Oswald was king of East Anglia, present-day England in the 870s after the death of Edmund the Martyr. No textual evidence of his reign is known, but coins inscribed with his name are known.
| Oswald | |
|---|---|
| King of the East Angles | |
| Reign | 20 November 869 – 875[1] |
| Predecessor | Edmund the Martyr |
| Successor | Æthelred II |
Rule
Evidence suggests that during the period between the death of Edmund and the return of Guthrum to East Anglia in 880, Oswald and Æthelred ruled the East Angles as client kings. It is possible that the East Anglian aristocracy had been almost, but not entirely, extinguished by the Viking attacks that resulted in Edmund's death, and that in the years when Oswald, Æthelred and Guthrum successively ruled the kingdom, there was a period of opposition or defiance against the Danish leadership.[2] The Vikings ruled the East Angles from the accession of Oswald until 920, when East Anglia was incorporated into the kingdom of England, following the defeat of the Danes by Edward the Elder.[3]
Coinage
The existence of Oswald is known solely because of his coins.[4] Coins and silver bullion were used throughout this period, when the Vikings continued the Anglo-Saxon tradition of producing silver pennies, although at a reduced rate. Eight coins are known from the reigns of Æthelred and Oswald, whereas over 200 coins are known to have been made by the moneyers of Oswald's predecessor, Edmund.[5]
A few coins bearing Oswald's name were found in the Cuerdale Hoard. The coins can be dated from the 870s to the 900s, following the death of Edmund. One coin, produced by a moneyer whose name started Beor..., is of the temple type; another has an alpha, a common East Anglian design.[6]
In Popular Culture
Oswald appears as a major supporting character in the 2020 video game Assassin's Creed Valhalla,[7] voiced by Kyle Gatehouse.[8] As part of the East Anglia[9] story arc, he is presented as a peaceful, amiable young Anglo-Saxon nobleman whose authority is challenged by the Dane Rued, despite Oswald's upcoming marriage to the Viking Valdis. The protagonist Eivor is tasked with training Oswald to fight in order to challenge Rued for the throne. A duel is arranged and, despite Rued's much greater physical prowess, Oswald shows enough courage to overcome the Dane and they both fall from the castle battlements. Both men survive the fall and, depending on the decisions made the player, Eivor either slays Rued, or spares him for trial.[10] If the latter is the case, Rued escapes and appears at Oswald and Valdis' wedding feast, where is killed in a second duel either by Eivor or by Oswald himself. Oswald pledges allegiance to Eivor's clan and promises to rule his kingdom peacefully and fairly.[11]
References
- ^ Lapidge 1999, pp. 508–509.
- ^ Pestell 2004, p. 78.
- ^ Bates & Liddiard 2015, pp. 83–84.
- ^ Bates & Liddiard 2015, p. 137.
- ^ Bates & Liddiard 2015, p. 149.
- ^ Blackburn & Grierson 1986, p. 292.
- ^ "Oswald of East Anglia". Fandom.
- ^ "Assassins Creed Valhalla on IMDB". IMDB.
- ^ "East Anglia". IGN. Retrieved 20 January 2021.
- ^ "Assassin's Creed Valhall Rued. Should you spare or kill him?". Gamesradar. Retrieved 28 July 2022.
- ^ "Assassin's Creed Valhalla - Story choices list and which choices affect the ending explained". Eurogamer. Retrieved 14 December 2020.
Sources
- Bates, David; Liddiard, Robert (2015). East Anglia and its North Sea World in the Middle Ages. Martlesham: The Boydell Press. ISBN 978-17832-7-036-1.
- Blackburn, Mark; Grierson, Philip (1986). Mediaeval European Coinage: Volume 1 The Early Middle Ages (5th-10th Centuries). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
- Lapidge, M.; et al., eds. (1999). "Kings of the East Angles". The Blackwell Encyclopedia of Anglo-Saxon England. London: Blackwell. pp. 508–509. ISBN 978-0-6312-2492-1.
- Pestell, Tim (2004). Landscapes of Monastic Foundation: The Establishment of Religious Houses c.650–1200. Woodbridge: Boydell Press. ISBN 1-84383-062-0.