The Ruler Portraits of Anglo-Saxon England

218 Pages·2004·0.82 MB·English

by  Catherine E. Karkov

THE RULER PORTRAITS OF
ANGLO-SAXON ENGLAND

Catherine E. Karkov

Anglo-Saxon Studies
Anglo-Saxon Studies 3
THE RULER PORTRAITS
OF ANGLO-SAXON ENGLAND
BetweenthereignofAlfredinthelateninthcenturyandthearrivalofthe
Normans in 1066, a unique set of images of kingship and queenship was
developed in Anglo-Saxon England, images of leadership that centred on
books, authorship and learning rather than thrones, sword and sceptres.
Focusingontheculturalandhistoricalcontextsinwhichtheseimageswere
produced, this book explores the reasons for their development, and their
meaning and function within both England and early medieval Europe. It
explainshowandwhytheydifferfromtheirByzantineandcontinentalcoun-
terparts,andwhattheyrevealaboutAnglo-Saxonattitudestowardshistory
and gender, as well as the qualities that were thought to constitute a good
ruler.Theauthorarguesthatthisseriesofportraits,neverbeforestudiedasa
corpus,createsavisualgenealogyequivalenttothetextualgenealogiesand
regnalliststhataresomuchafeatureoflateAnglo-Saxonculture.Assuch
theyareanimportantpartofthewayinwhichthekingsandqueensofearly
medieval England created both their history and their kingdom.
CATHERINE E. KARKOV is Professor of Art, Affiliate in the History and
Women’s Studies Departments, Miami University.
Anglo-Saxon Studies
ISSN 1475–2468
General Editors
John Hines
Catherine Cubitt
Volume 1: The Dramatic Liturgy of Anglo-Saxon England
M. Bradford Bedingfield
Volume 2: The Art of the Anglo-Saxon Goldsmith:
Fine Metalwork in Anglo-Saxon England:
its Practice and Practitioners
Elizabeth Coatsworth and Michael Pinder
‘Anglo-SaxonStudies’aimstoprovideaforumforthebestscholarship
ontheAnglo-SaxonpeoplesintheperiodfromtheendofRomanBritain
totheNormanConquest,includingcomparativestudiesinvolvingadja-
cent populations and periods; both new research and major re-
assessments of central topics are welcomed.
Originally founded by Professor David Dumville as ‘Studies in
Anglo-SaxonHistory’,theserieshasnowbroadenedinscopeundernew
editorshiptotakeinanyoneoftheprincipaldisciplinesofarchaeology,
art history, history, language and literature, and inter- or multi-
disciplinary studies are encouraged.
Proposals or enquiries may be sent directly to the editors or the
publisher at the addresses given below; all submissions will receive
prompt and informed consideration.
Professor John Hines, School of History and Archaeology, Cardiff
University, Cardiff, Wales, UK CF10 3XU
Dr Catherine Cubitt, Centre for Medieval Studies, University of York,
The King’s Manor, York, England, UK YO1 2EP
Boydell&Brewer,POBox9,Woodbridge,Suffolk,England,UKIP12
3DF
THE RULER PORTRAITS
OF ANGLO-SAXON ENGLAND
Catherine E. Karkov
THE BOYDELL PRESS
© Catherine E. Karkov 2004
All Rights Reserved.Except as permitted under current legislation
no part of this work may be photocopied, stored in a retrieval system,
published, performed in public, adapted, broadcast,
transmitted, recorded or reproduced in any form or by any means,
without the prior permission of the copyright owner
First published 2004
The Boydell Press, Woodbridge
ISBN 1 84383 059 0
The Boydell Press is an imprint of Boydell & Brewer Ltd
PO Box 9, Woodbridge, Suffolk IP12 3DF, UK
and of Boydell & Brewer Inc.
668 Mt Hope Avenue, Rochester, NY 14620, USA
website: www.boydellandbrewer.com
A catalogue record for this book is available
from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Karkov, Catherine E., 1956–
The ruler portraits of Anglo-Saxon England / Catherine E. Karkov.
p. cm. – (Anglo-Saxon studies)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 1–84383–059–0 (hardback : alk. paper)
1. Great Britian – History – Anglo Saxon period, 449–1066. 2. Books
and reading – England – History – To 1500. 3. Great Britian – Kings and
rulers – Portraits. 4. Anglo-Saxons – Kings and rulers – Portraits.
5. Great Britain – Intellectual life – To 1066. 6. Anglo-Saxons – Intellectual
life. 7. Authorship – History – To 1500. 8. Portrait painting, English.
I. Title. II. Series.
DA152.K27 2004
757'.086'21094209021 – dc22 2003024574
This publication is printed on acid-free paper
Typeset by Pru Harrison, Hacheston, Suffolk
Printed in Great Britain by
St Edmundsbury Press Ltd, Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk
Contents
List of illustrations vi
Acknowledgements vii
Abbreviations viii
Introduction 1
1 Alfred 23
2 Æthelstan 53
3 Edgar and the royal women of the monastic reform 84
4 Ælfgifu/Emma and Cnut 119
5 Edward, the Godwines and the end of Anglo-Saxon England 157
Conclusion 174
Bibliography 177
Index 203
Illustrations
Fig. 1. Richard Westall,Queen Judith reciting to Alfred the Great, when a child,
the songs of the bards
Fig. 2. Two Emperorscoin of Alfred
Fig. 3. The Alfred Jewel
Fig. 4. Cambridge, Corpus Christi College MS 183, fol. 1v, King Æthelstan
Fig. 5. Crowned Bustcoin of Æthelstan
Fig. 6. British Library, MS Cotton Nero D.iv, fol. 25v, St Matthew
Fig. 7. British Library, MS Cotton Vespasian A.viii, fol. 2v, King Edgar
offers his charter to Christ
Fig. 8. British Library, MS Cotton Vespasian A.viii, fol. 3r
Fig. 9. British Library, MS Cotton Vespasian A.viii, fol. 3v
Fig. 10. British Library, MS Cotton Vespasian A.viii, fol. 4r
Fig. 11. British Library, MS Cotton Vespasian A.viii, fol. 30r
Fig. 12. British Library, MS Cotton Galba A.xviii, fol. 120v, Ascension of Christ
Fig. 13. British Library, MS Cotton Tiberius A.iii, fol. 2v, King Edgar with
Æthelwold and Dunstan
Fig. 14. British Library, MS Cotton Tiberius A.iii, fol. 117v, St Benedict
Fig. 15. Otto III from Aachen Gospels (Aachen, Cathedral Treasury, fol. 16r)
Fig. 16. Seal of Edith of Wilton
Fig. 17. British Library, MS Stowe 944, fol. 6, Queen Ælfgifu (Emma) and King
Cnut
Fig. 18. British Library, MS Stowe 944, fol. 6v, Last Judgement
Fig. 19. British Library, MS Stowe 944, fol. 7, Last Judgement
Fig. 20. Ivory of Christ crowning Otto II and Theophanu
Fig. 21. British Library, MS Additional 33241, fol. 1v
Fig. 22. Sovereign-Martletscoin of Edward the Confessor
Fig. 23. Seal of Edward the Confessor
Fig. 24. Edward the Confessor enthroned, Bayeux Tapestry
Fig. 25. Death and funeral of Edward the Confessor, Bayeux Tapestry
Fig. 26. Coronation of Harold, Bayeux Tapestry
Fig. 27. Halley’s comet and Harold, Bayeux Tapestry
Fig. 28. Death of Harold, Bayeux Tapestry
vi
Acknowledgements
Ihaveenjoyedthesupportandencouragementofanumerouspeopleandinstitu-
tionsinthetimethatIhavebeenworkingonthisbook,butindividualthanksare
duetoMarkBlackburn,MichelleBrown,GillCannell,PatrickW.Conner,Carol
Farr,AnnaGannon,MichaelHare,Hilda,JohnHines,PaulHyams,LynnJones,
SarahLarrattKeefer,GaleOwen-Crocker,CarolinePalmer,RebeccaRushforth,
BillSchipperandDonScragg.IamespeciallygratefultoHelenDamico,Martin
Foys,SimonKeynesandPatrickWormaldforgenerouslysharingwithmetheir
opinionsandtheirworkinprogress,andforreadingvariousportionsofthemanu-
script. They, of course, are not responsible for any mistakes that remain.
I would also like to thank the British Library, the Parker Library of Corpus
Christi College, the British Museum, the Ashmolean Museum, the Centre
GuillaumeleConquérant,AachenCathedralTreasury,andtheMuséeClunyfor
allowing me access to their material and permission to publish works in their
collections,andtotheSchoolofFineArts,MiamiUniversityforagenerousgrant
towards the cost of their reproduction.
vii
Abbreviations
ASE Anglo-Saxon England
ASPR Anglo-Saxon Poetic Records
ASSAH Anglo-Saxon Studies in Archaeology and History
BAR British Archaeological Reports
CBA Council for British Archaeology
CCSL Corpus Christianorum Series Latina
CSASE Cambridge Studies in Anglo-Saxon England
EEMF Early English Manuscripts in Facsimile
EETS Early English Texts Society
EHD English Historical Documents c. 500–1042, ed. D. Whitelock
(London, 1955)
EHR English Historical Review
FS Frühmittelalterliche Studien
HBS Henry Bradshaw Society
Hist. eccles. Bede’s Ecclesiastical History of the English People, ed. B.
Colgrave and R. A. B. Mynors (Oxford, 1969)
JEGP Journal of English and Germanic Philology
Jnl journal
MGH Monumenta Germaniae Historica
SRM: Scriptores rerum merowingicarum
OED Oxford English Dictionary
PL Patrologiae cursus completus, Series Latina, ed. J-P. Migne
(Paris, 1844–82)
Res. Rep. Research Report
S P. H. Sawyer, ed.,Anglo-Saxon Charters: an Annotated List and
Bibliography(London, 1968)
s.a. sub anno
viii
Introduction
Formostofitshistory‘Anglo-Saxon’Englandwasnotakingdombutagroupof
kingdoms and sub-kingdoms, the exact number of which fluctuated widely
during the seventh and eighth centuries.1 In the year 802, however, Ecgberht
(802–39) succeeded to the throne of Wessex and rapidly gained control over
muchofEnglandsouthoftheThames.Hisachievementswereconsolidatedand
augmented by his immediate successors, who diligently set about transforming
thekingshipoftheWestSaxonsintothekingshipoftheEnglish.2Unfortunately,
no portrait of Ecgberht survives; in fact outside of coinage no image survives
frombeforethetenthcenturythatcanwithoutquestionbedescribedasa‘portrait’
ofaknownruler,andtheportraitsthatdosurviveoncoinsarehighlyformulaic
and modelled on Byzantine and continental prototypes.3 Certainly power and
leadershipweremanifestedinthematerialrecordinanumberorways,butitwas
onlyduringthereignofAlfred(871–99)thatanabidingimageofkingship(and
also of queenship) would come to be established.
In his 1976 paper ‘Christus rex et magi reges: Kingship and Christology in
OttonianandAnglo-SaxonArt’,RobertDeshmanstatedthat‘thereareonlythree
survivingAnglo-Saxonmanuscriptswithrulerportraits’.4ForDeshman,a‘ruler’
wasbothmaleandaking,anda‘portrait’wasapaintedimage.Whileitistrue
that queens and other royal women remain in the background for much of the
periodcoveredbythisbook,therearepointsatwhichtheyemergefromtheirrela-
tiveobscuritytoplayasignificant,indeedsometimesprominentroleintheunifi-
cationandgovernanceofEngland.Inthisbook,therefore,theterm‘ruler’willbe
extendedtocoverboththemenandwomenofthedominantrulingdynasty–for
all intents and purposes the West Saxon dynasty. Again, this is not to say that
there were not other expressions and images of power; it is simply to
1 Forasurveyoftheearlykingdoms,seeB.Yorke,KingsandKingdomsofEarlyAnglo-SaxonEngland
(London, 1990).
2 SeefurtherJ.Campbell,‘TheUnitedKingdomofEngland:TheAnglo-SaxonAchievement’,inUniting
theKingdom?TheMakingofBritishHistory,ed.A.GrantandK.J.Stringer(London,1995),pp.31–47;
S. Keynes, ‘The Cult of King Alfred’,ASE28 (1999), 225–356, at 354–6.
3 InaforthcomingpaperRosemaryCrampnotesthatitisvirtuallyimpossibletodistinguishimagesof
rulersfromimagesoflaypatronsinEnglandbeforethetenthcentury,butwonderswhethertheymight,
undertheinfluenceofcoinage,havebeenrepresentedbyheadsalone:R.Cramp,‘TheChangingImage,
DivineandHumaninAnglo-SaxonArt’,inAedificiaNova:StudiesinHonorofRosemaryCramp,ed.
H. Damico and C. E. Karkov (Kalamazoo, MI, forthcoming).
4 R.Deshman,‘Christusrexetmagireges:KingshipandChristologyinOttonianandAnglo-SaxonArt’,
FS10(1976),367–405,at367.DeshmanwasreferringtothededicationminiaturesintheLivesof
Cuthbert(Cambridge,CorpusChristiCollegeMS183),theNewMinsterCharter(London,British
Library,MSCottonVespasianA.viii)andtheNewMinsterLiberVitae(London,BritishLibrary,MS
Stowe 944).
1