Ely Cathedral and the Afterlife of Ealdorman Byrhtnoth

Abstract

In 1154, seven Anglo-Saxon and Scandinavian men were translated to the new Norman cathedral at Ely (Cambs.) and reburied together in a single monument in the north transept of the cathedral.1 One of these men was the Ealdorman Byrhtnoth. Byrhtnoth is of course a well-known figure in late Anglo-Saxon England, with a relatively rich documentary record for the period. He witnessed a number of charters through a long career in the reigns of Æthelred, Edgar, Edward, Eadwig and Eadred,2 and was named in the wills of his fatherin-law, Ealdorman Ælfgar, and sister-in-law, Æthelflæd.3 He gained a reputation as a virtuous man and spoke in defence of monks who would have been expelled in favour of secular clergy during the ‘anti-monastic’ reaction following the death of King Edgar in 975.4 He predeceased his wife Ælfflæd and so is not mentioned in her will, but there are numerous notices of their joint gifts as well as the gifts of their extended family in Liber Eliensis (ii.62–64). His death is recorded in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle as well as Liber Eliensis, and in more heroic form in the Vita Oswaldi as well as in the well-known poem “The Battle of Maldon.”5 This text has been used more than any other in medieval and modern times to reconstruct the persona of this famous and heroic man.