Oswald and the Strong Man Armed

Abstract

This book chapter reinterprets the opening two chapters of Book III of Bede's Ecclesiastical History to show that Bede's account of Caedwalla's victory over the Northumbrians and subsequent defeat at the hands of Oswald after the latter's prayer with his forces at Heavenfield is underpinned by exegesis on passages in the gospels of Matthew and Luke about how Satan can only be defeated by one stronger than himself.