Rory Naismith

The Agnus Dei Pennies of King Æthelred the Unready

Abstract Specimens of the several substantive coin-types issued in the name of King Æthelred the Unready (978–1016) survive in their thousands, especially (and for good historical reasons) in Scandinavia; but very few specimens are recorded of his highly distinctive Agnus Dei type. In a checklist of recorded specimens published in 2007 (ASE 36, pp. 215–20), details were given of seventeen coins; and the type was set in the context of the English response to the viking invasion of England in 1009, led by Thorkel the Tall. A further four specimens came to light in 2008–10, one in England and three in Denmark. An updated checklist of the enlarged corpus of Agnus Dei coins is here accompanied by a complete set of illustrations; and the opportunity is taken to review some of the historical and numismatic matters raised by this remarkable type.

The land market and Anglo-Saxon society

Over 500 references survive to payment in return for control over land in Anglo-Saxon England. This article considers these documents as a source for social developments. Issues which are explored include the identities of buyers and sellers, changes in the roles of these groups over the period, and the likely aims and concerns of different individuals and institutions who paid for land. A chronology is developed for the participation of various groups in land payments. Payments emerge as a significant component in definitions of status and strategies of land management, albeit closely interwoven with other forms of transaction.

Payments for Land and Privilege in Anglo-Saxon England

Abstract A little over five per cent of surviving Anglo-Saxon charters contain some reference to money or purchase. These cover a multitude of transactions: gifts, sales, bequests, annual renders, and so on. They provide a valuable insight into Anglo-Saxon perceptions of wealth and a detailed view of one specific area of exchange. Gold and precious-metal objects emerge as especially prominent, at the expense of silver coin. The formulation of these documents, however, presents a number of obstacles to interpretation, particularly in that no definitive distinction between charters of gift and sale developed in Anglo-Saxon England. Diverse forms of transactions can be exemplified among them – outright purchase, payment for book-right (with or without an earlier claim to the land in question) and gifts to neutralize potential challenges of title – but these show little correlation with ‘price’ or with the complex social background to every act of exchange.

The Forum Hoard and Beyond: Money, Gift, and Religion in the Early Middle Ages

The Forum hoard of Anglo-Saxon silver coins, deposited in Rome in the 940s, is remarkable for including a pair of fasteners inscribed with the name of the intended recipient, Pope Marinus II. This unique find prompts consideration of the material manifestation of early medieval gift-giving. Inscriptions placed on donated objects served an important function, commemorating the act and fixing its interpretation. This applied both to gifts which stood a good chance of being kept intact, and to “transitory” gifts such as food and money, which were handed over in much the same setting but would soon be consumed or spent. The Forum hoard is a rare identifiable example of the latter. The final part of this article considers how such monetary gifts were understood in relation to contemporary thought on the interface between Christian religion and economy.

The Coinage of Æthelred II: A New Evaluation

ABSTRACT Even at the beginning of his long and turbulent reign (978–1016), Æthelred IIs coinage was an impressive institution. Mint-places across the kingdom issued silver pennies of identical design, each sporting an image of the king surrounded by his name and title while the reverse named both the man responsible for manufacture (the moneyer) and the location where he produced the coin. Æthelred and his subjects inherited this currency from Edgar (959–75) and Edward the Martyr (975–8), but were not content to rest on their laurels. Indeed, the reign of Æthelred saw the evolution of the most ambitious form of coinage yet seen in England. Nationwide recoinages became frequent for the first time since the ninth century, and the coinage emerged as a potent tool of symbolic expression. It probably also helped attract the attention of Viking aggressors, and facilitated the collection and transfer of tribute.

The Ely Memoranda and the Economy of the Late Anglo-Saxon Fenland

Abstract Consisting of six short Old English texts written in the early eleventh century, the Ely memoranda illustrate how a major and recently refounded Benedictine abbey managed its landed endowment. Two of the memoranda relate to generous help provided by Ely to Thorney, and four concern Elys own lands. The collection as a whole reveals much about interaction between monasteries, monastic perspectives on material resources and investment in them, the economy of eastern England, and the context of record-keeping. This article offers a new edition and translation of the texts, and surveys the contribution the memoranda make to understanding of cultural and economic history.

A new Agnus Dei/Last Small Cross mule

The Lenborough hoard has produced the twenty-third coin struck from Agnus Dei dies, which is also the second known mule of an Agnus Dei obverse with a Last Small Cross reverse. It is illustrated in Gareth Williamss preceding article as Fig. 7 (p. 304). This specimen adds to the small group of English finds of Agnus Dei pennies, which previously consisted of three single-finds. Lenborough is therefore the first ever English hoard to contain an Agnus Dei coin, mule or otherwise. The presence of just one penny of the type in an assemblage of almost 1,000 coins of Æthelred II (with a large proportion of the total consisting of the types either side of Agnus Dei) reinforces the rarity of the issue. Detailed research into the hoard may unveil more about the circumstances behind its composition, including the chronological profile of the Last Small Cross element, and thereby add to the general picture of the context in which Agnus Dei was produced.

Gold Coinage and Its Use in the Post-Roman West

One of the most tangible sets of changes associated with the fall of the Western Roman Empire was that which affected the monetary system. By AD 600 the multitiered late Roman currency had shriveled to a shadow of its former self. Copper-alloy issues, which for most of the populace had been the principal coins utilized on a day-to-day basis, were effectively gone, as were those in silver. Little local production of unofficial coin to plug this gap took place (as had happened in the third-century West and parts of the fifth-century East), suggesting a genuine collapse of the mechanisms that had supported small-scale monetized exchange. This slump forms part of a wider picture of drastic simplification in exchange and economy, the pace and extent of which varied from province to province. In Britain it was most severe. There, circulation of any coin at all was minimal after the early fifth century. Vandal Africa, however, possessed a vibrant currency of small change, comprising newly made nummi as well as reused fourth-century coins; Ostrogothic Italy too saw the survival of a more diverse currency. Copper-alloy and silver coins continued to be produced and used in Byzantine North Africa and Italy down to the eighth century, albeit in dwindling quantity. Gaul, Spain, the Lombard lands of Italy, and other territories of the Western Empire fell between those extremes. Yet what united most former provinces was the persistence of gold coinage. Where copper alloy and silver declined and fell, gold endured, often on an impressive scale—enough to qualify the general picture of post-Roman monetary contraction.

A new late Anglo-Saxon seal matrix

Abstract In 2010 a new late Anglo-Saxon seal matrix was found in Hampshire. The seal die is copper-alloy and engraved on both sides. On the obverse, it portrays and names a man called Ælfric, while the reverse is decorated with acanthus ornamentation characteristic of the later tenth- and eleventh-century ‘Winchester’ style. Unlike any other surviving English matrix of this period, it carries the remnants of gilding once applied across the surface and would thus have appeared to be made of gold. It is only the fourth known surviving Anglo-Saxon seal matrix, and the first to come to light in almost forty years.

Bibliography for 2010

This bibliography is meant to include all signifi cant books, articles and reviews published in any branch of Anglo-Saxon studies during 2010, as well as entries omitted from previous bibliographies. It excludes reprints unless they contain new material. The year of publication of a book or article is 2010 unless otherwise stated. The arrangement and the pages on which the sections begin are as follows: