Non-written Sources

Empire and peoples

The purpose of this section of the website is to explore a selection of buildings from the later Roman Empire, and to examine the evidence they might be able to offer in response  to the question: was that empire in hopeless decline or was it rather vibrant and powerful?

As you look at them, you need to ponder what light they cast on:

  1. The wealth and strength of the empire at a period when it is sometimes regarded as being in decline.
  2. The importance of Roman tradition and confidence in that empire.
  3. The importance of Christianity in the later Roman Empire.

Basilica of Emperors Maxentius and Constantine, Rome

Context

This basilica was begun by the Emperor Maxentius, whom the Emperor Constantine defeated in 312 at the Battle of the Milvian Bridge, outside Rome. It was completed by Constantine, and it probably stood until an earthquake struck Rome in 847. It stands today beside the road called the Via dei Fori Imperiali, which the mid-twentieth-century fascist dictator Mussolini built. In the Roman period, it stood beside the Via Sacra (holy way) which led along the side of the Roman Forum, the chief focus of the political ceremonies of Rome. It was to the Colosseum, and to the Palatine Hill, on which stood the principal imperial palace of Rome.

The building

In this view, we are looking from the Roman Forum towards the basilica, with the Via Sacra in the foreground. The basilica was a rectangular building with a central nave and aisles alongside it. The part which stands to its full height consists of the three bays of the north aisle, which you can see at the back, and the north wall of the nave against which they rest, together with part of its east wall. You can see the floor of the nave, which is the light-coloured space just in front of it. The great stubs of brickwork on its south side (that is the side closest to us) are the remains of the bays of the south aisle.

The nave and the aisles were vaulted in concrete as the north aisle still is, as you can see in this photograph.

What remains of the vault of the nave are the great brackets at the top of the nave wall, which were supported by arches (a sort of flying buttresses) which you can see behind them in this detail. The bracket on the left is largely broken away, but you can still see the scar left by it.

The basilica originally had a rounded ending (or apse) at its west end (on the left of the first photograph) in which was placed an enormous statue of Constantine, of which fragments, including the head (see image), survive.

Significance

Wealth of Maxentius and Constantine

  1. The basilica is enormous and extremely impressive. It covers a surface area of 96m x 65m, and the vault rises to 25m.
  2. The use of concrete vaulting on this scale puts it in the same league as the most important Roman buildings of earlier periods.
  3. The basilica was lavishly decorated in marble with marble cladding of the walls, for which you can see the holes in the brickwork for the fixings. This too makes it a very significant sign of wealth and power.

The emperor’s image

The enormous sculpture of Constantine in the apse, which would have been the focus of ceremonies and trials in the basilica, is strong evidence of the self-assertiveness of this emperor, and of the attention being devoted to presenting him as a great and powerful ruler.

Piazza Armerina, Villa Romana Di Casale, Sicily

Context

A spectacular Roman villa discovered in 1963, near the little town of Piazza Armerina in Sicily. Nothing is known about the construction of the villa from historical sources, but it is dated on archaeological grounds to the early fourth century, possibly 315–25. It is argued to be a villa of the retired emperor (or Augustus) called Maximian because of the appearance in one of its mosaics of a figure identified by scholars as that of this emperor, on the grounds of the ivy-leaf badge which appears on the shoulder of the attendant to the left of him.

The villa

The villa is located in a fairly remote part of the central uplands of Sicily, and was probably a centre for hunting in the surrounding territory. That this was the case is further suggested by the prominence of hunting scenes in the mosaics that decorate its floors. The villa is an enormous stone-built complex, comprising an entrance with triumphal arch, leading to a large courtyard (or peristyle). On one side of this is a large Roman baths, and on another a long corridor or gallery. The image below shows that gallery as it has been re-roofed to protect the mosaics. The peristyle is to the left.

Off this corridor lead two apartments rooms magnificently decorated with mosaics, with between them a large basilica with its walls and floor clad in differently-coloured marbles. The entrance to the basilica is on the right of the image above, where you can see the large column in the gap in the wall, and its interior with the apse in the background can be seen in the image below.

 Beyond the peristyle is an equally magnificent dining-room (or triclinium) with its own courtyard, shown in the following image.

Significance

The level of wealth

The level of wealth expended on this complex in a relatively remote situation, as an indication of the wealth and confidence of the emperors, or perhaps of the elite of the Roman Empire. This is evident both in the scale of the buildings and in the lavishness and innovativeness of the mosaic decoration. For example, the mosaics in the triclinium (dining-hall), which show the labours of the classical hero, Hercules, which included killing five giants with feet of snakes. One of them appears, attempting in vain to extract Hercules’s arrow from his body, in the following image. Notice the astonishingly powerful handling of this scene.

The nature of Roman power

The mosaics on the floor of the long gallery or corridor along one side of the peristyle show animals being collected from all over the Roman Empire to be brought back to Rome for displays and hunting enactments in the Colosseum and the Circus. The following image shows an elephant being led away to a ship for transport to Rome. The theme of these mosaics is clearly the scale of Roman power.

Further information

http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/832/ (or search ‘Villa Romana del Casale UNESCO’)

Wilson, Roger John Anthony, 1983. Piazza Armerina. London: Granada.

Ravenna

Having developed as an important Roman naval base on the Adriatic Sea, Ravenna was chosen in 402 to be the principal imperial residence south of the Alps. From 425, it was ruled by Galla Placidia, mother of the emperor Valentinian who was a child, until her death in 450. After the fall of the Roman Empire in the West, it eventually became the principal city of the ruler of Italy and king of the Ostrogoths, Theoderic (493–526). When the Byzantine emperor Justinian I (527–65) reconquered Italy, the city became the centre of the power of the exarch, that is the Byzantine governor in Italy. In 751, it was captured by the Lombards, whose kingdom was in turn conquered by the Franks under their ruler Charlemagne (768–814).

The city is therefore very important for understanding the transition from the later Roman Empire to the barbarian kingdoms.

Further information: http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/788 (or search ‘Ravenna UNESC’); and Deborah Mauskopf Deliyannis, Ravenna in Late Antiquity (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2009).

  1. Mausoleum of Galla Placidia, Ravenna
  2. Mausoleum of Theodoric, Ravenna
  3. Church of San Vitale, Ravenna

Mausoleum of Galla Placidia, Ravenna

Context

The so-called mausoleum is a small chapel in the shape of a cross, decorated with magnificent mosaics, and built by the regent, Galla Placidia (died 450). This chapel, which may or may not be a mausoleum, is all that is left of a large church complex which she built, including the principal church of the Holy Cross, which is known only from excavations.

The mausoleum

The interior walls and the vaults are decorated with contemporary mosaics. Apart from the entrance, the arms of the cross contain large fifth-century stone coffins (or sarcophagi), but it is not certain that these were originally intended for this location, so it is not certain that the chapel was a mausoleum, as it has often been called by modern scholars. The sarcophagi appear in the following image.

Significance

The wealth of the Roman imperial family

The wealth of the Roman imperial family in the last decades of the Roman Empire in the west. The following image of a detail of the mosaics of this little chapel gives an indication of this.

The commitment of the imperial family to Christianity

The following image, which is characteristic of the mosaics, shows St Lawrence about to be martyred on a grid-iron with the flames blazing through it. In a cupboard on the left are the books of the four evangelists of the New Testament, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.

Mausoleum of Theoderic, Ravenna

Context

This is a building constructed just outside the walls of the Roman city of Ravenna for the burial of the barbarian ruler of Italy and king of the Ostrogoths, Theoderic (493–526).

The mausoleum

A circle of pillars surrounding the mausoleum and a balustrade protecting the balcony around it has disappeared, as has the original staircase leading to it. But in other respects it is much as Theoderic had it built (see image below).

There are two interior spaces, one at ground-floor level, one at first-floor level. The latter contains an enormous bath-tub made of the purple marble, porphyry, and often thought to have been used as Theoderic’s coffin.

Significance

The wealth and power of King Theoderic

This mausoleum is constructed in really fine limestone (you can see the blocks on the image) whereas most Roman buildings in Ravenna were more cheaply built in brick. Moreover, the dome is amazingly of an enormous, single piece of stone. How this was raised into position is still debated.

The extent that as a barbarian king Theoderic was really like a Roman emperor

Note:

  1. The basic form of the mausoleum is not dissimilar to the Roman mausolea, especially that of the emperor Hadrian in Rome, which in the middle ages converted into the Castel Sant-Angelo.
  2. Each of the brackets around the roof is inscribed with the name of a Christian apostle, showing that Theodoric wished to demonstrate his Christianity, even if that Christianity was the Arian rather than the orthodox form.
  3. Nevertheless, the detailed shape of the mausoleum is not parallelled in Roman architecture and has been interpreted as barbarian in inspiration.

Church of San Vitale, Ravenna

Context

The church of San Vitale in Ravenna, on the Adriatic coast in Italy, was built in the second quarter of the sixth century, and consecrated in 547 or 548. This was the period when the Byzantine emperor Justinian I was conquering Italy from the Ostrogoths, and the church, which was commissioned and patronised by the bishop and then archbishop of Ravenna, seems to have been an expression of Justinian’s power.

The building

At the centre of the building is a nave, which is octagonal on the outside and round inside. On the following image, you can see it rising above the rest of the building. Around it at ground floor level runs an aisle or ambulatory, the windows of which you can see in the centre of the image. Above that is a gallery, to which belong the middle set of windows on the image.

This gallery consists of a series of bays, as you can see in the next image.

On the east side, which is in the centre of this image, there is a short chancel (that is the east end with the high altar at the end of it). You can in this image glimpse the sixth-century mosaics which still decorate this part of the church. Most important amongst these mosaics are two in the apse (that is the rounded east end of the chancel itself). The one on the left as you face east shows the emperor Justinian and his court, including the archbishop of Ravenna, Maximian, who is named. The emperor is the figure dressed in purple and wearing a crown. He holds in his hand a basket containing the consecrated bread for the rite of the mass. The mosaic on the right as you face east shows his queen, the empress Theodora, with her court. She holds a chalice containing the consecrated wine for the mass. For images, see: http://www.ravennamosaici.it/musei/san-vitale/?lang=en

Significance

  • The political stance of the Church
    Do the mosaics showing the emperor and empress demonstrate that that the Church was actively taking a political stance in the power-struggle in Italy between the emperor Justinian and the Ostrogoths?
  • The emperor’s power
    Was the plan of the church with the gallery round it designed to show off the emperor’s power when he was in the church? (He never actually was, but that may nevertheless have been the intention.)
  • Influence on Charlemagne
  • Was the imperial character of the church so great that Charlemagne chose it as the model for his church at Aachen?

Power and Society

Charlemagne’s palace at Aachen, Germany

Context

Aachen is now in north-west Germany, near the Belgian and Luxembourg borders. In the Early Middle Ages, this was a region centrally important to the power of Charlemagne and his successors, for they had many other palaces, churches, and rich estates focused on this area. Aachen also lay on the edge of the easily cultivated land to the north, with the uplands of the Ardennes, very suitable for hunting, to the south.

Aachen was a sizeable Roman town with a grid street-pattern, focused on a series of three major Roman bath-houses which made use of the natural hot springs for which Aachen is still famous. Nothing is known of Aachen in the Merovingian period, but in 765 the first Carolingian king, Pippin III, celebrated Christmas there, and in 768 his son and successor Charlemagne did likewise. Charlemagne (768–814) constructed a major palace there in the late eighth century, finishing it by 799. It became his sole residence in the latter part of his reign, and he was buried there. It became an important place for coronations of rulers from the tenth century, with the coronation there in 936 of the German ruler, Otto I.

The site

As appears from the satellite image below, what survives from this period is the palace-church, now Aachen cathedral, and part of the hall (or aula), which was in the fourteenth century converted into the town-hall. It is parallel to the church, and was linked to it by a two-storey corridor which had a gate-tower half-way along.

Hall (Aula)

A basilica with an apse, which was converted into the present town-hall (in German, the Rathaus) of Aachen in the fourteenth century. In the following image, notice the late medieval style of the windows on the first floor.

At the right end of the building appears the Tower of Granus (Granusturm), which preserves masonry from the Carolingian period. In the image below, notice the small, round-headed openings, and the rather rough stone-blocks which make up the walls. These show that the tower is part of Charlemagne’s original building. It may have been intended to provide access to upper stories of the hall, perhaps intended for the ruler’s lodgings.

At the other end of the Rathaus, the present apse is built on the foundations of that of Charlemagne’s hall. The image below shows it viewed from the west. The spire and battlements are modern and the entrance porch is late medieval, as also are the existing window-openings. Inside the hall, the apse would probably have provided a focal place for the ruler’s throne, as the apse in a Roman basilica such as that surviving at Trier did.

Corridor and gate-tower

The corridor linked the hall and the church at first-floor level, making it possible for the ruler and his entourage to enter the church at the level of the raised gallery where the throne was located. The gateway at its mid-point is known only from excavations, but it is usually assumed to have had a room at first-floor level, possibly for legal cases to be heard. In this image, you can see the one of the later medieval chapels of the church on the left, and modern buildings on the right. The two-storey stone building between them is what remains of the Carolingian corridor. The openings were probably remade in the twelfth century.

Church

Atrium

The atrium, or courtyard on the west side of the church, has been completely rebuilt in the modern period, but the lines of buildings on the left and right of the image follow the line of the Carolingian structures, which were originally a series of niches matching the great west niche in the church. That niche framed the main ground-floor entrance.

The double bronze doors just visible to the right of the green van in the image below are now mounted in an eighteenth-century porch, but they are eighth-century in date and must have provided a grand entrance.

Detail of the one of the knockers on the bronze doors.

Exterior of church

The church now consists of:

  • The octagonal Carolingian nave, visible in the middle of the image with its eighteenth-century dome. The round-headed window visible at first floor level is one of those lighting the gallery inside; the one just visible at ground-floor level is one of those lighting the polygonal aisle or ambulatory.
  • The fourteenth-century choir (east end), which replaced the Carolingian choir, and can be seen on the left with its large windows.
  • A series of late medieval chapels, one of which is in the middle of this image.

Interior of church

In this view of the interior after having entered by the west door, you are looking across the octagonal nave. Through the arch immediately in front of you, you can see the gleaming gold of the high altar, which is where the Carolingian east end terminated, before it was demolished to make way for the great fourteenth-century choir.

In front of that runs the ground-floor aisle or ambulatory, and above it is the gallery, lined with original eight-century bronze grilles. In the gallery above where we are standing is Charlemagne’s throne, offering him a clear view down on to the eighth-century high altar. (It is not certain, however, that the throne is in its original position. The wooden inner on which the occupant actually sat has been dated by dendrochronology to the early tenth century, so the throne may really date from the Ottonian period. It would still be usable as evidence for the ideological power of the Ottonian kings. )

The rest of the decoration is the result of rather heavy-handed modern restoration of the building.

Significance

The importance of Christianity to rulers

Does the palace provide evidence for the importance of Christianity in underpinning the power of rulers? You need to consider the significance of:

  • The corridor linking the hall and church.
  • The fact that the throne is located in the western gallery with the ruler looking down at the high altar and up to a mosaic in the dome of Christ in Majesty.

Roman and Byzantine influence on Charlemagne’s rulership

Does the palace provide evidence for Roman and Byzantine influence on Charlemagne’s rulership? You need to consider:

  • The supposed resemblance of Charlemagne’s church to the church of San Vitale in Ravenna, which was closely connected with the Byzantine emperor Justinian I, during the period of his reconquest of Italy from the Ostrogoths in the sixth century.

Rulers’ power

Does the palace cast light on other aspects of an early medieval ruler’s power? You need to consider:

  • The form and probable function of the hall (aula) as a meeting- and feasting-hall, where the ruler could inter-relate with his magnates.
  • The importance in Charlemagne’s time of the natural hot springs at Aachen for bathing, and the statement of his biographer Einhard that Charlemagne liked to bathe with his magnates. This could be used as evidence for power being founded on personal relations.
  • The importance of hunting as a political activity. Aachen is on the edge of very extensive hunting areas to the south. This could be used as evidence to argue that, for all its Christian, Roman, and Byzantine connotations, Aachen was really intended to facilitate the ruler’s hunting with his magnates, and that the relations with them developed in this way were crucial to his power.

Ingelheim Palace, Germany

Context

In his Life of Charlemagne (ch. 17),the ninth-century writer Einhard reports that the ruler Charlemagne (768–814) began the building of a palace at a place called Ingelheim, which is the modern village of Ingelheim (Germany), located near the River Rhine about ten miles west of the city of Mainz. Charlemagne is known to have been at this palace in 774, and in 787/8. The palace was extensively used by the Ottonian rulers of Germany, and Otto I visited it ten times.

Site

The village of Ingelheim has absorbed the remains and layout of the palace. This consisted of a rounded two-storey corridor, built in the manner of Roman palaces with round towers along it, and enclosing a semi-circular space. You can see it on the satellite image below, partly appearing in the buildings, partly in the white paving strips which mark the site of archaeological excavations. From the semi-circle, straight extensions reached to a straight side containing the hall (or aula), marked on the satellite image. A church known as the Saalkirche, and now the parish-church, used to be interpreted as being on the site of the original chapel of the palace, but excavation has shown that it is a quite new addition of the tenth century, and that the original chapel was the structure now marked out in white paving. For a reconstruction diagram and other images, see http://www.kaiserpfalz-ingelheim.de/en/

Two-storey corridor

The shape of the two-storey corridor is still preserved in the modern village streets, and has been cleared and partially reconstructed at its semi-circular end.

The image shows the reconstructed bases of Roman-style round columns in pink sandstone marking a covered walkway which ran in front of the two-storey corridor, the nearer edge of which is marked by the square piers further back. Just to the right of centre, you can see steps leading up to what must have been the triumphal entrance to the palace. The present tower with battlements on top is partly a twelfth-century addition, but you can see traces of Carolingian work in the doorway through it.

Hall (aula)

This image shows the remains of the hall (aula), looking down its length towards its rounded end (or apse). Even in its ruined state, you can get some impression of its original grandeur. The ninth-century writer Ermold the Black described it as having paintings of rulers, including scenes showing Charlemagne’s defeat of the pagan Saxons and other triumphs of Carolingian kings.

Original eighth-century chapel

This image shows the paving marking out the structure which has been excavated and is now interpreted as the original eighth-century chapel of the palace.

Tenth-century Saalkirche

This image shows the tenth-century Saalkirche, which used to be thought to be on the site of the original palace-chapel, but this has now been disproved by excavation.

Significance

How far were the palaces of the early medieval kings like great Roman palaces?

Consider, for example, the similarity of the palace to a Roman villa, with its Roman-style columns, Roman-style hall (or basilica), and Roman-style geometrical layout. To this could be added the use of marble for wall- and floor-decoration which has been discovered by excavation, and the provision of a Roman-style aqueduct to supply the palace with water.

How significant was the church in these palaces?

The question of whether the building laid out in paving was really the original chapel of the palace is important. If it was, what should we make of this being such a small chapel for so grand a palace? If it was not, does that mean that there was no chapel in the palace at all? And what would that say about the supposed commitment to Christianity of a ruler like Charlemagne?

Why were palaces located where they were and what light can this cast on kingship?

Ingelheim was a very rural location close to the River Rhine. Why did kings want palaces in situations like this? It is worth considering the possibility that hunting opportunities were a key factor, and the ninth-century writer Ermold the Black describes a hunting expedition made by the Carolingian ruler Louis the Pious (814–40) and his court from Ingelheim to an island in the Rhine, which seems to have been a hunting-reserve. You need to ponder why hunting may have been so important to rulers.

Further information

The website of the Kaiserfalz Ingelheim: http://www.kaiserpfalz-ingelheim.de/en/about_us.php

or search Kaiserfalz Ingelheim.

The mosaics in the papal palace of the Lateran, Rome

Context

The pope’s palace at the Lateran in Rome was extensively added to in the late eighth-century by Pope Hadrian I (772–95) and Pope Leo III (795–816), the latter of whom added an enormous triclinium (dining-hall). Nothing survives of this, but in 1743 copies of the mosaics from it, which were known from drawings of it made before it was destroyed, were erected in a specially built structure opposite the palace.

The mosaic

The mosaic consists of a central scene in the rounded end (or apse) and two smaller scenes to each side of it.

Central scene

This shows an entirely religious scene of Christ giving their mission to his disciples. Christ stands in the centre holding an open book and making the gesture of blessing. The eleven disciples, that is the original twelve minus Judas Iscariot who betrayed Christ, stand on either side of him. You can recognise St Peter to immediately to the left of him by the key to the Kingdom of Heaven which he holds.

Left-hand scene

This shows Christ (whom you can recognise by the cross in his halo) giving with his right hand the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven to St Peter, and with his left hand the military banner to the first Christian Roman emperor, Constantine (308–37), whose name appears in Latin above his head. The implication seems to be that Christ is giving religious duties to St Peter, representing the Church, and military duties to Constantine, representing the empire.

Right-hand scene

St Peter (you can recognise him by his keys) is in this scene giving to Pope Leo III (795–816), who is named on the mosaic, the pallium, or linen shawl which was the mark of office of the pope. With his other hand, Peter gives a military banner to the Frankish ruler Charlemagne (768–814), who had been crowned emperor in Rome in 800. A clear parallel was being drawn between Leo III and Charlemagne on the one hand, and their predecessors St Peter himself and Constantine, represented in the left-hand scene, on the other.

Significance

The popes’ influence on secular rulership

Why did Pope Leo III choose to have mosaics such as these in his triclinium (dining-hall)? Since he would have expected to entertain Charlemagne and other rulers there, you may think that he was seeking to influence them in the way they considered their power, and in particular to accept the influence and guidance of the popes.

The ‘two powers’ and the ‘two swords’

Do the mosaics support the idea that the Church, and the popes in particular, saw power as divided between the Church and secular rulers, with the latter responsible for military actions?

Offa’s Dyke

Context

According to Asser, the ninth-century biographer of Alfred the Great, king of the West Saxons, the Mercian king Offa (757–96) built this dyke, which ran for possibly as much as eighty miles through the Welsh borderland.

This view, taken from the Dyke on Edenhope Hill, shows the landscape of central Shropshire across which Offa’s Dyke passed.

The dyke

The dyke consists of a very substantial earthwork bank, with an equally substantial ditch on the west (that is the Welsh) side. In this image, which shows the dyke crossing the Churchtown Valley (Shropshire), the path appears running northwards down the remains of the ditch with the earthwork bank rising on the right. The former has been shown by excavation to have been originally 2m deep, the latter has been estimated as originally 10m high. You can see the dyke rising up the other side of the valley in the distance.

Nothing is known about how the dyke was constructed, but it is a major feat of engineering and labour, and must have required great skill and very large numbers of men. The image below shows a section of it on the side of Hergan Hill in Shropshire, which provides a clue as to how fast it must have been built. You can see how in the centre left of the image the line of the dyke seems to make an awkward turn, and indeed the section approaching from the left seems to overlap with the section approaching it from the bottom of the image. This has been interpreted to mean that different teams were working on the dyke simultaneously, and at this point coordination was imperfect.

Significance

Organisational capabilities of early medieval kings

What evidence does the Offa’s Dyke provide for the organisational capabilities of early medieval kings and the extent of their power?

A genuine military defence?

The fact that the dyke cannot be traced along the whole length of the Welsh borderland (there are substantial gaps in the southern part) and that there seem to be major openings through it supported the idea that it was a symbolic rather than a military structure intended to defend England against the Welsh.

But it cannot be proved that the gaps were original; it can be argued that it was unnecessary to build the dyke in the south because the River Wye served as a sufficient defence for the English; and emphasis can be placed on the enormous scale and apparently military potential of the earthworks.

What did the dyke stand for?

Even if it was a genuine military defence, the dyke must have represented something. You need to consider the possibilities that:

  • The dyke was intended to represent the frontier between a defined kingdom of England defending itself against a Welsh people, already viewed as different from the English and potentially hostile.
  • The dyke was intended to make King Offa like a Roman emperor, undertaking great public works, just like the emperor Hadrian had in the first century ordered the construction of Hadrian’s Wall to defend Roman Britain from enemies to the north.
  • The dyke was intended rather to make King Offa like a great Germanic hero of the past, in particular his supposed ancestor, the Danish king Offa of the distant past, who had (according to the Old English poem Widsith) also built a boundary:

With single sword he struck the boundary
against the Myrgings where it marches now,
fixed it at Fifeldor.

(Michael Alexander, trans., 1991. The Earliest English Poems. Penguin Classics. Harmondsworth: Penguin, p. 39.).

Further information

  • The Clwyd-Powys Archaeological Trust website: http://www.cpat.org.uk/offa/
  • Historic England’s website Pastscape under ‘Offas Dyke’: http://www.pastscape.org.uk/
  • Cyril Fred Fox, 1995. Offa's Dyke: A Field Survey of the Western Frontier-works of Mercia in the Seventh and Eighth Centuries A.D. London: Oxford University Press.
  • David Hill, and Margaret Worthington, 2009. Offa's Dyke: History and Guide. 2nd edn. Stroud: Tempus.

Bayeux Tapestry

A strip of embroidery rather than tapestry (despite the name), extending to over 68m in length, the last part being lost. It depicts the Battle of Hastings (1066), in which Duke William of Normandy defeated and killed Harold, king of England, but most of it is devoted to a version of the events leading up to this battle. According to this, Harold had sworn an oath to accept William as king of England after the death of King Edward the Confessor, so that his own acceptance of the throne in 1066 was a betrayal of his duty to William. The Tapestry, which was probably embroidered in England in the late eleventh century, is important as a source for these events. It is also a rich source for costumes, armour, arms, buildings, castles, and, in its marginal scenes, for agriculture and rural life.

Full reproductions and commentary

Stenton, Frank, ed., 1957. The Bayeux Tapestry: A Comprehensive Survey. London: Phaidon.

Wilson, David M., ed., 1985. The Bayeux Tapestry: The Complete Tapestry in Color. New York: A.A. Knopf.

The Tapestry can be seen at the Tapisserie de Bayeux Museum, Bayeux, France.

A Victorian replica can be seen at Reading Museum, with a full reproduction of this at: http://www.bayeuxtapestry.org.uk/Index.htm

The Triumph of the Church

The Arch of Constantine, Rome

Context

The Arch of Constantine was a triumphal arch through which the emperor would have processed with an enormous procession and in a very ceremonial way. It was dedicated in 315, three years after Constantine’s victory over his rival Maxentius at the Battle of the Milvian Bridge outside Rome, and two years after his Edict of Milan which halted persecution of Christianity. It stands in the centre of ancient Rome, just below the Palatine Hill, beside the Colosseum which you can see on the right of this image, which shows the view from the south.

The Triumphal Arch

In this view from the north, you can see the basic form of the Triumphal Arch, which comprises:

  • three openings with attached columns between them;
  • an upper storey which is a room-space accessible by staircases in the sides of the arch;
  • an inscription above the central opening, repeated on both sides.

The sculpture on the column is a combination of newly executed work (principally the scenes immediately above and around the openings), and work taken from earlier Roman monuments (including the figures and scenes along the upper stage, the roundels, and the scenes on the sides of the passages through the arch).

Inscription

Translation (Amanda Claridge, 1998. Rome: An Archaeological Guide. Oxford Archaeological Guides. Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 272, modified):

‘To the emperor Flavius Constantine, the Great, pious and fortunate, the Senate and People of Rome, because by divine inspiration (instinctu divinitatis) and the greatness of his mind (mentis magnitudine) with his army on both the tyrant and all his faction at once in rightful battle he avenged the State, dedicated this arch as a mark of triumph.’

Sculpture from earlier Roman monuments

Detail of the south side, upper stage, to the right of the inscription.

The large figure on the left represents a captive from Dacia (north of the River Danube), and on grounds of its style must have been taken from a monument of the emperor Trajan (98–117), who conquered Dacia.

The scene on the left shows the emperor standing on a pedestal on the left, apparently addressing his generals, who have the standards behind them. This seems to have originally shown a triumph in 176 of the emperor Marcus Aurelius and must have adorned one of this monuments. It has been reused here, and the emperor’s face has been recut to make it look like Constantine’s.

Hunting and sacrifice scenes

Sculpted roundels from the south side of the arch, to the right of the central opening.

These roundels are thought on grounds of their style to have been taken from monuments of the reign of the emperor Hadrian (117–38).

The one on the left represents the emperor hunting, and points to the importance of this activity for rulers.

The one on the right shows the emperor standing to the left of what is evidently a pagan altar with a statue of a god on it. The emperor’s face has been recut to make it resemble Constantine’s. It is notable that such a scene should have been included when Constantine was at the time of the arch’s dedication openly Christian and supportive of Christianity.

The siege of Verona

Detail of the panel above the left-hand opening, viewed from the south.

This scene, which was carved for the arch and so belongs to Constantine’s period, shows that emperor’s army besieging the city of Verona (Italy) en route to its victory at the Battle of the Milvian Bridge outside Rome. Aside from the interest of the details of armour, costume, and fortifications, notice the winged victory, a pagan figure, who is supporting the emperor.

The emperor is on the right of this detail, with the winged victory gesturing towards him from the sky.

Significance

How Christian was Constantine?

  • A triumphal arch was a typically pagan monument, which had been used throughout the history of the Roman Empire for processions and ceremonies of distinctly pagan character.
  • A number of the scenes reused on this arch or carved for it were themselves pagan in subject.
  • The inscription does not mention Christianity, although it does not mention pagan gods either. Also, it uses the terms ‘divine inspiration’ (instinctu divinitatis) and ‘the greatness of his mind’ (mentis magnitudine) in the singular, which might show that the senators who erected it were trying to refer to Constantine’s Christian religion without offending their own pagan sensibilities.

How creative was the Roman Empire in the fourth century?

The significance of the reuse of earlier sculpture on this arch and whether this points to a decline in creativity and capability in the Later Roman Empire.

The influence of the arch on later structures

The similarities between this arch and the Carolingian Lorsch Arch may provide evidence for the influence of Roman emperorship, especially that of Constantine, on later kings.

The Franks Casket

Context

A small whalebone casket, or box, carved in relief on all four sides and the lid. It is named after the modern collector who owned it and whose name was Sir Augustus Franks. That it is English and of the eighth century is proved by the inscription on the front face (shown in the image) which is in Old English language, and written in the letters known as English runes. It describes how the whale from the bones of which the casket was made was washed up on the shore.

There must originally have been a precious metal fastening and other fittings: you can see the holes and scars where these have been broken away, as you can see at: http://www.britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/collection_object_details/collection_image_gallery.aspx?partid=1&assetid=98117001&objectid=92560

The scenes on the casket (see link above)

The Magi

This scene on the right-hand side of the front of the casket certainly shows the visit of the Magi or the Three Kings to the baby Jesus. The large flower-shape in the middle at the top represents the Star of Bethlehem, and to the left of it there is inscribed in runes the word ‘Magi’. The baby Jesus (identified by his halo with a cross in it) is represented on his mother’s knee on the right, and the Magi approach him from the left bearing their gifts. The bird in front of the first of them is probably just a piece of decoration to fill space.

Weyland the Smith

In the scene from the left-hand side of the casket’s front face, the figure on the left is a blacksmith, marked out by the pincers he holds and the hammer in front of him. His right leg is bent at an awkward angle. This figure must be Weyland, a blacksmith who was captured by a king who wanted to use his near-magical skills, and to retain him hamstrung him (that is he cut the tendons of his leg). To wreak his revenge, Weyland killed the king's sons and made a drinking cup from one of their skulls. The headless corpse of one of them appears at Weyland's feet, while he offers a cup to the first of two ladies. According to the Old Norse writings, this was the king's daughter (presumably with her attendant), whom Weyland would drug with the drink in the cup made from her brother's skull, and would then rape. He would then make good his escape with a magical flying cloak made by his brother from the feathers of birds. The brother is evidently the person on the right of the scene who is strangling birds in preparation for making that cloak.

Romulus and Remus

The scene on one of the sides of the casket shows Romulus, the legendary founder of the city of Rome, and his brother Remus being fed by a she-wolf (http://www.britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/collection_object_details/collection_image_gallery.aspx?partid=1&assetid=35982001&objectid=92560). The animal is lying on her back in the middle of the scene, suckling the two boys who are represented head-down with their legs in the air. The male wolf appears at the top of the scene, and there are two hunters on each side.

The Sack of Jerusalem

The scene on the back of the casket shows the sack of the city of Jerusalem by the Roman emperor Titus (79–81) as described by the Roman historian Josephus (http://www.britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/collection_object_details/collection_image_gallery.aspx?partid=1&assetid=35979001&objectid=92560). The arched structure in the middle of the scene is the Jewish Temple of Solomon, adorned with lions. Roman soldiers are advancing on the temple in the top left panel, while others are on its roof stripping off the covering. In the other panels, the defeated Jews are forced to flee.

Tristan’s pyre

This end of the casket was separated from the rest and is now in Florence, but there is a replica of it in the British Museum in London (http://www.britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/collection_object_details/collection_image_gallery.aspx?partid=1&assetid=35983001&objectid=92560). On the left, an animal-headed figures sits on a mound facing a warrior with helmet, shield and spear. To the right of him, a horse stands with its head leaning down to what seems to be a pile of logs, showing us the corpse on it. A female figure stands to the right of this pyre, facing it. To the right of her, three women are standing, apparently with their hands touching.

This scene is rather enigmatic, but its subject does not seem to be Christian. Possibly it is related to the story of Tristan, which appears in twelfth-century German writings, and includes the pyre of the hero as well as his beloved horse Grani.

The siege

The scene on the top of the casket (note the plain roundel to which the handle must originally have been attached) cannot be identified, but it was clearly a military one, with warriors from the left attacking the house of a man called Egil (his name is written in runes above him), who is defending it with bow and arrows. Behind him is presumably his wife seated under an elaborate arch (http://www.britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/collection_object_details/collection_image_gallery.aspx?partid=1&assetid=35981001&objectid=92560).

Significance

Roman, Christian, and Barbarian culture

The importance of the casket, for understanding the nature of culture and literature in the early middle ages, of the combination of scenes from:

  1. Christian teaching (the Magi)
  2. Roman history (Romulus and Remus and the Sack of Jerusalem)
  3. Barbarian tradition (Weyland the Smith, the defence of Egil’s house, Tristan’s pyre).

Christianity and pagan traditions

What it means that a Christian scene (the Magi) is placed beside a non-Christian scene with pagan overtones (Weyland the smith), and that a scene from Roman history which was important to Christian history (the Sack of Jerusalem) is juxtaposed with scenes from pagan, or at least non-Christian, history (Romulus and Remus, Tristan’s pyre).

What light does this cast on the nature of conversion to Christianity? Was it a real conversion or just one of form? Or was the significance of these non-Christian, pagan scenes long since forgotten by the time the casket was made?

Further information

Webster, Leslie, 2010. The Franks Casket. British Museum Objects in Focus. London: British Museum.

http://www.britishmuseum.org/explore/highlights/highlight_objects/pe_mla/t/the_franks_casket.aspx

http://www.britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/collection_object_details.aspx?assetId=469340001&objectId=92560&partId=1

or search ‘Franks Casket British Museum’.

Bewcastle Cross (Cumbria)

Context

The Bewcastle Cross stands in a rural churchyard, some miles north of Hadrian’s Wall in what is now Cumbria. Dated to the eighth or possibly the seventh century, it belongs to the period of the kingdom of Northumbria, in or soon after the period when the great Northumbrian scholar Bede was active. The location is a very remote one, nestling at the foot of the fells which rise in the distance. There is nothing distinguished about the church, which appears on the left and is a structure largely rebuilt in modern times.

Although the sculptured column which is what survives is usually called a cross, it lacks its head and may be rather a sort of monument rather than a cross. It seems to be standing in its original base, and so is probably in the same position in which it was originally erected.

The cross or monument

The west face of the cross has a series of figures, with at the top John the Baptist, who appears in the image below. He has a halo and is holding a haloed lamb representing Christ. This was the way in which he was normally represented.

Below him is a figure which represents Christ treading on the monsters (a reference to the Book of Psalms in the Old Testament). In the image, you can see the cross in Christ’s halo which identifies him, and the heads of the beasts below his feet.

Below him is an inscription in runic characters, which is very worn and not really legible, and below that is a figure holding a bird on his arm.

This may be St John the Evangelist with his symbol, the eagle, or it may be a layman who may have commissioned the cross.

The south face of the cross is decorated with a vinescroll, representing Christ as the vine, and in this is a sundial. You can see its semi-circular face, with radiating lines to mark the hours, and a hole where the bar of the sundial (the gnomon) would have fitted.

Significance

Roman influence on art in early Northumbria

Although the sculpture has been badly eroded across the centuries, it is still clear that it was notably Roman in style. The fleshy vinescroll is very reminiscent of Roman decoration, and the human figures have the realism and the rounded shapes of Roman sculpture. They seem quite different from traditional barbarian art, which was much less realistic, and suggest strong influence on Northumbrian culture from the heartland of the former Roman Empire in the Mediterranean lands.

The purpose of the cross

  • That this was a preaching cross erected in this remote place so that missionaries could teach people gathered around it about Christianity. This is possible, but the figures on the cross do not tell the Christian story, and the figure with the bird is rather enigmatic.
  • That this was a monument commemorating a member of the Northumbrian aristocracy or royalty. This interpretation would be strengthened if you were convinced that the figure with the bird is a layman rather than John the Evangelist. If he is and if he was the patron of the cross, his position on it is very prominent. In support of this is also the possibility that the damaged runic inscription contains the name of the Northumbrian king, Alhfrith.
  • That this was a sophisticated Christian statement in a monastery at Bewcastle which is otherwise unknown. There are no traces of church-buildings at Bewcastle but there are other fragments of religious sculpture, which suggest that it may have been the site of a monastery. But the crucial argument in favour of this interpretation is that the cross really represents sophisticated aspects of Christian liturgy, that is the cycle of services. See: O Carragáin, Éamonn, 1987. 'A Liturgical Interpretation of the Bewcastle Cross', in Medieval Literature and Antiquities: Studies in Honour of Basil Cottle, edited by M. Stokes and T. L. Burton. Cambridge: D. S. Brewer, pp. 15–42. The presence of the sundial would further strengthen this argument, since contemporary churchmen, especially Bede, were very concerned with disputes relating to fixing the dating of Easter. Crucial to these was the date of the vernal equinox (when night and day are of equal length) and the sundial may have symbolised this sophisticated concern.

Gosforth Cross (Cumbria)

Context

Gosforth is a village on the western edge of the Lake District of England, close to the Irish Sea, and open to Viking invasion and settlement across that sea in the ninth and tenth centuries.

The cross

On the grounds of its style, this tall stone cross, which is in its original base in Gosforth churchyard, has been dated to the tenth century, when it appears that there were many pagan Viking settlers in this part of England. The principal dating features include the triangular scale-pattern below the scenes which is representative of a Viking style called Borre Style; and the cross-head which is a wheel-headed cross, typical of the tenth century in England.

The importance of the cross lies in the mixture of Christian and pagan scenes carved on it.

The Crucifixion of Christ

This scene carved on the cross clearly represents Christ’s Crucifixion. Although there is no cross as such represented, the figure’s arms are outstretched as if he were nailed to one, and from his right side, just below the shoulder, is visible a flow of blood. This corresponds with the Bible’s account of the Crucifixion and the consequence of Christ being stabbed with the lance, which is probably what appears on his right side, lower down his body. Below him stand a male figure on the left and a female figure on the right, who may represent St John the Evangelist and Mary, the mother of Christ, who usually appear in these positions in representations of the Crucifixion.

Loki’s punishment

This scene seems to show the punishment of the pagan Viking god Loki. Loki’s body is carved at the bottom of the roundel with his head to the left and his limbs apparently bound in knotted cords appearing above his body. His wife, recognisable as a woman by her pointed plait projecting to the right, kneels and places her arm between his head and that of the snake above him. The inverted head of a rider above belongs to a different scene interpreted as part of the Ragnarok.

In Viking pagan mythology, as reported by Snorri Sturlusson in the thirteenth century, Loki was responsible for the death through trickery of another god, Baldr, so that the chief of the gods, Odin, had him bound under the head of a serpent which would drip venom into his face. But his wife devotedly stayed by him and caught the venom in a bowl, thus sparing him from the worst of this trial. When she was unable to do this, however, Loki took the full force of the venom, broke free, and initiated the Ragnarok, that is the version of the end of the world as it is found in Scandinavian pagan mythology.

Vitharr’s revenge

In this scene, which appears on the cross above the Crucifixion, a man with a spear in his right hand is fighting a monster, which comes down towards him from the top of the cross. He has his leg thrust through the monster’s tongue on to its lower jaw, while with his left arm he holds its mouth open. This seems to be the scene from the Ragnarok (end of the world) in which the god Vitharr takes revenge on the wolf which had killed his father, as is described by Snorri Sturlusson in the thirteenth century.

Significance

You need to consider what it means that this evidently Christian cross, Christian in form and with the scene of the Crucifixion of Christ on it, has a series of scenes representing the pagan Ragnarok or end of the world.

Is this evidence for:

  1. Missionaries adapting pagan traditions to help convert pagans like the Vikings of this part of Cumbria?
  2. The persistence of paganism even in areas which were supposed to have been converted to Christianity?
  3. The strength of Viking traditions and culture in this part of England in the tenth century?

The Plan of St Gall

The Plan of St Gall is a large piece of parchment on which is drawn the plan of a monastery with its associated buildings. An insription on the piece of parchment shows that this plan was drawn between 816 and 829 at the island-monastery of Reichenau in northern Switzerland.

The plan is labelled with details about the function of the various buildings and rooms in the monastic complex. It is not certain that they were actually built in the way represented at the time the plan was drawn, and it may be that it is really a sort of blueprint for an ideal monastery. This would fit with a date in the early ninth century, when the Carolingian church was engaged in reforming monasticism along the lines of the Rule of St Benedict.

Whatever the case, the plan gives extraordinarily detailed information about monastic buildings and their use and, if it were a blueprint, it certainly represents the way in which the plans of monasteries following the Rule of St Benedict developed down to the end of our period and beyond.

You can explore it in detail in two ways:

  1. By looking at the magnificent book by Horn, Walter, and E. Born, 1979. The Plan of St Gall. 3 vols. Berkeley: University of California Press, which gives a magnificent series of detailed images of the plan, with stimulating commentary.
  2. By looking at the detailed website at http://www.stgallplan.org/en/index.html or search ‘Plan of St Gall’. This contains an interactive facsimile of the plan, with English translations of the Latin labels, which you can access via the tab Search>Search the Plan. It also contains an electronic copy of Horn and Born, The Plan of St Gall, which you can find under the tab Research>Horn & Born.

The Economic Basis

Ships

Sources

Sources for understanding the technological developments of ships and shipping during our period include:

  • representations of ships in manuscripts, in sculpture, especially on runestones, and on coins. An example is the ship represented on a runestone from Ardres Church, Sweden, dated to the 800s and showing a Viking ship. See the image at: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Runsten1.jpg
  • remains of ships from ship-burials, for example, at Sutton Hoo (England), Gokstand and Oseberg (Norway), or from waterlogged sites such as bogs where the timber of ships was preserved, for example at Nydam (Denmark).
  • study of the sunken remains of ships using the recently developed techniques of underwater archaeology, for example, in the excavations of a series of Viking ships in the Roskilde Fjord (Denmark).

Websites

NAVIS Project

The NAVIS Project has created a list of the remains of Roman and medieval ships, with explanatory notes in English, drawings, and photographs. It is very easy to get a real feel for the ships of our period by browsing this site. Begin from: https://www2.rgzm.de/navis/home/frames.htm#../Ships/Ship088/Ship088.htm

From there, you can find notes and images for the most important early medieval ships at:

  • NAVIS Ships > Denmark > Roskilde and > Skuldelev

Especially interesting are the Iron Age ships excavated from a bog at Nydam in southern Denmark, which you can see at: NAVIS Ships > Denmark > Nydam

  • NAVIS Ships > Germany > Haithabu
  • NAVIS Ships > Norway > Gokstad and > Oseberg
  • NAVIS Ships > United Kingdom > Graveney and > Sutton Hoo

The Graveney boat is especially interesting, because it appears to be an early medieval cargo ship, with fragments of lava querns and traces of hops found in it suggesting the cargoes it carried.

Other websites

Other examples can be seen at https://www.pinterest.co.uk/wulfgarthebard/early-med-boats-on-carved-stones/

Agriculture

For ancient ploughing practices and the early arrangement of fields at the village of Laxton (Nottinghamshire), there is an online exhibition of photographs and other materials in the University of Nottingham’s Department of Manuscripts and Special Collections at: https://www.nottingham.ac.uk/manuscriptsandspecialcollections/exhibitions/online/laxton/introduction.aspx