A lecture that sounds like a good follow-up to Stuart Wrathmell’s presentation to the Medieval Section in February: the Friends of St Andrews Weaverthorpe have organised a lecture on ‘Anglo-Saxon Estates on the Wolds: archaeological fieldwork at Cottam and Cowlam’ by Professor Julian Richards of the University of York at 7.30pm on
Friday 30thMay 2014at St Andrew’s Church, Weaverthorpe.
Tickets cost £5 and this includes refreshments.
Pete Wilson of the Roman section Y.A.S. is the contact for tickets and further details. let me know if you don’t know how to contact him.
At long last I am able to reproduce a drawing of a copper alloy Anglian cruciform brooch that was found by a metal-detectorist near Beverley, East Yorkshire. It was reported to the Hull and East Riding Museum in the early to mid 1990s. This being the pre-Portable Antiquities Scheme era, any provision for recording such material was at the discretion of the staff responsible for running the museum’s identification service. Recognizing the significance of such a piece I drew the brooch intending to publish it in due course. Soon afterwards I accepted a new job in Leeds and the brooch drawing was put to one side because my new duties had to take priority. However, I’m pleased to be able to share the brooch illustration for the first time with readers of the Medieval Section Blog.
As I recall the circumstances of discovery were rather sensitive. The finder offered the brooch for sale to the Museum and under due diligence the staff at the time contacted the landowner to request a formal transfer-of-title. However, the landowner had not been aware that metal-detecting was taking place on the land in question, though it was happy to give the brooch to Hull Museums. As a result the metal-detectorist did not receive a reward of any kind. It seemed a harsh outcome for him having reported the discovery but legally there was no other course of action because he did not have permission to metal-detect on that piece of land.
The drawing makes clear the brooch has a strongly arched bow. The terminals take the form of a face with what appears to be a protruding tongue. The cheeks look like birds’ beaks or perhaps biting beasts. Similarly-decorated extensions appear on the foot of the brooch. There are a number of disc-shaped depressions: two on the head of the brooch, one on the foot and I suspect part of one still survives on the left-hand terminal. There may have been some sort of inlay as decoration. Presumably the brooch dates from the 5th-6th centuries AD . It may have been worn as one of a pair of brooches, one on each shoulder and used to secure clothing. However, no other material was reported. It is not known whether this was from a burial or whether it was a casual loss, though it is in rather good condition.It measures 8.7cm (L.) by 7.6cm (W).
When I returned to Hull and East Riding Museum for a year in 2005 I tried to find the brooch again in the collection but the Assistant Keeper had no recollection of it and it does not appear on the publicly-accessible database for the collection. It is a beautiful piece and it was a challenging illustration. In fact it was the last significant drawing I worked on. It would be good to locate it again.
Advance notice of a lecture taking place on Saturday 6th September 2014 from 12.45pm at Dewsbury Minster by Professor Joyce Hill and Elizabeth Lee for the English Companions. The strapline of the society says that ‘The foundations of today’s Yorkshire were formed during “the Anglo-Saxon Age”. The English Companions is a society which promotes interest and research into that era – AD 410-1100.’ It seems churlish to quibble about the Scandinavian contribution to Yorkshire identity, and one should at least welcome the addition of a new lecture about the early Middle Ages to the autumn season.
Again from the text accompanying the lecture we are told that Professor Hill’s academic specialism is the language and literature of Anglo-Saxon England, with a particular focus on the transmission of Christian culture. Joyce began her career King’s College London, where she gained a First in English. From there she went to York for her D. Phil., where she began her research in the literature of the Anglo-Saxons, on which she now has more than a hundred publications. Joyce is now an Emeritus Professor of the University of Leeds. Within the new diocese to which Dewsbury Minster now belongs, she is a member of Ripon Cathedral Chapter as a Lay Capitular Canon.
Rev Elizabeth Lee trained as a teacher, specialising in Religious Education. She taught in Secondary Grammar and Modern Schools before becoming Head Teacher of a 9-13 Middle School in Leeds. Her final post was Head Teacher of the Cathedral C.E. Middle School in Wakefield. After retirement she was ordained priest in the Church of England and is now Honorary Curate in the Dewsbury Team Parish. Her interest in the Anglo-Saxon period was aroused when she moved to Dewsbury and discovered that the Parish Church was founded by Paulinus in AD 627. She continues to research the life and mission of Paulinus.
To reserve a place send a cheque made payable to the English Companions C/o George Roe 18 Heuthwaite Ave, Wetherby, West Yorkshire, LS22 6RR Tel: 01937 919173 email georgeroe@talktalk.net The cost is £2 for members £5 for non-members.
The Roman Forum looking towards the House of the Vestals
I thought members of Medieval Section might be interested in the following event, which is free of charge and all are welcome: the Yorkshire Numismatic Society has organised a meeting at 2.00pm at the Harrogate Coin Fair, Old Swan Hotel, Swan Rd, Harrogate, North Yorkshire HG1 2SR this Saturday (22nd March 2014). Rory Naismith will speak on ‘The Forum Hoard of Anglo-Saxon Coins’.
19th century view of the Temple of Vesta in the Roman Forum
In November 1883, diggers working their way down to the ancient House of the Vestal Virgins in the Roman Forum came across a pot filled with over 800 coins. These were soon recognised as being virtually all English issues of the late ninth and tenth centuries, ending in the reign of Edmund (939–46); remarkably, the find also included a pair of silver fasteners naming the intended recipient of the money, Pope Marinus II (942–6). It remains one of the largest and most important finds of English coins of this period ever to have been uncovered. This lecture examines aspects of the hoard, in the context of money in tenth-century England and Anglo-papal relations.
Since coming close to being wound up at its AGM in April 2013, the Medieval Section has, with the appointment of new officers and new committee members, been more active over the last year. The section has offered eight lectures and an excursion to see the ‘lost’ 1066 battlefield of Fulford with Chas Jones (September 2013).
Arms and armour of the time of Fulford
It is invidious to single out any of our speakers but one of the much-anticipated highlights of the lecture programme was the talk about the discovery of Richard III’s remains given by Bob Woosnam-Savage from the Royal Armouries in Leeds. This was followed by the traditional Medieval Section Christmas buffet.
Bob Woosnam-Savage’s lecture about Richard III’s remains
Attendance at the monthly lectures, which lapsed several years ago, has been slowly growing. In October Pam Judkins talked to the section about the commemoration of the funeral procession for Richard Duke of York organised by Wakefield Historical Society. November’s talk on ‘Aethelfrith of Northumbria’s lost battlefield?’ by Bryan Sitch presented the results of a recent study of human remains in the Manchester Museum collection that appear to be casualties of the Battle of Chester, described in Bede’s Ecclesiastical History of the English People. In January Simon Tomson of Pontefract Archaeological Society gave a talk about ‘Finding Pontefract ‘s Black Friars’; and in February Stuart Wrathmell discussed ‘New approaches to Anglo-Saxon settlement and place-names: the Vale of Pickering and the northern Wolds’. In March Rebecca Griffiths from the Portable Antiquities Scheme presented recent Medieval discoveries from Yorkshire. We have just had our first AGM under the new committee (April 2014) after which Dr Hugh Willmott (University of Sheffield spoke about Monk Bretton Priory). Lecture meetings are something of a social occasion too because we usually retire to the Claremont kitchen for tea and a chat with the speaker. Summaries of each of the lectures will be posted on the blog for the benefit of members who could not attend. The officers and committee are grateful to each of the speakers for kindly giving up their time to help the section at a challenging time.
Speaker Rbecca Griffiths and Section Member David Harpin at the recent lecture about the P.A.S.
With some new members joining but a few resignations and the sad loss of long-standing members who have passed away over the last year, including Anna Slowikowski, Prof Jennings, Mrs Pickles and Mr Rushton, membership has remained about the same at about 120. However, with funds firmly in the black, a new programme of lectures being planned and proposals for a visit to see places of medieval interest in Manchester and for a day-school on the ‘lost kingdom’ of Elmet, the section can look forward to consolidating and building on its year of recovery.
One officer post still to fill is the position of Honorary Editor because there ‘catch-up’ volumes of the section journal Medieval Yorkshire still to bring to publication. Publication of the section journal sadly lapsed several years ago. One of our existing Committee members has indicated that she would like to step down and this provides an opportunity for someone new to join the committee. As we usually meet before the Saturday afternoon lecture meeting it is not onerous. Do contact me if you’d like to discuss joining the committee – but before the AGM on Saturday 12th April if possible at.yas.medievalsec@gmail.com If you are not a member, the section subscription is £16 per year. If you are a member of Yorkshire Archaeological Society the subscription is just £6. There is a very competitive student subscription too.
One notable addition to the section’s offer to its members has been the creation of this Medieval Section blog. Taking the section into the area of social media has been very much a new undertaking for the section and this at a time when a significant proportion of the membership does not use email. If you have not already sent me you email address, do please let me have it because it saves the section a small fortune in postage. If you do not have computer access we will send you mailings by post. However, the number of visitors and visits to the Medieval Section website has gradually grown over the year. I am very grateful to Sue Alexander for looking after the website and for providing the graph below showing how the number of visitors to the website and blog has steadily grown over the last year. Though I say it myself I think it tells its own story. The blog offers a quick and convenient way of finding out what is happening in medieval history and archaeology in the county and further afield.
Visits to the Medieval Website (including the Blog) over the last year
Bryan Sitch
Hon Secretary
Medieval Section
17th March 2014
The next meeting of the University of Leeds Medieval Group is on Monday, 17 March. As always, we will begin with tea and biscuits at 5 followed by a paper at 5.30 in the Le Patourel room (Parkinson 406).
William Flynn and Jane Flynn (Institute for Medieval Studies), ‘The Experience of Worship in Late-Medieval Parish Church: Two Participants’ Views of an AHRC/ESRC project’
The speakers will be showing extracts from the Liturgies at St Teilo’s Church which formed part of the project ‘The Experience of Worship in Late Medieval Cathedral and Parish Church’ (John and Sally Harper- Lead investigators. See more at: http://www.experienceofworship.org.uk/) in which they both participated as Lord (Bill) and Lady (Jane) of the manor, Beguine nun (Jane) and the nuns’ prior (Bill), boy chorister (Jane), Steward (Bill), poor parishioner (Jane) and choral clerk (Bill). The presentation will focus on the aims of the project, the particular research formation and questions that Bill and Jane brought to it, how the project evolved over the four years during which they participated in it, and reflect on its influence on their own research.
Dr William Flynn is Lecturer in Medieval Latin at the Institute for Medieval Studies, University of Leeds. He is a graduate of University of Rochester (BMus), University of Edinburgh (MMus) and Duke University (MA, PhD). His research and publication focus on the interactions between liturgy, music and theology, elementary music and grammar instruction to 1200, music in the context of Latin palaeography, music theory to 1300 and writings of Hildegard of Bingen. Among his publications are Medieval Music as Medieval Exegesis (Scarecrow Press, 1999) and a performing edition of Hildegard of Bingen’s O frondens virga (Chapel Hill, 1998); “Ductus figuratus et subtilis: Rhetorical Interventions for Women in Two Twelfth-Century Liturgies’, in Rhetoric Beyond Words, ed. Mary Carruthers (Cambridge University Press, 2009); ‘Singing with the Angels: Hildegard of Bingen’s Representations of Celestial Music’, in Conversations with Angels, ed. Joan Raymond (Houndsmills, 2009); “Letters, Liturgy and Identity: The Use of the Sequence Epithalamica at the Paraclete,” in Sapientia et Eloquentia: Meaning and Function in Liturgical Poetry, Music, Drama, and Biblical Commentary in the Middle Ages, ed. Gunilla Iversen and Nicolas Bell (Turnhout, 2009). http://www.leeds.ac.uk/arts/profile/20046/1196/william_flynn
Dr Jane Flynn is Visiting Research Fellow, Institute for Medieval Studies. Her research and publications centre on music and pedagogy up to c 1650, keyboard music, vocal and instrumental improvisation from the mid-14th to the mid-17th centuries, Machaut and English liturgical music. Among her publications are: ‘The Education of Choristers in England during the Sixteenth Century’, in English Choral Practice, c. 1400-c. 1650, ed. John Morehen (1995), ‘The Intabulation of De toutes flours in the Codex Faenza as Analytical Model’ in Machaut’s Music: New Interpretations, ed. Elizabeth Leach (2005) and Laus angelicaPoetry in the Medieval Mass(Turnhout, 2010). http://www.leeds.ac.uk/arts/profile/20046/1199/jane_flynn
Everyone is welcome and we hope to see you there!
Emilia Jamroziak (on behalf of Medieval Group committee)
The Bedale Hoard (courtesy of the Portable Antiquities Scheme)
If anyone is visiting York before the end of the month, you may wish to visit the Yorkshire Museum. The Bedale Hoard is on display there until the end of March. The museum is currently trying to raise the £50,000 needed for them to keep it there.
I’ve drawn the following text from the Yorkshire Museum press release but Rebecca Griffiths, the Portable Antiquities Officer who excavated the hoard, spoke to the Medieval Section in March about the work of the Portable Antiquities Scheme and talked about this discovery.
The Bedale Hoard represents a Viking’s life savings containing unique styles of jewellery which have never been seen before. It was found by a metal detectorist in May 2012 and includes a gold sword pommel and a silver neck ring and neck collar, the likes of which have never been recorded. The detectorist informed the North Yorkshire finds liaison officer of the Portable Antiquities Scheme, Rebecca Griffiths, based at the Yorkshire Museum. She and her colleague from the museum then went to the site and unearthed the rest of the hidden treasures.
It was discovered in a part of Yorkshire which very little is known about in the Viking period, so the very fact it exists sheds new light on the region one thousand years ago.
This discovery proves that there was wealth here. It is hoped that the Yorkshire Museum can buy the hoard to enable them to conduct research to help us get a better understanding of the people who lived in Yorkshire at that time.
The full hoard consists of a gold sword pommel, the unique silver neck ring and neck collar, a silver armlet, 29 silver ingots, two other silver neck rings, gold rivets and half a silver brooch.
Archaeologists believe it is from the late ninth or early tenth century. The large gold sword pommel is believed to be from an Anglo-Saxon sword. This is made from iron and is inlaid with plaques of gold foil. These plaques bear Trewhiddle style decoration (named after a hoard found in Trewhiddle, Cornwall), consisting of animals, which was a common style all over England in the ninth century. This decoration is usually applied to silver and copper alloy and its use on gold is rare: its use on large foils, like those found here, is otherwise unknown. With the pommel were four oval ring mounts from the grip of a sword. These are made from gold and they bear incised Trewhiddle style animal interlace. Six, tiny, dome headed, gold rivets may also have been used on a sword hilt.
The unique neck collar is made up of four ropes of twisted silver strands joined together at each end. They terminate in hooks which would have been linked together when the collar was worn.
There are three other twisted neck rings, one of which has been cut in two as ‘hack silver’.
The two halves of this piece are also unique in several respects and together with the neck collar represent an unusual west Viking variant.
Like most of the hoards of the period the Bedale find is dominated by silver ingots of which there were twenty nine.
The hoard also contained a piece of a ‘Permian’ ring, cut as hack-silver – a design of Russian origin.
A broad, flat arm-ring of Hiberno-Scandinavian type, made by Vikings in Ireland, is also represented in the hoard. This is decorated with a pattern of stamp impressed grooves. Also from Ireland are the hack-silver remains of a bossed penannular brooch.
New member Alan Longbottom has kindly contributed some anecdotal Medieval references that he has come across recently in the Calendar of Papal Registers:-
To William de Spalding Canon of Sculdham – football death
1321 – Kal May Avignon f. 149
William de Spalding, Canon of Sculdham of the Order of Sempingham.
During a game at ball (ad pilam) as he kicked the ball (cum pede), a lay friend of his, also called William, ran against him and wounded himself on a sheathed knife, carried by the Canon, so severely that he died within six days.
Dispensation granted, as no blame is attached to William de Spalding, who, feeling deeply the death of his friend, and fearing what might be said by his enemies, has applied to the Pope.
Vol 2 – 1305-1342 1895 591 pp.214
And,
1324 – Kal Apr Avignon f. 131d
To William de Norvella, of the Diocese of Lincoln. Dispensation touching the death of one of his fellow scholars, caused by a blow given in a fight with sticks about victuals which were being taken; the scholar dying 40 days after the blow, perhaps by neglect of the physician. William may be ordained and hold benefices.
Vol 2 – 1305-1342 1895 591 p.239
1401 – 16 Kal Dec St. Peter’s Rome f. 6
To Emma Scherman of the Diocese of York. Indult to her who formerly took a vow of a recluse, and has had herself for many years enclosed in a cell in a place of Pontefract, with a little garden (ortulo) contiguous thereto for the sake of taking fresh air (refrigerum aeris recaptando),
On account of the tumults and clamours of the people in the said place, to transfer herself to a more suitable place, to have there another cell with a like garden, and to leave her cell yearly for the purpose of visiting churches and other pious places, and of gaining the indulgences granted there, without requiring licence of the diocesan or other. – Sincere Dilectionis.
Lateran Regesta C – 13 Boniface IX (p. 471)Vol 5 – 1396-1404 : 1904 – 814 pp.
Our sincerest thanks to Alan for sharing these with section members and blog readers.
Rebecca Griffiths talking to the Medieval Section about the work of the Portable Antiquities Scheme
The lecture meeting on 8th March featured the work of the Portable Antiquities Scheme. Rebecca Griffiths came to Claremont to talk about Medieval finds from Yorkshire. After describing the P.A.S., how it came into being and explaining the criteria for what constitutes treasure Rebecca showed us a selection of fascinating Medieval discoveries from the region, many of them found by metal-detectorists.
Over 18,000 objects have been reported from both North Yorkshire and East Yorkshire and 2100 from West Yorkshire and 3000 from South Yorkshire. The difference in the figures reflects the fact that there is more open agricultural land in the north and east of the county on which to metal-detect, whereas the west and south are more built up and there are fewer opportunities. The number of Treasure cases has risen over the years: from 673 in 2006 to over 1000 last year and so far this year there have been 150 cases.
Visigothic buckle. Courtesy of the Portable Antiquities Scheme
Rebecca showed us some of the 23,400 early Medieval objects from the P.S.A.’s database, including strap-ends, a Visigothic buckle from North Yorkshire, an ansate or ‘caterpillar’ brooch, an enamelled disc brooch, clothing accessories such as hook tags, strap mounts, and pins with biconical and polyhedral pins, to name but a few. These objects offer an insight into the everyday lives of people rich and poor because the objects archaeologists have had to work with in the past have tended to be those buried as grave goods.
Polyhedral headed pin. Courtesy of the Portable Antiquities Scheme.
Over 130,000 medieval objects have been reported from around the county. Strap ends were still used.Buckles become more common after being a status symbol in the early medieval period. Of special interest was the finger ring converted into a small buckle from the East Riding.
Stirrup ring brooch. Courtesy of the Portable Antiquities Scheme.Livery badge for Richard III. Courtesy of the Portable Antiquities Scheme.
A livery badge of Richard III is now on display in the Yorkshire Museum. There are also religious brooches with inscriptions like JESUS NAZA and AVE MARIA. Rebecca showed us photos of medieval harness mounts, seal matrices, and pilgrim souvenirs such as ampullae that contained holy water from a shrine. One may have come from a shrine at Montpellier.
Pilgrim badge from shrine at Montpellier. Courtesy of the Portable Antiquities Scheme.
Rebecca also showed us some of the coins that have been found. There are over 45,000 early medieval coins on the P.S.A.’s national database. A rare tremissis from the Netherlands was found in North Yorkshire. Such discoveries are revolutionising the study of the coinage at this period.
Gold tremissis. Courtesy of the Portable Antiquities Scheme.
Whereas the coinage of the various independent kingdoms that comprised Britain at this early date is necessarily varied, in the medieval period proper, so to speak, the coins tend to be standardised, even to the point of having the name of the previous king, HENRICVS, when in fact the coins were issued in the reign of King Richard and King John and early in the reign of Henry III. It can be very difficult to tell which ruler the coin belongs to when the defining characteristic is the degree of curliness of the king’s hair! Rebecca drew attention to the P.A.S.’s LOST CHANGE project which has mapped find-spots of coins of different periods from prehistoric through to medieval.
Gold brooch with decorative terminals in the shape of two hands in the attitude of prayer. Courtesy of the Portable Antiquities Scheme.
Rebecca closed her talk by showing us some of the best finds: a gold brooch with hands clasped together in prayer; a finger ring inscribed with the name JESVS; a small hoard of silver pennies of Henry III and Edward I. But the Vale of York Hoard and the Bedale Hoard are some of the most spectacular discoveries. The Vale of York Hoard was found in 2007 and dates from the 10th century. It was found by two metal-detector users. The contents of the hoard reflect the wide geographical range of Viking trading contacts.
The Bedale Hoard. Courtesy of the Portable Antiquities Scheme.
The Bedale hoard was found by metal-detectorists in 2012 and represents a Viking’s life savings. Not only does it contain unique styles of jewellery which have never been seen before, but the likes of the gold sword pommel, silver neck ring and neck collar in the hoard, have never previously been recorded. The full hoard consists of a gold sword pommel, the unique silver neck ring and neck collar, a silver armlet, 29 silver ingots, two other silver neck rings, gold rivets and half a silver brooch. The hoard also contained a piece of a ‘Permian’ ring, cut as hack-silver – a design of Russian origin. The finder back-filled the find-spot and called in the Portable Antiquities Officer at the Yorkshire Museum. Rebecca and a colleague from the museum went to the site and unearthed the rest of the hoard and recorded it in detail. The ingots had been placed at the bottom of the burial pit apparently in a box (though no remains were found) and tests of soil samples at the British Museum proved inconclusive. The sword and the jewellery were placed on top.
It is hoped that the Yorkshire Museum can buy the hoard to enable the staff based there to conduct research which will provide a better understanding of the people who lived in Yorkshire at the time the hoard was buried 1000 years ago, in the late 9th or early 10th century.
The Portable Antiquities Scheme has been the envy of archaeologists across Europe but it depends in part on the efforts of volunteers who record discoveries. In the current economic climate the budget can never be taken for granted and increasingly P.A.S. is looking to train the finders to record objects themselves.
The Medieval Section is very grateful to Rebecca and the Portable Antiquites Scheme for generously allowing the beautiful images of the objects to be reproduced on the blog.
Ian Cumpstey has emailed me to inform members of the section that he has published a book, Warrior Lore, that includes his translations into modern English verse of ten medieval Scandinavian folk ballads (mostly from the Swedish tradition). Further details can be found at Ian’s website at: http://www.northerndisplayers.co.uk (where you can also listen to readings from the book).
Ian has sent me the following information: ‘The Scandinavian folk ballads are narrative songs, and they represented part of a strong story-telling tradition, combining the story with poetry and music. Ballads of this type were first written down in about 1600, although they would have been first sung a couple of centuries earlier than that, probably around 1300.
Some of the ballads included in Warrior Lore are:
Tales of the great North-European warrior Diderick of Bern and his group of fighters, with Widrick Waylandsson and Sivar Snare Sven.
A ballad of the Norwegian Viking king Harald Hardrada and his sporting contest in archery and skiing against a young fighter.
A folk version of the story of Thor’s retrieval of his stolen hammer from the troll Thrym.
The folk-ballad based on the true story of the abduction of Helena, the daughter of the Swedish king from Vreta Convent around 1200.
The cost is GBP 11.40 including UK P&P. The format is paperback, 76 pages with 10 full-colour illustrations.’
Medieval Section of the Yorkshire Archaeological and Historical Society 