Medieval Section of the Yorkshire Archaeological and Historical Society
Medieval History and Archaeology of Yorkshire
This time, we have Stuart Wrathmell speaking on Vikings settlements in eastern and northern Yorkshire. This will follow on nicely from the Lost Villages Found conference last Saturday.
Please register in advance for this meeting:
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZUod-usrj0vGdWvFYyfW7ir-bqWnkg4kz2h
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.
“Mirrors for Men?” a technological and cultural comparison of European and Japanese medieval swords by Stefan Maeder.
Stefan’s background is in prehistoric and early medieval archaeology with a specialization in arms and armour studies. This is a rare opportunity to hear about a comparative study of Japanese and European sword-making traditions and culture.
The Medieval Section’s December lecture on migration to English during the later Middle Ages will be given by Dr Bart Lambert, Postdoctoral Research Associate at the University of York. Dr Lambert has kindly provided the following details about his talk:
Historians studying migration to the British Isles traditionally concentrate on the successive comings of the Romans, Anglo-Saxons, Vikings and Normans, before moving rapidly forward to the arrival of minority religious and ethnic groups, both as refugees and as forced migrants, in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Yet in 2015, the AHRC-funded England’s Immigrants-project revealed that during the later Middle Ages, between 1 and 5 per cent of the English population was born abroad. These first-generation immigrants made essential contributions to the country’s commercial, agricultural and manufacturing economies and left a lasting cultural legacy. Their presence prompted the government to develop new legal frameworks, parts of which are still in place today. This paper will explore the lives of late medieval England’s immigrant population and establish its wider significance in light of the longer-term history of migration to the British Isles.
The lecture meeting will take place in the Swarthmore Education Institute at 2pm on Saturday 9th December and will be followed by the Medieval Section’s traditional Christmas afternoon tea.
With the hotly anticipated seventh series of HBO’s Game of Thrones about to to be released, it seems opportune to flag a coin in Manchester Museum’s numismatic collection with a passing link to the terrifying Dothraki horseman who began their long-awaited sea crossing to Westeros at the end of the last series.
The historical context for this coin is rather complicated but here goes:-
The story really begins with Yissugei, father of Jenghiz or Gengiz Khan, who was leader of one of the tribes on the northern boundary of the kingdom of China. Yissugei asserted his independence from Chinese influence and was succeeded by Temujin (the name of Jenghiz or Chinngiz Kahn). Temujin spent 30 years uniting the Mongol tribes and in 1206 AD claimed the title of ‘very mighty king’.
By the time Jenghiz or Chinngiz Khan died in 1227 AD, aged 64, the Mongols had conquered a large part of Central Asia, and the Mongol Empire stretched from the Yellow Sea to the Crimea. The empire was created by an army of cavalry using bows and arrow but it was a force that also had access to sophisticated Chinese siege technology. The Mongols were irresistible. Their conquests have been referred to as an ‘appalling avalanche of destruction’ (J.J.Saunders, A History of Medieval Islam 1965, repr. 1982, p.171). The Mongol leadership demanded not friendship and alliance but abject submission (p.180)! They are presumably the inspiration for J.R.R.Martin’s savage horse-riding Dothraki in Game of Thrones. It is symptomatic of how savage they are that when asked what is the Dothraki word for thank you, one of the characters replies pointedly, “There is no Dothraki word for thank you”.
Now I don’t know whether the Mongols have a word for thank you but the name used for the Mongol tribes over which Jenghiz ruled is ‘the Golden Horde’, which subdivided into ‘the Blue Horde’ and ‘the White Horde’, each ruled by one of his sons. Hulagu, second brother of Mangu (with Khubilai Khan), were all grandsons of Jenghiz Khan. In 1258 the Mongols under Hulagu captured Baghdad, one of the great cities of the Islamic Caliphate, plundered it, slaughtered the Muslim population (800,000 is the lowest estimate) and killed the last Caliph, Al Mustasim, by trampling him to death. The sacking of Baghdad put an end to 500 years of the Abassid caliphate. Hulagu was bitterly hostile to Islam. Osama bin Laden compared the US led invasion of Iraq to the Mongol conquest of the 1250s.
Hulagu established a dynasty in Persia that became the Ilkhanid dynasty – the Mongols of Persia. Ilkhan means a provincial khan. Further Mongol extension to the west was stopped by the Mamluks of Egypt at the battle of Ain Jalut or Goliath’s Spring (September 1260). Ain Jalut was one of the world’s decisive battles yet it is relatively little known in popular culture. Had the Mamluks been defeated Islam might well have been destroyed as a religion.
In the numismatic collection of Manchester Museum is a coin known as a copper fals, issued in the reign of Arghun ibn Abaga (683-690 = 1284-1294) or Uljaitu ibn Arghun (704-716 = 1304-1316) showing a hare running to the right with the Kalima, the Islamic statement of faith (‘there is no God but Allah and Mohammed is his Prophet/Messenger’). The reverse shows lines of writing. This is Mongolian with Uyghur and Phags-Pa script and can be seen on most of the Ilkhanid coins. It is a statement of loyalty to the ancestors. However, the dynasty was established in the Middle East where Arabic was and remains the daily language for many people. Arabic was used on the coins because the Mongols still found coinage useful as a medium for communicating the power of the state.
On the reverse is:-
Qaghanu (tilte of khan)
Nreber (an honorific?)
The khan’s name e.g Arghun or Uljaitu
Deledkegulug (?)
For a good diagram explaining this, See:-
http://altaycoins.com/makaledetay.asp?dil=Mg==&id=MjI=
It is often said that Islam prohibited pictorial art but it is clear that this was not enforced rigidly and attitudes were more tolerant at different times. The Mongols, certainly, would have been familiar with hares from seeing them on the Asian steppes. A hare is sometimes seen on Islamic pottery of earlier and later date. The Mongols were influenced by Nestorian Christianity in the early years but later accepted Islam as their religion. Europeans tended to regard Nestorianism as heretical for its beliefs about the nature of Jesus. Uljaitu, the Ilkhan of Persia, in whose name this coin was probably struck, may have been Christian but converted to Islam.
| It’s nearly ‘digging’ time again. This year will be rather different. Alongside the digging we will be sorting and conserving the thousands of finds from the project.
The aim of the 2017 digging is to investigate the fringe of the peat, dig a number of test pits and investigate the geology. The other major activity will be the sorting and conservation of the thousands of finds we have assembled during the project. With six folders of data and over 3000 finds, we really need your help! The aim is to ensure that all of the possible information has been extracted from these finds.
The project runs from Saturday 15 to Sunday 31 July with digging starting at 10ish. The dig welcomes experienced and novice archaeologists as a part of the CBA Festival of Archaeology. I will be camping on the site and you are welcome to join me. As always, we welcome everybody to come and join the dig. There is no need to book days as the work load will accommodate as many as come. Just turn up. Bring a friend and get them to add their name to the mailing list http ://groupspaces . com/FulfordBattlefieldSociety. Twitter is @earlmorcar. Last year several diggers had the new ‘Skills Passport’ which allows volunteers to keep a formal record of what they have done. The diverse work we undertake provides opportunities to document your skills skills. A small supply of passports has been obtained and can be purchased onsite (£8,50 or to buy your own in advance visit http ://www . archaeologyskills . co . uk/shop/)
I have uploaded the full dig plan in the ‘files’ tab on our webspace. Breaking news: I was approached by the Vikings organisation recently to see if we could organise a living history and battle reenactment event at Fulford this year. Plans are still being finalised but we will probably be organising a major event on the site on 23/24 Sept.
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The next lecture in the programme will be by Dr Audrey Thorstad talking about Interaction, daily life, and socialising spaces in early Tudor castles on 10th December. This will be held in the Swarthmore Institute.
Dr Thorstad kindly sent the following abstract and the photograph of Cowdray Castle:-
‘Castles have long been understood as elite military structures. However, recent approaches to castle studies have demonstrated that historical documents and archaeological remains depict a much more complex narrative for those living, working, and visiting a castle site during the Middle Ages and early modern periods. This paper will explore how people – from the lord and his family to members of the household and guests – moved around and used space in English castles of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. My approach takes into account sources that have not previously been used together in order to explore the layout and chamber arrangements in an age when castles were supposedly in decline. By dismantling the idea of the decline paradigm often used to describe castles after the fourteenth century, this paper will argue that castles were in fact still heavily used by the nobility well into the sixteenth century.’
The latest analysis from the Fulford Battlefield dig:-
After sorting the Fulford finds, a clear picture emerged of iron items: they are in the flow of what we can now identify as the ancient course of Germany Beck. With a few exceptions the iron was found in this restricted location and is focused in one layer. (There are some images of finds in the dig 2016 folder on the Fulford Battlefield website)
The ‘anvils’ are the exception to this rule. Wooden models of three of the items were identified by Scandinavian experts recently as likely tools used by metal-workers to planish the surface of sheet metal; so they could have been employed to remove dents from shield bosses and helmets. These items lie just above the stream bed.
The suggestion is that they arrived here attached to a block of wood into which they were driven in order to be used by the ancient armourers. This prevented their easy recovery and the rising tides in the days following the battle (all the recycling sites identified were beside the beck) floated away. The ‘anvils’ would have acted as a keel causing them to remain submerged and when found, the items all have their pointed end above the head, suggesting some buoyancy at the tip. The first two finds of the season were two further ‘anvils’ making a collection of 5. We also know these, and the finds from 2013-2015, were all along the ancient line of the beck which would account for the deposition of these finds.
The survival of metal within the stream is taken as support for the recycling hypothesis which suggests that the battlefield was thoroughly cleared of metal debris and only items that were submerged in the beck avoided the clearup. The identification in 2004 of so many metal working tools and now the identification of the ‘anvils’ leave little doubt that something dramatic happened to interrupt the work and the suggestion is that this was the destruction of the Norse army at Stamford Bridge.
With the exception of a few pieces of lead all the other items were iron and this itself is noteworthy since normal metal surveys produce a greater number of non-ferrous items. So the domination of iron in the sample is interesting but just what one might expect in a battle area.
Among the finds are an unusual number of intriguing objects that are currently awaiting xray. During the initial cleaning and find sorting, three tubular objects were found the likes of which have not been seen before and we also have what has been catalogued as a ‘long flat object’.
The work has also allowed us to refine the dating model for the layers: The stone layer was stable from pre-historic, through Roman times and ends about the time of the battle. It was only in the century after the battle that sediments began to accumulate, probably caused by the influx of alluvium from the Ings. We then have a deep layer of sand and alluvium which rapidly accumulated possibly associated with the construction of the bridge. This restricted the ebbing of the water allowing more material to be deposited. This buildup also caused the course of the beck to move a little to the north.
The road which we have variously described as a causeway, mediaeval track is looking increasingly as if it is a Roman military road. The width and construction are consistent with that interpretation but we need to do a little more work. The surface layers show many signs of repair which continued into Tudor times.
We will be extending this trench to the east to see what lies beyond the edge of the road. If any members are available this weekend, their help would be appreciated to carry out this work.
The final headline is the remains of what appears to be a small horse. It will be worth investigating if the pieces of horse vertebrae recovered at a slightly higher context in previous digs are ‘related’ to this horse because only skeletal elements that would have been close to the ground have been recovered this year. It is not easy to imagine why a horse wold have been left to rot near the crossing but that is what appears to have happened.
There is lots more analysis to do but the model of the battlesite is even clearer after all your hard work.
Thanks very very much.
Edited shortened version of lecture given to the Medieval Section of the Yorkshire Archaeological and Historical Society about the St Bees Knight, by Chris Robson of St Bees Historical Society. Filmed at the Swarthmore Education Centre on 12th December 2015, and edited by Bryan Sitch, Honorary Secretary of the Medieval Section. Posted 15th June 2016.
The next Medieval Section AGM will take place on Saturday 9th April 2016 2pm at the Swarthmore Education Centre. Our AGM will be followed by a talk on St George and England by Samantha Riches who will be talking about the material in this largely international cult, and how St George relates to England, including the late Medieval material culture at Windsor, as seen in wall paintings, jewellery, etc.
The image of St George – the medieval knight on his horse, slaying a dragon – is so familiar that it is tempting to assume his history is a simple one, but the reality is very different. St George is one of the most significant mythic characters in Christian culture but he can also be found in other religious traditions, appearing in numerous different guises in cultures the world over. An important figure in Eastern Orthodox, Coptic and western European churches, his analogues can be found in Islam, Hinduism, Judaism and the Afro-Brazilian belief system Candomblé; he also makes frequent appearances in ‘pagan’ belief systems due to his identification with nature, springtime and healing.
With or without his dragon, St George has been repeatedly reinvented over the last 1,700 years. Samantha Riches explores this saint’s significance in nations as varied as Lebanon, Ethiopia and Estonia as well as his totemic role for the Roma people, and provides first-hand accounts of celebrations in Georgia, Greece, Malta and Belgium. She describes the inspiration that artists, poets and playwrights have found in myths of St George and considers the sometimes controversial political uses to which the saint has been put.
The first book to draw together many aspects of the international cult of St George alongside some of the evidence for elements in his English cult that have been largely forgotten, St George: A Saint for All published by Reaktion Books is a fascinating history of an enduring icon.
Samantha Riches is a cultural historian based at Lancaster University. She is the author of Gender and Holiness: Men, Women and Saints in Late Medieval Europe (2011) and St George: Hero, Martyr and Myth (2005).
I recently received word that the second volume of the Medieval Section journal Medieval Yorkshire has been printed and is available for distribution to paid up members. The new publication features a paper on Yorkshire’s medieval boroughs by Brian Barber; on Plough pebbles from Holderness, and on the Kirkstall Abbey Gatekeeper’s Lodge and Vesper Gate by your humble servant the Hon.Secretary; on A Stamford Ware pottery kiln in Pontefract by Ian Roberts; and on Malton Museum by Ann Clark. There are a number of lecture summaries from the 2014-15 programme, and, sad as it is to report, short obituaries for section members, the late Lawrence Butler and Brian Donaghey, who did so much to promote Medieval architecture and literature respectively.
The contents were kindly seen to press by our Hon. Editor David Asquith, ably assisted by Sue Alexander and all thanks to them and the contributors for their hard work.
We will be distributing copies by post shortly but in order to save money on postage we will take copies to this Saturday’s lecture about the Gilbertines at the Swarthmore Education Centre. Please come along to enjoy the lecture and pick up your copy of Medieval Yorkshire at the same time. Remember your subscription needs to be current.
Medieval Section of the Yorkshire Archaeological and Historical Society 
