Eorpwald of East Anglia
Encyclopedia
Eorpwald; also Erpenwald or Earpwald, (reigned from c.
624, assassinated c. 627 or 632), succeeded his father Rædwald as ruler of the independent Kingdom of the East Angles. Eorpwald was a member of the East Anglian dynasty known as the Wuffingas
, named after the semi-historical king Wuffa
.
Little is known of Eorpwald's life or of his short reign, as little documentary evidence about the East Anglian kingdom has survived. The primary source for Eorpwald is the Ecclesiastical History of the English People
, written by Bede
in the 8th century. Soon after becoming king, Eorpwald received Christian
teaching and was baptised
in 627 or 632. Soon after his conversion he was killed by Ricberht, a pagan noble, who may have succeeded him and ruled for three years. The motive for Eorpwald's assassination was probably political as well as religious. He was the first early English king to suffer death as a consequence of his Christian faith and was subsequently venerated by the Church as a saint
and martyr
.
In 1939, a magnificent ship-burial was discovered under a large mound
at Sutton Hoo
, in Suffolk. Although Rædwald is usually considered to have been buried with the ship (or commemorated by it), another possibility is Eorpwald. Alternatively, he might also have had his own ship-burial nearby.
was almost entirely under the control of the Anglo-Saxons
. These peoples, who are known to have included Angles
, Saxons
, Jutes
and Frisians
, began to arrive in Britain in the 5th century. By 600, a number of kingdoms had begun to form in the conquered territories, including the Kingdom of the East Angles, an Anglo-Saxon
kingdom which today includes the English counties of Norfolk
and Suffolk
. Almost no documentary sources exist about the history of the kingdom before the reign of Rædwald, who reigned until about 624. Sources of information include the names of a few of the early Wuffing
kings, mentioned in a short passage in Bede
's Ecclesiastical History of the English People, written in the 730s.
In 616, Rædwald defeated and killed Æthelfrith of Northumbria
in the Battle of the River Idle and then installed Edwin
as the new Deiran king. Whilst Edwin had been an exile at Rædwald's court, he had had a dream where he was told that if he converted to Christianity, he would become greater than any that had ruled before him. Steven Plunkett relates that, according to the version of events as told in the Whitby Life of St Gregory, it was Paulinus who visited Edwin and obtained his promise to convert to Christianity in return for regal power. After Edwin emerged as the ruler of Deira, with its centre at York
, he became accepted as king of the northern Northumbrian province of Bernicia
. Following his victory over the Northumbrians
, Rædwald was not only king of the East Angles, but also the most powerful king amongst the rulers of the various English kingdoms, occupying the role which was later described by the term Bretwalda
. He is thought by many to have been buried in the sumptuous ship burial
at Sutton Hoo
.
Eorpwald was the son of Rædwald by a wife whose name is not recorded. He had at least one brother, Rægenhere, and another sibling, Sigeberht
, may also have been his brother. Rædwald used the letters R and E when naming two of his own sons, (as did his own father when he and his younger brother Eni
were named), which suggests that Eorpwald was the younger sibling and would only have became Rædwald's heir after his elder brother Rægenhere was slain in battle in 616.
It is unclear whether, as Bede understood, Sigebert and Eorpwald were brothers, or whether they shared the same mother but not the same father, as was stated by the 12th century chronicler William of Malmesbury
. According to the historian Barbara Yorke
, Sigebert may have been a member of a different line of Wuffings who as his rival was forced into exile, in order to ensure that Eorpwald became king.
during the internal strife that followed Eorpwald's accession and that the new king's paganism created tension between Christian and pagan factions within the kingdom, which resulted in a reduction in his influence. In 627, Edwin undertook the conversion of the peoples of Northumbria, Lindsey
and East Anglia and at his prompting Eorpwald was, according to Bede, "persuaded to accept the Christian faith and sacraments". It can be calculated that this event occurred in 627, taking in account the years that Felix of Burgundy
was known to have held the East Anglian bishopric
. In contrast, the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle
recorded that Eorpwald's baptism took place during 632: "Her wæs Eorpwald gefullod", ("Here Eorpwald was baptized").
It is not known whether Eorpwald was baptised in East Anglia, Northumbria or Kent, but it is very likely that Edwin, now the senior ruler, was present as his sponsor. Higham suggests that because of the lack of proper facilities in East Anglia, it is likely that he was baptised by Paulinus at Edwin's centre of authority in Northumbria. The manner of Eorpwald's conversion indicated that he was a subordinate king and that Edwin was his overlord.
Following his baptism, Edwin's Northumbrian priests were in a position to be able to suppress pagan practices in Eorpwald's kingdom and convert the East Anglians. The conversion had the general political benefit of bringing the entire eastern seaboard from Northumbria to Kent, with the exception of the Essex
, under the dominion of Edwin and his Christian allies.
Eorpwald was the first English king to be killed because of his Christian faith. The circumstances are not recorded, so that it is not known whether Ricberht was representative of an internal East Anglian opposition to Christian rule, or if he was an emissary from abroad wishing to diminish Edwin of Northumbria's influence over the East Angles. The return of East Anglia to pagan rule does not necessarily mean that there was an overt struggle between the worship of the Anglo-Saxon gods and the worship of Christ
, but could express a reaction away from Christianity amongst the East Angles, prompted by Edwin's rise to power and his subsequent dominance over their king. The ancestry of Ricberht is unknown and it is unclear as to whether he ever ruled after he killed Eorpwald, but in 630 or 631, three years after Eorpwald's assassination, Sigeberht
returned from exile in Gaul and became king of the East Angles.
At Sutton Hoo
(near Woodbridge
, in Suffolk) is the site of two 6th-7th century Anglo-Saxon cemeteries, where it is believed that members of the Eorpwald's dynasty were entombed under large earth mounds. Several East Anglian kings, including Eorpwald, have been suggested as possible candidates for the occupant of the burial site under Mound 1, discovered in 1939. Martin Carver
has speculated that historians could use regal lists and other sources of information to identify the occupants, whilst acknowledging that no material evidence exists to support the theory that Eorpwald or other members of his family are buried there. He has used Eorpwald's relationship as the son of Rædwald to place him in either Mound 1 or 2.
According to Fleming's Complete History of the British Martyrs, published in 1904, King Eorpwald was venerated as a saint and a martyr by the English Church. His feast day is not known.
Circa
Circa , usually abbreviated c. or ca. , means "approximately" in the English language, usually referring to a date...
624, assassinated c. 627 or 632), succeeded his father Rædwald as ruler of the independent Kingdom of the East Angles. Eorpwald was a member of the East Anglian dynasty known as the Wuffingas
Wuffing
The Wuffingas were the ruling dynasty of the kingdom of East Anglia, the long-lived Anglo-Saxon kingdom which today includes the English counties of Norfolk and Suffolk. The Wuffingas took their name from Wuffa, an early East Anglian king. It has been argued that the Wuffingas may have originated...
, named after the semi-historical king Wuffa
Wuffa of East Anglia
Wuffa is supposed to have ruled the East Angles from c. 571 to c. 578. East Anglia was a long-lived Anglo-Saxon kingdom which today includes the English counties of Norfolk and Suffolk....
.
Little is known of Eorpwald's life or of his short reign, as little documentary evidence about the East Anglian kingdom has survived. The primary source for Eorpwald is the Ecclesiastical History of the English People
Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum
The Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum is a work in Latin by Bede on the history of the Christian Churches in England, and of England generally; its main focus is on the conflict between Roman and Celtic Christianity.It is considered to be one of the most important original references on...
, written by Bede
Bede
Bede , also referred to as Saint Bede or the Venerable Bede , was a monk at the Northumbrian monastery of Saint Peter at Monkwearmouth, today part of Sunderland, England, and of its companion monastery, Saint Paul's, in modern Jarrow , both in the Kingdom of Northumbria...
in the 8th century. Soon after becoming king, Eorpwald received Christian
Christian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
teaching and was baptised
Baptism
In Christianity, baptism is for the majority the rite of admission , almost invariably with the use of water, into the Christian Church generally and also membership of a particular church tradition...
in 627 or 632. Soon after his conversion he was killed by Ricberht, a pagan noble, who may have succeeded him and ruled for three years. The motive for Eorpwald's assassination was probably political as well as religious. He was the first early English king to suffer death as a consequence of his Christian faith and was subsequently venerated by the Church as a saint
Saint
A saint is a holy person. In various religions, saints are people who are believed to have exceptional holiness.In Christian usage, "saint" refers to any believer who is "in Christ", and in whom Christ dwells, whether in heaven or in earth...
and martyr
Martyr
A martyr is somebody who suffers persecution and death for refusing to renounce, or accept, a belief or cause, usually religious.-Meaning:...
.
In 1939, a magnificent ship-burial was discovered under a large mound
Mound
A mound is a general term for an artificial heaped pile of earth, gravel, sand, rocks, or debris. The most common use is in reference to natural earthen formation such as hills and mountains, particularly if they appear artificial. The term may also be applied to any rounded area of topographically...
at Sutton Hoo
Sutton Hoo
Sutton Hoo, near to Woodbridge, in the English county of Suffolk, is the site of two 6th and early 7th century cemeteries. One contained an undisturbed ship burial including a wealth of Anglo-Saxon artefacts of outstanding art-historical and archaeological significance, now held in the British...
, in Suffolk. Although Rædwald is usually considered to have been buried with the ship (or commemorated by it), another possibility is Eorpwald. Alternatively, he might also have had his own ship-burial nearby.
Background and family
By the beginning of the 7th century, southern EnglandEngland
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
was almost entirely under the control of the Anglo-Saxons
Anglo-Saxons
Anglo-Saxon is a term used by historians to designate the Germanic tribes who invaded and settled the south and east of Great Britain beginning in the early 5th century AD, and the period from their creation of the English nation to the Norman conquest. The Anglo-Saxon Era denotes the period of...
. These peoples, who are known to have included Angles
Angles
The Angles is a modern English term for a Germanic people who took their name from the ancestral cultural region of Angeln, a district located in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany...
, Saxons
Saxons
The Saxons were a confederation of Germanic tribes originating on the North German plain. The Saxons earliest known area of settlement is Northern Albingia, an area approximately that of modern Holstein...
, Jutes
Jutes
The Jutes, Iuti, or Iutæ were a Germanic people who, according to Bede, were one of the three most powerful Germanic peoples of their time, the other two being the Saxons and the Angles...
and Frisians
Frisii
The Frisii were an ancient Germanic tribe living in the low-lying region between the Zuiderzee and the River Ems. In the Germanic pre-Migration Period the Frisii and the related Chauci, Saxons, and Angles inhabited the Continental European coast from the Zuyder Zee to south Jutland...
, began to arrive in Britain in the 5th century. By 600, a number of kingdoms had begun to form in the conquered territories, including the Kingdom of the East Angles, an Anglo-Saxon
Anglo-Saxon
Anglo-Saxon may refer to:* Anglo-Saxons, a group that invaded Britain** Old English, their language** Anglo-Saxon England, their history, one of various ships* White Anglo-Saxon Protestant, an ethnicity* Anglo-Saxon economy, modern macroeconomic term...
kingdom which today includes the English counties of Norfolk
Norfolk
Norfolk is a low-lying county in the East of England. It has borders with Lincolnshire to the west, Cambridgeshire to the west and southwest and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the North Sea coast and to the north-west the county is bordered by The Wash. The county...
and Suffolk
Suffolk
Suffolk is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in East Anglia, England. It has borders with Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south. The North Sea lies to the east...
. Almost no documentary sources exist about the history of the kingdom before the reign of Rædwald, who reigned until about 624. Sources of information include the names of a few of the early Wuffing
Wuffing
The Wuffingas were the ruling dynasty of the kingdom of East Anglia, the long-lived Anglo-Saxon kingdom which today includes the English counties of Norfolk and Suffolk. The Wuffingas took their name from Wuffa, an early East Anglian king. It has been argued that the Wuffingas may have originated...
kings, mentioned in a short passage in Bede
Bede
Bede , also referred to as Saint Bede or the Venerable Bede , was a monk at the Northumbrian monastery of Saint Peter at Monkwearmouth, today part of Sunderland, England, and of its companion monastery, Saint Paul's, in modern Jarrow , both in the Kingdom of Northumbria...
's Ecclesiastical History of the English People, written in the 730s.
In 616, Rædwald defeated and killed Æthelfrith of Northumbria
Æthelfrith of Northumbria
Æthelfrith was King of Bernicia from c. 593 until c. 616; he was also, beginning c. 604, the first Bernician king to also rule Deira, to the south of Bernicia. Since Deira and Bernicia were the two basic components of what would later be defined as Northumbria, Æthelfrith can be considered, in...
in the Battle of the River Idle and then installed Edwin
Edwin of Northumbria
Edwin , also known as Eadwine or Æduini, was the King of Deira and Bernicia – which later became known as Northumbria – from about 616 until his death. He converted to Christianity and was baptised in 627; after he fell at the Battle of Hatfield Chase, he was venerated as a saint.Edwin was the son...
as the new Deiran king. Whilst Edwin had been an exile at Rædwald's court, he had had a dream where he was told that if he converted to Christianity, he would become greater than any that had ruled before him. Steven Plunkett relates that, according to the version of events as told in the Whitby Life of St Gregory, it was Paulinus who visited Edwin and obtained his promise to convert to Christianity in return for regal power. After Edwin emerged as the ruler of Deira, with its centre at York
York
York is a walled city, situated at the confluence of the Rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. The city has a rich heritage and has provided the backdrop to major political events throughout much of its two millennia of existence...
, he became accepted as king of the northern Northumbrian province of Bernicia
Bernicia
Bernicia was an Anglo-Saxon kingdom established by Anglian settlers of the 6th century in what is now southeastern Scotland and North East England....
. Following his victory over the Northumbrians
Northumbria
Northumbria was a medieval kingdom of the Angles, in what is now Northern England and South-East Scotland, becoming subsequently an earldom in a united Anglo-Saxon kingdom of England. The name reflects the approximate southern limit to the kingdom's territory, the Humber Estuary.Northumbria was...
, Rædwald was not only king of the East Angles, but also the most powerful king amongst the rulers of the various English kingdoms, occupying the role which was later described by the term Bretwalda
Bretwalda
Bretwalda is an Old English word, the first record of which comes from the late 9th century Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. It is given to some of the rulers of Anglo-Saxon kingdoms from the 5th century onwards who had achieved overlordship of some or all of the other Anglo-Saxon kingdoms...
. He is thought by many to have been buried in the sumptuous ship burial
Ship burial
A ship burial or boat grave is a burial in which a ship or boat is used either as a container for the dead and the grave goods, or as a part of the grave goods itself. If the ship is very small, it is called a boat grave...
at Sutton Hoo
Sutton Hoo
Sutton Hoo, near to Woodbridge, in the English county of Suffolk, is the site of two 6th and early 7th century cemeteries. One contained an undisturbed ship burial including a wealth of Anglo-Saxon artefacts of outstanding art-historical and archaeological significance, now held in the British...
.
Eorpwald was the son of Rædwald by a wife whose name is not recorded. He had at least one brother, Rægenhere, and another sibling, Sigeberht
Sigeberht of East Anglia
Sigeberht of East Anglia , was a saint and a king of East Anglia, the Anglo-Saxon kingdom which today includes the English counties of Norfolk and Suffolk. He was the first English king to receive a Christian baptism and education before his succession and the first to abdicate in order to enter...
, may also have been his brother. Rædwald used the letters R and E when naming two of his own sons, (as did his own father when he and his younger brother Eni
Eni of East Anglia
Eni or Ennius was a member of the Wuffing family, the ruling dynasty of the Kingdom of East Anglia. He was the son of Tyttla and brother of Raedwald, both kings of East Anglia.There is no historical evidence that Eni ever ruled the East Angles himself...
were named), which suggests that Eorpwald was the younger sibling and would only have became Rædwald's heir after his elder brother Rægenhere was slain in battle in 616.
It is unclear whether, as Bede understood, Sigebert and Eorpwald were brothers, or whether they shared the same mother but not the same father, as was stated by the 12th century chronicler William of Malmesbury
William of Malmesbury
William of Malmesbury was the foremost English historian of the 12th century. C. Warren Hollister so ranks him among the most talented generation of writers of history since Bede, "a gifted historical scholar and an omnivorous reader, impressively well versed in the literature of classical,...
. According to the historian Barbara Yorke
Barbara Yorke
Barbara Yorke is a historian of Anglo-Saxon England.She studied history and archaeology at Exeter University, where she completed both her undergraduate degree and her Ph.D. She is currently Professor of Early Medieval History at the University of Winchester, and is a Fellow of the Royal...
, Sigebert may have been a member of a different line of Wuffings who as his rival was forced into exile, in order to ensure that Eorpwald became king.
Accession and conversion to Christianity
Eorpwald was still a pagan when he became king of the East Angles, following the death of Rædwald in around 624. D. P. Kirby maintains that Sigeberht fled from East Anglia to GaulGaul
Gaul was a region of Western Europe during the Iron Age and Roman era, encompassing present day France, Luxembourg and Belgium, most of Switzerland, the western part of Northern Italy, as well as the parts of the Netherlands and Germany on the left bank of the Rhine. The Gauls were the speakers of...
during the internal strife that followed Eorpwald's accession and that the new king's paganism created tension between Christian and pagan factions within the kingdom, which resulted in a reduction in his influence. In 627, Edwin undertook the conversion of the peoples of Northumbria, Lindsey
Lindsey
Lindsey was a unit of local government until 1974 in Lincolnshire, England, covering the northern part of the county. The Isle of Axholme, which is on the west side of the River Trent, has normally formed part of it...
and East Anglia and at his prompting Eorpwald was, according to Bede, "persuaded to accept the Christian faith and sacraments". It can be calculated that this event occurred in 627, taking in account the years that Felix of Burgundy
Felix of Burgundy
Felix of Burgundy, also known as Felix of Dunwich , was a saint and the first bishop of the East Angles. He is widely credited as the man who introduced Christianity to the kingdom of East Anglia...
was known to have held the East Anglian bishopric
Episcopal See
An episcopal see is, in the original sense, the official seat of a bishop. This seat, which is also referred to as the bishop's cathedra, is placed in the bishop's principal church, which is therefore called the bishop's cathedral...
. In contrast, the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle
Anglo-Saxon Chronicle
The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle is a collection of annals in Old English chronicling the history of the Anglo-Saxons. The original manuscript of the Chronicle was created late in the 9th century, probably in Wessex, during the reign of Alfred the Great...
recorded that Eorpwald's baptism took place during 632: "Her wæs Eorpwald gefullod", ("Here Eorpwald was baptized").
It is not known whether Eorpwald was baptised in East Anglia, Northumbria or Kent, but it is very likely that Edwin, now the senior ruler, was present as his sponsor. Higham suggests that because of the lack of proper facilities in East Anglia, it is likely that he was baptised by Paulinus at Edwin's centre of authority in Northumbria. The manner of Eorpwald's conversion indicated that he was a subordinate king and that Edwin was his overlord.
Following his baptism, Edwin's Northumbrian priests were in a position to be able to suppress pagan practices in Eorpwald's kingdom and convert the East Anglians. The conversion had the general political benefit of bringing the entire eastern seaboard from Northumbria to Kent, with the exception of the Essex
Kingdom of Essex
The Kingdom of Essex or Kingdom of the East Saxons was one of the seven traditional kingdoms of the so-called Anglo-Saxon Heptarchy. It was founded in the 6th century and covered the territory later occupied by the counties of Essex, Hertfordshire, Middlesex and Kent. Kings of Essex were...
, under the dominion of Edwin and his Christian allies.
Death and sainthood
The conversion of Eorpwald's kingdom did not result in the establishment of any ecclesiatistical infrastructure, such as the establishment of a see within the kingdom. Bede reported that soon after his conversion, Eorpwald was slain (occisus) by a heathen (uiro gentili) named Ricberht and that after he was killed, the kingdom reverted to heathen rule (in errore uersata est) for three years.Eorpwald was the first English king to be killed because of his Christian faith. The circumstances are not recorded, so that it is not known whether Ricberht was representative of an internal East Anglian opposition to Christian rule, or if he was an emissary from abroad wishing to diminish Edwin of Northumbria's influence over the East Angles. The return of East Anglia to pagan rule does not necessarily mean that there was an overt struggle between the worship of the Anglo-Saxon gods and the worship of Christ
Jesus
Jesus of Nazareth , commonly referred to as Jesus Christ or simply as Jesus or Christ, is the central figure of Christianity...
, but could express a reaction away from Christianity amongst the East Angles, prompted by Edwin's rise to power and his subsequent dominance over their king. The ancestry of Ricberht is unknown and it is unclear as to whether he ever ruled after he killed Eorpwald, but in 630 or 631, three years after Eorpwald's assassination, Sigeberht
Sigeberht of East Anglia
Sigeberht of East Anglia , was a saint and a king of East Anglia, the Anglo-Saxon kingdom which today includes the English counties of Norfolk and Suffolk. He was the first English king to receive a Christian baptism and education before his succession and the first to abdicate in order to enter...
returned from exile in Gaul and became king of the East Angles.
At Sutton Hoo
Sutton Hoo
Sutton Hoo, near to Woodbridge, in the English county of Suffolk, is the site of two 6th and early 7th century cemeteries. One contained an undisturbed ship burial including a wealth of Anglo-Saxon artefacts of outstanding art-historical and archaeological significance, now held in the British...
(near Woodbridge
Woodbridge, Suffolk
Woodbridge is a town in Suffolk, East Anglia, England. It is in the East of England, not far from the coast. It lies along the River Deben, with a population of about 7,480. The town is served by Woodbridge railway station on the Ipswich-Lowestoft East Suffolk Line. Woodbridge is twinned with...
, in Suffolk) is the site of two 6th-7th century Anglo-Saxon cemeteries, where it is believed that members of the Eorpwald's dynasty were entombed under large earth mounds. Several East Anglian kings, including Eorpwald, have been suggested as possible candidates for the occupant of the burial site under Mound 1, discovered in 1939. Martin Carver
Martin Carver
Martin Oswald Hugh Carver FSA , is Emeritus Professor of Archaeology at the University of York, England, director of the Sutton Hoo Research Project and a leading exponent of new methods in excavation and survey. He specialises in the archaeology of early Medieval Europe...
has speculated that historians could use regal lists and other sources of information to identify the occupants, whilst acknowledging that no material evidence exists to support the theory that Eorpwald or other members of his family are buried there. He has used Eorpwald's relationship as the son of Rædwald to place him in either Mound 1 or 2.
According to Fleming's Complete History of the British Martyrs, published in 1904, King Eorpwald was venerated as a saint and a martyr by the English Church. His feast day is not known.