It was located at Rendlesham, the regio of the Wuffing dynasty, according to Plunkett. Bede, writing decades later, described how Ealdwulf of East Anglia, a grandson of Rædwald's brother Eni, recalled seeing the temple when he was a boy. As a result, he kept in the temple two altars, one pagan and another dedicated to Christ. According to the historian Steven Plunkett, she and her pagan teachers persuaded him to default in part from his commitment to the Christian faith. In East Anglia, Rædwald's conversion was not universally accepted by his household or his own queen. His conversion in Kent would have affiliated him with Æthelberht, bringing him directly into the sphere of Kent. Rædwald's marriage to a member of the royal dynasty of Essex helped form a diplomatic alliance between the neighbouring kingdoms of East Anglia and Essex. Since it is claimed that Saint Augustine, who died in about 605, dedicated a church near Ely, it may have followed Saebert's conversion fairly swiftly. The date of his conversion is unknown, but it would have occurred after the arrival of the Gregorian mission in 597. This happened in perhaps 604 or later, presumably at the invitation of Æthelberht, who may have been his baptismal sponsor. Bede, when relating the conversion of Rædwald's son Eorpwald in his Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum, mentioned that Rædwald received the Christian sacraments in Kent. He is generally considered by historians to be the most favoured candidate for the occupant of the Sutton Hoo ship-burial, although other theories have been advanced.Ī topographical map of the kingdom of the East AnglesĮvents that occurred during the early years of Rædwald's reign include the arrival of Augustine of Canterbury and his mission from Rome in 597, the conversions of Æthelberht of Kent and Saeberht of Essex, and the establishment of new bishoprics in their kingdoms. In receiving the faith he helped to ensure the survival of Christianity in East Anglia during the apostasy of the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of Essex and Kent. He was the first king of the East Angles to become a Christian, converting at Æthelberht's court some time before 605, whilst at the same time maintaining a pagan temple. According to Bede he was the fourth ruler to hold imperium over other southern Anglo-Saxon kingdoms: he was referred to in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, written centuries after his death, as a bretwalda (an Old English term meaning 'Britain-ruler' or 'wide-ruler'). During the battle, both Æthelfrith and Rædwald's son Rægenhere were killed.įrom around 616, Rædwald was the most powerful of the English kings south of the River Humber.
#Helm of raedwald forums install#
In 616, as a result of fighting the Battle of the River Idle and defeating Æthelfrith of Northumbria, he was able to install Edwin, who was acquiescent to his authority, as the new king of Northumbria. Rædwald reigned from about 599 until his death around 624, initially under the overlordship of Æthelberht of Kent. Details about Rædwald's reign are scarce, primarily because the Viking invasions of the 9th century destroyed the monasteries in East Anglia where many documents would have been kept. He was the son of Tytila of East Anglia and a member of the Wuffingas dynasty (named after his grandfather, Wuffa), who were the first kings of the East Angles. Rædwald, 'power in counsel'), also written as Raedwald or Redwald, was a 7th-century king of East Anglia, a long-lived Anglo-Saxon kingdom which included the present-day English counties of Norfolk and Suffolk.
Photo of the Sutton Hoo helmet temporarily located in room 1 of the British Museum.
0 kommentar(er)
