Byrhtnoth ( ang, Byrhtnoð),

Ealdorman Ealdorman (, ) was a term in Anglo-Saxon England which originally applied to a man of high status, including some of royal birth, whose authority was independent of the king. It evolved in meaning and in the eighth century was sometimes applied ...

of Essex ( 931 - 11 August 991), died at the Battle of Maldon. His name is composed of the

Old English Old English (, ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain, Anglo ...

''beorht'' (bright) and ''noþ'' (courage). He is the subject of '' The Battle of Maldon'', an Old English poem,

J.R.R. Tolkien John Ronald Reuel Tolkien (, ; 3 January 1892 – 2 September 1973) was an English writer and philologist. He was the author of the high fantasy works ''The Hobbit'' and ''The Lord of the Rings''. From 1925 to 1945, Tolkien was the Rawlins ...

's short play in verse, ''

The Homecoming of Beorhtnoth, Beorhthelm's Son ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

'', and a modern statue at

Maldon Maldon (, locally ) is a town and civil parish on the River Blackwater, Essex, Blackwater estuary in Essex, England. It is the seat of the Maldon District and starting point of the Chelmer and Blackwater Navigation. It is known for Maldon Sea ...

Death in battle

His death, while leading the

Anglo-Saxon The Anglo-Saxons were a Cultural identity, cultural group who inhabited England in the Early Middle Ages. They traced their origins to settlers who came to Britain from mainland Europe in the 5th century. However, the ethnogenesis of the Anglo- ...

forces against the Vikings in 991, is the subject of the famous Old English poem '' The Battle of Maldon''. As presented there, his decision to allow the Vikings to move to a better position was heroic but fatal. He was said to stand well over six feet in height, and was around the age of sixty years at the Battle of Maldon, with "swan-white hair". Although it is believed that he fell early in the battle, some say that it took three men to kill him, one of them almost severing Byrhtnoth's arm in the process. He had previously had several military successes, presumably also against Viking raiders.

Patronage and burial

Byrhtnoth was a patron of

Ely Abbey Ely Cathedral, formally the Cathedral Church of the Holy and Undivided Trinity, is an Anglican cathedral in the city of Ely, Cambridgeshire, England. The cathedral has its origins in AD 672 when St Etheldreda built an abbey church. The pres ...

, giving it many villages (including

Spaldwick Spaldwick is a village and civil parish in Cambridgeshire, England. Spaldwick lies approximately west of Huntingdon, near Catworth. Spaldwick is situated within Huntingdonshire which is a non-metropolitan district of Cambridgeshire as well as ...

Trumpington Trumpington is a village and parish to the south of Cambridge, England. The village is an electoral ward of the City of Cambridge and a ward of South Cambridgeshire District Council. The 2011 Census recorded the ward's population as 8,034. Th ...

, Rettendon, Soham,

Fulbourn Fulbourn is a village in Cambridgeshire, England, with evidence of settlement dating back to Neolithic times. The village was probably established under its current name by 1200. The waterfowl-frequented stream after which it was named lies i ...

, Impington,

Pampisford Pampisford is a village, south of Cambridge, on the A505 road near Sawston, Cambridgeshire, England. The remaining section of a defensive ditch, dug to close the gap between forest and marsh, is known as Brent Ditch, which runs between Abington ...

and

Teversham Teversham is a small village in Cambridgeshire located roughly from Fulbourn, and is roughly from the centre of Cambridge. It is small compared to neighbouring villages. Although just a few hundred metres from the edge of Cambridge it is bord ...

). He was buried there alongside Archbishop Wulfstan the

homilist A homily (from Greek ὁμιλία, ''homilía'') is a commentary that follows a reading of scripture, giving the "public explanation of a sacred doctrine" or text. The works of Origen and John Chrysostom (known as Paschal Homily) are considered ex ...

. The '' Liber Eliensis'' records that his widow gave the Abbey a tapestry or hanging celebrating his deeds, presumably in the style of the Bayeux Tapestry, the only surviving example of such a work. This was given immediately after his death, so had probably been hanging in his home previously.

Reburials

After his burial, his remains, along with six other Saxon 'benefactors of Ely Church' (also known as the seven 'Confessors of Christ') have been moved and reburied three times. Archbishop

Wulfstan (died 1023) Wulfstan (sometimes Wulfstan II or Lupus;Wormald "Wulfstan" ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' died 28 May 1023) was an English Bishop of London, Bishop of Worcester, and Archbishop of York. He is thought to have begun his ecclesiast ...

, with six Bishops ( Osmund of Sweden, Athelstan of Elmham,

Ælfwine of Elmham __NOTOC__ Ælfwine was a medieval Bishop of Elmham The Bishop of Norwich is the ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Norwich in the Province of Canterbury. The diocese covers most of the county of Norfolk and part of Suffolk. T ...

Ælfgar of Elmham __NOTOC__ Ælfgar was a medieval Bishop of Elmham The Bishop of Norwich is the ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Norwich in the Province of Canterbury. The diocese covers most of the county of Norfolk and part of Suffolk. T ...

, Eadnoth of Dorchester) and Byrhtnoth were all exhumed from their burial places in the old Saxon Abbey Church, and in the mid-1150s the remains were reinterred in the 'Northern Part' of the new Norman Church, which by then had been made

Ely Cathedral Ely Cathedral, formally the Cathedral Church of the Holy and Undivided Trinity, is an Anglican cathedral in the city of Ely, Cambridgeshire, England. The cathedral has its origins in AD 672 when St Etheldreda built an abbey church. The presen ...

. Following the collapse of the central tower, in 1322, a new octagonal space was created, and a wall was built on its north side to separate the monastic area of the choir from the pilgrim entrance and route to the shrine of

Æthelthryth Æthelthryth (or Æðelþryð or Æþelðryþe; 23 June 679 AD) was an East Anglian princess, a Fenland and Northumbrian queen and Abbess of Ely. She is an Anglo-Saxon saint, and is also known as Etheldreda or Audrey, especially in religious ...

(St Etheldreda). Within this wall the seven benefactors were buried, with wall paintings of each in an elaborate arcade, facing the pilgrim entrance, perhaps to remind visitors of the enduring respect that can accrue from such generosity. The shrines were destroyed and pilgrimages ceased at the Reformation, but in 1769, when the choir stalls were moved out of the Octagon, the wall was demolished and

James Bentham James Bentham (10 March 1709? – 17 November 1794) was an English clergyman, antiquarian and historian of Ely Cathedral. Life Bentham was a son of the Rev. Samuel Bentham (''c''.1681–1733), registrar of Ely Cathedral and vicar of Witchford n ...

found that the remains of the seven benefactors were still there, each in a separate compartment, although Byrhtnoth's was headless. All the clerics were estimated to be over tall, and Byrhtnoth's bones suggested that he stood at . On 31 July 1781 they were again re-interred, with considerable ceremony, at the far east end of the cathedral, in niches constructed within the gothic splendour of Bishop Nicholas West's Chantry chapel.

Family

Byrhtnoth was married to Ælfflæd, sister of the dowager Queen Æthelflæd of Damerham, making Byrhtnoth a kinsman of King Edgar by marriage. Byrhtnoth and Ælfflæd are identified to have had a daughter who married Oswig, who died 5 May 1010 in the

Battle of Ringmere The Battle of Ringmere was fought on 5 May 1010. Norse sagas recorded a battle at ''Hringmaraheiðr''; ''Old English Hringmere-hǣð'', modern name Ringmere Heath. In his Víkingarvísur, the poet Sigvat records the victory of Saint Olaf (who ...

Byrhtnoth is reported to have had a daughter called Leofflæd, however she is not mentioned in any pre-

Conquest Conquest is the act of military subjugation of an enemy by force of arms. Military history provides many examples of conquest: the Roman conquest of Britain, the Mauryan conquest of Afghanistan and of vast areas of the Indian subcontinent, t ...

source. This Leofflæd is likely the same as the daughter who married Oswig.

Legacy

In October 2006, a statue created by John Doubleday was placed at the end of the Maldon Promenade Walk, facing the battle site of Northey Island and the Causeway. The battle site itself has a National Trust plaque recording his 'heroic defeat and death'. As well as the Anglo-Saxon poem, '' The Battle of Maldon'',

's short alliterative play, ''

'' takes place on the battlefield of Maldon and deals with the search for Byrhtnoth's body. In 2015 Timebomb Comics released 'Defiant! The Legend of Brithnoth', an original graphic novel based on the story of Brithnoth and The Battle of Malden, written by Andy Winter and illustrated by Daniel Bell.

References

External links

*
''Maldon Battle and Campaign''
Report compiled by Glenn Foard, 2003, for The UK Battlefields Resource Centre, Provided b
The Battlefields Trust
{{DEFAULTSORT:Byrhtnoth 991 deaths Anglo-Saxons killed in battle Anglo-Saxon ealdormen Anglo-Saxon warriors English heroic legends People from Essex Maldon, Essex