The annals comprising the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle record events, people and places 60BC to AD1154 often not recorded elsewhere. As the Chronicle progresses the entries for some years become more detailed and sometimes include commentaries on events and people by the scribes themselves.
Whilst recognising its inaccuracies and omissions, its bias and limitations given its monkish authorship and its likely late ninth century West Saxon origin, a study of its content can lead to a whole new line of investigation into some hidden gems of history. Gesithas living in different parts of the country will undoubtedly be able to enhance our individual knowledge of events, people and places through their specialist interests and by familiarity with local sites and material and even local legends, so often found to have some basis in fact. Withowinde is a vehicle for expanding our knowledge and stimulating wider interest with the assistance of the Chronicle.
A reminder of origin and what now survives
The Chronicle, written between the end of the ninth century and the middle of the twelfth century, was in Old English rather than Latin even though it is likely that none of the documents consulted in its compilation were written in English. Nine versions, numbered “A” to “I”, survive in whole or in part; only a few leaves of version “G” survive due to it being burnt in the fire at Ashburnham House in 1731 where it formed part of the Cotton Library. Each version was written by a number of scribes with the exception of version “B” which was written by a single scribe, and version “E” which was written by a single scribe until a second scribe made the entries for the years 1132-1154. Version “F” has a Latin translation of each entry, and version “E” has the last entry written in Middle English – one of the earliest examples of this development in the language. It is thought that all nine versions derive from a common original – no longer extant – with variations caused by the use of additional material, such as Bede’s “Ecclesiastical History of the English People”, the “Annals of St Neots”, the Mercian Register, the “Battle of Brunanburh” poem and versions of the Chronicle, including the northern version, which have probably not survived. Versions “A”, “G” (sometimes referred to as “A2” or “W”) and “H” were probably made at Winchester, versions “B” and “C” at Abingdon, version “D” at Worcester, version “E” at Peterborough, and versions “F” and “I” at Canterbury. Seven of these manuscripts are now housed in the British Library. Version “A”, the “Parker” (named after Matthew Parker, Archbishop of Canterbury 1559-1575 and Master of Corpus Christi College) or “Winchester” Chronicle is housed in Corpus Christi College, Cambridge. Version “E”, the Laud” (named after William Laud, Archbishop of Canterbury 1633-1654) or “Peterborough” Chronicle is housed in the Bodleian Library, Oxford.
Content Summary
The Chronicle records events including the first landings of the Anglo-Saxons and Jutes in England, the appointment, succession and deaths of kings, churchmen and important lay people, the conversion of England to Christianity, battles between kings and the nascent kingdoms of England, battles against the Picts, Welsh, Irish, Scots, the Vikings, the Normans and the French.
Some entries provide a commentary, for example:
999 – “Time after time the more urgent a thing was the greater delay from one hour to the next, and all the while they were allowing the strength of their enemies to increase; and as they kept retreating from the sea, so the enemy followed close on their heels. So in the end these naval and land preparations were a complete failure, and succeeded only in adding to the distress of the people, wasting money, and encouraging their enemy.”
1043 – After Edward is crowned king he confiscates from his mother Queen Emma of Normandy all the lands, gold and silver and all that she possessed because “she had been too tight-fisted with him”.
1085 – The Domesday Book and King William. “So very thoroughly did he have the inquiry carried out that there was not a single “hide”, not one virgate of land, not even – it is shameful to record it, but it did not seem shameful to him to do – not even one ox, nor one cow, nor one pig, which escaped notice in his survey.”
The Chronicle also records a variety of matters impacting on the population including increases in the price of wheat, great famines, the destruction of crops, eclipses of the sun and moon and the arrival of comets, severe winters with frost and snow and widespread storms, dry summers with wildfire and even an earthquake. Some entries are fuller than others, and whilst accepting they may have been within the personal experience of the scribe rather than simply a record, they do provide a greater insight to the mindset and experience of people living at that time. For example, on the 28 September 1014 “the swollen incoming tide swept far and wide through many places in this land; and it ran further inland than it had ever done before, and submerged many homesteads and drowned a countless number of human beings”; in 1046 “severe winter with frost and snow and widespread storms: it was so severe that no living man could remember another like it, because of the mortality of both men and cattle; both birds and fish perished because of the hard frost and from hunger”; in 1105 complaints about “the numerous taxes from which there was no relief”; and in 1114 “an ebb-tide which was everywhere lower than any man remembered before; so people went riding and walking across the Thames to the east of London Bridge”.
What interests you?
Which individual years and their contents are the most interesting and informative is a matter of personal choice. From a rich array of material, in order to illustrate what might spur one to further activity, I have set out a few examples with some questions, in italics, below – the spellings and dates are those used in the Chronicle:
656 - King Wulhere of Mercia provides a charter for the monastery at Medeshamstede dedicated to St Peter. (With the later addition of a burgh the town became St Peter’s Burgh – Peterborough). The charter is witnessed by King Oswy of Northumbria, King Sigehere and King Sebbie (joint kings of Essex) and Wulhere’s brother and sisters, among others. The charter was blessed by Pope Vitalian in Rome. The monastery at Medeshamstede was where at least one version of the Chronicle, “E”, was written. What is known about these people; does Peterborough Cathedral/Museum/Town commemorate this charter, this important Anglo-Saxon monastery and the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle?
672 - King Cenwalh of Wessex died and was succeeded by his Queen Seaxburh. What is known about her; under what circumstances did a queen succeed to a throne in Anglo-Saxon England?
912 – 921 Entries relating to Æthelflæd, “Lady of the Mercians”, who builds fortresses at Scergeat (location unidentified) and at Bridgnorth, Tamworth and Stafford. Sends an army into Wales and takes Brecenanmere (at Llangorse Lake, near Brecon). Captures Derby and Leicester, the Danes in the East Midlands and in the York area submit to her. She is buried in the east chapel of St Peter’s Church in Gloucester (Gloucester Cathedral). What is known of Æthelflæd; is there a biography of her; is she commemorated in any of these towns; where is “Scergeat”; does any evidence of the burhs identified survive; what commemoration is there of Æthelflæd in Gloucester Cathedral; where was she born; where did she live?
926 – On 12 July King Athelstan receives the submission of all the kings on the island (of Britain), Hywel, King of the West Welsh, Constantine, King of Scots, Owain, King of Gwent, and Ealdred Ealdulfing from Bamburgh (Northumberland). These rulers “established a covenant of peace with pledges and oaths at a placed called Eamont Bridge (Cumbria): they forbade all idolatrous practices, and then separated in concord.” What is known of these people who submitted to Athelstan; what impact did these individuals have on Anglo-Saxon England; is the peace treaty at Eamont Bridge commemorated in any way; what were the idolatrous practices referred to; why were they such a cause of concern at this time?
973 – Coronation of King Edgar at Bath on Sunday 11 May after which King Edgar leads all his fleet to Chester where six kings made submission to him and “pledged themselves to be his fellow workers by sea and land”. Is this coronation commemorated in any way locally; what is known of the kings who submitted to Edgar; what impact did these individuals have on Anglo-Saxon England; is there any commemoration of these events in Chester?
978 – At a meeting of the leading councillors of England the upper storey of a building at Calne (Wiltshire) collapsed resulting in the injury and death of several people. The entry records that Archbishop Dunstan “alone remained standing on a beam”. Apart from drawing attention to Dunstan’s sanctity, this entry is often used as proof that secular buildings as well as churches had more than one storey at this time; can the site of this building now be identified; are there any other references or records of other two-storey-or-more buildings; can their sites now be identified – the hall at Bosham (Sussex) depicted in the Bayeux tapestry is another example?
1000 – King Æthelred marches into Cumberland and lays waste most of the county. His fleet go to Chester but are unable to contact him as planned and so they harry the Isle of Man. What records exist of where Æthelred went in Cumberland or where the sailors from his fleet went in the Isle of Man; is there any commemoration locally of the people and places involved in these events?
1014 – King Swein dies on 2 February. The English councillors in England send for King Æthelred “if only he would govern his kingdom more justly than he had done in the past”. King Æthelred agreed to address their concerns and “a complete and friendly agreement was reached and ratified with word and pledge on either side”. This agreement is sometimes cited as the prototype Magna Carta; what is the detail; who were the signatories – what role did they play in future events; was it used as source material when Magna Carta was drafted; was it cited as the precedent by proponents of Magna Carta?
1017 or 1020 – Eadwig, “king of the peasants” is banished and killed. Who was Eadwig; where did he come from; what did he do; were the peasants in revolt at that time, did they band together, and if so why; why did Eadwig and why did this occasion warrant a mention in the Chronicle; why not others on other occasions; what was so significant about Eadwig?
1046 – Earl Swein (the eldest son of Earl Godwine) successfully leads an army from Herefordshire into South Wales with King Gruffyd. On return he abducts, but eventually releases, the abbess of Leominster (Herefordshire). 1049 – King Edward and the whole army declare Earl Swein to be a “nithing” (a man without honour). Earl Swein sails to Bruges and spends the winter with Baldwin, Count of Flanders. What is known of Swein; is there a biography of him; what is known about his relationship with his father, his brother Earl Harold and his cousin Beorn (who he murders); his time spent in Scandinavia; his pilgrimage and his death on 29 September 1052 in Constantinople? Is he commemorated anywhere; who was the abbess of Leominster; what is known of her; what is known about his campaigns in Wales and the relationship with the Welsh King Gruffyd; how much use was made of declaring someone a nithing – is this equivalent to declaring him an outlaw, what special significance is there in a “nithing”?
1054 – Earl Siward of Northumbria invades Scotland and defeats King Macbeth of Scotland (Shakespeare’s Macbeth in which Earl Siward features). What is known about the people and places involved in these events; what was the relationship between Northumbria and Scotland at that time; where were the borders between the two?
1055 – The outlawed Ælfgar, son of Earl Leofric, raises levies from Ireland and Wales and attacks Hereford; “the English fled, because they had been made to fight on horseback” (by Earl Ralph the Frenchman). Does this mean that the Frenchmen in this country before 1066 tried to train significant numbers of their English levies to fight on horseback; were any lessons learnt which might have benefited the English in their later confrontations with the Normans; did no English leader try to train some of their men to fight on horseback?
1065 – The campaigns in Wales by Harold and Tostig. What is known of the detail of this campaign; the people and places involved; are any of the people or events now commemorated in the locality; what was the relationship between Anglo-Saxon England and Wales; how did it evolve and what were the consequences and impact on events recorded in the Chronicle?
1066 – “Leofric, abbot of Peterborough, took part in this campaign, and there fell ill and returned home; he died soon afterwards on the eve of All Saints (31 October). Leofric was the nephew of Earl Leofric of Coventry and Lady Godiva was his aunt. Leofric is one of an number of people who can be identified as having taken part in the autumn campaigns of 1066, what is known of Leofric; is he commemorated anywhere; what others who took part in the campaigns of 1006 are named elsewhere; what is known of them; and are any commemorated?
1073 – King William leads “an English and French host oversea, and conquered the province of Maine, and the English laid it completely waste; they destroyed the vineyards, burnt down the towns, and completely devastated the countryside, and brought it all into subjection to William”. What is known of this campaign and the people and places involved; are they commemorated anywhere?
1091 – When Malcolm, King of Scotland hears that an army is approaching “he left Scotland and went into Lothian in England with his levies and there waited”. What were the borders between Northumbria and Scotland at this time; how extensive was “Lothian in England”; what was the extent of Northumbria in modern day Scotland; what and where is the evidence today?
1097 – “Earl Hugh was slain in Anglesey by pirates”. The leader of the “pirates” was Magnus Bareleg, King of Norway, the son of Harald Hardrada. He was accompanied by Harold, son of King Harold II. The two sons of the vanquished and victor at Stamford Bridge. What is known about this Harold and the activities of the children of King Harold; are they commemorated anywhere?
1137 – King Stephen’s reign introduced a tax, “tenserie”, which was protection money paid by villages to save their homes and crops being plundered and their livestock taken by armies operating in their area. Apparently this was a local rather than national tax such as Dane geld; is this the first time such a tax was levied; something similar might have been paid by the inhabitants of these islands when the English first arrived or during the Viking raids and invasions; what evidence is there for similar earlier payments?
….. and finally
I hope the references and questions above may be of some interest and trigger future contributions to Withowinde by gesithas. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle is such a rich source of material to prompt and widen interest; it is a shame not to put it to good use!
In producing this article use was made of The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle translated by G N Garmonsway. The New Edition was first published in 1972 and there have been a number of further reprints.
June 21st, 2010
