Brunanburgh at Brough.pdf v1

Locating the site of the Battle of Brunanburgh (937) the 2019 proposition(!) by and © Adrian C Grant 7 February 2019 Preface How sad it is that so many historians and place name aficionados are ignorant of geography and wilfully disregard military logistic considerations. On this basis the location of the battle of Brunanbugh, where Athelstan finally established his authority over the whole of Britain (though he was to die just three years later), has been claimed variously to have been on the Wirral and the Solway amongst many other places. How refreshing it has been, therefore, to read the work of Michael Deakin (posted on academia.edu) who correctly adopts a broad view/multidisciplinary approach - even though, as this paper shows, I do not agree with the site he proposes in the Northallerton area of Yorkshire. But the thrust of his argument was attractive enough for me to take the matter seriously. Here is the preliminary result of my own thinking. Context Having driven Guthfrith out of Northumbria, in 927 Athelstan was successful in corralling many other British kings to a summit at Eamont Bridge (by Penrith) where grudgingly they acknowledged his overlordship. However so much backsliding was in evidence that in 934 Athelstan launched a massive punitive expedition against the Scots in particular - with a land army ravaging the land as far as Dunottar and his fleet staging raids along the East Coast from the Firth of Forth as far north as Caithness. Constantine, king of Scots, who had had to surrender a son as a hostage, nursed his wounds and his anger. Pretext When Guthfrith died in 934 his son Olaf was the “rightful” heir to Northumbria as well as the Dublin he still held. Constantine, who was Olaf’s father in law, not only wanted a reliable buffer kingdom between him and Athelstan, but after Athelstan’s raids, he wanted revenge. So the purpose of the expedition, culminating at Brunanburgh, was to install Olaf in York as King of Northumbria and also thereby clip Athelstan’s wings. The Strategy Because of the close relationship between Olaf and Constantine there was no need for Olaf to invade Northumbria directly. He was able to take his forces to Scotland where they would combine with the Scots (assisted also by those of Owain of Strathclyde). They could then sail down the east coast cutting out the need for a lengthy march through potentially hostile territory. The Chronicles agree that the massed fleet entered the Humber estuary (which makes one wonder why anyone could suggest the Wirral or the Solway as the site for the battle to ensue!). The only practical point at which to disembark and to establish a beachhead was the old Roman Petuaria (now Brough) - whose importance is made clear from the fact that the Roman road from here to the north splits, going both to York and to Malton. It is also the only major crossing point of the Humber. The road distance from Petuaria to York is just short of 30 miles - 3 days comfortable march for a Roman legion - so it was also highly convenient. The Events As soon as the fleet had sailed past Flamborough Head, Athelstan’s Coastal Watch will have had a good guess as to where it was headed and word could have been got back to York within a day (it’s about 45 miles). So I suggest that the combined fleet did indeed disembark at Brough, spending the night there. Had Athelstan’s forces already been at Brough they would surely have engaged them as they were landing, so it is likely that he had camped in the Houghton Hall area - although if they were pressed they may have got as far as South Newbold, conceivably even South Cave. Although the two armies will have been aware of each other they were not close enough for any eg surprise night attack. Instead the Chronicles tell us that the battle raged all day - suggesting that both sides were quite fresh at the start. When things got out of hand and Athelstan’s forces were well in the ascendant some of the kings (those who had not already been killed) fled for their ships - and so the question arises as to how far they would need to be from these ships to be too far away to flee to them. I suggest that anything beyond about 2 miles is getting tricky - as if you had turned tail to flee you would be liable to be hacked down by your pursuers. This in turn suggests that the day after the combined forces landed, they actually stayed put, getting themselves properly organised, while Athelstan’s forces advanced possibly as far as Brantingham Grange. The battle then took place the following day - probably on the Golf Course. see also: https://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/#zoom=11&lat=53.8836&lon=-0.7390&layers=6&b=1 (York network) https://www.british-history.ac.uk/rchme/york/vol1/pp1-4 (East Yorkshire) http://www.eylhs.org.uk/dl/124/the-romans-in-east-yorkshire (facing page 1) (Lincolnshire connection) https://romanlincolnshire.wordpress.com/roman-roads/ The Result The battle was a decisive victory for Athelstan who then able to reinforce his claim to be king of the whole of Britain. However such were the vicissitudes of the times that this decisiveness was not very long lasting. Sources: William of Malmesbury is not to be trusted in detail - he claims, for example, that Constantine fell in the battle whereas actually he lived on to abdicate in 942, becoming a monk. Simeon of Durham tells us that in 934 Athelstan had reached “Dunfoeder” (Dunottar) on land. His description of the Battle of Brunanburgh is brief and uncontroversial; he gives the alternative name Wendune. Roger of Hovenden (Hovenden/Howden lies just 12 miles from Brough) tells us that 615 ships sailed into the Humber. He implies that Althestan’s army met the fleet - reinforcing the proposal of Brough as the battle site. Florence of Worcester (or was it John?) broadly supports the other reports The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle Peterborough MS and Worcester MS do not mention the battle, the Canterbury MS dismisses it in three lines but the Winchester MS includes an 83 lines of verse about it. However this is more peon of praise than informative. Still to be resolved:  The Chronicle says that the remnants of the army left from “Dingesmere” variously “Dyngesmere” “Dynigesmere” and “Dinnesmere”. I have not yet been able to locate this. Is the first part cognate with Dungeness? If so might this be a reference to a gathering point for the residue of the fleet in the lea of Spurn Head (bearing in mind also the different topography 1000+ years ago).  Alternatively, as part of the Danelaw is this a reference to a place where Things were held (cf Dingwall, Tinwald etc.)? In which case some understanding of local government within the Danelaw might be of some help. [See also https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dingesmere]  Although there is an “obvious” Burgh at Brough, I have not been able to pin “Brunan-” to it; nor have I found any ‘Wendune’.  In order to attempt to justify Northallerton several authors have had recourse to Norse sagas, in which there are many errors and conflations (eg “King Olaf of Scotland” see also “Scotish Clans: Legend, Logic & Evidence” Vol II for a sample). Parallels are either mistakes or genuine similarities which do not imply concurrency. Given the general instability of the time this is hardly surprising. Though it has no impact on the proposition presented here, unpicking this would be worthwhile. Conclusion I propose the Golf Course at Brough or somewhere quite close by as the likely battle site, but I have not presented enough evidence to be too assertive. Moreover, for example, had the kings had the opportunity to escape on horseback then the battlefield could have been considerably further down the road towards York. But I see no real alternative to the site being somewhere at least fairly close to Brough along the road from Brough to York.