Byrhtnoth
Byrhtnoth (
Death in battle
His death, while leading the
Patronage and burial
Byrhtnoth was a patron of
Reburials
After his burial, his remains, along with those of six other Saxon 'benefactors of Ely Church' (also known as the seven 'Confessors of Christ') have been moved and reburied three times.
Following the collapse of the central tower in 1322, a new octagonal space was created, and a wall was built on its north side to separate the monastic area of the choir from the pilgrim entrance and route to the shrine of Æthelthryth (St Etheldreda). Within this wall the seven benefactors were buried, with wall paintings of each in an elaborate arcade facing the pilgrim entrance, perhaps to remind visitors of the enduring respect that can accrue from such generosity.[4]
The shrines were destroyed and pilgrimages ceased at the Reformation, but in 1769, when the choir stalls were moved out of the Octagon, the wall was demolished and James Bentham found that the remains of the seven benefactors were still there, each in a separate compartment, although Byrhtnoth's was headless. All the clerics were estimated to be over 6 feet (1.8 m) tall, and Byrhtnoth's bones suggested that he stood at 6 feet 9 inches (2.06 m).[3] On 31 July 1781 they were again re-interred, with considerable ceremony, at the far east end of the cathedral, in niches constructed within the gothic splendour of Bishop Nicholas West's Chantry chapel.[5]
Family
Byrhtnoth was married to Ælfflæd, sister of the dowager Queen
Legacy
In October 2006,[6] a statue created by John Doubleday was placed at the end of the Maldon Promenade Walk, facing the battle site of Northey Island and the Causeway. The battle site itself has a National Trust plaque recording his 'heroic defeat and death'.
As well as the Anglo-Saxon poem, The Battle of Maldon,
In 2015 Timebomb Comics released Defiant! The Legend of Brithnoth, an original graphic novel based on the story of Brithnoth and The Battle of Malden, written by Andy Winter and illustrated by Daniel Bell.
References
- ISBN 0-7190-0926-X
- ISBN 0-85115-945-1.
- ^ a b Keynes 2003, p. 9.
- ISBN 1871615763.
- ^ Keynes 2003, p. 58.
- ^ "Battle of Maldon – Brithnoth statue".
- ^ "The Homecoming of Beorhtnoth, Beorhthelm's Son: play and essay notes by JRR Tolkien" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 23 September 2015. Retrieved 7 December 2012.
External links
- Byrhtnoth 1 at Prosopography of Anglo-Saxon England
- Maldon Battle and Campaign, Report compiled by Glenn Foard, 2003, for The UK Battlefields Resource Centre, Provided by The Battlefields Trust