A Framework for Exploiting God's Creation - Agricultural Estates and Settlement Landscapes in Early Medieval Dumfriesshire

Christoph Otte – PhD History  

In the 1970s scholars of medieval economy proposed a model framework in which early medieval estates and settlements could be understood in northern Britain, variously known as ‘shire’ or, more commonly, ‘multiple estate’ model (Jones 1971; Barrow 1973). The ‘multiple estate’ model envisages a group of settlements, inter-connected within the boundaries of an estate. The administrative and legal centre of the estate would be the lord’s hall. The surrounding settlements would owe labour services to the lord, such as ploughing his fields or paying rent in kind. Another element of this model is a central church, in charge of the spiritual welfare of the estate population, often situated close to the lord’s hall. As a result, there have been suggestions that in many cases parish boundaries and estate boundaries overlap to considerable extent, as they both potentially address the same population (see Fig. 1; Barrow 1973, pp. 50-63; Winchester 1985, p. 90). It should be noted that this is a generalised model, and requires testing in each individual case.

Fig. 1: The model of the ‘multiple estate’.

The focus of my PhD thesis is the kingdom of Bernicia from c. 600 AD to 800 AD, which encompasses, at least partially, the area of modern Dumfriesshire (Rollason 2003, pp. 20-36 and pp. 87f). The aim of my research is to demonstrate whether the ‘multiple estate’ can be traced in the local settlement patterns of this area, or whether an alternative model might be needed. This investigation relies on a few select case studies based on parishes due to their possible connection with estate boundaries.

Fig. 2: The county of Dumfriesshire, and the parish of Lochmaben, within the southern Scottish context.

In the case study excerpt presented here, I am investigating the landscape of the parish of Lochmaben. My starting point is the pattern of place-names in Dumfriesshire in the aforementioned parish. As an example, the distribution of the Scandinavian place-name element –thveit, referring to clearings or cleared land, can be compared with that of –bý place-names, also of Scandinavian origin and referring to farms or settlements (Fellows-Jensen 1991, pp. 83-87). Both place-name elements are generally dated to the tenth or eleventh centuries and attributed to Scandinavian settlers moving into the study area from Cumbria or other parts of northern England. It is notable that –bý place-names have a more easterly bias, whereas the –thveit elements tend to occur further west.

Fig. 3: The distribution of –thveit and –bý place-names in Dumfriesshire.

This may indicate that the incoming settlers first founded –bý settlements or renamed existing ones with that element, and at a later stage cleared the more marginal lands in order to expand pasture or arable tracts, creating –thveit name settlements. It is remarkable with regard to the parish of Lochmaben that the very part of the parish in which we find –thveit place-names is also the part where the parish boundaries leave their normal route, usually defined by natural features such as rivers and upland ridges, and instead extend into the south-west.

Fig. 4: The –thveit place-names of Lochmaben.

It looks like this section of the boundaries had been super-imposed onto a pre-existing land unit, possibly as a result of the founding of the –thveit place-names. The outline of the parish of Lochmaben excluding the upland extension to the south-west, in the following referred to as proto-Lochmaben, may therefore pre-date the tenth or eleventh centuries in which these settlements may have been founded. Comparative case studies of other parishes will, of course, provide a fuller picture.

Fig. 5: The potential extent of proto-Lochmaben.

Leaving the investigation of boundaries aside, the study of estates and early medieval economy should always take into account the population it was meant to support, and the means by which the land was cultivated. Another way of approaching the question of settlement patterns is therefore to try and gain a sense of the population dimensions for the given area. For this purpose, I used the hypothetical boundaries of proto-Lochmaben. The deduction of major woodlands and water bodies - taking into account that some lochs were drained as late as the nineteenth century - from the total area of proto-Lochmaben has left me with an area of land which may potentially have been agriculturally exploited for the support of the local population in the early middle ages. These are, of course, rough estimates, as the soil quality is not at present taken into account.

Fig. 6: Calculating the usable land (arable, pasture) of proto-Lochmaben.

According to Marcel Mazoyer and Laurence Roudart (Mazoyer and Roudart 2006, pp. 242-45), a farmer with the cultivation implements used in antiquity and the early middle ages (such as an ard, a type of simple plough) could support a family of five on 33.5 ha of land (which includes arable, pasture and a small portion of woodland) in cold temperate climate, or on 61 ha of land in harsher, colder conditions. Due to uncertainties about early medieval climate and soil conditions in Dumfriesshire, I used the middle value of these estimates and applied them to the area of wood- and water-free land calculated for proto-Lochmaben, resulting in a population potential of 408 people. Distributed amongst the five settlements which I am currently prepared to date to the early medieval period between c. 600 AD and 800 AD, this would give a result of c. 81 people per settlement. This number, although obviously presenting a very rough estimate and open to some imprecision, is still remarkably close to the average of 80 people per vill estimated for some areas covered by the eleventh-century Domesday Book economic survey initiated by William the Conqueror (Maitland 1897, pp. 17-20).

At a later stage in my studies, these estimates can give an idea of how much land would be needed per settlement, which in turn might have impacted the configuration of settlements within an estate. Another point which may help illuminate the landscape is to take into account the agrarian reality of the population. The speed of the oxen which are needed to draw ploughs or ards would necessarily limit the distance between a settlement and its pertaining arable fields. It is these practical and spatial considerations which I hope to employ in creating a better understanding of the early medieval rural economy of Dumfriesshire.

Fig. 7: Stilt and head of a prehistoric ard shown in the National Museum of Scotland. Note the illustration below it showing how it would be fitted to a beam, which in turn would be drawn by the draught animal (photograph by author).

Works Cited

Barrow, Geoffrey W. S., The Kingdom of the Scots (London, 1973).

Fellows-Jensen, Gillian, ‘Scandinavians in Dumfriesshire and Galloway: The Place-Name Evidence’, in Galloway. Land and Lordship, eds. R. Oram and G. Stell (Edinburgh, 1991), pp. 77-95.

Jones, Glanville R. J., 'The Multiple Estate as a Model Framework for Tracing Early Stages in the Evolution of Rural Settlement', in L'Habitat et les Paysages Ruraux d'Europe, ed. F. Dussart (Liège, 1971), pp. 251-267.

Maitland, Frederic W., Domesday Book and Beyond (Cambridge, 1897).

Mazoyer, Marcel and Roudart, Laurence, A History of World Agriculture from the Neolithic Age to the Current Crisis (London, 2006).

Rollason, David, Northumbria, 500-1100: Creation and Destruction of a Kingdom (Cambridge, 2003).

Winchester, Angus J. L., 'The Multiple Estate: A Framework for the Evolution of Settlement in Anglo-Saxon and Scandinavian Cumbria', in The Scandinavians in Cumbria, eds. John R. Baldwin and Ian D. Whyte (Edinburgh, 1985), pp. 89-102.

Copyright information for mapping layers in Figs. 2-6:

© Crown Copyright and Database Right 2015. Ordnance Survey (OS Terrain 5 DTM [ASC geospatial data], Scale 1:10000).

© Crown Copyright and Database Right 2015. Ordnance Survey (GB National Outlines [SHAPE geospatial data], Scale 1:250000).

© Crown Copyright and Database Right 2015. Ordnance Survey (Boundary-Line [SHAPE geospatial data], Scale 1:10000).

© Crown Copyright and Database Right 2015. Ordnance Survey (1:25 000 Raster [TIFF geospatial data], Scale 1:25000).

Creating an International Visitor Attraction in 5th century Egypt: the Story of Abu Mina and the Pyxis of St. Menas

Hugh Thomson - MSc Late Antique, Byzantine and Islamic Studies 

Alexander Nesbitt, an English visitor to Rome, acquired a small ivory box from a dealer in antiquities sometime before 15th June 1871. The box, 8 cm high and 10.7 cm across, is now in the British Museum (British Museum accession number 1879, 1220.1). It has lost its hinged cover, its base, and the lock which once kept its contents secure. The rim is chipped in places and the fine carving smoothed with wear (Weitzmann 1979).

Similar small round boxes (Greek: pyxis) were used since ancient times as containers for cosmetics. In an ecclesiastical context, a pyxis containing consecrated bread for the sick was one of only two items allowed to be stored on a church altar (Nesbitt and Garrucci 1874). Nesbitt’s learned friend, Padre Raffaelle Garrucci, noted in 1871 that the iconography on this particular pyxis was inappropriate for this purpose. However, he, and others since, overlooked a feature which suggests that this conclusion may not be correct.      

Figure 1. Pyxis (British Museum)

            

The contents of the basket on the ground behind the seated figure are probably loaves of bread; identical representation occurs on a fragmentary pyxis from Syria, also in the British Museum, which clearly shows the distribution of bread from a similar woven basket.

Figure 2. Daniel Pyxis (British Museum)

The style of the carving on Nesbitt’s pyxis is consistent with that of consular diptychs of the early sixth-century. Scholars disagree on the location of the workshop in which these artefacts were produced, but “the attribution of the diptychs to Alexandria, or at least to an atelier of Alexandrian style and tradition operating in Constantinople, is supported by some very serious considerations” (Morey 1941, p. 45).

The iconography on the pyxis is in three parts – a scene of judgment, an execution and the representation of a saint standing as an orant beneath an arch, attended by two female and two male pilgrims.

Figure 3. St. Menas (British Museum)

The saint depicted is Menas, patron saint of Coptic Egypt. In 1942 he was credited by Patriarch Christopher II with stopping the German advance on Alexandria when it approached the site of his original shrine, not far from El Alamein. His image, standing with arms outstretched between two camels’ heads is “the most immediately recognisable of all such images” (Montserrat 1998, p. 270). Clay flasks, which once contained oil sanctified by contact with the soil above his tomb, are found throughout the territory of the Roman empire – in Britain, Spain, Sicily, Sardinia, France, Italy and Greece, as well as in Egypt and North Africa.          

Figure 4. Pilgrim flask (Louvre)

       

Who was this Egyptian saint and how did he acquire his international reputation? Nothing is known about his life – a Greek Martyrdom, written by Cyrus of Panopolis following his exile to Cotyaeum in Phrygia in 441, presents Menas as an Egyptian soldier martyred in Asia Minor whose remains were returned to Egypt, but “no serious scholar accepts this” (Drescher 1946, p. i).

The pyxis came from the church of St. Paul without the Walls, which was founded by the Emperor Constantine, rebuilt on a much larger scale by Theodosius and extensively modified under Pope Gregory the Great. Gregory preached a sermon in this church, in a chapel dedicated to Menas (Nesbitt and Garrucci 1874). The original building burned down in 1823 and it seems likely that the pyxis was acquired as salvage after the conflagration.

Excavations at the site of Menas’ shrine at Abu Mina, 43 km west of Alexandria, have established that local villagers erected a small mausoleum of sun-dried mud-brick above the site of a body placed in a pre-existing hypogaeum. During the fourth century, Menas’ shrine, believed locally to have healing powers, was no different from many others scattered across the Egyptian countryside.

Figure 5. Ruins at Abu Mina (Peter Grossmann)

The subsequent development of the site into a sacred city protected by a garrison of 1200 soldiers was the product of sustained efforts during the fifth century, involving both emperors in Constantinople and patriarchs. The principles of classical town-planning were applied. A ceremonial approach street (embolos) led to a large rectangular square with colonnaded porticoes on all four sides; the street narrows as it approaches the square “to raise the tension of pilgrims arriving for the first time” (Grossmann 1998, p.287). The two main churches were south of this square – one, above Menas’ tomb, was built early in the fifth century. The other, the largest in Egypt at the time, was probably constructed during the reign of Zeno. The city provided pilgrims with lodgings, bath-houses, shops, markets and depositories “where the multitude could leave their clothes and baggage” (Drescher 1946, p.147-8). Hospices, rest-houses and watering-places were established along the route from Alexandria.

Figure 6. Centre of Abu Mina (Peter Grossmann)

These major investments delivered important practical benefits, in addition to the increase of prestige of both imperial and patriarchal administrations. The cult was a unifying feature in an ecclesiastical province in danger of falling apart; pilgrimages and festivals helped with social control, a major problem in Alexandria; the shrine’s baptisteries provided a venue for the conversion of Egypt’s remaining pagans; money contributed by pilgrims played a significant role in financing the established Church. Indeed, in the ninth century, the patriarch complained to the Arab governor of “the poverty of the church, arising from the interruption of pilgrimages to the church of St Mennas” (Drescher 1946, p. xxvi). Evidence that cooperation between Alexandria and Constantinople delivered benefits was particularly important after the Council of Chalcedon (451) plunged Christian Egypt into a state of confusion.

I believe that the pyxis, all that remains from Menas’ chapel in Rome, was commissioned by the imperial chancellery from the workshop that produced consular diptychs and other official ivories. St. Paul without the Walls was itself a very significant destination for international pilgrims. The pyxis, perhaps a part of a set, prominent on the chapel altar and travelling through the city to the houses of the sick and the dying, was designed to bring the officially-sponsored Egyptian shrine to the attention of both travellers and residents in Rome.

Works Cited

Drescher, J. (1946) Apa Mena: a selection of Coptic texts relating to St. Menas, imprimerie de l'Institut français d'Archéologie orientale.

Grossmann, P. (1998) 'The Pilgrimage Centre of Abu Mina' in Frankfurter, D., ed. Pilgrimage and Holy Space in Late Antique Egypt, Leiden: Brill.

Montserrat, D. (1998) 'Pilgrimage to the Shrine of SS Cyrus and John at Menouthis in Late Antiquity' in Frankfurter, D., ed. Pilgrimage and Holy Space in Late Antique Egypt, Leiden: Brill.

Morey, C. R. (1941) 'The Early Christian Ivories of the Eastern Empire', Dumbarton Oaks Papers, 41-60.

Nesbitt, A. and Garrucci, R. (1874) 'XVIII.—On a Box of Carved Ivory of the Sixth Century', Archaeologia, 44(02), 321-330.

Weitzmann, K. and Metropolitan Museum of Art (1979) Age of spirituality late antique and early Christian art, third to seventh century catalogue of the exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, November 19, 1977, through February 12, 1978 /edited by Kurt Weitzmann, New York: The Museum.

Call For Papers - Spring 2015

The Late Antique and Medieval Postgraduate Society (LAMPS) is now looking for postgraduate students to present their research at our weekly Monday meetings in the Spring 2015 semester.

LAMPS aims to provide a fun and engaging forum for cross-disciplinary discussions that focus on the Late Antique and Medieval periods. Proposals on the study of these time periods as well as topics pertaining to the reception and perception of the Late Antique and Medieval periods from later sources are all welcome. Students from all disciplines, and at any stage of their research are welcome to submit papers. 

For the Spring 2014 semester, LAMPS requests that all submissions explore the theme of Creation. Possible paper topics include but are not limited to: the creation of buildings, objects or texts, as well as creation as a theme and the creation of ideas. The theme is open to other interpretations and can be taken in any direction of the individual’s choosing.

Presentations should be around 20 minutes and are accompanied by 10 to 15 minutes of discussion. This opportunity provides postgraduate students not only a chance to hone their presentation skills, but it also offers valuable peer support. If you are interested in applying please send a 250 word abstract along with your details and a brief introductory statement about yourself to lampsedinburgh@gmail.com by the 20^th of December. Lectures will take place on Mondays between January 12^th and March 30^th, so please let us know about any potential scheduling conflicts.

Pastoral Care of Women in John Mirk's Festial

Joanna Witkowska – PhD Department of English

The few women saints that the Festial concentrates on are the Virgin Mary, her mother St. Anne, St. Margaret, Mary Magdalene, St. Catherine, St. Elizabeth and St. Winifred. Due to the details of those saints’ lives and their lifestyles, the sermons that refer to them in this collection of sermons revolve around the topics of virginity, chastity, motherhood and marriage.

In the Festial, virginity is presented as superior to marriage. Mirk writes that Christ “louid specialy alle þat woldon leven in chastite...” (Powell 2009, p. 181, l. 20-1). Thus, though both vocations are presented by Mirk as blessed by God, virginity is preferred. A good example is the calling of St. John, who, according to the sermon on the feast of St. Mary Magdalene, was engaged to Mary, but chose to follow Christ, leading her to moral ruin. God is also presented as favouring chastity because marriage is inseparably connected with procreation, and therefore sex. The Festial states that “fleschly cowpul of mon and womon ys vnclene in hymself, þerfore leue wel þat oure Lady [the Virgin Mary] (…) conseyved not of coupul of mon, but only of þe Holy Gost, so þat heo [was] clene of al maner fulþe touchyng conseyt of mon” (Powell 2009, p. 56, l. 32-5). It is the “fulþe touchyng” of men that makes the act unclean. There is no similar mention of women, perhaps because this sermon is addressed to women, and they have to be warned against sin, which may come from male influence. In sermons about male saints, where male virginity or chastity are strongly advocated and praised, women are the temptresses, in either human or demonic form, and men are warned against them.

This subsection on virginity and chastity has not yet been fully developed, as my focus so far has been on marriage and motherhood; overall, marriage and motherhood are inseparable in John Mirk's Festial, and the main division is between actual and spiritual marriage and motherhood. As the previous subsection stated, chastity is considered superior to matrimony in the Festial, and consequently spiritual marriage and motherhood are considered superior to ordinary marriage and motherhood. The most basic definition of a spiritual marriage is that it is a transcendent relationship between a nun or saintly woman and God, similar to the relationships male saints or clerics could have with the Virgin Mary. Spiritual motherhood is the relationship between, for example, a mother superior and the other nuns in a convent, or a female saint and the people she converts to Christianity, or her female followers in a convent-like environment. Almost all female saints that are mentioned in the Festial are spiritual mothers and wives. In entering a spiritual marriage, they choose God over mortal men, which is praised, because in this way they distance themselves from Eve, who chose Adam over God. Mirk mentions this in the marriage sermon, when he describes the rite of marriage (Powell 2011, p. 254, l. 68-71).

The main physical wives and mothers of the Festial are the Virgin Mary, her mother Anne, and Elizabeth, mother of John the Baptist. The principal conclusion I have drawn from their lives is that they seem to possess more agency than their husbands; the Virgin Mary is the prime example of this. Mary's marriage is not a typical one, and she can even be seen to have two spouses, God the Father and St. Joseph (Parsons 1996, p. 77). In the sermon on the Nativity of Christ, Joseph decides to take Mary to Bethlehem for protection during her pregnancy, and goes to look for midwives when Mary asks him to. In the sermon on Epiphany, he takes care of Mary when she is resting after her labour, using a large part of the Three Kings' gold to ensure her health and comfort. Showing Joseph in this light provides an example for the husbands of the parish, highlighting how they should treat their pregnant wives.

However, the Annunciation sermon presents Joseph as a holy 'old' man, who “knew þat scheo [Mary] hadde made a vowe (…) þat scheo wolde neurer haue parte of mannus body” (Powell 2009, p. 94, l. 64-5), but who still decided to marry her, even after he learned of her pregnancy, though only because of a miraculous angelic intervention. He appears to be a useful tool in God's plan, and is supposed to take care of the Virgin, but lacks other characteristics of a real husband; he cannot consummate his marriage and he must help with Mary's birth, which makes him almost a midwife and gives him feminine characteristics. Pamela Sheingorn writes that church art of the time, which presents both Joseph and God the Father as old men, reinforces the idea of fatherly protection as extended by a husband. This church art also stresses both paternal and maternal characteristics of a husband, as it includes images of God cradling souls in his lap, following the Jewish notion of the souls of the dead resting on Abraham's Bosom (Parsons 1996, p. 81). However, the difference between the Virgin Mary's earthly and heavenly spouses is that while the Father-God does not lose His masculinity when He gains the feminine features of a mother, Joseph’s depiction as a tender, caring and passive father, combined with his old age, renders him a feminine figure, less respected as a man, almost a housewife. Thus, he is mocked in some medieval writings (Parsons 1996, p. 84, 106) and refused a halo in paintings (p. 84).

My research still requires more context from other sermon collections of the time, and more development of all of its subsections, especially the section on virginity and chastity; childbearing and breastfeeding are also important. Additionally, I have yet to focus on the women sinners in the text. What I have discovered, however, suggests Mirk's awareness of his female parishioners' pastoral needs, which might have influenced the popularity of the Festial.

Bibliography

Atkinson, Nancy E. “John Mirk’s Holy Women.” Papers on Language and Literature. Fall 2007, Vol. 43, Issue 4, p. 339-62.

Barr, Beth Allison. The Pastoral Care of Women in Late Medieval England. Boydell Press, 2008.

Beattie, Cordelia. Medieval Single Women: The Politics of Social Classification in Late Medieval England. Oxford Scholarship Online, 2008. Web. 25 Mar. 2014.

McSheffrey, Shannon. Gender and Heresy: Women and Men in Lollard Communities, 1420-1530. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1995.

Parsons, John C. and Bonnie Wheeler, eds. Medieval Mothering. New York and London: Garland Publishing, Inc., 1996.

Peacock, Edward, ed. Instructions for Parish Priests. By John Myrc. Edited from Cotton MS. Claudius A. II. London: Early English Text Society, 1868.

Powell, Susan, ed. A Critical Edition of John Mirk's ‘Festial’, edited from British Library MS Cotton Claudius A.II: Volume 1. New York: Oxford University Press, 2009.

---. A Critical Edition of John Mirk's ‘Festial’, edited from British Library MS Cotton Claudius A.II: Volume 2. New York: Oxford University Press, 2011.

The Iconography of Queenly Identity: The Balthilde Ring Bezel and the Depiction of Coitus

Stephenie McGucken - PhD History of Art 

The Balthild ring bezel is a beguiling small (12mm in diameter) gold bezel, found in Norfolk by a metal detector in 1999, dating from the seventh century. Scholars agree that the bezel belonged to Balthlid, Queen of Neustria in the mid-seventh century.

Figures 1 & 2. The Balthild Ring Bezel, Obverse & Reverse. Images: Norfolk Museums & Archaeology Service.

Balthild was born in Anglo-Saxon England around 626 and was sold into slavery in Neustria after she was captured during a raid. She was purchased by Erchinoald, the mayor of the palace, who later tried to seduce her. She refused, and Erchinoald eventually gave her to Clovis II in marriage. When Clovis II died in 655, Balthild became regent for her eldest son, Chlothar III. As regent, she worked to correct ecclesiastical abuses and encouraged bishops and abbots to follow a monastic rule, all while expanding her influence with both the aristocracy and the church. In 664, Balthild retired to Chelles at the so-called request of the Frankish aristocracy, and was there until she died in 680.

The obverse of the bezel shows a frontal portrait. The lower half of the figure has been interpreted as both stylised drapery and as a body executed on a smaller scale. It is most likely the top of a garment, as the composition makes little sense as a body (with a fifth appendage).

Anna Gannon has identified the portrait as Christ, and Leslie Webster has agreed (pers. comm. July 2014). The cross shaft merges with the figure’s nose, and could be a way of identifying the figure as Christ. However, it can also be seen as the queen herself. The connection between and conflation of Christ and the queen is an intentional one: the ring stylises Balthild as Christ’s chosen queen, whose duty to her earthly King, Clovis, are second only to her duties to the heavenly king.

Figure 3. Drawing of the Balthild Ring Bezel. Image: Courtesy of the Norwich Museums Service.

The reverse image shows two figures facing each other; they stand under the sign of a cross. Both figures’ eyes are wide and their mouths are open, with their heads tilted back. The Norwich Castle Museum presents the reverse as a ‘stylised image of a man and woman making love.’ Webster and Gannon argue for a different reading: rather than a couple making love, they see it as a couple holding hands in the tradition of Byzantine betrothal rings. While the ring does draw on this tradition, it does not show them holding hands. Rather, the “hands” between the lower part of the figures represents outer walls of the labia extended to take in the penis.

Figure 4. Byzantine Betrothal Ring. Image: Christie’s.

The cross on the reverse serves as a substitute for Christ on the Byzantine ring. It represents divine approval of the marriage, and ultimately the rule – an idea that was gaining momentum in this period.

Another object type that should be considered is the Swedish and Danish guldgubbers, small gold-foil figures dating between 500 and 800 AD (Fouracre 2004). In a particular type, a couple is shown clearly embracing and kissing. While not overtly sexual in nature, this type of guldgubbers has been shown to reference marriage rites (Ratke 2006). As queen and wife, Balthild’s marriage would have implied a sexual union with the king to produce his heirs, arguably the queen’s most important role. The physical embraces represented social contract and partnership in similar, yet subtly different ways.

Figure 5. Guldgubber. Image: Sharon Ratke.

For Anglo-Saxon comparanda we have to look slightly forward to the mid-tenth century. In the representation of the story of Lot in the Old English Hexateuch, we are given two illustrations of Lot having sex with his daughters who have gotten him drunk in order to try to conceive so that mankind does not die out.

Figure 6. Old English Hexateuch. British Library Claudius B IV, fol. 33v. Image: British Library.

This image, unlike the ring, serves a narrative purpose, rather than a symbolic one. Bede, in his commentary on Genesis, explains this symbolism. He excuses Lot’s daughters because they did not commit incest out of lust, but as a way to ensure the human race’s survival. Bede goes on to say ‘the daughters of the blessed Lot represent the carnal thoughts of even the noblest men’ and ultimately ‘the fact that we are saved from dangers is certainly owing to God’s illuminating grace.’

In terms of the Balthild bezel, such a scene might introduce a negative light to the sexual reading, but that negativity is negated by the sign of the cross above the couple. Rather than committing a sin, they are upholding their duty to their kingdom and, ultimately, Christ.

In her book Visual and Other Pleasures, Laura Mulvey argues that the female is defined by the male’s view of her, and that she is consistently ‘tied to her place as bearer, not maker, of meaning.’ Mulvey’s assertion that the ruling ideology that ‘the male figure cannot bear the burden of sexual objectification’ is demonstrated and overturned in the bezel.

I believe that the bezel, and its now-lost ring, was given to Balthild by Clovis around the time of their official betrothal. At the moment of giving, it presented a meaning established by the king. However, upon Balthild’s acceptance of the ring and her place, the power of the gaze is inverted. No longer is the ring a sexual image of the king and queen given to the queen to remind her of her duties. The ring upon giving is transformed, as it shifts from the possession of the male gaze to the female gaze, becoming a female conception of sex and queenly responsibility (to bear the king’s heirs, an idea implied by the sex). The Balthild bezel, then, represents an Early Medieval image of power through sexuality.

Selected Bibliography

‘Balthild, Queen of Neustria.’ In: Jo Ann McNamara, John Halbog, and Whatley, eds.

Sainted Women of the Dark Ages, pp264-178. London: Duke UP, 1992.

Capelle, T. “Siegelring.” Reallexikon Der Germanischen Altertumskunde. Berlin:

Walter de Gruyter, 2005.

Colgrave, Bertram, and Roger Mynors, eds. Bede’s Ecclesiastical History of the

English People. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1993.

Fouracre, Paul. “Balthild’s Ring: A Find Against the Odds or A Case of Mistaken

Identity.” Norwich Castle, January 22, 2004.

Geake, Helen. Anglo-Saxon Swivelling Seal Matrix from Postwick, Norfolk.

Supporting Information for the National Art Collections Fund Application, n.d.

Hadjadj, Reine. Bagues Mérovingiennes: Gaule Du Nord. Paris: Éditions Les

Chevau-légers, 2007.

Karras, Ruth Mazo. Sexuality in Medieval Europe: Doing Unto Others. London:

Routledge, 2005.

Mulvey, Laura. “Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema.” In Visual and Other

Pleasures, 14–27. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 1989.

Nelson, Janet. “Queens as Jezebels: The Careers of Brunhild and Balthild in

Merovingian History.” In Medieval Women: Essays Dedicated and Presented to

Professor Rosalind M. T. Hill, 31–77. London: Blackwell, 1978.

Ochota, Mary-Ann. “Baldehildis Seal.” In Britain’s Secret Treasures, 2013.

Ratke, Sharon, and Rudolf Simek. “Guldgubber: Relics of Pre-Christian Law

Rituals?” In Old Norse Religion in Long Term Perspective: Origins, Changes, and

Interactions, edited by Anders Andrén, Kristina Jennbert, and Catharina Raudvere,

259–64. Lund: Nordic Academic Press, 2006.

Webster, Leslie. Gold Swivelling Ring Bezel from Postwick, Norfolk. Treasure Report,

1999.

Wemple, Susan Fonay. Women in Frankish Society: Marriage and the Cloister 500 to

900. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1981.

‘Signet Ring.’ http://norfolkmuseumscollections.org/collections/objects/1104558758.html.

'Many have loved treachery, but none the traitor': Identity and Allegiance in Barbour's Bruce and Hary's Wallace

Callum Watson - PhD History

Treachery was one of the most serious social taboos in the kingdoms of north-western Europe in the medieval period. Consequently, the harshest punishments were reserved for traitors and oath breakers. For Scottish writers in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, this problem grew all the more acute due to the nature of the conflict between the kingdom and its southern neighbour. As is often observed, Scotland had far fewer resources to draw upon than England, which meant that not only could Scotland not afford to lose assets to England, but also that serving English interests could offer more lucrative rewards than remaining loyal to the King of Scots. For instance, when Archibald ‘the Grim’ secured the earldom of Douglas in 1389, disaffected members of his predecessor’s affinity offered their services and local expertise to Richard II. Barely ten years later, George Dunbar, earl of March, who had been instrumental in the prosecution of the war in the 1380s, was incensed by the increasing political closeness of the duke of Rothesay and Dunbar’s local rival the earl of Douglas. He not only defected, but also led cross-border raids against his former adherents on behalf of Henry IV. The responses of late medieval Scottish writers to the problem of shifting aristocratic allegiance can thus be quite illuminating, as in the case of John Barbour – whose long narrative poem The Bruce, recounting the life and career of King Robert I and his chief lieutenants, was composed in the mid-1370s (Barbour 1997) – and Blind Hary – who borrowed heavily from Barbour when producing a poetic biography of William Wallace around a century after Barbour was writing (Blind Hary 1968-69).

Execution by hanging, drawing and quartering, a punishment commonly reserved for traitors (Bibliotheque Nationale MS Fr. 2643, folio 197v)

For Barbour, loyalty was the most important virtue an individual could possess:

“With a vertu and leawté
A man may yeit sufficyand be,
And but leawté may nane haiff price
Quether he be wycht or he be wys,”
J. Barbour, The Bruce, Bk. 1, ll. 367-370

In The Bruce, villainous characters are frequently portrayed as traitors, and often the greatest disasters that the Scots suffer are the result of treachery. However, switching sides does not necessarily qualify as treasonous behaviour for Barbour, and this has to do with the concept of reciprocal lordship. Ideally speaking, a vassal was expected to subordinate his own ambitions in favour of those of his lord, and be willing to put himself through danger and hardship to accomplish his lord’s aims. In return, a lord was expected to generously reward his followers for their efforts with the fruits of their combined labour. However, if a lord failed to live up to his responsibilities in this regard, a vassal had cause to repudiate a previously sworn oath and seek a lord who would behave in a more proper manner. The key example of this principle at work in The Bruce is Thomas Randolph, earl of Moray. Moray is captured by the English at the Battle of Methven and is ‘made English’. When he is eventually recaptured by Sir James Douglas, he is brought before King Robert and rebukes the king for employing guerrilla tactics against the English, instead of meeting them in open battle. This challenge to Bruce’s preferred tactics – the promotion of which is another major theme of The Bruce – indicates Moray’s dissatisfaction with the king. While he is ultimately proven to be mistaken, this serves to justify Moray’s apparent willingness to switch sides without tarnishing his reputation for loyalty. In practical terms, the appeal of this principle is plain to see. If a powerful individual grew frustrated with a lack of patronage or apparent mistreatment by a social superior, they might legitimately seek redress in the service of another. Furthermore, to do so did not necessarily mean the complete abrogation of the previous arrangement and could serve as a tool to force a renegotiation of the former relationship to the benefit of the offended party. Certainly this principle could be used to defend the actions of the likes of Malcolm Drummond in 1389 or George Dunbar in 1400.

19^th-century representation of some of the key characters from Barbour’s Bruce and Hary’s Wallace (http://www.rampantscotland.com/famous/blfamfrieze.htm)

Hary’s Wallace is notable for, among other things, its vehemently anti-English sentiment. This has been used in support of the notion that The Wallace was written as a piece of anti-English propaganda in response to James III’s overtures for peace with England, possibly in support of the duke of Albany’s attempts to use this anti-English feeling to usurp his brother’s power. However, an alternative interpretation of the poem sees The Wallace as a more conservative work, which in fact encourages its readers to hold to the traditional values for which the Scottish monarchy is supposed to stand in times of crisis. For most of the poem, Bruce is in the service of the English king and is effectively an enemy of the kingdom he should rightfully rule. When Wallace and Bruce finally meet – standing on opposite sides of the River Carron after the Battle of Falkirk – Bruce asks Wallace why he resists the English and Wallace responds that he is only fulfilling the role that Bruce himself should take. This exchange is interesting because it is the most explicit summation of Wallace’s reasoning for his actions, and it seems that this is the attitude that Hary wishes to encourage in his audience. In times of uncertainty, when the king is not fulfilling the responsibilities associated with his role, his subjects should uphold the values for which the king should stand until the king (or his legitimate heir) accepts his proper responsibilities.

Resistance to royal authority in action!

Both writers accept, and even anticipate, a degree of resistance to royal authority, but ultimately they advocate ideas designed to instil greater stability in the Scottish political community. For Barbour, loyalty was paramount, but the relationship between powerful individuals had to be reciprocal in order for them to remain stable. For Hary, the ‘proper’ response to ineffectual kingship was loyalty to the institution of Scottish kingship – if not necessarily to the king himself – particularly in times of crisis and uncertainty.


General bibliography:

J. Barbour, The Bruce, (A.A.M. Duncan ed. & trans.), (Edinburgh: Canongate, 1997)

Blind Hary, The Wallace, (M.P. McDiarmid ed.), (Edinburgh: Scottish Text Society, 1968-69), 2 volumes

S. Boardman, The Early Stewart Kings: Robert II and Robert III 1371-1406, (East Linton: Tuckwell Press, 1996)

R. J. Goldstein, The Matter of Scotland: Historical Narrative in Medieval Scotland (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1993)