Editing Rædwald of East Anglia

{{Short description|King of East Anglia (ruled c. 599–624)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2024}}
{{Infobox royalty
| name         = Rædwald
| title        = [[Bretwalda]]
| image        = Sutton Hoo helmet (replica).jpg
| caption      = A replica of the [[Sutton Hoo helmet]], the original of which may have belonged to Rædwald
| reign        = c. 599 – c. 624
| full name    =
| birth_date   = <!-- {{birth date|YYYY|MM|DD}} -->
| birth_place  =
| death_date   = c. 624
| death_place  =
| burial_date  =
| burial_place = considered by many experts to be the occupant of the ship-burial at [[Sutton Hoo]], Suffolk
| succession   = [[King of the East Angles]]
| predecessor  = [[Tytila of East Anglia|Tytila]]
| successor    = [[Eorpwald]]
| spouse       = unknown
| issue        = Rægenhere and [[Eorpwald of East Anglia]]
| house        = [[Wuffingas]]
| house-type   = Dynasty
| father       = [[Tytila of East Anglia]]
| mother       =
| religion     = Syncretic pagan-Christian
}}
'''Rædwald''' ({{langx|ang|Rædwald}}, {{IPA|ang|ˈrædwɑɫd|pron}}; 'power in counsel'), also written as '''Raedwald''' or '''Redwald''' ({{Langx|la|Raedwaldus, Reduald}}),<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xtw3AQAAMAAJ&q=Reduald&pg=PA375|title=The Historical Works of the Venerable Beda|first=Saint Bede (the|last=Venerable)|date=28 July 1853|publisher=Seeleys|via=Google Books}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3Xo7AAAAcAAJ&q=Raedwaldus,&pg=RA2-PA8|title=Chronicon saxonicum, seu annales rerum in Anglia praecipue gestarum, a Christo nato ad annum usque MCLIV. deducti, ac jam demum latinitate donati|date=28 July 1692|publisher=Sheldon|via=Google Books}}</ref> (died c. AD 624) was a [[List of monarchs of East Anglia|king of East Anglia]], an [[Anglo-Saxons|Anglo-Saxon]] kingdom which included the present-day English counties of [[Norfolk]] and [[Suffolk]]. He was the son of [[Tytila of East Anglia]] and a member of the [[Wuffingas]] dynasty (named after his grandfather, [[Wuffa of East Anglia|Wuffa]]), who were the first kings of the [[Kingdom of East Anglia|East Angles]]. Details about Rædwald's reign are scarce, primarily because the [[Vikings in East Anglia|Viking invasions]] of the 9th century destroyed the [[Monastery|monasteries]] in East Anglia where many documents would have been kept. Rædwald reigned from about 599 until his death around 624, initially under the overlordship of [[Æthelberht of Kent]]. In 616, as a result of fighting the [[Battle of the River Idle]] and defeating [[Æthelfrith of Northumbria]], he was able to install [[Edwin of Northumbria|Edwin]], who was acquiescent to his authority, as the new king of [[Northumbria]]. During the battle, both Æthelfrith and Rædwald's son, Rægenhere, were killed.

From around 616, Rædwald was the most powerful of the English kings south of the [[Humber estuary]]. According to [[Bede]], he was the fourth ruler to hold ''imperium'' over other southern Anglo-Saxon kingdoms: he was referred to in the ''[[Anglo-Saxon Chronicle]]'', written centuries after his death, as a ''[[bretwalda]]'' (an Old English term meaning 'Britain-ruler' or 'wide-ruler'). He was the first king of the East Angles to [[Christianisation of Anglo-Saxon England|become a Christian]], converting at Æthelberht's court some time before 605, while also maintaining a pagan temple. He helped Christianity to survive in East Anglia during the [[apostasy]] of the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of [[Kingdom of Essex|Essex]] and [[Kingdom of Kent|Kent]]. Historians consider him the most likely occupant of the [[Sutton Hoo]] ship-burial, although other theories have been advanced. A smaller ship-burial was also discovered in 1998 close to the original Sutton Hoo site, which is thought to have contained the body of his son Rægenhere, who died in battle in 616.

== Sources ==
The kingdom of East Anglia ({{langx|ang|Ēastengla rīċe}}) was a small independent [[Anglo-Saxons|Anglo-Saxon]] kingdom that comprised what are now the [[England|English]] counties of [[Norfolk]] and [[Suffolk]] and perhaps the eastern part of the Cambridgeshire [[The Fens|Fens]].<ref name=eb11>{{EB1911|inline=1|wstitle=East Anglia}}</ref> Much less documentary evidence survives from East Anglia than from other Anglo-Saxon kingdoms. The historian [[Barbara Yorke]] argues that East Anglia almost certainly produced a similar range of written materials, but they were destroyed during the Viking conquest  in the 9th century.<ref name="Yorke58">Yorke, ''Kings and Kingdoms of Early Anglo-Saxon England'', p. 58</ref>

Rædwald is the first king of the East Angles of whom more than a name is known, though no details of his life before his accession are known.<ref name="Hoggett">Hoggett, ''The Archaeology of the East Anglian Conversion'', pp. 28–30</ref> The earliest and most substantial source for Rædwald is the ''[[Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum]]'' (''Ecclesiastical History of the English People''), completed in 731 by [[Bede]], a Northumbrian monk. Bede placed Rædwald's reign between the advent of the [[Gregorian mission]] to [[Kingdom of Kent|Kent]] in 597 and the marriage and conversion of [[Edwin of Northumbria]] during 625–626.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Ecclesiastical History of the English People|author=Bede|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2008|editor-last=McClure|editor-first=Judith|location=Oxford|pages=78 and 98–9|translator-last=Colgrave|translator-first=Bertram|chapter=Books II.5 and II.15|editor-last2=Collins|editor-first2=Roger}}</ref>

Later medieval [[chronicle]]rs, such as [[Roger of Wendover]], gave some information about East Anglian events, but Yorke suggests that the [[annal]]istic format used forced these writers to guess the dates of the key events they recorded. Such later sources are therefore treated with caution.<ref name=Yorke58 /> The ''[[Anglian collection]]'', which dates from the late 8th century, contains an East Anglian genealogical tally, but Rædwald is not included.<ref name=Plunkett_70>Plunkett, ''Suffolk in Anglo-Saxon Times'', p. 70</ref><ref name=Blackwell_388>'' 'Regnal lists' '', by David E. Thornton, in {{cite book |last= Lapidge|first=Michael|title= The Blackwell Encyclopaedia of Anglo-Saxon England|page=388}}</ref> Rædwald is however referred to in the 8th century ''Vita'' of [[Pope Gregory I|St Gregory the Great]], written by a member of the religious community at [[Whitby Abbey|Whitby]].<ref name="BEASE">Lapidge, ''The Blackwell Encyclopaedia of Anglo-Saxon England'', p. 385</ref> The Battle of the [[River Idle]], in which Rædwald and his forces defeated the Northumbrians, is described in the 12th century ''Historia Anglorum'', written by [[Henry of Huntingdon]].<ref>''The chronicle of Henry of Huntingdon, comprising the history of England, from the invasion of Julius Cæsar to the accession of Henry II. Also, The acts of Stephen, king of England and duke of Normandy'', translated by Thomas Forrester, is available to read [https://archive.org/details/chroniclehenryh01foregoog online]</ref>

== The context of Rædwald's kingdom ==
[[File:Britain peoples circa 600.svg|thumb|right|upright|200px|alt=Map of Anglo-Saxon Britain|The main Anglo-Saxon kingdoms]]
The Anglo-Saxons, who are known to have included [[Angles (tribe)|Angles]], [[Saxons]], [[Jutes]] and [[Frisii|Frisians]], began to arrive in Britain in the 5th century. By 600, a number of kingdoms had begun to form in the conquered territories.<ref>Yorke, ''Kings and Kingdoms of Early Anglo-Saxon England'', p. 1</ref> By the beginning of the 7th century, the southern part of what became England was almost entirely under their control.<ref name=Blair_RBaEE_204>Hunter Blair, ''Roman Britain and Early England: 55 B.C. – A.D. 871'', p. 204. Peter Hunter Blair gives the twenty-five years from 550 to 575 as the dates of the final conquest.</ref>

During Rædwald's youth, the establishment of other ruling houses was accomplished. Sometime before 588, [[Æthelberht of Kent]] married [[Bertha of Kent|Bercta]], the Christian daughter of the [[Franks|Frankish]] ruler [[Charibert I]]. As early as 568, [[Ceawlin of Wessex]], the most powerful ruler south of the Humber estuary, repulsed Æthelberht.<ref>Stenton, ''Anglo-Saxon England'', p. 105</ref> According to later sources, [[Mercia]] was founded by [[Creoda of Mercia|Creoda]] in 585, although a paucity of sources makes it difficult to know how the Mercian royal line became established.<ref>Yorke, ''Kings and Kingdoms of Early Anglo-Saxon England'', p. 102</ref>

North of the Humber, the kingdoms of [[Kingdom of Deira|Deira]] and [[Kingdom of Bernicia|Bernicia]] possessed rival royal dynasties. [[Ælla of Deira|Ælla]] ruled Deira until his death in 588, leaving his daughter Acha, his son Edwin, and another unknown sibling.<ref>Yorke, ''Kings and Kingdoms of Early Anglo-Saxon England'', pp. 74–77</ref><ref name=Bede_152>Bede, ''Ecclesiastical History of the English People'', iii, pp. 152–153</ref> The Bernician dynasty, allied by kinship to the kingdom of [[Wessex]], gained ascendancy over Deira, forcing Edwin to live in exile in the court of [[Cadfan ap Iago]] of [[Kingdom of Gwynedd|Gwynedd]]. In various wars, [[Æthelfrith of Northumbria|Æthelfrith of Bernicia]] consolidated the [[Kingdom of Northumbria|Northumbrian]] state, and in around 604 he was able to bring Deira under his dominion.

== Family ==
Rædwald, which in Old English means 'power in counsel',<ref>Bosworth, ''A Dictionary of the Anglo-Saxon Language'', [https://books.google.com/books?id=WRkAAAAAYAAJ&dq=wald+ruler+raed+counsel&pg=PA286 p. 286]</ref> was born around 560–580. The son of Tytila, whom he succeeded, he was the elder brother of [[Eni of East Anglia|Eni]]. According to Bede, he was descended from [[Wuffa of East Anglia|Wuffa]], the founder of the Wuffingas dynasty: ''filius Tytili, cuius pater fuit UUffa'' ('the son of Tytil, whose father was Wuffa').<ref name="Kirby52">Kirby, ''The Earliest English Kings'', p. 52</ref><ref>Newton, ''The Origins of Beowulf and the Pre-Viking Kingdom of East Anglia'', p. 78</ref>

At some time during the 590s, Rædwald married a woman whose name is unknown, though it is known from Bede that she was pagan.<ref>Bede, ''Ecclesiastical History of the English Nation'', II.15</ref> By her he fathered at least two sons, Rægenhere and [[Eorpwald of East Anglia|Eorpwald]]. He also had an older son, [[Sigebert of East Anglia|Sigeberht]], whose name is unlike other Wuffingas names but which is typical of the [[Kingdom of Essex|East Saxon dynasty]]. It has been suggested that Rædwald's queen had previously been married to a member of the Essex royal family and that Sigeberht was Rædwald's stepson, as was stated by [[William of Malmesbury]] in the 12th century.<ref>Plunkett, ''Suffolk in Anglo-Saxon Times'', pp. 99–100</ref> Sigeberht earned the enmity of his step-father, who drove him into exile in [[Gaul]], possibly to protect the Wuffingas bloodline.<ref name=Plunkett_72>Plunkett, ''Suffolk in Anglo-Saxon Times'', p. 72</ref>

{{Tree chart/start |summary=Anna's descent}}
{{Tree chart |border=1| | | | | | | | | | WEH |                                    WEH= [[Wehha of East Anglia|Wehha]]}}
{{Tree chart | | | | | | | | | | |!| |}}
{{Tree chart | | border=1|| | | | | | | | WUF |                                    WUF= [[Wuffa of East Anglia|Wuffa]]}}
{{Tree chart | | | | | | | | | | |!| |}}
{{Tree chart |border=1| | | | | | | | | | TYT |                                    TYT= [[Tytila of East Anglia|Tytila]]}}
{{Tree chart | | | | | | | | | | |!| |}}                                 
{{Tree chart | | | | | | |,|-|-|-|^|-|-|-|-|-|-|.| }}
{{Tree chart |border=1| QU1 |y|~|RAE |y| QU2 | | | | | ENI |-| QU3 |     RAE= Rædwald |boxstyle_RAE =background-color: #afa;|QU1=?|QU2=?|ENI=[[Eni of East Anglia|Eni]]|QU3=?}}
{{Tree chart | | | |!| | |,|-|^|-|.|}}
{{Tree chart |border=1| | SIG | | RGH | | EOR |RGH=Rægenhere| EOR= [[Eorpwald of East Anglia|Eorpwald]] |SIG= [[Sigeberht of East Anglia|Sigeberht]]}}
{{Tree chart/end}}

For a family tree that includes the descendants of Eni, see [[Wuffingas]].

== Early reign and baptism ==
[[Image:East Anglian kingdom.svg|thumb|right|A topographical map of the [[Kingdom of East Anglia|kingdom of the East Angles]]]]

In 597 in the early years of Rædwald's reign [[Augustine of Canterbury]] arrived on [[Mission (Christianity)|mission]] from Rome, leading to the conversion of the [[bretwalda]] Æthelberht of [[Kingdom of Kent|Kent]] as well as [[Saeberht]] of [[Kingdom of Essex|Essex]], and the establishment of new bishoprics in their kingdoms.<ref>Lapidge, ''The Blackwell Encyclopaedia of Anglo-Saxon England'', pp. 52, 174</ref> 

Bede states that Rædwald also converted to [[Christianity]],<ref name="Convert">When relating the conversion of Rædwald's son Eorpwald in his ''Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum'', mentioned that Rædwald received the Christian [[sacraments]] in Kent. Lapidge, ''The Blackwell Encyclopaedia of Anglo-Saxon England'', p. 385</ref> presumably at the invitation of Æthelberht who may have been his baptismal sponsor.<ref name=Plunkett_72 /> The date of his conversion is unknown, but it is likely to have been around 604 or later.<ref name="BEASE" /> Since it is claimed that Augustine, who died in about 605, dedicated a church near [[Ely, Cambridgeshire|Ely]], it may have swiftly followed Saebert's conversion in 604. Rædwald's marriage to a member of the royal dynasty of Essex helped form a diplomatic alliance between the neighbouring kingdoms of East Anglia and Essex. His conversion in Kent would have affiliated him with Æthelberht, bringing him directly into the sphere of Kent.<ref name="Plunkett, p. 79">Plunkett, ''Suffolk in Anglo-Saxon Times'', p. 79</ref>

Bede describes Rædwald's relationship with Æthelberht in an ambiguous passage which implies that Rædwald retained ''[[ducatus]]'', or military command of his people, while Æthelberht held ''[[imperium]]''.<ref name=Bede_111>Bede, ''Ecclesiastical History'', Book I, Ch. 25 & 26, from Sherley-Price's translation, p. 111.</ref> This implies that being a ''bretwalda'' usually included holding the military command of other kingdoms and also that it was more than that, since Æthelberht is ''bretwalda'' despite Rædwald's control of his own troops.<ref name=Kirby_17>Kirby, ''Earliest English Kings'', p. 17.</ref> Rædwald did not fully abandon his pagan beliefs which together with the fact that he retained military independence, implies that Æthelberht's overlordship of East Anglia was much weaker than his influence with the East Saxons.<ref name=Kirby_37>Kirby, ''Earliest English Kings'', p. 37.</ref><ref name=Yorke_62>Yorke, ''Kings and Kingdoms'', p. 62.</ref> An alternative interpretation, however, is that the passage in Bede should be translated as "Rædwald, king of the East Angles, who while Æthelberht lived, even conceded to him the military leadership of his people"; if this is Bede's intent, then East Anglia firmly was under Æthelberht's overlordship.<ref name=Blackwell_13_Higham>"Rædwald", N. J. Higham, in Lapidge, ''Encyclopaedia of Anglo-Saxon England''.</ref>

In East Anglia, Rædwald's conversion was not universally accepted by his household or his own queen. According to the historian Steven Plunkett, she and her pagan teachers persuaded him to default in part from his commitment to the Christian faith.<ref>Plunkett, ''Suffolk in Anglo-Saxon Times'', pp. 74–75</ref> As a result, he kept in the temple two altars, one dedicated to pagan gods and the other to Christ. Bede, writing decades later, described how [[Ealdwulf of East Anglia]], a grandson of Rædwald's brother Eni, recalled seeing the temple when he was a boy. It may have been located at [[Rendlesham]], emerging focus of the ''regio'' of the Wuffing dynasty, according to Plunkett.<ref>Plunkett, ''Suffolk in Anglo-Saxon Times'', pp. 75–76</ref> Barbara Yorke argues that Rædwald was not willing to fully embrace Christianity because conversion via Æthelberht would have been acknowledgment of an inferior status to the Kentish king.<ref>Yorke, ''Kings and Kingdoms of Early Anglo-Saxon England'', p. 160</ref> Rædwald's lack of commitment towards Christianity earned him the enmity of Bede, who regarded him as a renouncer of the faith.<ref name="BEASE" />

== Rædwald and Edwin of Northumbria ==
=== Edwin's exile ===
Æthelfrith of Northumbria may have married [[Acha of Deira|Acha]],<ref>Ziegler, "Politics of Exile", [https://www.mun.ca/mst/heroicage/issues/2/ha2pen2.htm#note14 note 14] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120616074012/http://www.mun.ca/mst/heroicage/issues/2/ha2pen2.htm |date=16 June 2012 }}.</ref> who was the mother of his son [[Oswald of Northumbria|Oswald]] (born in about 604), according to Bede.<ref>Bede, ''Ecclesiastical History of the English Nation'', iii, p. 6</ref> Æthelfrith pursued Acha's exiled brother Edwin in an attempt to destroy him and ensure that the Bernician rulership of Northumbria would be unchallenged. Edwin found hospitality in the household of [[Cearl of Mercia]] and later married Cearl's daughter. Edwin's nephew Hereric, an exile in the British kingdom of [[Elmet]], was slain there under treacherous circumstances.<ref>Koch, ''Celtic culture: a historical encyclopedia'', vol. 1–5, [https://books.google.com/books?id=f899xH_quaMC&dq=Hereric+exile&pg=PA641 p. 641]</ref> Edwin eventually sought the protection of Rædwald, where he was received willingly. Rædwald promised to protect him, and Edwin lived with the king amongst his royal companions. When news of Edwin reached Æthelfrith in Northumbria, he sent messengers to Rædwald offering money in return for Edwin's death, but Rædwald refused to comply. Æthelfrith sent messengers a second and a third time, offering even greater gifts of silver and promising war if these were not accepted. Rædwald then weakened and promised either to kill Edwin or to hand him over to ambassadors.<ref name="Kirby52" />

When a chance arose for him to escape to a safe country, Edwin chose to remain at Rædwald's court.<ref name="Plunkett, p. 79"/> He was then visited by a stranger who was aware of Rædwald's deliberations. The source for this story, written at [[Whitby]], stated that the stranger was [[Paulinus of York]], a member of the Canterbury mission, who offered Edwin the hope of Rædwald's support and held out the prospect that Edwin might someday attain greater royal power than any previous English king.<ref>Plunkett, ''Suffolk in Anglo-Saxon Times'', p. 80</ref> Paulinus was assured by Edwin that he would accept his religious teaching. His vision of Paulinus was afterwards made the means of his decision to embrace Christianity, on the condition that he survived and achieved power. If, as is supposed by some, Paulinus appeared to him in the flesh, the bishop's presence at Rædwald's court would throw some light on the king's position regarding religion.<ref name=DNB>Hunt, "[[:s:Redwald (DNB00)|Redwald]]", ''[[Dictionary of National Biography]]'', p. 386</ref>

Rædwald's pagan queen admonished him for acting in a manner dishonourable for a king by betraying his trust for the sake of money and wanting to sell his imperiled friend in exchange for riches.<ref name="Kirby52" /> As a result of her admonishment, once Æthelfrith's ambassadors had gone, Rædwald resolved on war.<ref>Bede, ''Ecclesiastical History of the English Nation'', ii, 12</ref>

=== The Battle of the River Idle ===
{{See also|Battle of the River Idle}}
In 616 or 617, Rædwald assembled an army and marched north, accompanied by his son Rægenhere, to confront Æthelfrith. They met on the western boundary of the [[kingdom of Lindsey]], on the east bank of the [[River Idle]]. The battle was fierce and was long commemorated in the saying, 'The river Idle was foul with the blood of Englishmen'.<ref name="DNB" /> During the fighting, Æthelfrith and Rædwald's son Rægenhere were both slain. Edwin then succeeded Æthelfrith as the king of Northumbria, and Æthelfrith's sons were subsequently forced into exile.<ref>Newton, ''The Origins of Beowulf and the Pre-Viking Kingdom of East Anglia''. p. 104</ref>

A separate account of the battle, given by Henry of Huntingdon, stated that Rædwald's army was split into three formations, led by Rædwald, Rægenhere, and Edwin. With more experienced fighters, Æthelfrith attacked in loose formation. At the sight of Rægenhere, perhaps thinking he was Edwin, Æthelfrith's men cut their way through to him and slew him. After the death of his son, Rædwald furiously breached his lines, killing Æthelfrith amid a great slaughter of the Northumbrians.<ref>Forrester, ''The chronicle of Henry of Huntingdon'', p. 56</ref>

[[David Peter Kirby|D.P. Kirby]] has argued that the battle was more than a clash between two kings over the treatment of an exiled nobleman but was "part of a protracted struggle to determine the military and political leadership of the Anglian peoples" at that time.<ref name="Kirby52" />

==Rædwald's ''imperium''==
[[Image:Entry for 827 in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, which lists the eight bretwaldas.gif|thumb|300px|right|The entry for 827 in one of the [[Anglo-Saxon Chronicle#Surviving manuscripts|Abingdon manuscripts]] of the ''[[Anglo-Saxon Chronicle]]'', which lists the eight ''[[bretwalda]]s''. Rædwald's name can be seen as the fourth word on the sixth line.]]
On 24 February 616,<ref>Lapidge, The Blackwell Encyclopaedia of Anglo-Saxon England, p. 13</ref> the year of the Battle of the River Idle, Æthelberht of Kent died and was succeeded by his pagan son [[Eadbald of Kent|Eadbald]]. After the death of the Christian [[Saebert of Essex]], his three sons shared the kingdom, returning it to pagan rule, and drove out the Gregorian missionaries led by [[Mellitus]].<ref>Yorke, ''Kings and Kingdoms of Early Anglo-Saxon England'', p. 48</ref> The Canterbury mission had removed to Gaul before Eadbald was brought back into the fold. During this period the only royal Christian altar in England belonged to Rædwald. By the time of his death, the mission in Kent had been fully re-established.<ref>Kirby, ''The Earliest English Kings'', p. 30</ref>

Rædwald's power became great enough for Bede to recognise him as the successor to the ''imperium'' of Æthelberht.<ref>Kirby, ''The Earliest English Kings'', pp. 17–18</ref> Bede also called him ''Rex Anglorum'', the 'King of the Angles', a term that Rædwald's contemporaries would have used for their overlord. It is unclear where his power was centred or even how he established his authority over the Angles of eastern England.<ref>Kirby, ''The Earliest English Kings'', pp. 53–55</ref>

By Edwin's debt of allegiance to him, Rædwald became the first foreign king to hold direct influence in Northumbria. He would have been instrumental in Edwin's secure establishment as king of both Deira and Bernicia.<ref>Kirby, ''The Earliest English Kings'', pp. 61–62</ref>

==The development of Gipeswic==
During the first quarter of the 7th century, the [[Port of Ipswich|quayside settlement]] at Gipeswic ([[Ipswich]]) became an important estuarine trading centre, receiving imported goods such as pottery from other trading markets situated around the coasts of the [[North Sea]]. Steven Plunkett suggests that the founding of Gipeswic took place under the supervision of Wuffingas . It took another hundred years for the settlement to develop into a town, but its beginnings can be seen as a reflection of the personal importance of Rædwald during the period of his supremacy.<ref>Plunkett, ''Suffolk in Anglo-Saxon Times'', pp. 76–78</ref>

The excavated grave-goods of the Anglo-Saxon [[cemetery]] at Gipeswic, including those found in burials under small barrows, were not particularly wealthy or elaborate. They lacked the strong characterization of a neighbouring late 6th century cemetery at a higher crossing of the river. One exception was a furnished grave that has been suggested to be that of a visitor from the [[Rhineland]].<ref>Plunkett, ''Suffolk in Anglo-Saxon Times'', p. 130</ref>

==Death==
Rædwald is believed to have died around 624: his death date can be narrowed down to only within a few years. He must have reigned for some time after Æthelberht died, in order for him to have been noted as a ''bretwalda''. Barbara Yorke suggests that he died before Edwin converted to Christianity in 627 and also before Paulinus became bishop of Northumbria in 625.<ref>Yorke, ''Kings and Kingdoms of Early Anglo-Saxon England'', p. 60</ref> His death is recorded twice by Roger of Wendover, in 599 and in 624, in a history that dates from the 13th century but appears to include earlier annals of unknown origin and reliability. Plunkett notes that the earlier date of 599 is now taken as a mistaken reference to the death of Rædwald's father, Tytila, and the later date is commonly given for the death of Rædwald.<ref name="Plunkett_70" />

===Legacy===
It was Rædwald's conversion to Christianity rather than his apostasy that was to take hold.  He was succeeded by his pagan son [[Eorpwald]] although a pagan when he succeeded to the throne,<ref name="Hoggett-30">Hoggett, ''The Archaeology of the East Anglian Conversion'', p. 30.</ref> converted to Christianity<ref name="Bede-II 15">Bede, ''The Ecclesiastical History of the English People'', Book II, chapter 15.</ref> persuaded by Edwin of Northumbria.<ref name="Hoggett" />  However it wasn't until Eorpwald's brother [[Sigeberht of East Anglia|Sigeberht]] took the throne that the ruling house of East Anglia's conversion to Christianity became permanent.<ref name=eb11a>{{EB1911|wstitle=East Anglia}}</ref>

===Sutton Hoo===
{{main|Sutton Hoo}}
[[File:SHIP MED.jpg|thumb|upright=1.3|right|The excavation of the [[Sutton Hoo]] burial ship in 1939]]
[[Image:Great Buckle.JPG|thumb|upright=1.3|The Great Buckle from Mound 1 at Sutton Hoo, now on permanent display at the [[British Museum]].]]
Since the excavation of [[Mound 1]] in 1939 at Sutton Hoo, near [[Woodbridge, Suffolk]] there has been [[Theories of the body in Sutton Hoo|speculation]] that the Rædwald was the person either buried or commemorated in the main chamber.

Rædwald lived at a time when eminent individuals were buried in [[Tumulus|barrows]] at the cemetery at Sutton Hoo three still visible large mounds overlooking the upper estuary of the [[River Deben]].<ref>Newton, ''The Origins of Beowulf and the Pre-Viking Kingdom of East Anglia'', p. 44</ref> In 1939 the largest mound at Sutton Hoo was found to contain a uniquely rich Anglo-Saxon ship-burial in the centre of which was a chamber containing [[grave good]]s for a very wealthy man with items pointing to imperial claims such as [[consular sceptre]] which may have been a symbol of the office of ''bretwalda'' and gold and garnet body-equipment which employed a [[goldsmith]] at the top level in Europe which could project an image of imperial power.<ref name=Blackwell_432>Lapidge (ed.), "Sutton Hoo", M.O.H. Carver, in ''The Blackwall Encyclopedia of Anglo-Saxon England'', p. 432</ref><ref>Plunkett, ''Suffolk in Anglo-Saxon Times'', pp. 82–96: Plunkett provides a very detailed description of the layout and contents of the mound.</ref>

The symbolism and the wealth displayed point to the death of a person connected with the royal court, with [[Rupert Bruce-Mitford]],<ref>Bruce-Mitford, ''Aspects of Anglo-Saxon Archaeology: Sutton Hoo and other discoveries'', pp. 3–5</ref> first positing the burial as "very likely the monument of the High King or ''bretwalda'' Rædwald".<ref>Bruce-Mitford, ''Aspects of Anglo-Saxon Archaeology: Sutton Hoo and other discoveries'', p. 73</ref> Yorke suggests that the treasures buried with the ship reflect the size of the tribute paid to Rædwald by subject kings during his period as ''bretwalda''.<ref>Yorke, ''Kings and Kingdoms of Early Anglo-Saxon England'', pp. 59–60, 158</ref> Bruce-Mitford has suggested that the inclusion of bowls and spoons amongst the treasures fits with Bede's account of Rædwald's conversion: the spoons may have been a present for a convert from paganism and the bowls had Christian significance.<ref>Bruce-Mitford, ''Aspects of Anglo-Saxon Archaeology: Sutton Hoo and other discoveries'', pp. 26, 33</ref> Coins found in the burial have been dated to the approximate date of Rædwald's death.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.britishmuseum.org/explore/highlights/highlight_objects/cm/g/coins__ingots_from_sutton_hoo.aspx|title=British Museum, Gold coins and ingots from the ship-burial at Sutton Hoo}}</ref> 

Although this is a likely explanation it is still controversial, as reflected in the comments in the article on Rædwald in the ''[[Oxford Dictionary of National Biography]]'' ("It has been argued, more strongly than convincingly, that Rædwald must be the man buried in Mound 1 at Sutton Hoo")<ref>Campbell, Rædwald</ref> and by McClure and Collins, who note that the evidence for Rædwald is "almost non-existent".<ref>Bede, edited by McClure and Collins, ''The Ecclesiastical History of the English People'', n. 98, p. 381</ref> Alternative suggestions as candidates include other East Anglian kings or a prestigious foreign visitor,<ref>Bruce-Mitford, ''Aspects of Anglo-Saxon Archaeology: Sutton Hoo and other discoveries'', p. 3</ref> or a wealthy status-seeker, rather than a king,<ref name=Kirby_66>Kirby, ''The Earliest English Kings'', p. 66</ref> though Rendlesham, a known residence of the East Anglian kings, is only {{convert|4|miles|km}} away.<ref>Stenton, ''Anglo-Saxon England'', p. 51</ref>

[[Sweden|Swedish]] cultural influence has been detected at Sutton Hoo: there are strong similarities in both the armour and the burial with [[Vendel Period]] finds from Sweden. Bruce-Mitford suggested that the connection is close enough to imply that the [[Wuffingas]] dynasty came from that part of Scandinavia.<ref>Bruce-Mitford, ''Aspects of Anglo-Saxon Archaeology: Sutton Hoo and other discoveries'', p. 57</ref> There are also significant differences, and exact parallels with the workmanship and style of the Sutton Hoo artefacts cannot be found elsewhere; as a result the connection is generally regarded as unproven.<ref>Stenton, ''Anglo-Saxon England'', p. 34</ref><ref>Yorke, ''Kings and Kingdoms of Early Anglo-Saxon England'', p. 61</ref>

If the mound is a [[cenotaph]] rather than a grave,<ref>{{Cite web|title=The Anglo-Saxon ship burial at Sutton Hoo|url=https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/death-and-memory/anglo-saxon-ship-burial-sutton-hoo|access-date=12 November 2020|website=The British Museum|language=en}}</ref> this may mean Rædwald could have received a Christian burial with the mound, whether completed before or after his conversion, being used as a memorial and as symbol of the status of the Kingship of East Anglia.

==See also==
{{Portal|Anglo-Saxon England}}

* [[Sutton Hoo]]
* [[Sutton Hoo helmet|Sutton Hoo Helmet]]
* [[Wuffingas]]
* [[East Anglia]]
{{clear}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}63.   ^The Anglo-Saxons - A history of the beginnings of England by Marc Morris, p.&nbsp;68

==Sources==
'''Primary sources'''
* {{cite book
| last       = Bede
| author-link = Bede
| editor1-last  = McClure
| editor1-first = Judith
| editor2-last  = Collins
| editor2-first = Roger .
| title         = Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum
|trans-title=Ecclesiastical History of the English People
| year      = 2008
| publisher = OUP
| location  = Oxford, New York
| isbn      = 978-0-19-953723-5
}}
* {{Cite web
  | author = Bede
  | title = Bede's ''Ecclesiastical History of the English Nation'' (1870)
  | url=https://archive.org/details/bedesecclesiast00gidlgoog
  | access-date = 23 May 2010}}
* {{cite web |url=https://archive.org/stream/chroniclehenryh00henrgoog#page/n8/mode/2up |title= The chronicle of Henry of Huntingdon
|author= Henry of Huntingdon|translator-last= Forrester|translator-first= Thomas |year=1853|publisher=[[Internet Archive]] |access-date=25 March 2011|author1-link= Henry of Huntingdon
}}

'''Secondary sources'''
* {{Cite book
  | last = Bruce-Mitford
  | first = Rupert
  | author-link = Rupert Bruce-Mitford
  | title = Aspects of Anglo-Saxon Archæology: Sutton Hoo and other discoveries
  | url = https://archive.org/details/aspectsofanglosa0000bruc
  | url-access = registration 
  | publisher = Ebenezer Baylis and Son Ltd
  | location = London
  | year = 1974
  | isbn = 978-0-575-01704-7 }}
* {{Cite book
  | last = Bruce-Mitford
  | first = R.L.S.
  | author-link = Rupert Bruce-Mitford
  | title = The Sutton Hoo Ship-Burial
  | volume = 1
  | location = London
  | year = 1975
  }}
* {{Cite encyclopedia
  | last = Campbell
  | first = J.
  | title = Rædwald
  | url = http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/23265?docPos=1
  | encyclopedia = [[Dictionary of National Biography]]
  | year = 2004
  | doi = 10.1093/ref:odnb/23265
  | publisher = Oxford University Press}}
* {{cite journal
  |last1= Dumville
  |first1= D.
  | author-link = David Dumville
  |year= 1976
  |title= Anglian Collection of royal genealogies and regnal lists
  |journal= Anglo-Saxon England
  |volume= 5
  |pages= 23–50
  |publisher= [[Cambridge University Press]]
  |doi=10.1017/S0263675100000764
  |s2cid= 162877617
 }}
* {{Cite encyclopedia
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  | first = N.J.
  | title = Rædwald
  | editor = M. Lapidge| encyclopedia = The Blackwell Encyclopedia of Anglo-Saxon England
  | publisher = Blackwell
  | location = London
  | year = 1999
  | isbn = 978-0-631-22492-1|display-editors=etal}}
* {{Cite book
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  | url= https://books.google.com/books?id=FUufOm0KTcgC
  | publisher = The Boydell Press
  | location = Woodbridge, UK
  | year = 2010
  | page = 28
  | isbn = 978-1-84383-595-0}}
* {{Cite DNB
  | last = Hunt
  | first = William
  | author-link = William Hunt (clergyman)
  | wstitle = Redwald
  | volume = 47}}
* {{Cite book
  | last = Hunter Blair
  | first = Peter
  | title = Roman Britain and Early England: 55 B.C. – A.D. 871
  | year = 1966
  | publisher = W.W. Norton & Company
  | isbn = 978-0-393-00361-1}}
* {{Cite book
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  | first = D.P.
  | title = The Earliest English Kings
  | publisher = Routledge
  | location = London and New York
  | year = 2000
  | isbn = 978-0-415-09086-5}}
* {{Cite book
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  | title = Celtic culture: a historical encyclopedia, Volumes 1-5
  | publisher = ABC-CLIO Inc.
  | location = Santa Barbara, USA
  | year = 2006
  | isbn = 978-1-85109-440-0}}
* {{Cite book
  | last = Newton
  | first = S.
  | title = The origins of ''Beowulf'' and the Pre-Viking Kingdom of East Anglia
  | location = Cambridge
  | year = 1993
  | isbn = 978-0-85991-472-7}}
* {{Cite book
  | last = Newton
  | first = S.
  | title = The Reckoning of King Rædwald
  | location = Brightlingsea
  | year = 2003
  }}
* {{Cite book
  | last = Plunkett
  | first = Steven
  | title = Suffolk in Anglo-Saxon Times
  | publisher = Tempus
  | location = Stroud
  | year = 2005
  | isbn = 978-0-7524-3139-0 }}
* {{Cite book
  | last = Stenton
  | first = Frank M.
  | title = Anglo-Saxon England
  | year = 1971
  | publisher = Clarendon Press
  | isbn = 978-0-19-821716-9}}
* {{Cite book
  | last = Stenton
  | first = F.M.
  | author-link = Frank Stenton
  | chapter = The East Anglian Kings in the seventh century
  | editor = P. Clemoes
  | title = The Anglo-Saxons: Studies presented to Bruce Dickens
  | location = London
  | year = 1959
  }}
* {{Cite book
  | last = Yorke
  | first = Barbara
  | author-link = Barbara Yorke
  | title = Kings and Kingdoms of Early Anglo-Saxon England
  | publisher = Routledge
  | location = London and New York
  | year = 2002
  |url=https://archive.org/details/KingsAndKingdomsOfEarlyAngloSaxonEngland/page/n1/mode/2up
  | isbn = 978-0-415-16639-3}}
* {{cite journal
  |last1= Ziegler
  |first1= Michelle
  |year= 1999
  |title= The Politics of Exile in Early Northumbria
  |journal= The Heroic Age
  |issue= 2
  }}
;Attribution
* {{DNB|wstitle=Redwald}}

== External links ==
{{commons category}}
* {{PASE|11988|Rædwald 1}}

{{S-start}}
{{S-roy|en}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Tytila of East Anglia|Tyttla]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Kings of East Anglia|King of East Anglia]]|years= 599 – c. 624}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Eorpwald of East Anglia|Eorpwald]]}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Æthelberht of Kent]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Bretwalda]]|years=}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Edwin of Northumbria]]}}
{{S-end}}

{{Kings of East Anglia |state=expanded}}
{{Bretwalda}}

{{Authority control}}

{{good article}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Raedwald of East Anglia}}
[[Category:620s deaths]]
[[Category:East Anglian monarchs]]
[[Category:Anglo-Saxon warriors]]
[[Category:7th-century English monarchs]]
[[Category:6th-century English nobility]]
[[Category:House of Wuffingas]]
[[Category:Year of birth unknown]]
[[Category:Year of death uncertain]]