North Ages@NorthAges

Early medieval northern Britain, taking in Picts, Gaels, Britons, Angles and Norse. On this day, feast days, place-names, archaeology news and book releases.

 Dundee, Scotland
northages.wordpress.com/
Joined September 2016
3,962 Photos and videos
Edward the Confessor, holding court in Oxford, agreed to Northumbrian rebels’ demands to outlaw Earl Tostig #OTD in 1065. The king sent Harold Godwineson, earl of Wessex and Tostig’s brother, to inform the northerners, who were camped in Northampton.
Edward depicted on the Bayeux Tapestry.

ALT Edward depicted on the Bayeux Tapestry.
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Æthelstan, king of the English, died #OTD in 939, enabling Óláfr Guðrøðsson to take York back into Viking hands. Óláfr, as king of Dublin; Causantín II, king of Alba; and Owain, king of Strathclyde, had been defeated by Æthelstan at the Battle of Brunanburh. 📸Athelstan Museum
Silver penny of Æthelstan bearing his name, portrait and the title rex to Brit, 'King of all Britons'.

ALT Silver penny of Æthelstan bearing his name, portrait and the title rex to Brit, 'King of all Britons'.

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Oct 27: Feast of Odrán (†c.563), Irish monk after whom Ionan cemetery Reilig Odhráin is named. One of Columba’s first companions on the island. 📸August Schwerdfeger
Iona Abbey between hills in the background and the sea in the foreground.

ALT Iona Abbey between hills in the background and the sea in the foreground.
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North Ages retweeted
Eleanor Parker@ClerkofOxford
Oct 26
Coming soon! So excited about this 😀
Uppsala Books
@UppsalaBooks
Oct 26
Here's something to be excited about: "Hoarded Gold: A Book of Old English Wisdom" by Eleanor Parker (@ClerkofOxford) will be published by Uppsala Books and available worldwide before the end of November! Follow us (@UppsalaBooks) for more announcements about this book and other exciting new releases.
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The Westness brooch-pin formed part of a Viking-Age grave disturbed by a farmer at Westness, Rousay, Orkney, #OTD in 1963. It is silver decorated with gold, amber and glass. The grave contained the remains of a young woman and newborn child. 📸National Museums Scotland
The Westness brooch-pin.

ALT The Westness brooch-pin.

Close-up of the Westness brooch-pin.

ALT Close-up of the Westness brooch-pin.

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Alfred the Great, king of the Anglo-Saxons, died #OTD 899. St Cuthbert appeared in a vision to the then king of the West Saxons as he sought refuge in the Somerset marshes, vowing he would defeat his foes. This he did at the Battle of Ethandune (Edington, Wiltshire) in 878. 📸CNG
Coin of Alfred.

ALT Coin of Alfred.

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Oct 26: Feast of Eata (†686), bishop of Hagustaldes ham (Hexham). Educated by Aidan, he became a monk, and eventually abbot, at Mailros (Melrose). Tenures as abbot of Lindisfarne and bishop of Bernicia also preceded his time at Hexham. Tunberht succeeded him. 📸Kevin Wilbraham
The Saxon Crypt in Hexham Abbey.

ALT The Saxon Crypt in Hexham Abbey.

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Oct 26: Feast of Cedd (†664), bishop. Priest of Lindisfarne sent to preach among the Middle Angles and then East Saxons before becoming bishop of the latter. He founded monasteries including Lestingeham (Lastingham, North Yorkshire), where he died of plague. 📸Helge Klaus Rieder
The crypt beneath St Mary’s Church, Lastingham.

ALT The crypt beneath St Mary’s Church, Lastingham.

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Oct 26: Feast of Beóán (Bean), first bishop of Mortlach, the forerunner of the diocese of Aberdeen in the 11thC. Mortlach Kirk 📸Coldupnorth
Mortlach Kirk.

ALT Mortlach Kirk.
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North Ages retweeted
Knightmare@KnightmareUK
Oct 25
This weekend is the one time when you can ignore Treguard's advice. #ClocksGoBack
Knightmare
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It’s that windy out there I can well believe Aberdeen was blown into Buchan.
A map showing the location of the Jackdaw gas field which went viral due to having Aberdeen considerably further north than it is.

ALT A map showing the location of the Jackdaw gas field which went viral due to having Aberdeen considerably further north than it is.

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Oct 25: Feast of the translation of John of Beverley (†721), a place Bede calls Inderauuda, ‘In the Deirans’ Wood’. Whitby monk who became bishop of Hexham then founded Beverley as bishop of York. Archbishop Ælfric put his relics in a bejewelled shrine #OTD in 1037. 📸Tony Grist
Beverley Minster rising above trees at the edge of a field.

ALT Beverley Minster rising above trees at the edge of a field.
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National Museums Scotland announced it had acquired a rare, 8thC, gold sword pommel #OTD in 2022. A detectorist found it at Blair Drummond, Stirling, in 2019. Encrusted with garnets, it has eyes and a beak on each end. 📸National Museums Scotland
A close-up of the sword pommel.

ALT A close-up of the sword pommel.

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Oct 24: Feast of Cóeti (†712), bishop of Iona. Guarantor of Adomnán’s Lex Innocentium, ‘Law of the Innocents’, which protected women, children and clergy, especially during warfare.
A section of the Lex Innocentium from Oxford, Bodleian Library, Rawlinson B. 512, an Irish vellum manuscript.

ALT A section of the Lex Innocentium from Oxford, Bodleian Library, Rawlinson B. 512, an Irish vellum manuscript.
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A number of manuscripts in the renowned Cotton collection were damaged or destroyed in the fire at Ashburnham House, London, #OTD in 1731. The Lindisfarne Gospels, pictured, and the Durham Liber Vitae were among those to survive.
The page in the Lindisfarne Gospels that bears the exquisitely illuminated chi-rho, a monogram used to symbolise the name of Christ.

ALT The page in the Lindisfarne Gospels that bears the exquisitely illuminated chi-rho, a monogram used to symbolise the name of Christ.

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Glasgow exhibition unites ancient Pictish symbols with the Glasgow Style heraldscotland.com/news/2666…

Glasgow exhibition unites ancient Pictish symbols with the Glasgow Style

he Flower and the Stone opens at Glasgow Art Club on Oct. 20, bringing together 18 works exploring Pictish symbolism, the Glasgow Style and Scottish identity.

heraldscotland.com
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I'm not amused that The Northumbria Mysteries starting on BBC tomorrow has nothing to do with Oswald, Cuthbert or Bede.
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The 7thC Holderness Cross was sold to a dealer for £55,000 at auction in London #OTD in 1999. The gold and garnet pectoral cross was then acquired by the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford, where it went on display from November 25 that year.
The Holderness Cross.

ALT The Holderness Cross.

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Oct 21: Feast of Tuda (†664), bishop of Northumbria. Roman Easter adherent appointed just after the Synod of Whitby. He died of plague.
The ruins of the 13th-century Whitby Abbey.

ALT The ruins of the 13th-century Whitby Abbey.
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Oct 21: Feast of Fintan (Munnu) (†635), founder-abbot of Tech Munnu (Taghmon, Ireland). Columba prophesied a young Munnu would come to Iona to become a monk but that it was God’s will he should be an abbot in Ireland. He is widely venerated in Scotland. 📸August Schwerdfeger
Iona Abbey between hills in the background and the sea in the foreground.

ALT Iona Abbey between hills in the background and the sea in the foreground.
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