I've recently started following a blog about the Anglo-Saxons, and I'm finding it absolutely fascinating. I studied Old English at University, but I have to confess that I really didn't enjoy it and spent most of the time wondering what on earth was going on! We were given very little context and, at 18, I didn't realise that there had been a time in the history of England when we weren't one unified country, but instead seven kingdoms. This time, which was roughly from the 5th to the 9th centuries was known as the Heptarchy. Without this context I struggled, as we all did, understanding the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. It just seemed to be an endless stream of raiding forces harrowing one place or another.
I'm pleased that I haven't lost my understanding of Old English and am still able to read quite a lot of the poems and texts. Obviously the years having back dipthongisation and front mutation drummed into me have paid of! I'm dusting off quite a few texts and reading them with fresh eyes.
I've also loved discoveries like the Ruthwell and Bewcastle Crosses. The church at Escomb was an absolute joy, as was Lindisfarne, and all of these places are adding to my understanding of a facinating period in the history of England and, indeed, the United Kingdom. So, I was very excited to discover that a small village, not that many miles north of us, played a very important role in the unification of the country that we now call the England (as well as some of Scotland and most of Wales).
The Treaty of Eamont Bridge, recorded in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, took place on July 12, 927, at Eamont Bridge near Penrith. It involved King Æthelstan of Wessex, Mercia, and Northumbria, along with other British kings, including Constantine II of Scotland, Owain of Strathclyde, and Hywel Dda of Deheubarth. This event is often seen as the date of the foundation of the Kingdom of England, as Æthelstan was recognized as the first King of England and Overlord of Britain.
The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle records the Treaty thus:
“Fiery lights in the northern part of the heavens were visible throughout the whole of England. Shortly afterward, Sihtric, king of Northumbria, departed this life, and king Athelstan expelled Guthferth his son and successor, and united the kingdom to the others which were under his imperial sway, for he defeated in battle and put to flight all the kings throughout Albion; for instance, Howel, king of the West Britons (the Welsh), and afterwards Constantine, king of the Scots, and Wuer (Owen) king of the Wenti (q. Gwent). He also expelled Aldred, the son of Eadulf, from his royal town called by the English Bebbanbyrig (Bamborough). All these, finding that they could no longer resist his power, sued for peace, and assembling at a place called Eamont, on the fourth of the ides [the 12th] of July, ratified by their oaths a solemn treaty.”
