Whether this happened immediately after his death is not recorded. We learn from Bede that Rædwald succeeded Æthelberht as Bretwalda. " The first king to hold the like sovereignty was Ælla, king of the South Saxons the second was Caelin, King of the West Saxons, known in their own language as Ceawlin the third, as we have said, was Æthelberht, king of Kent the fourth was Rædwald, King of the East Angles, who even during the life of King Æthelberht was gaining the leadership for his own race the fifth was Edwin, Kind of the Northumbrians, the nation inhabiting the district north of the Humber." Just before Bede discusses Æthelberht’s death he recounts his role as Bretwalda (a sort of high king) and lists the first five Kings who held this title, including Rædwald of East-Anglia: We learn a little about Æthelberht’s death and what happened next from Bede in his Ecclesiastical History of the English People. It is markedly different to the burial at Sutton Hoo, which is thought to be that of King Rædwald of East-Anglia, which probably occurred a little later. With the spread of Christianity, customs around burials changed, as is reflected in how Æthelberht was interned. Cremations would have also occurred with the most widespread form of burial being the simple inhumation which didn’t require as much equipment and time. These beliefs influenced the burying of the dead for the rich and wealthy these would have included burials such as the one at Sutton Hoo and would have included grave goods, items that might be needed in the afterlife. Up until the Gregorian Mission it was mostly Northern European pagan beliefs that were practiced by Anglo-Saxons in England. F ollow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram to see them first.Īt this point in history the nature of burials was slowly changing in line with the changes of religious beliefs.
#Helm of raedwald item number series
These scenes were built by James Pegrum as part of a series of models on early Anglo-Saxon England.
The matter of Edwins future did not end there though and we will pick up the unravelling of his story in our next blog – Game of Thrones eat your heart out!
What the bribes consisted of us is kept from us, did it include particularly valuable swords, gold fittings or coins such as those found at Sutton Hoo? Whatever those brides consisted of and where they ended up the fate of Edwin was not sealed with this second change of mind from Rædwald and he reverts back to his first decision to protect Edwin albeit after persuasion from his Mrs Rædwald who must have been some woman! Sadly, we don’t know her name - the impression painted by Bede is that she had significant influence on Rædwald having convinced him to keep with his old faith and not to betray Edwin. “ The king, being either weakened by his threats or corrupted by bribes, yielded to his request and promised either to slay Edwin or to give him up to the messengers.” Unsurprisingly Æthelfrith is not willing to forget the exiled heir to Deira and tries to bribe Rædwald to kill him or hand him over, at first he is unsuccessful. Rædwald received him gladly, promising to do what he asked.” “ He (Edwin) wandered secretly as a fugitive for many years through many places and kingdoms, until at last he came to Rædwald and asked him for protection against the plots of his powerful persecutor (Æthelfrith). During his time running from Æthelfrith, Edwin turned to Rædwald for protection. During Æthelfrith’s reign he ruled over both Deira and Bernicia, which together became the Kingdom of Northumbria. Edwin was the son of Ælla, King of Deira and was forced into exile by Æthelfrith, king of Bernicia. Thankfully this gives us a small glimpse into events in East Anglia when a young man, Edwin, is an exile in East Anglia. As Bede was from Northumbria it’s not unsurprising that there is a heightened focus on this particular Kingdom and there is more comparatively written about Edwin King of Northumbria than Rædwald. We learn from Bede that Rædwald’s power and influence extended over the River Humber into the Kingdom of Northumbria, which would have a longer impact and in time may have gone some way to forming the notion and reality of a nation – England. It is possible that Rædwald’s palace was a busy place with messengers from the other kingdoms who he may have entertained at the occasional banquet from time to time. We have limited records on the relationships between these kingdoms and there was most likely a complex murky world with dominance and subservience. The day-to-day life of Rædwald is lost to us, though we do get a small glimpse into his relationships with some of the other kingdoms in the Heptarchy – the seven different kingdoms that would in time form England.
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