Abstract
In contrast to the fifth and sixth centuries, our sources for the seventh century are relatively abundant. Chief among them is Bede’s Historia Ecclesiastica, completed in 731. Indeed we see the seventh century very largely through Bede’s eyes, which has drawbacks as well as advantages. Bede was an historian of genius, but he had little interest in secular affairs as such. He betrays extreme reluctance to divulge any scandal or unpleasantness, though he cannot quite conceal the sheer thuggery often practised not only by secular, but also ecclesiastical magnates.1 An antidote to Bede’s sweetness and light is provided by the Life of Wilfrid, bishop of York, composed by Eddius Stephanus within ten years of Wilfrid’s death in 709. Wilfrid’s episcopal office brought him closer than the cloistered monk to the violence and treachery of seventh-century politics and, though ostensibly a saint’s life, Eddius’s work differs from the usual hagiographies in advancing a polemical justification for his hero’s stormy career.2
Every lord that was mighty of men made him strong, and many weened to have been king.
(Thomas Malory, Le Morte d’Arthur)
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
Notes
Bertram Colgrave (ed.), The Life of Bishop Wilfrid by Eddius Stephanus (Cambridge, 1927) (cited as VW); for the identity of the author, see D. P. Kirby, ‘Bede, Eddius and the Life of Wilfrid’, EHR, 98 (1983), 101–4.
A. Ozanne, ‘The Peak-dwellers’, Medieval Archaeology, 6 (1962), 15–52.
Dumville, ‘The Origins of Northumbria’, pp. 213–22. Ælle is the king of Deira who appears in the story of St Gregory and the English slaves (WG chapters 9,12; HE ii, 1); for the problems of dating his reign, see Molly Miller, ‘The Dates of Deira’, ASE, 8 (1979), 41–2.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Copyright information
© 1999 Ann Williams
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Williams, A. (1999). The Time of the Warlords. In: Kingship and Government in Pre-Conquest England c.500–1066. British History in Perspective. Palgrave, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-27454-3_2
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-27454-3_2
Publisher Name: Palgrave, London
Print ISBN: 978-0-333-56798-2
Online ISBN: 978-1-349-27454-3
eBook Packages: Palgrave History CollectionHistory (R0)