Buried Treasure 19

Hello. In 2015, a metal detectorist discovered a cache of Viking silver at Watlington in Oxfordshire. There were 186 coins, seven items of jewellery including silver arm rings, 15 silver ingots and one single scrap of gold. It's known as the Watlington Hoard. It was lifted en bloc after it had been reported to the Portable Antiquities Scheme, taken to the British Museum for unpicking and conservation. As finds go, it wasn't particularly large, but it was hugely significant because it contained so many coins of King Alfred, the king of Anglo-Saxon Wessex, end of the 9th century, and his less well-known contemporary, the ruler of Mercia, Chelwulf II, who was king of Mercia in the 870s. Most of the coins are of a type that are known as cross and lozenge from the design on the reverse, but there were 13 coins that showed Alfred and Chelwulf seated side by side beneath a winged figure, so perhaps representing victory or possibly an angel. It's sometimes called a two emperors coin. It's based on a Roman solidus from the late 4th century when there was a Roman emperor in the Eastern Empire and an emperor in the Western Empire. The Oxfordshire coroner held an inquest and declared that it qualified as treasure under the Treasure Act. It was then valued by the British Museum's Treasure Valuation Committee at £1.35 million, and it was purchased by the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford. What does it mean to have Alfred and Chelwulf side by side on the same coin? It's pretty clear evidence of an alliance between these two. It is Mercia and Wessex in alliance. It's also good evidence that Alfred viewed Chelwulf as a contemporary independent ruler, and this contradicts what we thought we knew about this particular period of history. Most of our knowledge comes from a document known as the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. This was begun around about 890 in Wessex by Alfred, and it's a history of the land that goes right back to Caesar's invasion. That was then sent out to different monasteries around the country and they then updated it with annual entries of key events of the year. This is what the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle says for 874. This has been written less than two decades after the event, so it's still fresh in people's minds. This is what it says. This year went the army. They're talking about what the Chronicle calls the Danish Great Heathen Army, the Vikings. This year went the army from the kingdom of Linsey to Repton and there took up their winter quarters. So Linsey and Lincolnshire, they've come along the River Trent in their longboats as far as Repton in South Derbyshire and there they're going to spend the winter. Continues, and drove the king of Mercia, Burgred, over sea and subdued all that land. And the same year they gave Chelwulf, an unwise king's thane, the Mercian kingdom to hold. And he swore oaths to them and gave hostages that it should be ready for them on whatever day they would have it. And he would be ready with himself and with all those that would remain with him at the service of the army. So they are painting Chelwulf as a Viking puppet from the very beginning, 874, of his reign. That defeat of Burgred, that is described in the Chronicle, took place somewhere in South Derbyshire around the Formark and Ingleby area. And there is a cemetery of 59 barrows in Heathwood near Ingleby, where the Danish war dead are buried. There were no trees in 874, this was open land, it's Forestry Commission now. There have been two or three excavations over the years on the site, the last was 20 years ago. And some of the barrows contained the remains of cremations and ship's nails from the planking on which the bodies had been laid. But some of the barrows appeared to be empty. And the theory is that these were cenotaphs, just commemorative empty burial mounds. And that we're in a period when the Vikings are coming to England not simply to raid but to take land and to settle. One or two of them are beginning to convert from paganism to Christianity. And that the empty mounds commemorate those that had converted to Christianity and were then buried in hallowed ground, probably St. Whiston's at Repton. Now, that's 874, paints Chelwulf as a Viking puppet. But in 875 and 877, Chelwulf is signing charters in which he describes himself as Rex Mercianorum, King of Mercia. He is still acting independently. Now, go to another entry in the Anglo-Saxon chronicle, this time for 877. This year, the army, the Viking army, came to Exeter. And King Alfred with his forces rode after the army, which was mounted as far as Exeter. They were unable to overtake them before they were within the fortress where they could not be come at. And they there delivered to him hostages, as many as he would have, and swore many oaths. And then they observed the peace well. And afterwards, during harvest, the army went into Mercia and some parts of it they apportioned and some they delivered to Chelwulf. So we do get this apportionment. Chelwulf gets the west of Mercia, roughly the West Midlands now. The Danish Vikings get the east, the East Midlands, the area that became the five boroughs and from where the Danelaw was established. Now, if Alfred has agreed peace with the Danes in 877, then Chelwulf has lost an ally and possibly the only option he has, the only prudent choice of action, is to make his own peace with them in order to survive. It may have been a tough choice. Chelwulf II was the last independent king of Mercia. He disappears from the record in 879 and we don't know what happened to him. But Alfred and Alfred's successors then take control of Mercia and they will go on to take control of the area that the Vikings had taken ruling of. That denigration of Chelwulf in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle in 874, viewed in this light, may have been retrospective propaganda to justify the takeover by Wessex of Mercia. And the same may be said for making Chelwulf an unwise king's thane. That would suggest he was middle-ranking noble, a retainer in the king's household, is almost certainly of royal descent. Now, Alfred won a decisive victory over the Danish Viking army at the Battle of Eddington in Wiltshire in 878. Now, the coins in the Watlington Hoard date this hoard to about 878. So it is probable that the hoard was buried by the Vikings as they retreated northwards back to the East Midlands, along the route of the old Roman Ichnil Street. So this hoard represents a pivotal moment in history and possibly rewrites an important part of it. Now, next time I'm going to talk about a royal device and a stunning jewel that the V&A described as priceless. And they both date to the 15th century. And I shall also reveal the topic for our next new series of videos. If you've enjoyed this video, hit the like and subscribe buttons and click on the notification bell to be informed when the next video is published.