This project uses an interdisciplinary methodology to investigate the polity of the Middle Angles in the pre-Viking period, from Penda (d. 655) to Burgred (852–74). Evidence from outside the stated period will be considered when applicable: events, boundaries and patterns from different eras often provide evidence when contemporary sources are silent. The Middle Angles were an obscure polity that occupied the East Midlands including the present-day counties of Leicestershire, Northamptonshire, Cambridgeshire, Huntingdonshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire. Overviews of the Mercian kingdom have been published (Brown and Farr, 2001; Hill and Worthington, 2003), and there has been some discussion of the Middle Angles (Davies, 1973; Stafford, 1985; Dumville, 1989). There has, however, not been a comprehensive examination of the Middle Anglian polity. This project will investigate the Middle Angles through analysis of a wide range of contemporary sources including narrative texts (HE), charters, letters (especially the Boniface and Alcuin collections), hagiographical texts (Vitae Wilfridi and Guthlaci), and Mercian material culture (coins, manuscripts, sculpture and architecture). The focus of this project has shifted somewhat in the last year. Several sources have illustrated the importance of the Middle Angles, yet there is a lacuna in the historiography on the East Midlands in the pre-Viking period.

The Political and Topographical Landscape of the East Midlands

This project will include a comprehensive overview of the East Midlands (Stafford, 1985; Blair, 2018). This will include a survey of the region’s geography. Particular attention will be devoted to the Wash river system and the fens which defines much of the area. The human geography will also be considered, Roman roads (Margary, 1973) and settlement areas will be identified. Charter, archaeological, sculptural and toponymic evidence will be used to map key ecclesiastic and royal sites in the East Midlands.

Unfortunately, there is very little information about the political composition of the East Midlands during this period. The text known as the Tribal Hidage possibly gives an insight into the political landscape of the East Midlands. The earliest surviving manuscript (British Library, Harley MS 3271. fo. 6v) survives in an eleventh century manuscript but appears to preserve information from the pre-Viking period. Much ink has already been spilled on this text (Dumville, 1989; Featherstone, 2005). However, many of these studies have been concerned with nineteenth-century historiographical debates (Hart, 1971) and new toponymic research (Baker, 2014, 2017) allows for fresh interpretations of the text. Analysis of the Tribal Hidage, alongside a survey of the royal and ecclesiastical sites, will provide a comprehensive overview of the East Midlands.

Bede and the Middle Angles

HE is the only major source for the Middle Angles in the seventh century, and it has been comprehensibly analysed and studied (Lapidge, 1994; DeGregorio, 2011). Bede’s narrative records the conversion of the English, focusing on the Augustinian mission to Kent and the Irish mission to Northumbria. Mercia was the last kingdom to be converted, and HE largely omits details about Mercian and Middle Anglian history. Bede’s conception of the Mercians and the Middle Angles has largely been ignored by modern historiography. This project will analyse how Bede perceived the Middle Angles and their relationship with Mercia.  

This project will first examine Bede’s sources for Mercia and the Middle Angles. In the Praefatio, Bede reveals his sources and states that he principally received information about Mercia from Lastingham, Yorkshire. Mercia is thus the only major kingdom for which Bede does not receive information directly. Lastingham’s connection to Mercia was engendered by Chad (d. c. 672) who was a monk at Lastingham before he established the Mercian see at Lichfield. The information from Lastingham almost certainly accounts for iv.3 which is entirely devoted to hagiographical information about Chad. Lastingham’s connection with Mercia likely dwindled after Winfrith, Chad’s successor and deacon, was expelled from the bishopric of Lichfield. Indeed, Bede noticeable that provides less information about Mercia after the 670s. Bede also probably had access to Northumbrian oral traditions about Mercia (iii.16–18), possibly some authentic Mercian oral traditions (iii.24), an episcopal list which ended with Sæxwulf (d. 691) and a Mercian regnal list which was incorporated into the recapitulation in v.23.

Once Bede’s Mercian sources have been established, it is possible to analyse his conception of the Middle Angles and their relationship with Mercia. Two interrelated aspects of Bedan thought will be examined: the Middle Angles as a gens (Campbell, 1979) and the bishopric of the Middle Angles. Bede refers to the Middle Angles as a separate gens (i.15) and they have their own conversion narrative (iii.23). However, Bede is ambiguous about their status and no Middle Anglian royal family is ever mentioned. This ambiguity is also reflected in the presentation of the bishopric of Middle Angles which was established in iii.21 and was immediately conjoined to the Mercian bishopric. Bede’s nomenclature for the bishopric is variable, and he occasionally drops the refence to the Middle Angles. Most notably in v.23, Bede sums up the state of the English church in his present day but makes no mention of the bishopric of the Middle Angles. Only in iv.23 when describing Wilfrid, does Bede refer to the bishop of the Middle Angles without mentioning Mercia. The reference to Wilfrid as bishop of the Middle Angles is interesting, particularly as Wilfrid controlled monasteries in Mercia and died at Oundle, Northants (Capper, 2013). Wilfrid’s position in Mercia and the East Midlands will be examined in the light of HE and Stephanus’ Vita Wilfridi.

The Bishopric of the East Midlands, Middle Angles and Leicester.

The early history of the Mercian diocese is provided by HE and a series of pre-Conquest episcopal lists. These episcopal lists have been edited and printed (Page, 1965) but have received little discussion. This project will examine the pre-Conquest episcopal lists, specifically London, British Library, MS Cotton Vespasian B.vi, fols 108r–109r. There is a textual relationship between HE and the episcopal lists, and it is possible that Bede consulted an ancestor of Vespasian B VI when compiling the episcopal lists in the HE. The differences between Vespasian B VI and HE will be explored. Vespasian B VI records more information about the division of the Mercian diocese after Sæxwulf’s death in 691, this partition was not directly mentioned by Bede. The bishopric of the Middle Angles remained part of the Mercian diocese until 737, an event which modern scholarship largely passed over. This project will explore the context of this reform and link it to wider conceptions of the ecclesiastical structure of southern England (Story, 2012). Vespasian B VI presents the division in 737 as a creation of a second bishopric of the Mercians rather than re-emergence of the bishopric of the Middle Angles. This differs subtly from the perspective usually given in historical accounts.

The Legatine Report, written in 786, is the first reference to Leicester as the seat of the bishopric of the Middle Angles. The reason for the establishment of the bishopric at Leicester is unknown, and this paper will explore the political, ideological and topographic implications of this event. It is plausible that the visit of the Papal Legates in 786 encouraged the bishopric of the Middle Angles to establish itself in a permanent centre. Letters survive from Bishop Torhthelm (737–64) to St Boniface (d. 754) and from Alcuin of Tours (d. 804) to Bishop Speratus, probably Unwona (Bullough, 1993). These letters reveal that the bishops of Leicester moved in elite ecclesiastical, educated circles. The charter record will also be examined to understand the relative importance of the bishops of Leicester. Bishop Eadberht (764–781 x 785) consistently appears high in charter witness lists and possibly minted coins in his own name. In contrast, Unwona (781 x 785– 799 x 803) appears unusual low down the witness lists in charters. This occurrence will be considered alongside the establishment of the archbishopric of Lichfield in 787 (Noble, 2014). An attempt will also be made, however speculative, to define the bounds of the bishopric of Leicester using the charter record alongside geographic and material evidence.

Monastic Institutions in the East Midlands 

This project will explore the importance of ‘minsters’ in the East Midlands, such as Breedon-on-the-Hill, Brixworth, Medeshamstede (Peterborough) and Wing. The textual evidence for some of these sites (Wing, Brixworth) is thin. The sculptural, architectural and archaeological evidence can be used alongside the written sources to identify important ‘minsters’, and their relationships. The socio-political power of Anglo-Saxon religious houses has been studied (Foot, 2008), and Mercia’s religious institutions have been surveyed (Yorke, 2005). Nevertheless, the architectural and newly-catalogued sculptural record is ripe for re-evaluating elite patronage of Mercian monasteries especially in the Nene Valley (Northampton, Brixworth, Brigstock, Oundle, Castor), and the network associated with the Anglo-Saxon abbey at Peterborough. The significance of the cults surrounding Mercian royal saints in the East Midlands will also be analysed. I have already completed research on St Guthlac, his relationship with Mercian kings in the early eighth century and his cult site at Crowland.

The appearance of abbots from the East Midlands in the charter record will be examined. Fortunately, three abbots of Medeshamstede (Botwine, Beonna, Ceolred), two abbots of Breedon-on-the-Hill (Headde, Eanmund) and possibly an abbot of Abingdon (Ræhthun) are mentioned in the charter record. S 1431b, an authentic charter from 803, also refers to four abbots (Ealhmund, Forhtred, Beonna, Wigmund) in the diocese of Leicester. Only Beonna’s house is known. Nevertheless, by tracing all these names through the charter record it is evident that the abbots of the East Midlands were important figures in the Mercian polity: they consistently witness charters when other abbots do not; they appear in charters in multiple cartularies; appear in the records of major synods; and they witness land grants throughout Mercia. Until the late eighth century, Botwine had been the primary abbot appearing in charter witness lists, but from the 790s onwards there are three or four abbots from the East Midlands which appear regularly in charters. This possibly represents a change in the Mercian ecclesiastical structure, and a broadening of abbatial participation at court. The relationship between the abbots and the bishop of Leicester will also be considered: it is noticeable that there are occasions when an abbot from the East Midlands witnesses charters independently of the bishop of Leicester (S 148, 187 etc).

This project will investigate the role that saintly royal women played in exerting physical and ideological influence over monastic houses in the East Midlands. A significant number of royal women (St Pega, St Werburgh, St Osyth, St Eadburh, SS Cyneburh and Cyneswith, Ælfthryth, Cwenthryth) were associated with religious institutions in the East Midlands. Much of this evidence appears in later hagiographical sources and requires detailed analysis to be unpicked. I have written a paper on ‘Mercian Royal Women in the Fens: SS Cyneburh and Cyneswith, St Pega, Queen Cynethryth’. This paper will form part of a larger chapter detailing the role of royal women in the East Midlands. The important role of women, particularly queens, in pre-Viking Mercia has been surveyed (Stafford, 2001; Yorke, 2005). The traditions surrounding some of these royal women, such as Osyth (Bethell, 1970; Bailey, 1989), Pega (Lumley Prior, 2008), Cyneburh and Cyneswith (Morris, 2004), have been analysed. Often these studies were not rigorous, and they have seldom been incorporated into wider studies on the Middle Angles and the East Midlands. The interaction between royal religious women and their male counterparts will be considered. It is noticeable that many of these women claim to be directly related to Penda and their cults purport to date to the second half of the seventh century. Royal women religious continued to be important in the eighth century, but there is no record of an important royal abbess in the ninth century. This is possibly associated with the increasing number of important abbots from the East Midlands that emerge in the 790s.