Bede Music Box

Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of the Louisiana State University and Agricultural and mechanical College in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of B.F.A., Louisiana State University, 1988 Acknowledgements whose guidance and encouragement I deeply appr eciate. I would like to express gratitude ng lectures, from as far back as 1983. Also, ecognize the support of Roger Busbice and Dr. Barbara Danos, both of whom have been friends and mentors to me throughout my lif assistance of my dear friend Charlotte Cavel. Finally, I am forever indebted to all my friends and family, especially my husband, James, and my mother, Goldia, for th encouragement when it was most required. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS..................................................................................................ii LIST OF TABLES.............................................................................................................iv ABSTRACT......................................................................................................................v CHAPTER 1. BACKGROUND.......................................................................................1 1.1 Merovingian Influence..........................................................................................5 1.2 East Anglia............................................................................................................8 CHAPTER 2. THE EXCAVATIONS...........................................................................11 iv L 1. v 1. Sutton Hoo located near the River Deben………………………………………………1 2. Sutton Hoo Mounds Today……………………………………………….…………….1 24. A bird-shaped metal shield fitting……………………………………………………35 25. An ornamental metal plate fr om another Vendel warrior……………………………35 Seven miles from the Deben River in Su finest examples of Anglo-Saxon craftsmans 1 on a bluff overlooking the bank of the England, about seven miles inland from the North Sea. The been the means by which most early visitors reached Sutton spans over 4000 years, but it is only within the past significance in the histor y of Britain. The area Sutton Hoo located near River Deben The topography of the region has been tern England divided the Sutton Hoo property into small Martin Carver, Sutton Hoo Burial Ground of Kings? (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1998), xi. James Campbell, ed., The Anglo-Saxons (London: Phaidon Press Limited, 1982), 11; Magister Militum was a commander in the Roman imperial army and was considered to be the power behind the imperial throne. 3 Ibid., 23; Charles Green, Sutton Hoo: The Excavation of a Royal Ship-Burial (New York: Barnes and Noble, Inc., 1963), 116. Legend has it that Hengist and Horsa led the Jute invasion of Britain that founded the kingdom of Kent; Campbell, The Anglo-Saxons The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle is an anthology from c. 862 that draws on earlier resources. ibid, 23. The Excavation of a Royal Ship-Burial, 117,120. Saxons, and Jutes came in after the Roman occupation ended. Bede, an Anglo-Saxon theologian and scholar, wrote the Ecclesiastical History of the English Nation which was the most informative history of Britain until the twelfth century. He spent his life at the twin monasteries Monkwearmouth and Jarrow; Campbell, The Anglo-Saxons , 70-74. Ibid., 22-36. Bede claimed that the Angles, Saxons, and Jutes, as well as Scandinavians, invaded Britain. Rupert Bruce-Mitford, Aspects of Anglo-Saxon Archaeology: Sutton Hoo and Other Discoveries (New York: Harper and Row, Publishers, Inc., 1974), 208; Charlotte Behr, “The Origins of Kingship in Early Medieval Kent,” Early Medieval Europe (2000): 27. The pagan kingdom of the dead for past warriors as chieftains was Valhalla, a Else Rosedahl, “Princely Burial in Scandinavia at the Time of the Conversion,” Voyage to the Other the Anglo-Saxons as the Frisian, the Rugini, the Danes, the Huns, the Old Saxons, and in 451 A.D., which may have brought them to Britain. Toward th e end of Roman occupa tion in Britain the imperial capital of Magnus Maximus (c. 383 -88), usurper to the Roman Empire, was the homeland of the Franks. The same men who dominated Roman Britain al tion of the empire that ruled both. ngdom (c. A.D. 450–751), a territory that covered parts of modern day France, Switzerland, Belgium, 550 A.D. a Merovingian king presided ove nothing more than a minor pr ovince, resembling a secondary dukedom in terms of size and influence. Britain may have been considered irrelevant to the Merovingians, but the people had become of the world. Procopius of Caesarea states that in 550 A.D. the Angles accompanied a group of Merovingians on an embassy to Byzantium. Since the Franks had multiple communications with the Byzantines, it is po Merovingian delegation more th that the man buried in mound one of Sutton Hoo was a me mber of the entourage. Campbell, The Anglo-Saxons , 31, 37; Gaul consists of approximately modern France, Belgium, Luxembourg, and Germany west of the Rhine. Grohskopf, Treasure of Sutton Hoo , 98; Ian Wood, Frankish Hegemony in England, The Age of Sutton Hoo (Woodbridge, UK: The Boydell Press, 1992), 235, 241. Procopius of Caesarea (born c. 490/507- died c. 560s) was a Byzantine historian and major sixth-century source; Campbell, The Anglo-Saxons , 22, 30, 38. James Campbell, “The Impact of the Sutton Hoo Discovery on the Study of Anglo-Saxon History,” Voyage to the Other World , vol.5, Barely a mile from Sutton Hoo, probably imported from Antioch provides evid ence of early trade in Britain, and some scholars believe that Britain was involved in commerce with other countries much earlier than is generally accepted. While it is assume d that the Romano-British culture collapsed with the departure of the Roman power, in many places Britain became quite ry, presumably filled with wine and oil, n; such objects were imported in the fifth century from the eastern Mediterranean. It becomes clear that the Dark Ages in Britain were not as dark as the termi gnificant number of the graves suggest that members of the Frankish aristo Ibid., 93; Edward Schoenfeld and Jana Schulman, “Sutton Hoo: An Economic Assessment,” Voyage to the Other World, 597) writes that Augustine baptized some 10,000 British people on a mission to Kent. Ibid., 44-45. Christian movement sweeping across Britain. It is at this time that the Anglo-Sa Campbell, The Anglo-Saxons , 20; G.F. Browne, The Venerable Bede: His Life and Writings (New York: The Macmillan Company, 1919), 24; Carver, Sutton Hoo: Burial Ground of Kings? , 136. The Excavation of a Royal Ship-Burial, 131. Bruce-Mitford, Aspects of Anglo-Saxon Archaeology , 12, 75. list of candidates for the body in mound one. Of the numerous excavations that have taken place at Sutton Hoo, only one has -burial was found. This excavation lasted only a number of weeks, and the full magnitu de of the findings was not understood for Carver, Sutton Hoo: Burial Ground of Kings?, 33. 11 Carver, “The Anglo-Saxon Cemetery at Sutton Hoo: an interim report,” M.O.H. Carver, ed., The Age of Sutton Hoo: The Seventh Cent ury in North-Western Europe (Woodbridge: Boydell and Brewer, 1992), 346. Idem, Sutton Hoo: Burial Ground of Kings? , xi; idem, , and almost immediately the mounds Carver, Burial Ground of Kings? R.L.S Bruce-Mitford, The Sutton Hoo Ship-burial: A Handbook (British Museum, 1972; 2 ed. 1979), 15; Grohskopf, Treasure of Sutton Hoo, 7; Carver, Burial Ground of Kings?, 7. A barrow in archaeology is a burial mound; s.v. “barrow.” In The Columbia Encyclopedia 6th ed. (New York: Columbia University Press, 2001–04), 15 Jan. 2006 www.bartleby.com/65/ 13 Figure 5. Mound map with descriptions. 14 horse, as well as pottery fragments, a corroded axe head, and a Classical or Early Byzantine plaque. Beneath mound two was a discovery that , while rare, linked Sutton Hoo to Carver, Burial Ground of Kings ?, 7.; Bruce-Mitford, A Handbook, 19. Carver, Burial Ground of Kings? , 36, 167; Bruce-Mitford, A Handbook, 15, 19; Grohskopf, The Treasure of Sutton Hoo , 8. 15 Figure 7. Schematic of his team did not expect to find a original size of the mound would have been much larger than the five-foot wide barrow. With each Bruce-Mitford, A Handbook, 19; Grohskopf, Treasure of Sutton Hoo , 10; Carver, Burial Ground of Kings? Grohskopf, Treasure of Sutton Hoo , xi, 14; Bruce-Mitford, A Handbook, 19-20. 16 was situated in the shape of a wide H (Figure 7) with a long crossbar; the space above and below the crossbar was rather bare, and the excavators could navigate the area without risking damage to the artifacts. Phillips and his new team unearthed hundreds of objects and materials: gold, s fur. Also found within mound one were weaponry, ceremonial items, and objects considered to be symbols of kingship. The Bruce-Mitford, A Handbook, 19; Grohskopf, Treasure of Sutton Hoo , 39. Carver, 6th ed. (New York: Columbia University Press, 2001–04), 11 Dec. 2005. www.bartleby.com/65/ corroded silver, which was exhumed in one big clump to keep the c ontents intact. After Grohskopf, Treasure of Sutton Hoo Ibid., 35; Carver, archaeologists had to overcome. The team wa s quite resourceful in the use of moss from the woods to form a soft, damp packing material. After the artifacts arrived at the British Museum, Sutton Hoo was put on the back burner. On August 14, 1939, the north Suffolk co buried cache without any verifiable owner; such a treasure would belong to the Crown. If later reclaimed, the entire treasure was the possession of the monarchy. If the treasure was buried to accompany the to commemorate the important person within the ship Grohskopf, Treasure of Sutton Hoo, 46. Carver, Burial Ground of Kings? , 20-21. Ibid., 22. Grohskopf, Treasure of Sutton Hoo In 1940, it was not Brown, Phill Mitford, assistant keeper of the Department of British and Medieval Antiquities at the Carver, Burial Ground of Kings? , 26-27. Ibid., 38. Idem, were discovered, including two small brooches, Ibid., 41. Monkwearmouth and Jarrow are the twin monasteries where Bede resided; Carver, Sutton Hoo: Burial Ground of Kings? Ibid., 45. speculation that some of the excavators had done the damage themselves to drum up support. The 1983 excavation campaign encounte archaeological dig and was considered a wa nce it was already Ibid., 46, 62. Ibid., 46, 50. Ibid., 62, 67. 22 Ibid., 62-64. Ibid., 71. Figure 9. Sand bodies. an experiment in mapping the invisible. Six- hundred samples were taken from the soil, a body—probably a high-ranking male—was buried there. In its original state, mound two would have had the grandeur of mound The same mapping technique used on m ound two made the excavation of mounds cremation burials that had been entirely pl cremated person was slashed with a sword or blade, indicating a possible sacrifice. The only wealthy burial of a woman was in mound f the thieves were interrupted by a rainstorm th at carried some of the spoils away and allowed them to remain for excavators to save. The last two mounds were stumbled on almost entirely by chance. While the sun mound excavated. Dug in 1991, it was the only mound found fully intact aside from mound one. Beside the coffin in mound seventeen appeared to be the remnants of a knapsack that once contained lamb chops; all that remained Inside the coffin was an unexpectedly well- Ibid., 80-81. Ibid., 81-82. Ibid., 82-85; a shield-boss is an iron knob that projects from the center of the shield. the British Museum: it was the first Anglo-Sa xon harness to be excavated. At this time, the excavators decided to call in the British Museum conservation team. Ibid., 86-87. Ibid. Ibid., 31-32. The Sutton Hoo site was not merely a bur those indicated in the burial mounds were of great importance and in Ibid., 47. 26 In this chapter I will discuss the item s found in mound one that are generally considered to pertain to ki ngship and what these artifacts symbolize. The objects oo are instrumental fo Leslie Webster, “Death’s Diplomacy: Sutton Hoo in the Light of Other Male Princely Burials,” Sutton Hoo: Fifty Years After (Hamilton, Ohio: American Earl y Medieval Studies, 1992), 75. Childeric I died in 481 A.D. model of the Sutton Hoo ship 27 inscription CHILDERICI REGIS, (“of Childer ic the king”) thus without a doubt marking the tomb as royal and the various materials inside as regalia. Museum and argued that the identity of the man memorialized in Sutton Hoo’s mound one must be objects. The objects may not have actually been the personal property of the king, but rather may have been considered “clan posse piece together the history of Sutton Hoo and the man Campbell, The Impact of the Sutton Hoo Discovery , 82; Carver, The Sutton Hoo Ship-burial , 3. 28 Bruce-Mitford, A Handbook , 31. 29 pillar Ibid., 467; Bruce-Mitford, A Handbook , 31. Ibid., 31. Hagested bronze pin. patterns of four) is symbolic of Thor, and these patterns are seen on the cauldron, the Ibid., 467-469. Michael Ryan, “The Sutton Hoo Ship-burial and Ireland: Some Celtic Perspective,” Sutton Hoo: Fifty Years After (Hamilton, Ohio: American Early Medieval Studies, 1992), 90. Bruce-Mitford, Aspects of Anglo-Saxon Archaeology , 6; Ryan, The Sutton Hoo Ship-burial and Ireland 83. 31 Figure 17. Example of Roman coins grid to serve as a giant wick Bruce-Mitford, A Handbook, 29; Green, The Excavation of a Royal Ship-Burial , 66. 32 gned to fit in a leather loop fastened to a belt so that the standard could be carried, rather than being pl Bruce-Mitford, Aspects of Anglo-Saxon Archaeology , 15-17. 33 Carver, Burial Ground of Kings? , 126; Grohskopf, Treasure of Sutton Hoo 70. Kelly Wickham-Crowly, “The Birds on the Sutton Hoo Instrument,” Sutton Hoo: Fifty Years After (Hamilton, Ohio: American Early Medi eval Studies, 1992), 47; Grohskopf, The Treasure of Sutton Hoo 72; Carver, Burial Ground of Kings? Alan M. Stahl, The Nature of the Sutton Hoo Coin Parcel vol. 5, Voyage to the Other World, Calvin B. from the Sutton Hoo parcel that are marked with the name of the mint have been positively accepted. Perhaps more interesting is that when counting the blank coins, the total inside the purse comes to forty, suggesting that a specific number of coins was desired. This could possibly be payment for forty oarsmen, and the two ingots could have steersmen for the passage to the other world. While such speculation is fascinating, there is no evidence of similar practices in comparable burials. forty oarsmen, a pilot, and a steersman was analogy with the Roman payment to the ferryman who took souls across the river Styx to . If this was the meaning for the coins, then the date of the coin parcel could be close to the date of their placement in the burial. Despite the fact that it was a conscious choice to include coins in the purse, it remain Carver, Sutton Hoo: Burial Ground of Kings? Sutton Hoo Coin Parcel , 9-11. 35 36 Ibid., 62-64. Bruce-Mitford, A Handbook , 51. Grohskopf, Treasure of Sutton Hoo, 66. Bruce-Mitford, A Handbook , 51. 37 Figure 28. Gilt bronze bird with an open 3.5 The Shield Fragments found in the burial vessel and the study of contemporary sources have allowed for a complete reconstruction of the Sutton Hoo 29) similar to the style Grohskopf, Treasure of Sutton Hoo, 87. reconstruction. 38 Figure 29. Winged dragon decoration from the of a stylized human head. The facial type of the head resembles Bruce-Mitford, A Handbook , 33, 37, 136. Carver, Sutton Hoo: Burial Ground of Kings? , 124. 39 Scandinavian shields and contemporary items Weland is the protagonist of a Scandinavian, German, and Anglo-Saxon legend. Weland or Wayland was a talented smith of superior skill. Imprisoned by a Swedish king, Weland was forced to work in the king's . Grohskopf, The Treasure of Sutton Hoo , 87. Carol Neuman de Vegvar, “Sutton Hoo Horns as Regalia,” Sutton Hoo: Fifty Years After (Hamilton, Ohio: American Early Medieval Studies, 1992), 66. 40 The Excavation of a Royal Ship-Burial Bruce-Mitford, A Handbook, 55. Neuman de Vegvar, “Sutton Hoo Horns as Regalia 41 42 43 conjunction with the discovery of phosphates in Carver, Sutton Hoo Burial Ground of Kings,? , 171. Campbell, “The Impact of the Sutton Hoo Discovery,” 82. Wuffa d.578 Founder of the Wuffinga Tytila d.599 Son of Wuffa Rædwald d.624/5 Son of Tytila and grandson of Wuffa Earpwald d.627/8 Son of Rædwald Sigeberht d.636/7 Son of Rædwald Ecgric d.636/7 Kinsman of Sigeberht Anna d.654 Son of Eni Æthelwald d.663/4 Brother of Anna Ealdwulf (Aldwulf) d.713 Son of Æthelhere Aelfwold (Alfwold) d.749 Son (or brother) of Ealdwulf While it is widely accepted that Sutton Hoo is a pagan burial, there are some scholars who still make claims that the buria where they are buried or that their bodies were lost in battle, thus initiating the cenotaph or memorial theory. The idea of a that the burial chamber did The specific dating of the Sutton Hoo bur 1939, by Derek Allen of the British Museum, d, who most likely di Keeper of the Coins in the British Museum, revealed that the hoard of coins contained -38), which still eliminates Rædwald from the list of players since his death took place prior to 628. Then in 1952, Phillip Grierson, confirmed the earliest date for the The Excavation of a Royal Ship-Burial accurately date artifacts; in particular the coins have been re-analyzed, resulting in Ibid., Campbell, “The Impact of the Sutton Hoo Discovery,” 82. Carver , Sutton Hoo: Burial Ground of Kings? , 169. Ibid., 34. Ibid., 34; Bruce-Mitford, Aspects of Anglo-Saxon Archaeology, 26. occasion. This conversion would have been of great significance to Pope Boniface V, y, a political maneuver rather than the result of spiritual enlightenment. Edwin of Deira resided for a time in the co urt of Rædwald and it is this stay that gives further support to the claim that the body in the mound is that of Rædwald. In an win requested and received protection from that it was Rædwald’s unnamed queen ould be for such a great king to deceive a friend for the sake of gold. With Rædwald’s defeated at the river ng of Christian Northumbria. Because of Rædwald’s power and influence, he earned a pl Grohskopf, The Treasure of Sutton Hoo , 107, 127. Carver, “Research Reports 1990-1992,” extravagant pagan event because of her strong beliefs. It was, after all, Rædwald’s wife who convinced him to renounce his new reli gion of Christianity. The blatant pagan attitude could be perhaps a reaction to the Christian faith that was sweeping Britain. The queen may have been the one to choose th Carver, Sutton Hoo: Burial Ground of Kings? , 136. Ibid., 169. alleges that some of these gifts may have be one ship-burial. Shortly after Sigeberht came to the throne founded the future Bury St. Edmunds monaster y. Within three years of being crowned, the king abdicated the throne to a kinsman in order to enter the monastery. About 640, the requested that Sigeberht join them to show a unified front. When he declined, he was combat. During the battle, the Sigeberht and Ecgric, the kinsman, were slain. berht were retrieved from the battle, chances are he would have been buried in the monastery he established. Edward James, “Royal Burials among the Franks,” The Age of Sutton Hoo: The Seventh Century in North-Western Europe (Woodbridge: Boydell and Brewer, 1992), 241. The Excavation of a Royal Ship-Burial , 93; Bruce-Mitford, Aspects of Anglo-Saxon Archaeology 24. Grohskopf , The Treasure of Sutton Hoo , 124-125. reminders of the pagan past buried and what Ibid. Before scientific studies indicated phosphates in the burial chamber of mound one, suggesting a decomposed body, Anna was considered the main candidate commemorated in the ship-burial. Bruce-Mitford, Aspects of Anglo-Saxon Archaeology , 25; Green, The Excavation of a Royal Ship-Burial 94. Anglia; in all likelihood he followed the same that he plotted with Penda in the murder of his brother Anna. There are signs that paganism survived in altars of Rædwald, which implies that they temple with the Christian alta to endure regardless of a Christian king, there must have been clear pagan leadership in the court, probably by a member of the royal family. Anna’s successor, Æthelhere, must have been that practice paganism in East Anglia. It is possible that while Anna achieved more as a leader, the populace may not of their pagan traditions; such a hypothesis gives more support to Æthelhere as the body in the mound. information given, the field has now been The remaining rulers are, in all probabilit possible candidates. Æthelwald, the younger br other of Æthelhere and Anna, succeeded them in c. 654. Æthelwald, who is not regard Æthelwald was succeeded by his nephew Aldwulf, who was th e grandson of Eni. It was Aldwulf whom Bede mentions as having seen Rædwald’s dua l altar temple. Aldwulf reigned until about 713, when his son Ælfwald succeeded him. Æl The Excavation of a Royal Ship-Burial , 97-98. in sixth-century he was named the fourth Ibid., 94-97. 52 burial. Chapter 5. The earliest documented interest in Su tton Hoo occurred in 1860, but it was not ite. The future of Su tton Hoo actually looks ears since mound one was uncovered. Without the be believed that Britain accomplished little of significance from the time of the Roman e late eighth century. Sutton Hoo proves this to be false. Although student s are still taught of the “dark ages,” Britain has evidence that, from the fifth to the eight Behr, Charlotte. “The Origins of Ki J. M. “Burnt Offerings: Animal Bone in Anglo-Saxon Cremations,” (New York: The Macmillan Company, 1919). (London: British Museum, 1972; 2 Campbell, James, ed. (London: Phaidon Press Limited, 1982). _____. “The Impact of the Sutton Hoo Discove Harke, Heinrich. “Warrior Graves’? The Background of the Anglo-Saxon Weapon James, Edward. “Royal Burials among the Franks Sutton Hoo: The Seventh Century in North-Western Europe Sherlock, D.A. “Saul, Paul and the Silver Spoons from Sutton Hoo,” ADDITIONAL IMAGES 59 Hoo property in 1953. been brought to its final resting place from the river. The mounds would have been seen easily from the Figure 35. This is a mound, as seen today, after it has been returned to its original impressive height. The fence posts in the plica of the Sutton Hoo mound one ship. clasp found at Sutton Hoo. 60 how the burial chamber would ha arrangement of the body and artifacts inside. laid out inside the burial chamber. 61 Figure 39. A medieval a warrior and his horse. ound in mound one. These Christian artifacts led many to consider Sutton Hoo to 62 63 contemporary with Sutton Hoo shield. 64 critical in the dating of the burial. om Louisiana State University. She has spent the last seven year s as an instructional designer at Louisiana State University, where she also manages a editors. Tanya has also worked as a graphic design instructor and museum curator for the Louisiana State Archives and Louisiana’s Ol d State Capitol. She began the graduate program in art history in the fall of 2001 with an emphasis on the study of medieval art. She is currently a candidate for the degree of Ma