend’). If this had been a son, succession after Aethelred’s death would have been straightforward for Mercia but would have created complications for Wessex and a united England which brings us to chapter 9; ‘Niece and Uncle’.

The ‘A’ text continues, “...and then he [Edward] rode and took the stronghold of Tamworth, and all the nation of the land of Mercia that was earlier subject to Æthelflæd turned to him......”

Here, Clarkson tells us, the West Saxon chronicler has compressed a series of events into one short entry to deliberately avoid the political uncertainty created by Aethelflaed’s death. Whereas the author of the Mercian Register writes:

“Here also was the daughter of Aethelred, Lord of the Mercians, deprived of all authority in Mercia, and she was taken to Wessex three weeks before midwinter. She was called Aelfwynn.”

Clarkson notes the omission in the ‘A’ text of any reference to Aelfwynn’s authority over the Mercians, the West Saxon author implying that there was a swift transition from Aethelflaed to Edward. Admitting there is clearly bias on both sides, Clarkson ponders whether Edward’s takeover was welcomed by the Mercian elite, and if Aethelflaed herself had favoured the likelihood of a formal union of Wessex and Mercia following her passing?

Clarkson goes on to discuss these matters and the fate of Aelfwynn, the 'Second Lady of the Mercians' and suggests that Aethelflaed envisaged her daughter continuing her role as the sole ruler of Mercia, citing the immediate transfer of authority in June as evidence of this. He adds that the charter witnessed at Weardbyrig by Aelfwynn in 915 as evidence that Aethelflaed was raising the profile of her daughter while she gained experience of government in readiness to succeed her mother. Certainly the Mercian attack on Brycheiniog suggests Aethelflaed did not consider herself as subordinate to her brother Edward, and, significantly just before her death she had obtained the submission of York, the rulers of Northern England.

Clarkson argues that Edward could not have removed Aelfwynn without support from some Mercian factions. Perhaps this is correct but rather tellingly Edward’s reign would come to an end as he attempted to put down a Mercian uprising by the men of Chester in 924. Whatever the truth of Aelfwynn’s deposition, and its place leading up the unification of England, it is a fascinating episode worthy of further study.

The final chapter ‘Legacy’ details how we remember Aethelflaed today and how her profile has steadily grown over the last fifty years or so through academic journals and the writers of historical fiction. Finally, Clarkson recalls places we can see evidence of Aethelflaed from Runcorn in north Mercia to Gloucester in the south. And who could disagree with the author in his claim that the most recognisable modern image of Aethelflaed is the figure on top of the pillar at Tamworth Castle, sword in one hand, the other around her foster son, the young Aethelstan, first king of all England.

If you read just one book on Aethelflaed it has to be this, full of detail this must be the definitive study on the Mercian Queen. Highly recommended.

* * * 

Founder, Figher, Saxon Queen

Aethelflaed, Lady of the Mercians
Margaret C Jones

From the publisher:
“Alfred the Great s daughter defied all expectations of a well-bred Saxon princess. The first Saxon woman ever to rule a kingdom, Aethelflaed, Lady of the Mercians, led her army in battle against Viking invaders. She further broke with convention by arranging for her daughter to succeed her on the throne of Mercia. To protect her people and enable her kingdom in the Midlands to prosper, Aethelflaed rebuilt Chester and Gloucester, and built seven entirely new English towns. In so doing she helped shape our world today. This book brings Aethelflaed's world to life, from her childhood in time of war to her remarkable work as ruler of Mercia. The final chapter traces her legend, from medieval paintings to novels and contemporary art, illustrating the impact of a legacy that continues to be felt to this day.”

This year has been the 1,100th anniversary of the death of Aethelflaed, Lady of the Mercians, on 12th June 918 at Tamworth. The celebration of this remarkable warrior queen who fought the Vikings and won has seen several good books published over the last couple of years, where previously there was very little. This book is an easy, enjoyable read, aimed at the general audience and a welcome addition to the few accounts of Aethelfaled available.

This book Founder, Fighter, Saxon Queen: Aethelflaed, Lady of the Mercians by Margaret C Jones was published (Pen & Sword History) on 3rd August 2018 just after the celebrations at Gloucester and Tamworth during the summer came to end. However, the author delivered talks on the Saxon Queen at both Tamworth and Gloucester during July as part of the Aethelflaed 1100 celebrations.

The Preface discusses the problem of source material for Aethelflaed with Jones briefly reviewing the secondary sources, which until very recently consisted just of the works of FT Wainwright, Jane Wolfe and Don Stansbury, and up to date with last year’s contribution from Joanna Arman. Jones is surely correct when she states that Michael Wood's 2013 documentary for the BBC King Alfred and the Anglo Saxons, screened at the time that both Stafford and Tamworth celebrated 1,100 years since their foundation, has done more to raise the profile of the Lady of the Mercians with the general public “than a thousand printed pages”.

The first three chapters, A Wartime Childhood, Aethelflaed and her Sisters, Marriage, and the sixth chapter, Alfred’s Daughter, centres on her family and influences that moulded the personality of the young woman who was to become known as the Lady of the Mercians. This title alone underlines the fact that this princess from Wessex won over the hearts of the Mercians.

The middle section of the book, chapters Remaking Mercia and Lady of the Church, focuses on Aethelflaed’s achievements in Mercia, re-fortifying towns as burhs and building new, many went on to become urban centres. The cult of Royal Saints was an important part of Anglo Saxon religious belief but were also promoted for political reasons; in her new towns Aethelflaed introduced new cults: St Bertelin (Beorhthelm) at Stafford and Runcorn; St Werburgh at Chester; St Oswald at Gloucester; St Alkmund at Shrewsbury.

Chapter Seven returns to her family with Aethelflaed’s (Missing) Daughter and a discussion of her aspirations for her daughter and successor Aelfwynn. Yet, the reign of the Second Lady of the Mercians was short-lived. Just six months after her mother’s death at Tamworth in June, King Edward (The Elder) rode into Mercia and led her away into Wessex and she simply disappeared from the historical record. We know not of her fate.

The final chapter, Legacy and Legend, discusses how we remember Aethelflaed today, from medieval art to the subject of recent novels. Whereas the modern view tends to follow her near contemporary chroniclers in focusing on Aethelflaed’s military role as a Warrior Queen in support her brother Edward, Jones draws attention to the view that she pursued policies to make Mercia more independent from Wessex. Jones sees this bid for independence as a major factor in Edward’s prompt removal of Aelfwynn following Aethelflaed’s death. Edward’s relations with Mercia were clearly not good; in 1924 he died at Farndon on the Dee after putting down a rebellion at Chester.

The author closes with a summation of sites where you can find evidence of Aethelflaed’s work in the towns of the Midlands.

This book contains much useful information and discussion on the Mercian Queen. However, there are just a couple of little niggles. Owing to the lack of primary source material on Aethelflaed the author occasionally inserts “imagined short scenes”, as she calls them, to “evoke key moments” of her life. These conjectured interjections are unnecessary and detract from the value of the book as a serious composition.

Secondly, in a couple of places (Preface and Acknowledgements) the author refers to “The Making of Aethelflaed”. As these sections are usually written after completion of the main text I can only assume this was to be the original title for Jones' book which should have been updated by the editor before going to print as “Founder, Fighter, Saxon Queen”.

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The Uncrowned Queen: A Biography

“The success of Edward’s campaigns against the Danes depended to a great extent upon her co-operation. In the midlands and the north she came to dominate the political scene. And the way she used her influence helped to make possible the unification of England under kings of the West Saxon royal house. But her reputation has suffered from bad publicity, or rather from a conspiracy of silence among her West Saxon contemporaries.” - FT Wainwright, Æthelflæd, Lady of the Mercians.

Scandinavian England

Academic articles aside, until very recently there was very little information available for general readership regarding Æthelflæd, the Lady of the Mercians, Queen in all but name, and her role in the recovery of the Danelaw from the Vikings went relatively unnoticed; most sources credited the success of the Viking Wars to her father King Alfred the Great and her brother Edward the Elder.

An article by Frederick Threlfall Wainwright (1917 – 1961) in 1959 was the first to highlight Æthelflæd’s part in recovering Mercia: “Æthelflæd, Lady of the Mercians” in The Anglo-Saxons: Studies in Some Aspects of their History and Culture Presented to Bruce Dickins, ed. Peter Clemoes (Bowes and Bowes, 1959).

This article was published posthumously in 1975, with a collection of other significant articles by Wainwright in “Scandinavian England” (Phillimore) edited by Herbert (HPR) Finberg, highlighting the Scandinavian settlement of north-west England, which Wainwright saw as nothing less than a mass migration. Using place name evidence and O’Donovan’s 1860 translation of the Three Fragments he brought Ingimund’s story and the invasion of the Irish-Vikings in the north-west of England out from the shadows.

Other significant articles in Scandinavian England include: North-West Mercia AD 871-924 (1942); Ingimund’s Invasion (1948); The Scandinavians in Lancashire (1945). Sadly this collection does not include Wainwright’s article ‘The Chronology of the Mercian Register' (The English Historical Review, Volume LX, Issue CCXXXVIII, 1 September 1945, Pages 385–392), however, although now out of print this book should be in the library of anyone with an interest in Æthelflæd and the Viking Age in Britain.

The Lady who Fought the Vikings

After Wainwright there was no further popular works on Æthelflæd published for nearly another 20 years. ‘The Lady who Fought the Vikings’ (Imogen Books, 1993) by Don Stansbury received mixed reviews on publication, he was accused of being over creative and story telling in his efforts to reconstruct the life and times of Æthelflæd. Yet, it must be admitted there is very little historical information available on her and her husband, Æthelred, Ealdorman of Mercia.

Stansbury spends the first half of the book setting the scene and filling in the background to the Viking Wars, a period largely dominated by King Alfred and his construction of burhs in Wessex. This is not surprising as the primary text of the Anglo Saxon Chronicle, our main source for the period, was written in Winchester, the ‘A’ text, at the direction of Alfred himself we are led to believe. To that we can add Asser’s biography of the king and the list of burhs in Wessex (The Burghal Hidage) produced some years after Alfred’s death, 911-914.

Much of the first half of Asser’s Life of King Alfred is based on the entries in the Anglo Saxon Chronicle up to 887 and fails to record the battles with the Vikings in the 890s or the death of the king in 899 and was probably left unfinished.

Stanbury heavily references Asser’s work, it certainly is not much use to us in constructing an account of Æthelflæd and merely tells us she was Alfred’s oldest child who married Æthelred and the Mercian Viking conflict up to the division of the kingdom in 874. Stansbury makes no mention of The Chronicle of Aethelweard, edited by Alistair Campbell in 1962, essentially a Latin translation of a lost early version of the Anglo Saxon Chronicle.

However, that said there is very little primary source material available for Æthelflæd; her history is entirely absent from the 'A' text of the Anglo Saxon Chronicle which simply records her death in 918. Aethelweard does not include much information on Æthelflæd either; following the Winchester version of the Chronicle he merely mentions her passing and burial at Gloucester. So we find most of our primary Anglo Saxon sources silent on the achievements of the Lady of the Mercians.

Stansbury, like most commentators on the Æthelflæd story, is forced to rely on secondary sources, with the key text being Wainwright’s 1959 article. Yet, a series of entries found in alternative copies of the Anglo Saxon Chronicle, the 'B', 'C' and 'D' texts, focusing on the years spanning 902 to 924 termed 'The Mercian Register', or 'Annals of Æthelflæd' tells the story of the 'Lady of the Mercians' (Myrcna hlæfdige).

Stansbury spends some time discussing Gloucester and Worcester, perhaps the two key sites in Æthelflæd's story. He then moves onto ‘Defending the North’ detailing the burh at Shrewsbury in 901, an episode often ignored, and the translation of the obscure Anglo Saxon Saint Alkmund. He then moves onto Chester and the arrival of Ingimund in 902. Before concluding Stansbury discusses the Æthelflædian burhs at Bremesburh, Scergeat, Bridgnorth, Tamworth, Stafford, Eddisbury and Warwick before a brief analysis of the last three burhs constructed in 915 at Chirbury, Weardburh and Runcorn. Now that the Mercian borders were secure Æthelflæd turned to the recovery of the Danelaw working in conjunction with her brother Edward, launching attacks into the Danelaw from the Mercian burhs. In 917 Derby submitted, followed in 918 by Leicester and York.

Stansbury closes with Æthelflæd’s death 12 days before midsummer at Tamworth and a brief mention of Edward taking her successor and daughter Ælfwynn into Wessex three weeks before Christmas before summing up Edward’s recovery of the Danelaw and then the ascension of Æthelstan, the first king of all England, who as a boy was fostered at the Mercian court by Æthelflæd. And that is Æthelflæd’s story.

Stansbury’s book was the first full biography of Æthelflæd; in essence the story hasn’t changed in subsequent accounts although modern scholarship has produced more detail, particularly on the archaeology of the Mercian burhs.

Aethelflaed: Royal Lady, War Lady

Eight years after Stansbury’s book Fenris Press published a little book of just 35 pages by Jane Wolfe entitled ‘Aethelflaed: Royal Lady, War Lady’ (2001), “aimed at the general reader, to give Æthelflæd the place in history that she clearly deserves.”

Wolfe’s all too brief account tells the story of Æthelflæd and how she built or refortified 10 defensive burhs to protect Mercia against the Vikings and includes the raid into Wales in 916 in retaliation for the murder of an Abbot. The booklet includes a map of the Boundaries of Mercia, Wessex and the Danelaw C. 900, and a Plan of Chester in the 10th century. Appendices include Æthelflæd's Burhs and Genealogy of the Kings of Wessex.

From a limited print run this rare booklet has obtained cult status and now as rare as finding Unicorn doodah in your garden! Grab a copy if you get chance.

England's Forgotten Queen
These three books were all the popular reader had since Wainwright’s article  Æthelflæd, Lady of the Mercians back in 1959. With so little primary source material available and author’s often accused of conjecture and story telling to fill out the gaps perhaps fiction is the best way to reconstruct the story of Aethelflaed?

At the turn of the 21st century the writers of historical fiction turned their attention to Æthelflæd’s story with Bernard Cornwell producing The Last Kingdom (2005) series telling the tale of Alfred the Great and his descendants (Aethelflaed features in Book 4, Sword Song, 2007), now a major television series available on Netflix, and Annie Whitehead’s novel To Be A Queen (2013)  said to be the true story of Aethelflaed, the Lady of the Mercians, to name just two of many.

2017 saw the publication of two new historical works: The Warrior Queen: The Life and Legend of Æthelflæd, Daughter of Alfred the Great by Joanna Arman and Æthelflæd, Lady of the Mercians: The battle of Tettenhall 910AD; and other West Mercian studies by David Horovitz.

I first came across David Horovitz in researching the Stafford place name. His book on Æthelflæd is over 700 pages long and not a quick read, but it is full of very detailed information. Arman’s debut book is aimed more at the general reader and has received excellent reviews and is highly recommended.

2018 saw the Æthelflæd 1100 celebrations marking 1,100 years since her death at Tamworth which no doubt inspired the production of two further historical works: Æthelflæd: Lady of the Mercians by Tim Clarkson and Founder, Fighter, Saxon Queen: Aethelflaed, Lady of the Mercians by Margaret C Jones. It seems the forgotten story of the Uncrowned Mercian Queen is finally getting out there and this remarkable Lady is now getting the recognition for her decisive part in the fight against the Vikings.

Perhaps aware of the gap in the market with the unavailability of Jane Wolfe’s  booklet, in February 2019 Penguin are due to publish Æthelflæd: England’s Forgotten Founder by Tom Holland. This little book (around 50 pages) is part of the new Ladybird Expert Series which retain the classic Ladybird style that anyone as old as me will remember from early school days. These Ladybird books were often the very first books we, and then our children, came across with a page of (large) text and pictures opposite. The publisher claims the books are the “same iconic small hardback format, artwork is gloriously retro, echoing the original Ladybird style but containing completely up to date information designed for an adult readership”.

Holland recently wrote on Æthelstan (2016) for the Penguin Monarchs series; the new book promises to tell the epic history of England's forgotten Queen, pulling her out of the shadowy history of the dark ages.

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Britons and Anglo-Saxons - Lincolnshire AD 400-650

A new book by Thomas Green, due publication in September, argues that British political control in the Lincoln region survived into the sixth century.

Britons and Anglo-Saxons: Lincolnshire AD 400 - 650
Thomas Green

No 3 in Studies in the History of Lincolnshire Series
Published by the History of Lincolnshire Committee, 18 September 2012

Hardcover: 336 pages
ISBN-10: 0902668242
ISBN-13: 978-0902668249

Paperback: 336 pages
ISBN-10: 0902668250
ISBN-13: 978-0902668256

Offering an interdisciplinary approach to the study of Dark Age Lincolnshire during the period between c. 400 and 650 AD, reviewing not only the archaeological evidence, but also the availabe historical, literary and linguistic information for the period. Green argues that by using all of this material together, significant advances can be made in our understanding of events during this period, particularly Anglian-British interaction. When taken together, this evidence suggests that a British polity named *Lindēs was based at Lincoln into the sixth century, going on to have an intimate connection to the seventh-century Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Lindsey (Old English Lindissi).

A British Polity in the Lincoln Region
The main focus of Britons and Anglo-Saxons is on the post-Roman period, and specifically tackles the question of Anglian-British interaction in eastern Britain. Green argues that there is now a significant body of evidence to suggest that the former Late Roman provincial capital of Lincoln retained its centrality into the post-Roman period, becoming the focus of a British polity known as *Lindēs which probably survived up to the fifth century and at least into the sixth. A large quantity of British high-status metalwork is known from fifth- to sixth-century Lincolnshire and during the same period the old Roman forum at Lincoln appears to have been used by the British as a Christian church. Significantly, this fifth- to sixth-century British polity appears to have been able to control the Anglo-Saxon immigrants arriving in its territory, up until the early sixth century and eventually succumbing to Anglo-Saxon control, the region became the seventh-century kingdom of Lindissi (the name derived from *Lindēs).

The Origins of Lindisfarne and the Kingdom of Bernicia
Britons and Anglo-Saxons claims to provide a detailed analysis of the nature of the Anglo-Saxon population-groups that were present in the Lincoln region from the mid-fifth century onwards, including those of *Lindēs-Lindissi and also groups further south, such as the Spalde/Spaldingas. Arguing that the emerging picture of Anglian-British interaction, if repeated throughout the Anglo-Saxon regions would have a significant bearing on the origins of Anglo-Saxon kingdoms, the nature and extent in the core areas of Anglo-Saxon immigration, and the conquest and settlement of Northumbria.

Green presents the case for the island of Lindisfarne being originally settled by Anglo-Saxon migrants from Lincolnshire, which he argues provides the most credible interpretation of the etymology for the name of the Northumbrian island as the Lindisfaran were a major Anglo-Saxon population-group based in the Lincoln region. Further, he suggest that that the arrival of the Lindisfaran could be identical with the arrival of the founders of the kingdom of Bernicia.

Table of Contents:
Foreword: Dr Kevin Leahy (The Anglo-Saxon Kingdom of Lindsey, 2008) acknowledges Green's latest monograph as breaking new ground, presenting a new approach to the history of the Lincoln region in the post-Roman period.
Introduction:  Previous Approaches, Sources and Methodology
Chapter 1  The Context of Post-Roman Lincolnshire
Chapter 2  The British Country of *Lindēs
Chapter 3  Anglian-British Interaction and the End of the ‘Country of *Lindēs’
Chapter 4  Lindissi and the Legacy of *Lindēs
Chapter 5  The Population-Groups of Early Anglo-Saxon Lincolnshire
Chapter 6  Lindisfarne, the Lindisfaran, and the Origins of Anglo-Saxon Northumbria
Conclusion  The Significance of *Lindēs and Lindissi

PRE-PUBLICATION OFFER
Britons and Anglo-Saxons is due to be published on 18 September 2012 in both hardback and paperback (336 pages, ISBNs 978-0-902668-24-9 and 978-0-902668-25-6). The book can now be pre-ordered from the publishers at a discount of 25% off the cover price available through a link on the author's website Thomas Green Arthuriana - a saving of 25% on the published prices of £29.95 hbk and £17.95 pbk. Orders must be received before the launch date of 18 September 2012.

"This volume breaks new ground. It offers an interdisciplinary approach to the history of the Lincoln region in the post-Roman period, drawing together a wide range of sources. In particular, it indicates that a British polity named Lindes was based at Lincoln into the sixth century, and that the seventh-century Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Lindsey had an intimate connection to this British political unit." - Society for Lincolnshire History and Archaeology

Dr Thomas Green lives in Lincolnshire and is currently undertaking research at the University of Oxford, where he recently completed his doctoral thesis. He maintains the Arthuriana website specialising in studies in early Medieval history and legend. Much of the Arthurian material from the website is available as Arthuriana: Early Arthurian Tradition and the Origins of the Legend as a print-on-demand book or a PDF download. Much of this material formed the basis of his book Concepts of Arthur: the Nature of the Early Arthurian Legend (Tempus, 2008), both essential reading for students of  the early Arthurian legend.


See: ‘The British Kingdom of Lindsey’ by Thomas Green, a detailed study of the historical, archaeological, literary and linguistic evidence for a post-Roman British kingdom in the Lincoln region. [A version of the paper that originally appeared in Cambrian Medieval Celtic Studies, 56 (2008), pp.1–43]

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Glastonbury and the Grail

Next month sees the publication of a new book on Glastonbury and the Grail, Justin E. Griffin's third book in his investigations of the Grail legend:

Glastonbury and the Grail
Did Joseph of Arimathea Bring the Sacred Relic to Britain?
Justin E Griffin
ISBN: 978-0-7864-6582-8
Paperback, photos, bibliography, index
McFarland, due publication1st September 2012

From the publisher: “Glastonbury, a small town in Somerset, England, stands at the epicentre of a longstanding tradition placing the Holy Grail in Britain. Legend holds that Joseph of Arimathea travelled to Britain, bringing with him both a gathering of followers and the cup that Jesus used at the last supper. He is said to have buried the Grail at Glastonbury, where some claim he founded the first church in England. This volume chronicles one man’s personal quest to find historical evidence supporting the traditional beliefs surrounding Joseph of Arimathea and the Holy Grail in southern England. Bolstered by an abundance of evidence supporting the presence of Joseph in 1st Century Britain, he separates his findings from the fantasy of the Grail Romances, answering questions about the Grail and the origins and progressions of its legend.”

Griffin's first two books, The Holy Grail (McFarland 2001) and The Grail Procession (McFarland, 2004) received mixed reviews, with Griffin, who professes to quest for the 'Historical Grail', accused of stretching possibility and conjecture, representing it as fact. Griffin appears to accept that all written sources provide historically factual evidence, and ultimately he combines the grail texts with the history of the Pelagian heresy in Britain which he argues is a factual retelling of the legend of the Fisher King, claiming it is the actual life of Pelagius on whom King Pelles of the Grail Legend is based.

In his first book, The Holy Grail: the Legend, the History, the Evidence, Griffin examines the legitimacy of the claims of several modern day claimants with chapters on The Spear of Destiny, The Historical Grail Candidates, The Santo Caliz of Valencia, The Nanteos cup,  and comes up with a theory of multiple grails.

In Griffin's second book, The Grail Procession: The Legend, the Artifacts, and the Possible Sources of the Story, in addition to the sacred artefacts tied to the Passion of Christ, the Holy Grail, the Holy Lance, that pierced Christ’s side, the sword that was used to behead John the Baptist, and the dish from the Last Supper, he examines the forgotten relics of the Grail Procession using material omitted from his first book. Griffin comes to the conclusion that the Grail Hallows did exist as archaeological relics and the legends surrounding the Grail Hallows are reputed to uphold the theory that the blood of Christ was taken west by Joseph of Arimathea following the crucifixion.

Now, in his third outing, Glastonbury and the Grail: Did Joseph of Arimathea Bring the Sacred Relic to Britain? Griffin follows the trail of Joseph of Arimathea to Britain, Griffin inevitably arrives at the Mysteries of Glastonbury, the enigmatic Somerset town, site of the Abbey and King Arthur's grave. There was certainly a cult of St Joseph of Arimathea at Glastonbury, instigated by Abbot Chinnock, in the late fourteenth century. But it wasn't until Abbot Bere constructed the crypt, known as St. Joseph's Chapel, beneath the Lady Chapel, c.1500 AD, that the cult became a major attraction.

Traditionally, the twelve Hides of Land of the Church of Glastonbury, descend from an original grant given to Joseph of Arimathaea, by King Arviragus (10 -74 AD). The Glastonbury tradition claims that, after arriving in Britain in 63 AD, Joseph pushed his staff into the ground on Wearyall Hill and this grew into the Glastonbury Thorn, flowering every Christmas.

Hopefully Griffin will delve into the Prophecy of Melkin the bard which appears for the first time in John of Glastonbury's fourteenth century "Chronicle". According to the prophecy, Joseph of Armimathea established the first Christian church at Glastonbury and carried with him 2 cruets of Christ's blood and sweat which are buried with him at Glastonbury, “linea bifurcata”; yet the jury is still out as to whether this is a reference to a linen shirt or a forked line.

The early thirteenth century Perlesvaus, or The High History of the Holy Grail, puts the Grail firmly at Glastonbury. Katherine Maltwood, commissioned to illustrate Perlesvaus,  became convinced that the adventures of the knights of the Round Table corresponded to places in the Vale of Avalon. A fragment of the Perlesvaus manuscript found at Wells cathedral lends support to the claims that it was written at Glastonbury Abbey.

But the Glastonbury tradition of Joseph of Arimathea really starts when Robert de Boron, wrote his "Joseph d'Arimathie", in the late twelfth century, thus Christianising Chretien's pagan "graal" and transforming it into the vessel of the Last Supper, a theme continued in the Vulgate's "Estoire del Saint Graal,” that produced "The Holy Grail" for the first time.

 Robert is the first author to give the Holy Grail myth an explicitly Christian dimension. According to him, Joseph of Arimathea used the vessel of the Last Supper vessel to catch the blood from Jesus's body as he hung on the cross. Joseph is imprisoned by angry Jews and sustained for forty years solely by the Grail.  Following his release he leaves for foreign lands in the west, presumed to be Britain, with a party of Christians. Eventually the party arrive at vaus d'Avaron, the valleys of Avaron (Avalon?) although Joseph is not recorded as travelling on this last part of the journey, where the Grail is entrusted to a succession of keepers. And a legend was born.

However, we must bear in mind that the Grail texts cannot be considered historical accounts. For this we are limited to the letter of  St. Augustine (d. 604 AD) to Pope Gregory which states that there was a church in the west of Britain that was divinely constructed for the salvation of His people. This has been interpreted as evidence that Christ himself built the first church at Glastonbury, inevitably accompanied by his uncle Joseph of Arimathea.  Added to which we have the statement from Gildas that Britain “received the beams of light, that is, the holy precepts of Christ, the true Sun” during the reign of Tiberius Caesar, (Emperor from 14 AD to 37 AD). It should be interesting reading.

This is the book of thy descent, here begins the book of the Holy Grail,
here begin the terrors, here begin the marvels.

* * *

Revealing King Arthur

'Many tales are told and many legends have been invented about King Arthur and his mysterious ending. In their stupidity the British people maintain that he is still alive. Now that the truth is known......The fairy tales have been snuffed out, and the true and indubitable facts are made known, so that what really happened must be made crystal clear to all and separated from the myths that have accumulated on the subject.' [1]

Did King Arthur really exist? Does the Arthur that we read of in the ninth-century sources have any link to a real leader of the fifth or sixth century? Was Arthur a powerful king or a Dark Age general co-cordinating the British resistance to Saxon invaders?

In an attempt to answer these perpetual questions The Reign of Arthur: From History to Legend by Christopher Gidlow (The History Press 2004) takes a fresh look at the early sources describing Arthur's career and compares them to the reality of Britain in the fifth and sixth centuries. Gidlow presents, for the first time, both the most up to date scholarship with a convincing case for the existence of a real sixth-century British general called Arthur.

Gidlow carefully examines the source-material for Arthur as far as Geoffrey of Monmouth's "History of the Kings of Britain", and presents a lucid and compelling case for Arthur's historical existence, whilst acknowledging the progressive accretion of folkloric and legendary material around that name.

Detailed analysis of the key Arthurian sources, contemporary testimony and archaeology reveals the reality of fragmented British kingdoms uniting under a single military command to defeat the Saxons. There is plausible and convincing evidence for the existence of their war-leader, and, in this challenging and provocative work, Gidlow concludes that the Dark Age hypothesis of Arthur, War-leader of the Kings of the Britons, not only fits the facts, but it is the only way of making sense of them.

Contents
List of Illustrations
Acknowledgements
Introduction: Who was King Arthur?

Part One: From History
1. In the Reign of King Arthur...
2. Arthur Fought against Them in those Days
3. The Strife of Camlann
4. The Destruction of Britain
5. Tyrants and Kings
6. The King of the Britons

Part Two: Into Legend
7. Arthur's Brave Men
8. Lives of the Saints
9. Geoffrey of Monmouth
10. Arthur, King of Britian

Epilogue: Digging Up Arthur - Glastonbury 1990
Conclusion: The Reign of Arthur?
Bibliography
Index

The first part of The Reign of Arthur, “From History”, examines the source material in chronological order, Gildas, Nennius, the Welsh Annals and such, in the light of the latest historical research the author comes up with several surprising and persuasive insights.

The second part of the book, "To Legend," discusses later, rather dubious, source material, from the Mabinogion to the Saints' Lives through to Geoffrey of Monmouth, including the magical deeds of the legendary Arthur, turning him into a figure first of folklore, then eventually of chivalric romance, adding to our understanding of how Arthur came to be viewed primarily as a figure out of legend.

Christopher Gidlow, an Oxford history graduate and honorary life member of the Oxford Arthurian Society, has his second Arthurian book Revealing King Arthur: Swords, Stones and Digging for Camelot due Publication on 1st May 2010 by The History Press.

Notes:
1. Gerald of Wales, Speculum Ecclesiae, 1216 - (translated by Richard White in King Arthur in Legend and History) From the Back cover: The Reign of Arthur: From History to Legend by Christopher Gidlow , The History Press 2004.

* * *