The Haestingas, or Heastingas or Hæstingas, were one of the tribes of
Anglo-Saxon Britain. Not very much is known about them. They settled in what became
East Sussex sometime before the end of the 8th century. A 12th-century source suggested that they were conquered by
Offa of Mercia
Offa (died 29 July 796 AD) was King of Mercia, a kingdom of Anglo-Saxon England, from 757 until his death. The son of Thingfrith and a descendant of Eowa, Offa came to the throne after a period of civil war following the assassination of Æt ...
, in 771. They were also recorded in the ''
Anglo-Saxon Chronicle
The ''Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'' is a collection of annals in Old English, chronicling the history of the Anglo-Saxons. The original manuscript of the ''Chronicle'' was created late in the 9th century, probably in Wessex, during the reign of Alf ...
'' (''ASC'') as being an autonomous grouping as late as the 11th century.
History
The foundation legend of the
Kingdom of the South Saxons is given by the ''Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'', which states that in the year AD 477
Ælle arrived at a place called
Cymenshore
Cymenshore is a place in Southern England where, according to the ''Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'', Ælle of Sussex landed in AD 477 and battled the Britons with his three sons Cymen, Wlencing and Cissa, after the first of whom Cymenshore was held to ...
in three ships with his three sons. Traditionally Cymenshore is thought to have been located around the Selsey area, in the south west of Sussex. However the archaeological evidence indicates that the principal area of settlement in the 5th century, for the South Saxons, has been identified as between the lower
Ouse
Ouse may refer to:
Places Rivers in England
* River Ouse, Yorkshire
* River Ouse, Sussex
* River Great Ouse, Northamptonshire and East Anglia
** River Little Ouse, a tributary of the River Great Ouse
Other places
* Ouse, Tasmania, a town in Aus ...
and
Cuckmere
The River Cuckmere rises near Heathfield in East Sussex, England on the southern slopes of the Weald. The name of the river probably comes from an Old English word meaning "fast-flowing", since it descends over 100 m (328 ft) in it ...
rivers in East Sussex, based on the number of Anglo-Saxon cemeteries there.
[Martin Welch. Early Anglo-Saxon Sussex ''in'' Peter Brandon's. The South Saxons. pp. 23-25.]
To the east of
Pevensey
Pevensey ( ) is a village and civil parish in the Wealden district of East Sussex, England. The main village is located north-east of Eastbourne, one mile (1.6 km) inland from Pevensey Bay. The settlement of Pevensey Bay forms part of ...
, beyond the
Saxon Shore fort
The Saxon Shore ( la, litus Saxonicum) was a military command of the late Roman Empire, consisting of a series of fortifications on both sides of the Channel. It was established in the late 3rd century and was led by the "Count of the Saxon Sho ...
of
Anderitum
Anderitum (also ''Anderida'' or ''Anderidos'') was a Saxon Shore fort in the Roman province of Britannia. The ruins adjoin the west end of the village of Pevensey in East Sussex, England. The fort was built in the 290s and was abandoned after it ...
, on the other side of the estuary and marsh and from there to the border with the
Kingdom of Kent
la, Regnum Cantuariorum
, conventional_long_name = Kingdom of the Kentish
, common_name = Kent
, era = Heptarchy
, status = vassal
, status_text =
, government_type = Monarchy ...
, lived a group known as the Haestingas.
[Armstrong. A History of Sussex. p. 39][Peter Hunter Blair, Roman Britain and Early England, 55 BC-AD 871. p.177] They gave their name to
Hastings.
Not very much is known of the Haestingas but they were believed to be a separate people to the South Saxons; however, there is no archaeological evidence for occupation by Anglo-Saxons in that area of Sussex between the 5th and 8th centuries. Medieval sources and place name evidence suggest that people had begun living there by the late 8th century.
[Martin Welch. Early Anglo Saxon Sussex ''in'' Peter Brandon's. The South Saxons. pp. 33-34] Some of the Saxon charters that date from the Kingdom of Sussex provide evidence which suggests the existence of two separate dynasties in Sussex. The charters of
King Northelm (or Nunna), who ruled Sussex in the late 7th and early 8th century regularly attest a second king by the name of
Watt (or Wattus).
[Kelly. Charters of Selsey. p. lxxvi][Charter S.45 Northelm, king of South Saxons grants land to his sister.]
Accessdate 18 December 2012
Accessdate 18 December 2012
Accessdate 18 December 2012 The historian C.T. Chevalier has suggested that Watt may have ruled the Haestingas. This is because place-names with the name ''Watt'' or ''What'' occur in the Hastings region, but are not found in western Sussex.
[C.T. Chevalier. The Frankish origin of the Hastings tribe ''in'' Sussex Archaeological Collections Vol 104. pp. 56-62] The theory has been seen as plausible by other historians.
[R. Coates. On the alleged Frankish origin of the Hastings tribe ''in'' Sussex Archaeological Collections Vol 117. pp. 263-264] Chevalier goes on to suggest that the Haestingas may have been of Frankish origin; however, other historians have rejected this, arguing that it is based on a misinterpretation of place-name evidence.
[Kelly. Charters of Selsey. p. lxxix]
Towards the end of the 8th century, Kent did not have a secure leadership and the
kingdom of Wessex
la, Regnum Occidentalium Saxonum
, conventional_long_name = Kingdom of the West Saxons
, common_name = Wessex
, image_map = Southern British Isles 9th century.svg
, map_caption = S ...
was pursuing an expansionist campaign under
Cædwalla; the result was that Kent found itself being raided frequently by the West Saxons.
[Kirby. The earliest English Kings. pp. 101-103] The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle for 686 reported that Cædwalla ravaged Kent with his brother
Mul. The following year it said that the people of Kent killed his brother Mul by 'burning' him and that Cædwalla overran Kent (presumably in response to his brother's violent death). In 688 Caedwalla went on a pilgrimage to Rome, why he did this is not reported but he died while he was there.
[Yorke. Kings and Kingdoms of early Anglo-Saxon England. See p. 137 for possible reasons why Cædwalla abdicated and went on pilgrimage.] Stability was then returned to Kent under the new king
Wihtred
Wihtred ( la, Wihtredus) ( – 23 April 725) was king of Kent from about 690 or 691 until his death. He was a son of Ecgberht I and a brother of Eadric. Wihtred ascended to the throne after a confused period in the 680s, which included a ...
and also with
Ine
INE, Ine or ine may refer to:
Institutions
* Institut für Nukleare Entsorgung, a German nuclear research center
* Instituto Nacional de Estadística (disambiguation)
* Instituto Nacional de Estatística (disambiguation)
* Instituto Nacional ...
becoming king of Wessex.
[Kirby. The earliest English Kings. p. 105] The people of Kent agreed to pay compensation (
Weregild
Weregild (also spelled wergild, wergeld (in archaic/historical usage of English), weregeld, etc.), also known as man price ( blood money), was a precept in some archaic legal codes whereby a monetary value was established for a person's life, to ...
) to Wessex for the taking of Mul's life. The agreement may have included some ceding of border territory,
and it has been hypothesized that the overlordship of Haestingas would have been ceded to Ine as part of this treaty. The southern kingdoms lived in relative peace for the next quarter century.
The peace was shattered by the ascent of Mercian power; the chronicler
Simeon of Durham records the defeat of the ''gens Hestingorum'' (the people of Hastings) by Offa of Mercia in 771.
[Simon of Durham. Historia Regum. Ch. 47][Simeon of Durham's. History of the Kings. p. 450] Mercian overlordship was ended when they were defeated in 825, by
Egbert of Wessex
Ecgberht (770/775 – 839), also spelled Egbert, Ecgbert, Ecgbriht, Ecgbeorht, and Ecbert, was King of Wessex from 802 until his death in 839. His father was King Ealhmund of Kent. In the 780s, Ecgberht was forced into exile to Charlema ...
, at the
Battle of Ellandun
The Battle of Ellendun or Battle of Wroughton was fought between Ecgberht of Wessex and Beornwulf of Mercia in September 825. Sir Frank Stenton described it as "one of the most decisive battles of English history". It effectively ended Mercian ...
. Egbert went on to annex the territories of Essex, Kent, Surrey and Sussex, suggesting that by this time the Haestingas had been subsumed into Sussex.
[Kirby. The Earliest English Kings. p. 155] However it is known that the Haestingas retained a distinct identity till the 11th century as the ''Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'' records the Haestingas as having been harried by the Danes in 1011.
The 19th century writer,
Grant Allen
Charles Grant Blairfindie Allen (February 24, 1848 – October 25, 1899) was a Canadian science writer and novelist, educated in England. He was a public promoter of evolution in the second half of the nineteenth century.
Biography Early life a ...
argued that the Hastings region was predestined to be a separate region between the rest of Sussex and Kent, to later join with Sussex. Effectively isolated, the region was separated from the rest of Sussex and England by the marshland of the
Pevensey Levels
Pevensey Levels is a biological Site of Special Scientific Interest between Bexhill-on-Sea and Hailsham in East Sussex. It is a Nature Conservation Review site, Grade I, a Ramsar site and a Special Area of Conservation. An area of is a nati ...
lying to the west and the forest of the
Weald
The Weald () is an area of South East England between the parallel chalk escarpments of the North and the South Downs. It crosses the counties of Hampshire, Surrey, Sussex and Kent. It has three separate parts: the sandstone "High Weald" in the ...
to the north, while
Romney Marsh
Romney Marsh is a sparsely populated wetland area in the counties of Kent and East Sussex in the south-east of England. It covers about . The Marsh has been in use for centuries, though its inhabitants commonly suffered from malaria until ...
separates the region from Kent to the east.
The kingdom of the Haestingas went on to join Sussex and become the
rape of Hastings
The Rape of Hastings (also known as Hastings Rape) is one of the rapes, the traditional sub-divisions unique to the historic county of Sussex in England.
History
Rapes are territorial divisions, peculiar to Sussex, that were used for administra ...
.
Origins
It has been suggested that the Haestingas were of
Frankish
Frankish may refer to:
* Franks, a Germanic tribe and their culture
** Frankish language or its modern descendants, Franconian languages
* Francia, a post-Roman state in France and Germany
* East Francia, the successor state to Francia in Germany ...
origin, based on Watt being a sub-king to the South Saxons and there being a place-name of
Watten
Watten may refer to:
Places
* Watten, Nord, a commune in the Nord ''département'' of France
** ''Blockhaus d'Éperlecques'' or Watten bunker, intended to be a launching facility for the V-2 ballistic missile
* Watten, Highland, a village in Ca ...
in northern France.
[ However, the more probable explanation is that the Haestingas were Jutes who migrated from Kent.] The Frankish princess Bertha
Bertha is a female Germanic name, from Old High German ''berhta'' meaning "bright one". It was usually a short form of Anglo Saxon names ''Beorhtgifu'' meaning "bright gift" or ''Beorhtwynn'' meaning "bright joy".
The name occurs as a theonym, s ...
had arrived in Kent around 580 to marry the king Æthelberht of Kent. Bertha was already a Christian and had brought a bishop, Liudhard
Liudhard ( ang, Lēodheard; modern french: Létard, also Letard in English) was a Frankish bishop – of where is unclear – and the chaplain of Queen Bertha of Kent, whom she brought with her from the continent upon her marriage to K ...
, with her across the Channel. Kent was the earliest Anglo-Saxon kingdom to be evangelized and it would have been at this time the simplified Christian burial was introduced. As there is little archaeological evidence for the Haestingas it is likely that they were already Christian, when they moved to Sussex .[Blair. The Church in Anglo-Saxon Society. pp. 70-71]
Etymology
Haestingas is from Old English and means settlement of Haesta's People. Haesta would have been the chieftain or ruler and -ingas means People.[Ayto. Brewer's Britain and Ireland. p. 520][Gelling. Place-Names in the Landscape. p. 2] It is possible that the founder may have been a forebear of the Viking leader Hastein Hastein (Old Norse: ''Hásteinn'', also recorded as ''Hastingus'', ''Anstign'', ''Haesten'', ''Hæsten'', ''Hæstenn'' or ''Hæsting'' and alias ''Alsting''Jones, Aled (2003). ''Transactions of the Royal Historical Society: Sixth Series'' Cambridge ...
(who invaded Kent in 892), but there is no evidence to support this hypothesis.
See also
*Rape of Hastings
The Rape of Hastings (also known as Hastings Rape) is one of the rapes, the traditional sub-divisions unique to the historic county of Sussex in England.
History
Rapes are territorial divisions, peculiar to Sussex, that were used for administra ...
*History of Sussex
Sussex , from the Old English 'Sūþsēaxe' (' South Saxons'), is a historic county in South East England.
Evidence from a fossil of Boxgrove Man (''Homo heidelbergensis'') shows that Sussex has been inhabited for at least 500,000 years. It ...
*Anglo-Saxon England
Anglo-Saxon England or Early Medieval England, existing from the 5th to the 11th centuries from the end of Roman Britain until the Norman conquest in 1066, consisted of various Anglo-Saxon kingdoms until 927, when it was united as the Kingdom of ...
*Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain
The Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain is the process which changed the language and culture of most of what became England from Romano-British to Germanic. The Germanic-speakers in Britain, themselves of diverse origins, eventually develope ...
Notes
References
Citations
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{{Hastings
Peoples of Anglo-Saxon England
Hastings
History of East Sussex
Petty kingdoms of England
States and territories established in the 5th century
History of Sussex