Although the little knight is listed in the Portable Antiquities Scheme database as a ‘chess piece’, there’s debate about his identity.
The Carlton Knight looks a lot like the Lewis Chessmen, a group of 93 walrus ivory and whale-teeth chess pieces from the same period, discovered on the Isle of Lewis, in the Outer Hebrides, and dating to about 1150–1200. But the Lewis Chessmen have strong Scandinavian influences, whereas the Carlton Knight doesn’t. No other pieces have ever been found that would match the Carlton Knight in a chess set, and the Carlton Knight seems to have evidence of solder underneath it, suggesting that it was perhaps fixed to a larger object as a decoration. What’s certain is that the piece is a compelling character portrait of a medieval horseman.
The medieval knight
The ‘High Middle Ages’, the period in which the Carlton Knight was made, was a time of prosperity and growth for many in Europe. Some of the finest cathedrals were built, intellectuals were flocking to new universities like Oxford and Cambridge, and trade was booming in newly chartered market towns. Wealthy lords funded expeditions to new lands, including the Crusades, the series of Holy Wars to seize Jerusalem and other lands from Muslim Turks and ‘barbarian’ tribes. Famous orders of knights were established – not least the Knights Templar – and tales about legendary warriors like the Knights of the Round Table were popular across Europe.
Knights in medieval Courts were expected to live by a strict code of honourable Christian conduct, and they were the romantic heroes and celebrities of their day. They fought strongly and bravely; they knew of distant lands, exotic monsters and epic battles; they had courtly graces and enjoyed love poetry, music and dancing – they were, in theory at least, the perfect men.
The origin of our idea of ‘chivalry’ comes from the old French word chevalerie, meaning ‘mounted soldier’, or ‘knight’. The modern word ‘cavalry’ originates from the same root, too.
Just as they do now, knights captured the medieval imagination. While we can’t be sure what item the Carlton Knight adorned, we can be certain that he was admired and enjoyed by his original owners.
See also:
Clonmore Shrine
Ursula’s Virgin Badge
Newton Stewart Dog Lead
Hawking Vervel
A royal hawk’s foot ring
Date: 1610–1612, Post Medieval
Where, when and how found: Cley-next-the-Sea, Norfolk; 2012; metal detecting
Finder: Anonymous
Official valuation: £6,000
Where is it now? Norwich Castle Museum, Norwich
www.museums.norfolk.gov.uk
Also visit: Birds of prey centres throughout the country; National Portrait Gallery, London
www.npg.org.uk
This tiny silver ring weighs just 1.37g, and is less than 0.5mm thick. When it was discovered, the detectorist recognised it as a hawking ring, or ‘vervel’, that would have been attached to the jesses (leather straps) on a bird of prey’s legs to identify its owner. Hawking is the sport of using a trained bird of prey to hunt and capture small mammals, birds and sometimes fish. Evidence of hawking stretches for thousands of years – both as a functional way of catching food, but also as a prestigious activity – it’s known as the ‘Sport of Kings’.
This hawking ring is made from solid silver and it bears an intriguing inscription. On the outer face is the name, ‘Henrye Prince*’, and on the flat shield-shaped plate is an engraving of the three feathers badge of the Prince of Wales.
The Royal badge and name on this vervel refer to Henry Frederick Stuart, son of James I and Anne of Denmark. Henry was born in 1594, made Prince of Wales in 1610, and died suddenly in 1612 from typhoid fever. Given that Henry was only Prince of Wales for two years, we can date the vervel closely to around 1610 to 1612.
The king we never had
Henry was the eldest son of James I, and was in line to become King of England after his father. Henry was intelligent, handsome, popular with the public and at court, and was considered a strong leader who would make an excellent king. He enjoyed the leisure pursuits of the nobility – hawking, hunting, jousting, and was renowned for his athleticism, but he also took his state responsibilities very seriously. At the time he died, he had been planning to build the first bridge across the River Thames at Westminster. The Venetian Ambassador wrote, ‘His designs were vast; his temper was grave, severe, reserved, brief in speech. All the hopes of these kingdoms were built on his high qualities.’ The whole country went into mourning when their beloved prince died of fever aged just 18. Distraught citizens wept openly in the London streets, and his funeral procession was over a mile long. Henry’s younger brother, Charles, was thrust into the spotlight – just twelve, Charles led the procession at his brother’s funeral – his father, King James, was said to be too distraught to appear in public.
Charles ascended the throne in 1625 as King Charles I, and served a tumultuous reign facing challenges to his authority at home and abroad. He refused to accept a constitutional monarchy, set high taxes and caused more upset by marrying Henrietta Maria, a French Catholic. In 1649, after years of Civil War, Charles was captured, charged with treason against his own country and executed. The monarchy was only restored in 1660, with Charles II (Charles I’s son) on the throne.
Historians have long wondered whether any of this would have happened, had Henry, a committed Protestant, survived his fever and served as king instead of his little brother.
Hawking in Norfolk
We don’t have any specific evidence Henry ever came to north Norfolk, but his birds could have been brought here for training with a member of his royal entourage, or they could have been with the Prince himself – the fact that we don’t have surviving records is not evidence that he didn’t visit Cley-next-the-Sea. It’s a quiet place now and the estuary is silted up, but at the time it was a busy port.
Training hunting birds took time and patience, and noblemen would have had servants specifically employed to keep their hunt animals – hounds, horses and hawks – up to snuff. The key to keeping a hunting hawk keen was to feed it very carefully – too full and it wouldn’t bother flying after the prey, too hungry, and it could die. Little chicks and mice would be given, as well as scraps of rabbit meat and fish. Each trainer would have his own special ‘recipe’ for keeping his birds in tip-top hunting condition.
Our phrase ‘fed up’, meaning you’ve had enough, comes from hawking and falconry, as does ‘hoodwink’, to fool someone – the hoodwink was a small leather cap that fitted over a hawk’s eyes so it would stay calm and quiet regardless of what was going on around it.
Falconry and hawking became less popular during the 17th century – under Charles I and then during the brutal years of Civil War and rule under Oliver Cromwell, the British nobility had other things to worry about. Without a king keen on hawking, and then without a king at all, the ‘Sport of Kings’ lost its figurehead.
See also:
Newton Stewart Dog Lead
Epsom Horse Harness Boss
Dartmoor Sword
Baldehildis Seal
The gold seal of a medieval queen
Date: 600–700AD, Merovingian Early Medieval
Where, when and how found: Postwick, Norfolk; 1998; metal detecting
Finder: Anonymous
Where is it now? Norwich Castle Museum, Norwich
www.museums.norfolk.gov.uk
In 1998, on farmland near Norwich, a tiny gold disc was unearthed by a metal detectorist. He’d been going to the site for twenty years, and has continued to detect on the land for the fifteen years since, but has never found anything like it from the same period. It’s a remarkable find – just 12mm across, made from 98% pure gold, and dated to 600–700AD. It’s uniquely rare, very valuable and intriguingly odd.
The disc is a double-sided seal matrix, used to stamp a personal identifying imprint in wax.
It was designed to attach to a finger ring by a pivoting pin that allowe
d the seal matrix to swivel and both engraved sides to be used. On one side, a cross hangs above two figures – a long-haired woman, and a bearded man with large oval eyes. They’re embracing each other, apparently naked, possibly in sexual intercourse.
On the other side is an engraved head-and-shoulders image of a man or woman with long hair with an inscription around the edge spelling out the female name ‘BALDEHILDIS’.
Baldehildis, Baldehilde or Balthild, means ‘bold spear’, or ‘bold sword’. The elements of the name were common in Anglo-Saxon England, as well as France, but the combination to make the name Balthild is only recorded for one person. Inscriptions on seals can’t always be linked to specific people – the details of individuals are often lost through the ages. But a solid gold seal with this woman’s name narrows down the focus considerably – our best candidate for the original owner of this precious, prestigious ring is a 7th-century queen linked to a fairytale life story.
At this time, England was divided into a number of Anglo-Saxon kingdoms. The elites had strong contacts with their continental counterparts – particularly the Franks, who reigned across what is now France and part of Germany. One of the Franks’ greatest queens was Balthild, and she is said to have been Saxon, and come from ‘over the sea’, normally used by the writers to mean from Anglo-Saxon England.
The life of Balthild
The Vita Domnae Balthildis, ‘The Life of Lady Balthild’, written not long after her death, was designed to explain why she should be made a saint. It describes how she was sold as a slave at a ‘cheap price’, and brought to serve in the palace of a Frankish mayor, Erchinoald.
She was ‘graceful in form . . . a beautiful woman with a smiling face’, ‘kind-hearted, sober and prudent in all her ways’, and well-loved by all in the household. When the mayor’s wife died, he wanted to marry Balthild. In principle this was a great honour, but Balthild wasn’t keen and fled the palace until Erchinoald gave up and married someone else. When she returned, the Frankish king, Clovis II, saw her, made her a free woman and married her himself, in 648AD.
Balthild had three sons by the King, all of whom lived to serve as kings themselves, but as none were old enough to succeed when Clovis died in 656AD, Balthild ruled as Queen Regent. She founded a number of hospitals, charitable and religious institutions, including the Abbey of Chelles outside Paris, and banned the selling of captive Christians in Frankish territories. The Life says that Balthild personally bought many slaves simply so she could free them.
Although this story of slave girl to Queen of the Franks is a charming one, it’s probably not quite true. Many biographies of the medieval saints suggest they had very lowly beginnings, or were slaves, to romantically demonstrate their humble and godly ways. It’s more likely that Balthild was a member of an East Anglian royal dynasty, a princess, when she married King Clovis.
The mystery of the ring
There is no tradition of swivel seal rings known from Anglo-Saxon England, and no rings at all with women’s names. There are, however, a number of surviving Frankish gold rings of high status and royal women’s names on them, and some other rings with male names have engraved busts. One ring in the British Museum collections parallels the image of the two people embracing – it’s a betrothal ring, dated to the 600s AD. It’s quite possible that the Balthild seal was commissioned as a betrothal ring on the occasion of her and Clovis’ marriage.
We have no idea how it ended up in Norfolk. Perhaps it was sent back to Balthild’s family some time in the Early medieval period, or it may have been sent as a token during diplomatic business between the kingdoms. It’s also possible that it was lost much later, in circumstances we can only guess at.
The beautiful ring has been acquired by the Norwich Castle Museum, and can now be appreciated by us all. Balthild is once again riding high.
See also:
Raglan Ring
Staffordshire Hoard
North West Essex Ring
Sedgeford Coin Hoard
Twenty golden coins stuffed inside a cow bone
Date: About 50BC, Iron Age
Where, when and how found: Sedgeford, Norfolk; 2003; metal detecting as part of a community dig
Finders: Members of the Sedgeford Historical and Archaeological Research Project
Official valuation: £7,700
Where is it now? Lynn Museum, King’s Lynn, Norfolk
www.museums.norfolk.gov.uk
Get involved: SHARP welcomes members of the public to join their courses and excavations
www.sharp.org.uk
Established in 1996, the Sedgeford Historical and Archaeological Research Project, or SHARP, is one of the largest independent archaeology projects in the country. Every year they welcome members of the public to dig with them, with the aim of uncovering the rich history of this small village. And it’s quite a history – from Late Stone Age and Iron Age burials, to Roman, Anglo-Saxon, medieval and WWI sites, this little corner of Norfolk has seen a lot.
Alongside professional archaeologists, SHARP keeps its members involved in every stage of the archaeological process, from planning to publication. It’s been called ‘democratic archaeology’ – archaeology of the people, for the people and by the people.
In August 2003, during an excavation at one of the local field sites that had already revealed some strange horse burials, a metal detectorist picked up a signal and discovered a cow’s pelvis with a separate cow leg bone buried underneath it. The leg bone was unusually heavy, made a jangling noise and something metal was jutting out of the end.
The project co-director, Chris Mackie, took the bone to a local hospital and asked for it to be x-rayed. Chris was still in his muddy wellies and imaging manager Heather Masters thought the whole situation was a bit strange. But once she developed the x-ray film, the results were astonishing and the excitement was immediate – the bone was stuffed with coins.
“The leg bone was unusually heavy, made a jangling noise and something metal was jutting out of the end”
Further inspection revealed twenty Iron Age gold coins dating to around 50BC. They were identical to eight other coins found in previous seasons of the dig, and eleven more that had been scattered around the cow bone. All thirty-nine were a type known as a ‘Gallo-Belgic Type E Stater’. Made from a blend of 50% gold, silver and copper, these coins are stamped with a stylised horse on one side and are plain on the other side (known as ‘uniface’). Because there were more than two coins which were more than 300 years old, the finders knew that they had officially unearthed Treasure, and immediately reported it.
The Sedgeford coin hoard either represents wealth stashed for security, an act of fear at a time of danger, or more likely an offering to the gods for something as peaceful as a good harvest, a mild winter, or the health of a child.
It’s relatively rare to find a coin hoard during an excavation, but finding one inside a bone is so far unique. It’s possible that people regularly used hollow bones to store coins in, but it’s more realistic to imagine them using leather or fabric purses for everyday storage. Whether the burial was made as an offering during a ritual (known as ‘votive deposition’), or for safekeeping, we don’t know.
“But it’s equally likely that these popular coins reached Norfolk through ongoing exchange, and perhaps as diplomatic gifts”
Gallo-Belgic coins
Around 60 to 50BC, the Roman Army was waging war against the native tribes living in ancient Gaul (modern-day northern France and Belgium) with the aim of taking control of the territory and expanding the frontiers of the Roman World. It’s thought that Gallic tribal leaders paid native British warriors to travel across the English Channel and help them fight the Romans.
Experts previously thought that Gallo-Belgic staters were all minted in northern Gaul, and brought to southern England either by hired mercenary fighters returning home with their payments, or by Gallic refugees fleeing across the sea with the valuables and coins they could carry.
But it’s equally likely that these popular coins reached Norfolk through ongoing exchange, and perhaps as diplomatic gifts.
This was a time of threat from Rome, with potentially complex and risky politics between different tribal leaders. But it was also a time with rich opportunity for trading and building allegiances.
See also:
Helmet Cremation Burial
Sedgeford Torc
Sedgeford Torc
Two pieces of a 2,000-year-old necklace discovered 40 years apart
Date: Around 100BC, Iron Age
Where, when and how found: Sedgeford, Norfolk, 1965 & 2004; farm work (1965) & metal detecting as part of a Community Archaeology survey (2004)
Finders: A. E. Middleton (1965) & Steve Hammond (2004)
Official valuation: £65,000
Where is it now? Both pieces of the torc are displayed together at the British Museum, London
www.britishmuseum.org
Also visit: Norwich Castle Museum, Norfolk
www.museums.norfolk.gov.uk
Get involved: SHARP (Sedgeford Historical and Archaeological Research Project) welcomes volunteers
www.sharp.org.uk
During the Easter holidays in 2004, the Sedgeford Historical and Archaeological Research Project (SHARP) had organised a group of fieldwalkers and metal detectorists to survey a field together. One of the metal detectorists, Dr Steve Hammond, a retired chemistry lecturer, got a signal. And the piece of gold he unearthed was clearly ancient – the end piece, or terminal, of an Iron Age torc.
Britain's Secret Treasures Page 2