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Rulers of Jorvik Rulers of Jorvik A critical examination of the contemporary, Anglo-Norman, and Scandinavian sources pertaining to the rulers of Anglo-Scandinavian York. Master Thesis for the Research Master Ancient, Medieval, and Renaissance Studies Jelmer Dijkstra University of Utrecht, 3308871 6th of January, 2013 Supervisors: Prof. Dr. Marco Mostert Dr. Mary Garrison Contents Conventions iii Abbreviations iv 1 Introduction 1 A short history of York 3 The historiographical debate 5 Plan for this Thesis 14 2 The Nachleben of the Jorvik kings in Scandinavia 16 Ragnar Lothbrok and his son Ivar: the Conquest of York 18 Eric Bloodaxe in the Saga Egil Skallagrimsson 24 The Coming of a Dynasty 28 Eric Bloodaxe: historical king or fictional character? 33 Conclusion 38 3 Viking Age York in Anglo-Norman Sources 40 Introduction to the sources 41 The Anglo-Norman sources: what’s new? 53 William of Malmesbury on Northumbria and Athelstan 56 The First French Chronicle: Geffrei Gaimar’s L’Estoire des Engleis 59 Conclusion 61 i 4 Ruling from Jorvik - Kings versus Archbishops 63 Introduction to the sources 63 Contemporary narrative sources: who, what, where? 69 Law Making 80 Charters 82 Minting coins at York 85 Evidence for patronage from York 99 Conclusion 105 5 King and Archbishop in Their Social Context 108 Kingdoms and Administration in the Context of Personal Bonds 108 6 Moving beyond a Historiographical Stalemate 118 Origins of the Enigma 118 An alternative solution 120 7 Conclusion - The Enigma in Context 126 Bibliography 130 Appendix I: Chronology 143 Appendix II: Comparison table contemporary and Anglo-Norman Sources 144 Appendix III: Coins 164 ii Conventions Throughout this thesis, personal names are based on the spelling in Frank M. Stenton’s Anglo- Saxon England (3rd edition; Oxford, 1971) where possible. Otherwise, I have aimed to use the most common spelling. Charters will be referred to as follows: ‘s.***’. This refers to the number, assigned to them, in: P. H. Sawyer, Anglo-Saxon Charters: an Annotated List and Bibliography (Royal Historical Society, Guides and Handbooks 8; London, 1968). iii Abbreviations ASC Anglo-Saxon Chronicle D, in MS D, A sem-diplomatic edition with introduction and indices, ed. by G. P. Cubbin (The Anglo- Saxon Chronicle. A Collaborative Edition, volume 6; Cambridge, 1996). References are to the D version, unless otherwise noted. Æthelweard Chronicon Æthelweardi, in The Chronicle of Æthelweard, ed. by A. Campbell (London, 1962). Asser Asser, De rebus gestis Ælfredi, in Asser’s Life of King Alfred together with the Annals of Saint Neot’s erroneously ascribed to Asser, ed. by W. H. Stevenson (Oxford, 1904). Chronicon John of Worcester, Chronicon ex chronicis, in The Chronicle of John of Worcester. Volume II the annals from 450 TO 1066, edited by R. R. Darlington and P. McGurk, Translated by Jennifer Bray and P. McGurk (Oxford, 1995). Egils Saga Saga Egil Skallagrimsson, in Egils Saga, ed. by Bjarni Einarsson (Exeter, 2003). Flores Historiarum Roger of Wendover, Chronica siue flores historiarum, in Roger of Wendover, Chronica siue flores historiarum, annals 867, 872, 873, in Rerum Anglicarvm scriptores post Bedam præcipui, ex vetvstissimis coicibvs manvscriptis ncnc primvm in lvcem editi, ed. by Henry Saville (Weastmead, original 1596, reprint 1970). Gaimar Geffrei Gaimar, L’Estoire des Engleis, in Geffrei Gaimer, Estoire des Engleis/History of the English, ed. and trans. by Ian Short (Oxford, 2009). Gesta regum William of Malmesbury, De gestis regum Anglorum libri quinque, in William of Malmesbury, Gesta Regum Anglorum, The History of the English Kings, volume 1, ed. and trans. by R. A. B. Mynors, completed by R. M. Thomson and M. Winterbottom (Oxford, 1998).. iv Historia de Cuthberto Historia de Sancto Cuthberto, in Historia de Sancto Cuthberto, ed. and trans. by Ted Johnson South (Cambridge, 2002). HR I/II Historia regum I/II, in Symeonis Monachi Opera Omnia, ed. by Thomas Arnold (volume two; London, 1885), pp. pp. 3-283. Libellus Symeon, Libellus de exordio atque procursu istius hoc est Dunelmensis ecclesie, in Libellus de exordio atque procursu istius, hoc est Dunhelmensis, ecclesie, Tract on the Origins and Progress of this the Church of Durham, ed. and trans. by David Rollason (Oxford, 2000). Ragnars saga Ragnars saga loðbrókar, in Fornaldar Sögur Norðurlanda, ed. by G. Jónsson and Vilhjálmsson (Reykjavik, 1954). Saxo Saxo Grammaticus, Gesta Danorum, in Saxonis Gesta Danorum, ed. by J. Olrik and H. Raeder (Copenhagen, 1931). Þattr Þáttr af Ragnars sonum, in Fornaldar Sögur Norðurlanda, ed. by G. Jónsson and Vilhjálmsson (Reykjavik, 1954). v Chapter One: Introduction Anglo-Scandinavian York is an enigma. The reason for this is a discrepancy in the surviving evidence. From 866 until 954, York was part of a Viking kingdom ruled, mostly, by the descendants of Ragnar Lothbrok; the city seems to have been the capital of the Viking kingdom from which power was exercised.1 Very little is actually known about York during this period, for no contemporary written sources have survived, nor does York feature to any great extent in later traditions, both Anglo-Norman and Scandinavian. By the same token, there are few certainties regarding the Viking kingdom. Our knowledge of the kingdom derives chiefly from its main adversaries, namely the kings of Wessex, who ultimately created the ‘Kingdom of England’. Whereas sources reveal much more of the political situation in the kingdom of Wessex and, later, of England, we are in the dark regarding York. At the same time, York is one of the richest cities in archaeological terms. Through many excavations, archaeologists have been able to discover and reconstruct, to a certain extent, the economical growth of the city in the Viking age. Evidence for workshops has been excavated, showing extensive artisan activity within the city during the Viking age; this productivity centred mainly around the rivers.2 Similarly, many coins and sculpture from the period survives; many 1 A quick word on the terms ‘city’ and ‘Vikings’ used here.‘City’, as well as ‘town’, will both be used in this thesis to refer to York. One might desire a clear definition of these terms. However, because the size of cities in the early Middle Ages are mostly unknown to us, I think it unnecessary to use clear definitions regarding them. York was viewed as a major city in Anglo-Saxon England, therefore it seems valid to refer to it as a city, as indeed most scholars do. Furthermore, the term ‘Viking’ and ‘Scandinavian’ may apply to both Danish and Norse kings. 2 J. Bayley, Anglo-Scandinavian Non-Ferrous Metalworking from 16-22 Coppergate (The Archaeology of York, vol. 17, no. 7; York, 1992); Richard Hall, Book of Viking Age York (London, 1994), pp. 31-107; A. J. Mainman and Nicola S. H. Rogers, Craft, Industry and Everyday Life: Finds from Anglo-Scandinavian York (The Archaeology of York, vol. 17, no. 14; York, 2000); A. J. Mainman and Nicola S. H. Rogers, ‘Craft and Economy in Anglo-Scandinavian York’, in Aspects of Anglo-Scandinavian York, ed. by Richard A. Hall et al. (The Archaeology of York, volume 8; York, 2004), pp. 459-487; P. W. Rogers, Textile Production at 16-22 Coppergate (The Archaeology of York, volume 17, no. 11; York, 1997). 1 of the coins derive from the mint of York.3 This stark contrast between the archaeological record and the written sources is the reason why Anglo-Scandinavian York is such an enigma. Due to the nature of the surviving evidence, it is hard to assess the extent of rule by the Viking kings in the Viking kingdom of York.4 Generally, historians have silently supposed that the Scandinavian kings ruled York. David Rollason has questioned this assumption. In his Northumbria, 500-1100, Creation and Destruction of Kingdom, Rollason has argued instead that York could hardly have been ruled by the Viking kings, given their short and violent reigns; he proposed the hypothesis that the archbishops controlled the city politically.5 Rollason’s argument contrasts with those put forward by other historians who have written about Anglo-Scandinavian York. Besides Rollason’s work, views of two other scholars, Nicholas Higham and Alfred Smyth, will form the basis upon which this thesis will build. In this thesis, I aim to come to grips with the problem with which these scholars have struggled, namely the enigmatic nature of the political situation in York. In order to do this, it is not enough to analyse the available evidence for historical facts, as the above named scholars did. In order to come to a clear understanding of how the enigma of Anglo-Scandinavian came to be, we must consider the later traditions as well, not for their historical value but to consider how the Viking rulers of York were remembered. For if these kings ruled to any significant extent, why do they fade from our sources as quickly as they do? Thus, I will take a two-pronged approach, considering not only the contemporary evidence for ruling from the city, but also later Anglo- 3 P. Grierson and M. Blackburn, Medieval European Coinage with a Catalogue of the Coins in the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge. I. The Early Middle Ages (5th-10th Centuries) (Cambridge, 1986) pp. 321-324; J. North, English Hammered Coinage. Volume I: Early Anglo-Saxon to Henry III c. 600-1272 (London, 1994), pp. 109-116, 137-143. 4 In this thesis, I will refer to the kingdom in this way. While the name is a later invention, scholars in general use the term. With it, is meant the kingdom the Vikings ruled in the territory of Northumbria, though the exacts limits of this kingdom are unknown. 5 David Rollason, Northumbria, 500-1100. Creation and Destruction of a Kingdom (Cambridge 2003) pp.
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