Statesman, Saint, and Saxon Warrior

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In 689 a man named Peter died. That wasn't the name he was born with however - it had been given to him by Pope Sergius ten days earlier when he was baptised in Rome on Easter Day. His former name was Caedwalla, and he had been King of Wessex. His former life had been exactly what we imagine a Saxon warrior might have been. Violent and barbaric. The 10th century Annales Cambriae record in that year rain turned to blood in Britain.

 

 

It is likely that Caedwalla was suffering from medical complications resulting of his past aggressions. He may well have known he wasn't long for this world before he gave up the throne and went to Italy on a pilgrimage. To our modern minds the idea that a man so given to violence would readily give up power for pious redemption seems unrealistic, but christianity was a very potent religion in the early medieval period. It wasn't unusual for a man to seek forgiveness for his sins toward the end. For those english of high status it might even have been expected. The fact Caedwallla had surrendered a throne for his beliefs was so impressive that the Archbishop of Milan wrote an epitaph praising him.

 

 

The man who claimed the throne after Caedwalla's abdication was Ine. As with most rulers of the early medieval period we have little hard information about him. The Venerable Bede tells us Ine was of the 'Blood-Royal', meaning his descent was from the rulers of the Gewisse, the tribe of Saxons that landed on the south coast with Cerdic. His father was named Cenred, he had a brother named Ingild, and two sisters, Cwenburh and Cuthburh. He would rule Wessex from 688 to 726 and it seems his wife Aethelburh had an active part in supporting his rule, recorded as destroying Taunton in 722 in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. Not only that, Aethelburh was said to have led troops into battle on his behalf and has become in recent times a minor feminist icon..

 

 

Unusually for a king Ine's father was still alive and listed as a chief advisor in the prologue to the laws Ine wrote in 694 along with the bishops Eorcenwald and Haedde . There is no english parallel. Although Cenred was apparently an unambitious man, there is a confusing anomaly in the Anglo Saxon Chronicle of a Cenred who became king of the Southumbrians in 702, king of Mercia in 704 after Penda abdicated to become a monk, and went to Rome with Offa in 709 where he stayed, plus another Cenred recorded as king of the Northumbrians for two years from 716.

 

 

Although the evidence dates from after the Norman conquest we are told his sister Cuthburh was married to Aldfrith, King of Northumbria, and that they later renounced connubial intercourse for the love of God, so she became a nun, first at Barking, then establishing a monastic site at Wimborne along with her sister when Aldfrith died in 704. She is listed among the saints with a feast day on August 31st, yet she was austere enough to inspire a vision of her in Hell.

 

 

To understand the Ine we therefore have to look at the evidence of his actions. We also need to understand the nature of Saxon kingship. It wasn't simply a matter of direct hereditary descent, it was also a matter of status and influence, and as long as a man could trace ancestory back to Cerdic - the leader of the West Saxons who arrived in England in the troubled 5th century - he was considered eligible. So strong was this principle that the later West Saxon Regnal List is possibly distorted to ensure all kings of Wessex could trace their descent from Cerdic.

 

 

To underline the turbulent nature of Saxon kingship, it's as well to remember that his predecessor Caedwalla had only ruled for three years until he went to Rome, and before that, he had been an exile from Wessex with only a small band of followers. In other words it was fear, respect, and private deals that got people behind you. With enough support, your claim to the throne was valid, regardless of genealogy.

 

 

Wessex was unusual among the Germanic migrants into Britain in that there is no evidence of the racial apartheid such as that which took place among the Thames Valley Saxons, and indeed, the profusion of british names among the West Saxons suggests inter-mariage with the local population as a matter of policy. Caedwalla for instance is a british name, not saxon. Nonetheless the modern country of Wales is named after the Anglo-Saxon word 'wealas', which means 'foreigners'. The continued hostilities between Wessex and Dumnonia denote an antipathy with the native Britons, whose Roman inheritance had all but evaporated.

 

 

There is no doubt that Wessex was primarily a warrior society as much as other Germanic peoples were, but clearly there was a strain of aggression and territorial ambition that would set the West Saxons on the path to greatness. A note of caution must be observed however in that Wessex was not entirely a conquest state, and some of the conflicts mentioned in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle such as Beranbyrig (Barbury) and Searobyrig (Old Sarum) probably had more to do with either internal politics or defence than a campaign of territorial conquest.

 

 

There is some debate about the nature of the Saxon warrior and the composiition of his army. In fact the laws of Ine specifically define an army as a body of men numbering more than thirty five individuals, and we really ought to expect the size of armies of Anglo-Saxon England to have been remarkably small. The early days of raiding had passed and equipment was changing to meet the needs of a more organised formational army.

 

 

Gone were the small shields suitable for skirmishing over long distances to be replaced by increasingly larger ones suitable for shield walls of formed units. Spears and swords are common throughout the saxon period, and axes grew in popularity along with shield walls, suggesting that axes were not always thrown as popularly imagined but were used to smash through enemy defences as a fireman might with a door.

 

 

Cavalry is a debatable subject. Evidence points to a primarily infantry army that was itself highjly mobile. Cavalry should be considered rare, limited to wealthier warriors, and using smaller mounts typical of the period. We should not assume that Ceorls, or landowners, were automatically mounted troops despite seniority in status. Although these rather individualistic men were expected to come to the aid of the king in defence of the realm, in self interest to avoid death or slavery if not out of loyalty, there is no clear obligation to follow a king on an expedition although Ine's laws do mention a fine for not responding to the kings direction.. Anecdotes from later saxon times might suggest that the king had to persuade men to follow him on offensive, though in fairness it would seem the saxons needed little persuasion.

 

 

The manner of fighting evolved also. Discipline was increasingly a factor. Whereas in times gone by saxons were probably prone to individual action as much as group cohesion, rushing forward in bravado or to throw spears before retreating back to the safety of the band, a more steadfast body of warriors would be more common in Ine's reign, though perhaps not quite the quality of Harolds army at Hastings..

 

 

Despite this background it isn't warfare that Ine is remembered for, but his code of law instead. It survived the ravages of time because it was copied as an appendix to those laws written by Alfred the Great. Sadly Alfred records that he rejected many observances of his forefathers that he didn't agree with so we cannot be certain that the appendix is a complete listing.

 

 

Despite the potential loss of completeness, the Laws of Ine are very revealing o how life was for anglo-saxons of the day. His rulings were specific to situations such that it suggests a very simple way of life. There is also an underlying assumption that it was the king who settled disputes, not his local thegns. Certainly it was a society that was used to exchanging money for goods and services. We get the sense of a healthy agrarian economy. We also get a hint of how careful one had to be to avoid disturbing expectations of those around you.

 

 

Entering a forest as a stranger or foreigner without proclaiming your presence by horn or shouting did not merely render you open to accusations of being a thief, it defined you as one. Unsanctioned gatherings of armed men less than seven in number brought the same result. Thieves expected to lose a hand, foot, or be put to death. Theirs was a society with clear ideas of what was or wasn't illegal behaviour, and harsh retribution for those who transgressed, although it must be noted that frequent use of a weregild to compensate those who had lost offered an opportunity to atone for a crime, and one that the entire family of the accused was made guilty of until restitution in some form had been met.

 

 

Ine was strongly pious in his approach to the law. He made it compulsory to have babies baptised within thirty days or else a fine was levied at the negligent parents. Working on a Sunday wasn't exactly prohibited, but rather it was prevented from becoming a chore or mundane duty, and if the labourer was ordered to work on God's day of rest the man who ordered it was liable for flogging or fines, noble or not. Such was the sanctity of a church that any criminal who found refuge within one had a death sentence commuted.

 

 

This set of laws has become one of the foundations of the modern English legal system, though you'd hardly find his rulings on the statute books today. We also know that Ine was generous and supportive of the church he had such regard for. When the sizeable Bishopric of Winchester - the one inaugurated by Birinus himsef - had gone into decline by 705, Ine had another set up in Sherborne with the respected Adhelm as Bishop. He made a number of charters for land to be set aside for monasteries between Streatly On Thames and eastern Cornwall, though some are thought to be later forgeries, and made donations to existing monasteries in Abingdon, Glastonbury, Harland, and Malmsbury.

 

 

In the earlier part of his reign Ine appears to dominate politics in Southern England. Indeed, it was reported that one of his two sisters, Cuthburh, had been married to Aldfrith, King of Northumbria, though they later seperated. Surrey regarded him as king and Ine held Eorcenwald of London as his bishop. Hamwih, a settlement later to become Southampton, has been shown archaeologically to have been a thriving port in his day. The adjacent royal estate of Hamtun would eventually evolve into the county of Hampshire. In the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle Ine is also credited with the building of Taunton (though in fairness that may be a later addition to his reputation to suit medieval sensibility given his wife was recorded as destroying the place).

 

 

We might be forgiven for thinking of Ine as a great statesman, and indeed, he is sometimes described as such, especially when compared to his violent predecessor. Unlike some of the better known rulers of his era Ine never accrued the legendary status of people like Alfred or Canute, and this is despite a known sponsorhip of both the church and law. Whenl we look at the conduct of his reign we immediately see a man entrenched in war and political intrigue. Far from the statesman-like image he normally inspires, even a cursory study of the time suggests a man ruling with a heavy hand.

 

 

He went to war against the Britons at least twice in 710 and 722, in the former case obliging his kinsman King Nothhelm (sometimes called 'Numa') of Sussex to march with him against Geraint of Dumnonia, expanding the territories won by former kings Cenwalh (643-74) and Centwine (676-85), and although he never conquered them completely, he certainly captured considerable territory from the beleaguered Britons. English place-names predominate in Devon and Eastern Cornwall to this day. There is however a mention in the Annales Cambraie in whiich the South Britons are said to won a victories against their enemies at the battles of Hehil, Garth Maelog, and Pencon in 722 - that could only have been against Ine.

 

 

He also fought Coelred of Mercia at Wodnesbeorg (Woden's Barrow, above the Vale of Pewsey) in 715 and some suspect he did so again in 717 at Wanborough though the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle makes no mention of such a battle. Neither for that matter is Ine recorded as winning a military victory.

 

 

When Ealdbehrt was exiled and fled to Surrey and Sussex, it provoked a war with the South Saxons first in 722, then again in 725 when Ealdbehrt was finally killed. Ine's wife Aethelburh is said to have destroed Taunton in her search for her husband's enemy. Bede tells that Ine ruled Sussex oppressively. He certainly forced a heavy tribute of thirty thousand pennies a year upon the men of Kent for burning Caedwalla's brother Mul in 687, even though Caedwalla had previously ravaged the Kentish countryside in revenge.

 

 

As time progresses Ine comes into conflict more and more often. Essex had harboured exiles and a council was held to prevent war breaking out as a result. Surrey and Sussex became hostile and he was apparently beset with rivalries even within his own house. It's recorded that he killed Cynewulf in 721.

 

 

Finally, in 726, Ine abdicated his throne as Caedwalla had done and set sail for Rome, possibly persuaded by his wife, and the throne was given to Aethlheard, a relatively minor contender whom later sources described as Ine's briother-in-law. As might be expected Aethelheards claim to the throne was not unopposed and a certain Oswald contested it, though with Mercian support for Aethelheard, Oswald failed in his bid.

 

 

The Venerable Bede reports he commended his kingdom to younger men, suggesting he had grown tired of the struggle for power, and he went to Rome to live among the poor. The departure of Ine signalled a decline in the fortunes of Wessex that would last more or less until the reign of Ecgbert a century later. It isn't recorded when Ine actually died, but his wife Aethelburh returned to Kent in 728 following his death in Rome, and for their part the Romans were so impressed with his piety that he was regarded as a saint.

 

 

 

Annales Cambraie - translated source

Anglo-Saxon Chronicle - translated source

Anglo-Saxon England - Sir Frank Stenton

English Historical Documents Volume 1 (c.500 to 1042) - Edited by Dorothy Whitelock

Who's Who in Roman Britain and Anglo-Saxon England - Richard Fletcher