Celts to the Crèche

Day 17

December 1

King Aldwulf

of

East Anglia

c635-713

On this 17th day with the Celts to the Creche, we journey with Aldwulf (Ealdwulf). He was king of East Anglia from 663 to around 713. During his long reign of 49 years, East Anglia experienced an extended period of stability and growth, including the expansion of the commercial center at Gipeswic (Ipswich). He was the son of Queen Hereswith,  (see day 3 of Celts to the Crèche), the nephew of Abbess Hilda of Whitby, (see day 2 of Celts to the Crèche), and the grandnephew of King Raedwald, likely of the Sutton Hoo and Treasures fame. 

You may desire to continue reading more about  King Aldwulf or go on to the Meditation towards the end of this page.

Ipswich ware found at West Stowe. Beginning about 700 AD, this pottery began to be produced in Ipswich in factories using a pottery wheel. photo from stedmundsburychronicle.com

The territory that King Aldwulf ruled comprises modern day Norfolk and Suffolk and perhaps part of the Cambridgeshire Fens. It was during the latter part of his reign that the famous Ipswich Ware began to be produced. It is likely that Aldwulf ruled from the area around modern day Rendlesham. St. Gregory’s Church at Rendlesham is a possibility to consider as the place where the Wuffing royal hall may have stood or the royal settlement may have been further north near Naunton Hall.

St. Gregory’s Church, Rendlesham where the royal castle may have been. I visited here in 2012. photo from geograph.org.uk

Bede tells us in his Ecclesiastical History of the English People, III, 22 that the East Saxon King Swiðhelm was baptized near modern day Rendlesham by St Cedd,(see Day 14 Celts to the Crèche) with Rædwald’s nephew King Æþelwald standing as his godfather, around the year 660. 

East Anglia in Anglo-Saxon times. from wikipedia

Familial Heritage: We know of Aldwulf and his lineage from Bede’s Ecclesiastical History of the English People, the Anglian Collection, and the Historia Brittonum. Aldwulf  was of the Wuffinga lineage. He was the son of Æthilric and his wife Hereswith and a grandson of Hereric and Breguswith. It is quite likely that Aldwulf’s father Æthilric may have been the same person as Ecgric. Ætherlric/Ecgric died around 636 along with King Sigiberht as they were trying to defend their  kingdom against an attack by King Penda of Mercia. Aldwulf’s aunt was the great founding abbess, St. Hilda of Whitby (see Day 2 of Celts to the Crèche). His maternal grandparents were Hereric and Breguswith of the royal Bernician Northumbrian family.

East Anglian tally from the Textus Roffensis of the Anglian Collection. photo from wikipedia.com

The Wuffingas ruled from Suffolk in the southeast coastal area called the Wicklaw Hundreds which consisted of Sutton Hoo, Snape, Rendlesham, Ipswich, Burrow Hill, and Iken.

Aldwulf was the great-nephew of Rædwald of the famous Sutton Hoo ship burial treasure. Bede tells us that as a young child Aldwulf saw firsthand the temple containing both Christian and pagan altars that Rædwald of East Anglia had maintained.

Sutton Hoo helmet-replica. Original pieces of the helmet are in the British Museum. photo from Wikipedia

We do not know if Aldwulf went with his widowed mother Hereswith to France to live in a double monastery either at Faremoutiers or Chelles, or whether he stayed with family in East Anglia. 

Bede also tells his readers that Aldwulf established the second East Anglian episcopal see at North Elmham in 672/673.

Saxon ruins of North Elham Cathedral established during Aldwulf’s reign. photo from wikipedia

Children: We do not know the name of Aldwulf’s wife, but we do know the names of at least two of his children, Ælfwald who succeeded his father as king and a daughter Ecburga who was an Abbess at Repton Abbey in Derbyshire and also likely served as an Abbess at Ely.  It is very possible that Ecburga is the Œdilburga that is listed on the cross shaft as an Abbess at the Hackness Monastery, since Hackness was a daughter house to St. Hilda’s Whitby (Hilda would have been Ecburga’s great aunt).

The shaft of an Anglo-Saxon cross in the church in Hackness which is likely located on the foundations of St. Hilda’s convent at Hackness. The cross bears the names of later Abbesses including those of Hilda’s great nieces (Hereswith’s granddaughters). Author saw this in April 2012 and Sept. 2014. photo by Harvey Warren

Ælfwald, the son of Aldwulf, commissioned a monk named Felix to write The Life of Guthlac. Felix’s prologue to the work began with this dedication to Ælfwald “beloved by me beyond any other of royal rank.” Ælfwald was a literate and devoutly Christian king. In Ælfwald’s letter of about 747 written to Boniface who was the great English missionary to the Germans, he mentions that there are seven monasteries in his kingdom.

It becomes obvious that likely beginning with Grandmother Hereswith and Great-Aunt Hilda that this was a deeply devoted Christian family greatly influenced by these two amazing women of faith, strength, and courage.  It is interesting that Abbess Ecburga had given Guthlac a lead sarcophagus and a linen shroud to be used when he died. Guthlac died young at 40, worn out from work and too much fasting. Before he died, Ecburga also asked Guthlac who would succeed him at Crowland. He was buried in the oratory close to his hermitage.

A detail of an illustration from ‘The life of Saint Guthlac’ (Manuscript from the 12th century, British Museum Library Board) H. W. Koch: Illustrierte Geschichte der Kriegszüge im Mittelalter, S. 142, Bechtermünz Verlag, ISBN 3-8289-0321-5. from wikipedia

Resurrection Day: After a successful 49 year reign which was a very long reign in the Anglo-Saxon period, Aldwulf died in 713 likely in Rendlesham and was succeeded by his son Ælfwald who also had a long reign of 36 years.

Meditation

Followers of Celtic spiritual practices are fond of Encircling prayers. “Practicing the encircling prayer is simple. Pause and then take a moment to draw a holy circle around yourself or imaginatively, around a loved one. Use your index finger as a way of inscribing the circle around you.”  from:  Blog on Encircling Prayer by Bruce Epperly. AnamCara Books.

A Celtic Encircling Prayer for Advent and Christmas

Circle us, Lord
Circle us with the light of your presence, bright within this dark world
Enable us to be overcomers of fear and temptation
Enable us to be victors over sin and despair
Enable us to become that which you would desire
(Silent prayer)

Lord of creation, Lord of Salvation
Circle us with the light of your presence

Circle us, Lord
Circle our family within the shelter of your outstretched arms
Protect them in each moment of their daily lives
Protect them in the decisions that they face
Protect their homes and relationships
(Silent prayer)

Lord of creation, Lord of Salvation
Circle our families with the light of your presence

Circle us, Lord
Circle this nation with Advent love and hope
Create a desire to listen to the Advent message
Create a willingness to understand and respond
Create a need to reach out to the Christ Child
(Silent prayer)

Lord of creation, Lord of Salvation
Circle our nation with the light of your presence

Circle us, Lord
Circle this world with the joy of your Salvation
Where there is sickness and disease bring healing
Where there is hunger and despair bring hope
Where there is torture and oppression bring release
(Silent prayer)

Lord of creation, Lord of Salvation
Circle this world with the light of your presence. Amen. 

Prayer from: http://www.faithandworship.com/prayers_Christmas.htm#ixzz4RyTaEKiW
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© Brenda G. Warren and http://www.saintsbridge.org, 2018-2029. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Brenda G. Warren and http://www.saintsbridge.org (Celts to the Creche) with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

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Some Resources:

Archaeology. Possible Anglo-Saxon Palace Discovered at Rendlesham. September 20, 2016.

BBC News. Anglo-Saxon’Palace’ Found at Rendlesham near Sutton Hoo Site. September 20, 2016.

Bede’s Ecclesiastical History of the English People, Book 2, XV. Fordham University. Medieval Sourcebook.

Bede’s Ecclesiastical History of the English People, Book 4, XXIII. Fordham University. Medieval Sourcebook.

Blair, John. The Church in Anglo-Saxon Society. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005.

British Museum. Room 41: Sutton Hoo and Europe AD300-1100. The Sir Paul and Lady Ruddock Gallery. 

___________. The Anglo-Saxon Ship Burial at Sutton Hoo. 

Felix. Goodwin, Charles Wycliffe, ed. and tr. The Anglo-Saxon version of the life of St. Guthlac, hermit of Crowland.

Gallyon, Margaret. The Early Church in Eastern England. Lavenham, UK: Terence Dalton Limited,1973.

Hoggett, Richard. The Archaeology of the East Anglian Conversion. Woodbridge, UK: Boydell Press, 2010.

Jones, Trefor. The English Saints: East Anglia. Norwich, UK: Canterbury Press, 1999.

Kirby, D. P. The Earliest English Kings. London and New York: Routledge, 2000.

National Trust. Sutton Hoo. 

Nennius. Historia Brittonum in J. A. Giles. Old English Chronicles. London: George Bell, 1906.

Newton, Sam. Rendlesham: Site of the Hall of the Wuffings. 

_________. Wuffings’ Website. (excellent resource for this familial line)

Pestell, Tim. Landscapes of Monastic Foundation: The Establishment of Religious Houses in East Anglia, c.650-1200. Woodbridge: Boydell Press, 2004.

Plunkett, Steven. Suffolk in Anglo-Saxon Times. Stroud, UK: Tempus, 2005.

St. Gregory’s Church, Rendlesham: A brief history and guide. 2nd ed. June, 1992.

Secret Suffolk. King Raedwald’s Altars. 

Stenton, Frank Merry. Preparatory to Anglo-Saxon England: Being the Collected Papers of Frank Merry Stenton, ed. by Doris Mary Stenton. Oxford, UK: Clarendon Press, 1970, 2000 reprint. (note: this works out the issue of Aldwulf being the son of Hereswith and Æthelric and not of Æthelhere and Ælfwald being Adlwulf’s son and not his brother)

Walker, Veronica. “The Ghostly Treasure Ship of Sutton Hoo.” National Geographic History Magazine, January/February 2017.

Warner, Peter. The Origins of Suffolk. New York: Manchester University Press, 1996.

Yorke, Barbara. Kings and Kingdoms of Early Anglo-Saxon England.  New York: Routledge, 2002.