Criticism of Æthelfrith of Northumbria
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Later in his reign, probably between 613 and 616,[1] Æthelfrith attacked the Kingdom of Powys,[2] also massacring the monks of Bangor-Is-Coed who were assembled to aid the Britons by their prayers. Bede says that he decided to attack them because, although they were not armed, they were opposing him through their prayers. The number of dead monks was said to be about 1200, with only fifty escaping.[3] It has been suggested that Æthelfrith may have done this for tactical reasons, to catch the Britons by surprise and force them to change their plans in order to protect the monks.[4] After first killing the monks, Æthelfrith prevailed over the enemy army, although Bede notes that Æthelfrith's own forces suffered considerable loss.[5] Stenton noted that Bede was mainly concerned with the massacre of the monks and does not indicate that he regarded the battle as a historical "turning-point".[6]
Rivals
The Deiran exile Hereric was poisoned while at the court of Ceretic, king of Elmet; Æthelfrith may have been responsible for this killing.[7] Edwin ended up in East Anglia, under the protection of its king, Raedwald. Æthelfrith sent messengers to bribe Raedwald with "a great sum of money" into killing Edwin; Bede reports that his first message had no effect, but Æthelfrith sent more messengers and threatened war if Raedwald did not comply. (Bribes and threats of this kind may have previously been used to accomplish Hereric's killing.[8]) Raedwald eventually agreed to kill Edwin or hand him over to Æthelfrith's messengers, but was reportedly dissuaded from this by his wife, who said that such a thing was unworthy of his honour. Raedwald then raised an army and marched against Æthelfrith, and around 616 Æthelfrith was defeated and killed on the east side of the River Idle by an army under Raedwald; Bede says that Æthelfrith had the inferior army, because Raedwald had not given him time to bring all his forces together.[9] While presented by Bede as being fought simply over the issue of Edwin, this war may have actually involved questions of power and territory between the two rulers.[10] Following Æthelfrith's death, Edwin became king not just of Deira but of Bernicia as well; Æthelfrith's sons Eanfrith, Oswald, and Oswiu fled to the north.[11] Thus Æthelfrith's death in battle has been seen as causing "a near total revolution in the politics of what is now northern England".[4]
References
- ^ The Anglo Saxon Chronicle (E) records this battle under the year 605, but this is considered incorrect; see Michael Swanton's translation of the ASC (1996, 1998, paperback), page 23, note 2. 616 is the generally accepted date, as first proposed by Charles Plummer, Venerabilis Beda Opera Historica (1896).
- ^ A. W. Wade-Evans, Vitae sanctorum Britanniae et genealogiae (1944).
- ^ Bede, H.E., Book II, Chapter 2. The ASC (E) gives the number of dead monks as only 200, but agrees that fifty escaped.
- ^ a b
- ^ Bede, H.E., II, 2.
- ^ Stenton, page 78.
- ^ Bede, H.E., Book IV, chapter 23; see also Ziegler, "Politics of Exile", and Kirby, page 61, for the suggestion of Æthelfrith's guilt.
- ^
- ^ Bede, H.E., II, 12.
- ^ Kirby, pages 52 and 61.
- ^ See Bede, H.E., II, 12; H.E. III, 1 (which mentions the exile of Æthelfrith's sons among the Scots and Picts); and the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, manuscript E, under the year 617. The ASC (E) lists the sons of Æthelfrith as follows: Eanfrith, Oswald, Oswiu, Oslac, Oswudu, Oslaf and Offa.
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