Conversion and Christianity in the North Sea World
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Conversion, and Ckristiamty mike Narfk Sea World Tke proceedings of a Day Conference held on 2 1 st February 1998 Edited by Barbara E. Crawford Published by The Committee for Dark Age Studies University of St Andrews ISBN 0-9512573-3-1 © Contributors 1998 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without the prior permission of The Committee for Dark Age Studies, Dept. ofMediaeval History, University of St Andrews, 7 1 South Street, St Andrews, Fife KYI 6 9AL, Scotland. Copies may be obtained from the above address. Price £9.00 + £1.00 p&p. ST ANDREWS St John's House Papers No 8 1998 Designed and typeset by Reprographic Services, University of St Andrews Conversion ^ and Kristianity 1 Preface Barbara E. Crawford Ckaptet? 1 Conversion and Politics on the eastern seaboard of Britain: Some Archaeological Indicators Martin Carver page 1 Ckaptet? 2 Pictland, Northumbria and the Carolingian Empire Raymond Lamb page 41 Ckaptet? 3 The Hallowhill and the Origins of Christianity in Scotland Edwina Proudfoot page 57 Ckaptet? 4 Pilgrims to St Ethernan: the Archaeology of an Early Saint of the Picts and Scots Peter Yeoman page 75 Ckaptet? 5 Carolingian Northumbria and the Legatine Mission of 786 J.E. Story page 93 Ckaptet? 6 History and Archaeology: the Conversion of Scandinavia Lesley Abrams page 1 09 Ckaptet? 7 Christianization of Early Medieval Societies: an Anthropological Perspective Przemyslaw Urbanczyk page 1 29 Conversion, ^ and ~ Christianity LIST OP ILLUSTRATIONS Frontispiece Map of The North Sea World Ckapter 1 Illus. 1.1./?. 77 The Sutton Hoo Site under excavation in 1988 Illus.1.2. p.18 Plan of the Sutton Hoo cemetery Illus.1.3 a) and b). p. 25 Maps of sites with a) pre-and b) post-Viking sculpture in the East Riding of Yorkshire Illus.l 4. p.28 Map of Easter Ross, with sites referred to in the text Illus.l 5. p.31 Plan of the Tarbat site with excavated features Illus.l 6. p.31 Tarbat under excavation in 1995 Illus.l 7. p.32 Preliminary phase plan of St. Colman's (Tarbat Old Church), Portmahomack Illus.l .8. p. 34 Both faces of the 'Monk Stone', TR20, drawn and reconstructed Illus.l 9 p36 Grave markers and other carved stones from Tarbat with comparative pieces from Iona Ckapter 2 Illus. 2A.p.51 Pictish stone from Meigle ( 5 rev.) showing horseman trotting (RCAHMS) Illus. 2.2. p. 52 Illustration of the extended trot from Eisenberg 1727 (By permission of the Trustees of the NLS) Illus. 2.3. p. 53 Pictish stone from Meigle (26) showing man with beast following (RCAHMS) Tke Nortk Sea World skowma places mentioned in, tke text Illus. 2.4. p. 54 Pictish stone from Meigle (27) showing sitting figure behind man on a tilted chair (RCAHMS) Cc anxi Conversion ami 5 ~ Ck..ristianity Ckapter 8 The Fourth St Andrews Day Conference focussed on a theme which was rather different from the previous three {Scotland in Dark Age Europe, 1994; Illus. 3.1. p.5<5 'St Columba preaching to the Picts' by William Hole Scotland in Dark Age Britain, 1996: The Uses ofPlace-Names, 1998): it was the Illus. 3.2. a) and processes involved in the change to Christianity which occurred throughout Perthshire the b) p. 60 The Class II Pictish Stone from Dunfallandy, North Sea world in the centuries from c.500 AD to c.1100 AD, with particular respect to the the eastern seaboard ofBritain. The aim was once again Hill Illus. 3.3. p.63 Plan of the main excavated features at the Hallow to attempt a better understanding of a significant development in the history of long cist cemetery Scotland by embracing the wider geographical background, and this time the Illus. 3.4. p. 64 The Hallow Hill long cist cemetery during excavation specific maritime world of the North Sea. Contacts along the eastern seaboard and across the southern North Sea were basic to the development of Christian Illus. 3.5. p. 66 Aerial view of the Hallow Hill beliefs and the structure of Christian worship in Pictland. This southern and eastern Illus. 3.6. p. 68 Map of distribution of long cists, egles place names focus was deliberately chosen in contrast to the western, Irish and and inscribed stones Columban element in Scotland's Christianity, which had been centre stage in historians' thinking in the past year' s Columban commemoration celebrations. Ckapter 4 The western element becomes of course a very important strand in Scotland's Christian development, but before the ninth-century spread of Gaelic culture Illus. 4.1. p. 76 Location maps of the Isle of May and monastery site eastwards the links with post-Roman culture and the Northumbrian world to the (Fife Council) south were very relevant to the Picts' change of religion. in Illus. 4.2. p. 80 Plan of excavations on the Isle of May, completed 1996. (Fife Council) Links with the powerful imperial and royal polities to the south were focussed on in particular by Raymond Lamb and Jo Story. In his study of Illus. 4.3. p. 82 Excavating the long-cist cemetery (Fife Council) Pictland, Northumbria and theCarolingian Empire Dr. Lamb uses his exceptional Illus. AA.p.84 Simplified phase plan of the churches (Fife Council) knowledge of the situation in the Northern Isles to postulate the imposition of a Roman, Northumbrian style of ecclesiastical organisation at the northern end to east Illus. 4.5. ;?.<5<5 Overall view of the church site from west of the eastern seaboard. Dr. Story shows how important was Frankish (Fife Council) involvement in the papal mission of 786 to the courts of three Anglo-Saxon kingdoms, demonstrating the value of surviving documentary record for what Ckapter 6 it reveals of the cultural influence which extended northwards from the Illus. 6.1. p.117 Drawing of wax candle from the Mammen burial Carolingian court. Archaeology's contribution to our better understanding of such influences, and the wide variety of material evidence was explained by Illus. 6.2. p.120 The Bj erring rune stone three speakers, who displayed the remarkable discoveries oftheir own excavated Illus. 6.3. p.1272 The Tjora cross sites on Scotland's eastern seaboard. The important long-cist cemetery at the Hallow Hill, St. Andrews, was shown by Edwina Proudfoot to be another Front Cotfer The 'dragon' face of the 'Monk Stone' (TR20) from example of the very earliest Christian burial practices which are known only in Tarbat, Easter Ross south and east Scotland (with scattered outliers in Moray and Orkney) and datable in this case to the seventh century continuing into the eighth. Back Coster Drawing of the 'monk' face (TR20) fromTarbat, Easter Ross orwersicm CcsOYvoevsxorx ^ and aand v^nristianity xristianityIX* of have produced similar priests under their protection, did Christianity take root. Despite the later Excavations at the monastic site on the Isle May date this Peter Yeoman' discussion of at which this happened (compared with the eastern seaboard of Britain), it is long-cist burials from early Christian levels. s an the place of St. Adrian's event which is not adequately recorded and archaeology important medieval pilgrimage centre, recorded as forms as important a were several very early body of evidence as it does for the earlier conversion. martyrdom by the Danes, have revealed that there The difficulties of centuries. The confusion of interpreting the burial evidence, the church buildings, the sculpture churches ranging from the eighth to the eleventh and the or place of martyrdom formed the inscriptions forms a reflective mirror image of similar problems produced by identity of the holy man whose foundation, place exemplifies the intangible the early British material, albeit of quite a different character. nucleus of this long-lived church and burial- record and early inscription nature of early Pictish Christianity. Irish monastic Ithernan/Ethernan rather than the The question of local characteristics or general perspectives was raised by evidence tell us that his name was probably particularly localised in Fife and Przemyslaw Urbanczyk in the concluding 'Anthropological Perspective'. His later, latinised Adrian, and his cult was worship at a cult site summary analysis of the features of European pagan societies compared with Buchan. Archaeology tells us of continuity of Christian monastic tradition by the the universalist, structured Christian religion taught by institutionalised eventually brought into the main stream Roman administrators sharpened awareness of the theoretical framework of the twelfth-century Scottish kings. Conference theme. It stimulated the following general discussion about the under investigation, is located meaning of conversion, which, it became clear, means many things to many The third archaeological site, currently in Easter Ross, central to the people; as it probably meant many things to those in the past who were caught around St. Colman's Church at Tarbat Picts, which has produced up in the changing nature of their society' s beliefs.This was a timely note to end ecclesiastically-advanced province of the northern Martin Carver started on, after the wealth of historical and archaeological detail which we had learned some remarkable fragments of sophisticated sculpture. paper devoted to 'Conversion and about, and which told us about the external features of the momentous events the Conference off with a challenging but also in North Europe and which affected all the societies around the North Sea in the early centuries of Politics' not only on the eastern seaboard, messages of archaeology and how to our era. The internal change of heart and mind is something which we can only Scandinavia.