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Oswald of Northumbria

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: British History 1500 and
before (including Roman Britain)

   A twelfth century painting of St Oswald in Durham Cathedral
   Enlarge
   A twelfth century painting of St Oswald in Durham Cathedral

   Oswald (c. 604– August 5, 642) was King of Northumbria from 634 until
   his death, and was subsequently venerated as a Christian saint. He was
   the son of Æthelfrith of Bernicia and came to rule after spending a
   period in exile; after defeating the British ruler Cadwallon ap Cadfan,
   Oswald brought the two Northumbrian kingdoms of Bernicia and Deira once
   again under a single ruler, and promoted the spread of Christianity in
   Northumbria. He was given a strongly positive assessment by the
   historian Bede, writing a little less than a century after Oswald's
   death, who regarded Oswald as a saintly king; it is also Bede who is
   the main source for present-day historical knowledge of Oswald. After
   eight years of rule, in which he was the most powerful ruler in
   Britain, Oswald was killed in the battle of Maserfield.

Background, youth, and exile

   Oswald's father Æthelfrith was a successful Bernician ruler who, after
   some years in power in Bernicia, also became king of Deira, and thus
   was the first to rule both of the kingdoms which would come to be
   considered the constituent kingdoms of Northumbria (Bernicia in the
   northern part and Deira in the southern part); it would, however, be
   anachronistic to refer to a "Northumbrian" people or identity at this
   early stage, when the Bernicians and the Deirans were still clearly
   distinct peoples. Oswald's mother, Acha, was a member of the Deiran
   royal line who Æthelfrith apparently married as part of his acquisition
   of Deira or consolidation of power there. Oswald was apparently born in
   or around the year 604, since Bede says that he was killed at the age
   of 38 in 642; Æthelfrith's acquisition of Deira is also believed to
   have occurred around 604.

   Æthelfrith, who was for years a successful war-leader, especially
   against the native British, was eventually killed in battle around 616
   by Raedwald of East Anglia at the River Idle. This defeat meant that an
   exiled member of the Deiran royal line, Edwin (Acha's brother), became
   king of Northumbria; Oswald and his brothers fled to the north. Oswald
   thus spent the remainder of his youth in the Irish kingdom of Dál Riata
   in northern Britain, where he was converted to Christianity. He may
   also have fought in Ireland during this period of exile.

Victory over Cadwallon

   After Cadwallon ap Cadfan, the king of Gwynedd, in alliance with the
   pagan Penda of Mercia, killed Edwin of Deira in battle at Hatfield
   Chase in 633 (or 632, depending on when the years used by Bede are
   considered to have began), Northumbria was split between its
   constituent kingdoms of Bernicia and Deira. Oswald's brother Eanfrith
   became king of Bernicia, but he was killed by Cadwallon in 634 (or 633)
   after attempting to negotiate peace. Subsequently, Oswald, at the head
   of a small army (possibly with the aid of allies from the north, the
   Scots and/or the Picts), met Cadwallon in battle at Heavenfield, near
   Hexham. Before the battle, Oswald had a wooden cross erected; he knelt
   down, holding the cross in position until enough earth had been thrown
   in the hole to make it stand firm. He then prayed and asked his army to
   join in.

   Adomnán in his Life of Saint Columba offers a longer account, which
   Abbot Ségéne had heard from Oswald himself. Oswald, he says, had a
   vision of Columba the night before the battle, in which he was told:

     Be strong and act manfully. Behold, I will be with thee. This coming
     night go out from your camp into battle, for the Lord has granted me
     that at this time your foes shall be put to flight and Cadwallon
     your enemy shall be delivered into your hands and you shall return
     victorious after battle and reign happily.

   Oswald described his vision to his council and all agreed that they
   would be baptised and accept Christianity after the battle. In the
   battle that followed, the British were routed despite their superior
   numbers; Cadwallon himself was killed.

Overlordship

   A map showing the general locations of the Anglo-Saxon peoples around
   the year 600
   Enlarge
   A map showing the general locations of the Anglo-Saxon peoples around
   the year 600

   Following the victory at Heavenfield, Oswald reunited Northumbria and
   re-established the Bernician supremacy which had been interrupted by
   Edwin. Bede says that Oswald held imperium for the eight years of his
   rule (both Bede and the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle say that Oswald's reign
   was actually considered to be nine years, the ninth year being
   accounted for by assigning to Oswald the year preceding his rule, "on
   account of the heathenism practised by those who had ruled that one
   year between him and Edwin"), and was the most powerful king in
   Britain. In the 9th-century Anglo-Saxon Chronicle he is referred to as
   a Bretwalda. Adomnán describes Oswald as "ordained by God as Emperor of
   all Britain".

   He seems to have been widely recognized as overlord, although the
   extent of his authority is uncertain. Bede makes the claim that Oswald
   "brought under his dominion all the nations and provinces of Britain",
   which, as Bede notes, was divided by language between the English,
   British, Scots, and Picts; however, he seems to undermine his own claim
   when he mentions at another point in his history that it was Oswald's
   brother Oswiu who made tributary the Picts and Scots. An Irish source,
   the Annals of Tigernach, records that the Anglo-Saxons banded together
   against Oswald early in his reign; this may indicate an attempt to put
   an end to Oswald's overlordship south of the Humber, which presumably
   failed.

   The Mercians, who participated in Edwin's defeat in 633, seem to have
   presented an obstacle to Oswald's authority south of the Humber,
   although it has been generally thought that Oswald dominated Mercia to
   some degree after Heavenfield. It may have been to appease Oswald that
   Penda had Eadfrith, a captured son of Edwin (and thus a dynastic rival
   of Oswald), killed, although it is also possible that Penda had his own
   motives for the killing.

   Oswald apparently controlled Lindsey, given the evidence of a story
   told by Bede regarding the moving of Oswald's bones to a monastery
   there; Bede says that the monks rejected the bones initially because
   Oswald had ruled over them as a foreign king (see below). To the north,
   it may have been Oswald who conquered the Gododdin. Irish annals record
   the siege of Edinburgh, thought to have been the royal stronghold of
   the Gododdin, in 638, and this seems to mark the end of the kingdom;
   that this siege was undertaken by Oswald is suggested by the apparent
   control of the area by his brother Oswiu in the 650s.

   Oswald seems to have been on good terms with the West Saxons: he stood
   as sponsor to the baptism of their king, Cynegils, and married
   Cynegils' daughter. Her name is reported by only one source, Reginald
   of Durham's 12th century Vita S. Oswaldi, which says that it was
   Kyneburga. Although Oswald had one known son, Æthelwald, it is
   uncertain whether this was a son from his marriage to Cynegils'
   daughter or from an earlier relationship—since Æthelwald began ruling
   in Deira in 651, it has been argued that a son from this marriage would
   have been too young at the time to be trusted with this position, and
   therefore may have been older, the product of a relationship Oswald had
   during his exile.

Christianity

   Although Edwin had previously converted to Christianity in 627, it was
   Oswald who did the most to spread the religion in Northumbria. Shortly
   after becoming king, he asked the Irish of Dál Riata to send a bishop
   to facilitate the conversion of his people, and they sent Aidan for
   this purpose; initially, the Irish sent an "austere" bishop who was
   unsuccessful in his mission, and Aidan, who proposed a gentler
   approach, was subsequently sent instead. Oswald gave the island of
   Lindisfarne to Aidan as his episcopal see, and Aidan achieved great
   success in spreading Christianity; Bede mentions that Oswald acted as
   Aidan's interpreter when the latter was preaching, since Aidan did not
   know English well and Oswald had learned Irish during his exile.

   Bede puts a clear emphasis on Oswald being saintly as a king; although
   he could be interpreted as a martyr for his subsequent death in battle,
   Bede portrays Oswald as being saintly for his deeds in life and does
   not focus on his martyrdom as being primary to his sainthood—indeed, it
   has been noted that Bede never uses the word "martyr" in reference to
   Oswald. In this respect, as a king regarded as saintly for his life
   while ruling—in contrast to a king who gives up the kingship in favour
   of religious life, or who is venerated because of the manner of his
   death—Bede's portrayal of Oswald stands out as unusual. Bede recounts
   Oswald's generosity to the poor and to strangers, and tells a story
   highlighting this characteristic: on one occasion, at Easter, Oswald
   was sitting at dinner with Aidan, and had "a silver dish full of
   dainties before him", when a servant, whom Oswald "had appointed to
   relieve the poor", came in and told Oswald that a crowd of the poor
   were in the streets begging alms from the king. Oswald, according to
   Bede, then immediately had his food given to the poor and even had the
   dish broken up and distributed. Aidan was greatly impressed and seized
   Oswald's right hand, stating: "May this hand never perish."
   Accordingly, Bede reports that the hand and arm remained uncorrupted
   after Oswald's death.

Downfall

   It was a conflict with the pagan Mercians under Penda that proved to be
   Oswald's undoing. He was killed by the Mercians at the Battle of
   Maserfield, at a place generally identified with Oswestry (although
   other candidates for the location of the battle have been suggested) in
   642, and his body was dismembered. Bede mentions the story that Oswald
   "ended his life in prayer": he prayed for the souls of his soldiers
   when he saw that he was about to die. Oswald's head and limbs were
   placed on stakes.

   The traditional identification of the battle site with Oswestry,
   probably in the territory of Powys at the time, suggests that Penda may
   have had British allies in this battle, and this is also suggested by
   surviving Welsh poetry which has been thought to indicate the
   participation of the men of Powys in the battle. It has also been
   considered that, if the traditional identification of the site as
   Oswestry is correct, Oswald was on the offensive, in the territory of
   his enemies. This could conflict with Bede's saintly portrayal of
   Oswald, since an aggressive war could hardly qualify as a just war,
   perhaps explaining why Bede is silent on the cause of the war—he says
   only that Oswald died "fighting for his fatherland"—as well as his
   failure to mention other offensive warfare Oswald is presumed to have
   engaged in between Heavenfield and Maserfield. Oswald may have had an
   ally in Penda's brother Eowa, who was also killed in the battle,
   according to the Historia Britonnum and Annales Cambriae; while the
   source only mentions that Eowa was killed, not the side on which he
   fought, it has been speculated that Eowa was subject to Oswald and
   fighting alongside him in the battle, in opposition to Penda.

After death

   Oswald soon came to be regarded as a saint. Bede says that the spot
   where he died came to be associated with miracles, and people took dirt
   from the site, which led to a hole being dug as deep as a man's height.
   Reginald of Durham recounts another miracle, saying that his right arm
   was taken by a bird (perhaps a raven) to an ash tree, which gave the
   tree ageless vigor; when the bird dropped the arm onto the ground, a
   spring emerged from the ground. Both the tree and the spring were,
   according to Reginald, subsequently associated with healing miracles.
   Aspects of the legend have been considered to have pagan overtones or
   influences—this may represent a fusion of his status as a traditional
   Germanic warrior-king with Christianity. The name of the site,
   Oswestry, or "Oswald's Tree", is generally thought to be derived from
   Oswald's death there and the legends surrounding it. His feast day is
   August 5. The cult surrounding him even gained prominence in parts of
   continental Europe.

   Bede mentions that Oswald's brother Oswiu, who succeeded Oswald in
   Bernicia, retrieved Oswald's remains in the year after his death. In
   writing of one miracle associated with Oswald, Bede gives some
   indication of how Oswald was regarded in conquered lands: years later,
   when his niece Osthryth tried to move his bones to a monastery in
   Lindsey, its inmates initially refused to accept them, "though they
   knew him to be a holy man", because "he was originally of another
   province, and had reigned over them as a foreign king", and thus "they
   retained their ancient aversion to him, even after death". It was only
   after Oswald's bones were the focus of an awe-inspiring miracle—in
   which, during the night, a pillar of light appeared over the wagon in
   which the bones were being carried and shined up into the sky—that they
   were accepted into the monastery: "in the morning, the brethren who had
   refused it the day before, began themselves earnestly to pray that
   those holy relics, so beloved by God, might be deposited among them."

   His bones resided either at Lindsey in what became Viking Northumbria,
   or Bamburgh. But in an exploratory five-week attack on Lindsey in 909
   by the Mercian king, Oswald's remains were captured and taken away for
   reburial at Gloucester.

   Oswald's head was interred in Durham Cathedral together with the
   remains of Cuthbert of Lindisfarne (a saint with whom Oswald became
   posthumously associated, although the two were not associated in life;
   Cuthbert became bishop of Lindisfarne more than forty years after
   Oswald's death) and other valuables in a quickly made coffin, where it
   is generally believed to remain, although there are at least four other
   claimed heads of Oswald in continental Europe. One of his arms is said
   to have ended up in Peterborough Abbey later in the middle ages.

   Some English place names record his reign, for example Oswaldtwistle in
   Lancashire, meaning the twistle (border stream) of Oswald.
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