by H A CULLEY
Following the victory at Heavenfield, Oswald reunited Northumbria and re-established the pre-eminence of Bernicia in the North, which had declined under Edwin’s reign from 616 to 633. Bede says that Oswald held imperium for the eight years of his rule and was the most powerful king in Britain. In the 9th-century Anglo-Saxon Chronicle he is referred to as a Bretwalda. Adomnán describes Oswald as "ordained by God as Emperor of all Britain".
Oswald seems to have been widely recognized as overlord, although the extent of his authority is uncertain. Bede makes the claim that Oswald "brought under his dominion all the nations and provinces of Britain", which, as Bede notes, was divided between the Angles, Saxons, Jutes, Britons, Scots, and Picts. An Irish source, the Annals of Tigernach, records that the other Anglo-Saxons of England tried to unite against Oswald early in his reign; this may indicate an attempt to put an end to Oswald's power south of the Humber, which presumably failed. Other evidence would suggest that it was only Mercia who opposed him.
Oswald apparently controlled the Kingdom of Lindsey, given the evidence of a story told by Bede regarding the moving of Oswald's bones to a monastery there; Bede says that the monks rejected the bones initially because Oswald had ruled over them as a foreign king. In the north it may have been Oswald who conquered the Gododdin. Irish annals record the siege of Edinburgh - thought to have been the royal stronghold of the Gododdin - in 638 and this seems to mark the end of Gododdin as a separate kingdom. That it was Oswald, or perhaps Oswiu on his behalf, who captured Edinburgh (or Dùn Èideann as it was then called) is supported by the fact that it was part of Oswiu’s kingdom in the 650s.
Oswald seems to have been on good terms with the West Saxons: he stood as sponsor to the baptism of their king, Cynegils, and married Cynegils' daughter Cyneburga. Although Oswald is only known to have had one son, Œthelwald, it is uncertain whether this was a son from his marriage to Cynegils' daughter or from an earlier relationship as Œthelwald would have been too young to be chosen as King of Deira in 651 had he been Cyneburga’s son. He was most probably the child of an earlier marriage during Oswald’s exile, and this is what I have assumed.
Apart from a list of their names, nothing is known about four of Oswald’s brothers. Only Oswiu, who became King of Bernicia after Oswald’s death, is mentioned in various records of the time. I have therefore invented the story of their lives and deaths as monks from Iona.
Although Edwin had previously converted to Christianity in 627, it was Oswald who spread the religion in Northumbria. Shortly after becoming king, he asked the Abbot of Iona to send a bishop to facilitate the conversion of his people. Initially, a man was sent who did more to alienate people from Christ than he did to convert them. Aidan, who proposed a gentler approach, was subsequently sent instead and Oswald gave the island of Lindisfarne to Aidan as the seat of his episcopal see. For the purposes of this story I have ignored the earlier, unsuccessful, bishop. In contrast, Aidan achieved great success in spreading the Christian faith.
Bede puts a clear emphasis on Oswald’s saintliness as a king. Although he could be classed as a martyr for his subsequent death in battle, Oswald is normally praised for his deeds in life and his martyrdom wasn’t the primary reason for his elevation to sainthood. He was renowned for his generosity to the poor, the austerity of his life despite his wealth, and his ceaseless struggle to promote Christianity.
Oswald was killed by the Mercians in 642 AD at the Battle of Maserfield - a place generally identified with Oswestry - and his body was dismembered. Bede mentions the story that Oswald prayed for the souls of his soldiers when he saw that he was about to die. The traditional identification of the battle site with Oswestry, probably in the territory of Powys at the time, suggests that Penda may have had Welsh allies in this battle, and this is also suggested by surviving Welsh poetry which has been thought to indicate the participation of the men of Powys in the battle. If the traditional identification of the site as Oswestry is correct, Oswald must have been on the offensive in the territory of his enemies. This could conflict with Bede's saintly portrayal of Oswald, since an aggressive war could hardly qualify as a just war, perhaps explaining why Bede is silent on the cause of the campaign. He says only that Oswald died "fighting for his fatherland". Nor does he mention other offensive warfare Oswald is presumed to have engaged in between Heavenfield and Maserfield.
Oswald may have had an ally in Penda's brother Eowa, who was also killed in the battle, according to the Historia Britonnum and Annales Cambriae; while the source only mentions that Eowa was killed, not the side on which he fought, it has been suggested that Eowa was an ally of Oswald’s and fighting alongside him in the battle, in opposition to Penda.
Oswald soon came to be regarded as a saint. Bede says that the spot where he died came to be associated with miracles, and people took dirt from the site, which led to a hole being dug as deep as a man's height. Reginald of Durham recounts another miracle, saying that his right arm was taken by a bird (perhaps a raven) to an ash tree, which gave the tree ageless vigour; when the bird dropped the arm onto the ground, a spring emerged from the ground. Both the tree and the spring were, according to Reginald, subsequently associated with healing miracles. The name of the site, Oswestry, or "Oswald's Tree", is generally thought to be derived from Oswald's death there and the legends surrounding it.
Bede mentions that Oswald's brother Oswiu, who succeeded Oswald in Bernicia, retrieved Oswald's remains in the year after his death. Initially his remains were interred at Bardney Abbey in Lindsey, where it was credited with performing several miracles. In the early 10th century, Bardney was conquered by the Danes, and in 909, following a combined West Saxon and Mercian raid led by Æthelflæd, daughter of Alfred the Great, St Oswald's relics were moved to a new minster in Gloucester, which was renamed St Oswald's Priory in his honour.
The cult of St. Oswald was not confined to England. Saint Oswald's church, Bad Kleinkirchheim, Carinthia, one of many churches and place names which commemorate Oswald on the Continent.
Oswald's head was interred in Durham Cathedral together with the remains of Cuthbert of Lindisfarne (a saint with whom Oswald became posthumously associated, although the two were not associated in life; Cuthbert became abbot and bishop of Lindisfarne more than forty years after Oswald's death) where it is generally believed they remain, although there are at least four other claimed heads of Oswald in continental Europe. One of his arms is said to have ended up in Peterborough Abbey later in the Middle Ages. The story is that a small group of monks from Peterborough made their way to Bamburgh, where Oswald's uncorrupted arm was kept, and stole it under the cover of darkness.
The Church of Saint Oswald at Heavenfield stands near the location of the wooden cross erected by Oswald just before the decisive battle. However, there is no evidence that his brothers Osguid and Oslac were present at the battle, or that Osguid died there.
His brother Oswiu became King of Bernicia, possibly as Penda’s vassal, after the death of Oswald. However, Oswine was made king by the Witan of Deira until deposed by Oswiu seven years later. The early part of Oswiu’s reign was defined by struggles with Oswine and then Œthelwald to assert control over Deira, and his contentious relationship with Penda.
In 655 Oswiu's forces killed Penda at the Battle of the Winwæd, despite being betrayed by Œthelwald, which established Oswiu as one of the most powerful rulers in Britain. Œthelwald fled and Oswiu made his son Elhfrith Deira’s king, but as his vassal. For three years after the battle Oswiu's control also extended to Mercia, earning him recognition as bretwalda over much of England.
Oswiu was a devoted Christian, promoting the faith among his subjects and establishing a number of monasteries, including Gilling Abbey and Whitby Abbey. He was raised in the Celtic Christian tradition, rather than the Roman Catholic faith practiced by the southern Anglo-Saxon kingdoms as well as some members of the Deiran nobility, including Oswiu's queen. In 664, Oswiu presided over the Synod of Whitby, where clerics debated which of the
two traditions - Celtic or Roman Catholic - should prevail and decided that Northumbria would follow the Roman Church, a momentous decision which would affect England for the next millennium.
Oswiu is thought to have had children as follows:
1. Out of wedlock by Fin (Fianna in the novels):
Aldfrith. King of Northumbria 685 – 705.
2. By Rhieinmelth:
Elhfrith. Sub-king of Deira 655-664.
Alchflaed (dau). Married Peada of Mercia.
3. By Eanflaed:
Ecgfrith. Sub-king of Deira 664 – 670. King of Northumbria 670 – 685.
Osthryth (dau). Married King Æthelred of Mercia.
Ælfflaed (dau). Abbess of Whitby.
Ælfwine. Sub-king of Deira 670-679.
Oswald’s only son, Œthelwald, was Sub-king of Deira from 651 to 655 when he was deposed by Oswiu for treachery.
Other Novels by H A Culley
The Normans Series
The Bastard’s Crown
Death in the Forest
England in Anarchy
Caging the Lyon
Seeking Jerusalem
Babylon Series
Babylon – The Concubine’s Son
Babylon – Dawn of Empire
Individual Novels
Magna Carta
The Sins of the Fathers
Robert the Bruce Trilogy
The Path to the Throne
The Winter King
After Bannockburn
Constantine Trilogy
Constantine – The Battle for Rome
Crispus Ascending
Death of the Innocent
Macedon Trilogy
The Strategos
The Sacred War
Alexander
Kings of Northumbria Series
Whiteblade
About the Author
H A Culley was born in Wiltshire in 1944 and entered RMA Sandhurst after leaving school. He was an Army officer for twenty four years, during which time he had a variety of unusual jobs. He spent his twenty first birthday in the jungles of Borneo, commanded an Arab unit in the Gulf for three years and was the military attaché in Beirut during the aftermath of the Lebanese Civil War.
After leaving the Army, he became the bursar of a large independent school for seventeen years before moving into marketing and fundraising in the education sector. He has served on the board of two commercial companies and several national and local charities. He has also been involved in two major historical projects. He recently retired as the finance director and company secretary of IDPE and remains on its board of trustees.
He has three adult children and one granddaughter and lives with his wife and two Bernese Mountain Dogs between Holy Island and Berwick upon Tweed in Northumberland.