Arminghall Henge

I must confess that as someone with no special knowledge of prehistory I had never even heard of the significant site at Arminghall on the outskirts of Norwich.

The Arminghall Henge with its innermost horseshoe of timber uprights and its bank and ditch appears to have been a regional cult centre focussed on the Winter Solstice. Around the site burials took place, some in barrows destroyed in modern times.

The site was discovered from the air in 1929 and was initially excavated in 1935. Recent centuries have not been kind to Arminghall. The railway system had already had adverse effects on the area before it was identified. Since then road and electricity works have further encroached on the site and in the long term it faces the risk of flooding.

The Eastern Daily Press has an illustrated report about the recent excavations which are just ending which can be seen at 'It’s a magical place' - the secrets of ‘Norfolk’s Stonehenge’

The new Royal Cypher

The design of the new Royal Cypher has been released. We shall become ever more used to seeing this as it is used over coming years on uniforms and regimental standards, on letterheads and pillar boxes and much more besides.

The design is elegant and a conscious break with that of Queen Elizabeth II. With its curves and more sinuous flow, including the intertwining of the C and the R, it is more reminiscent of that used by King Edward VII. 

There is also a Scottish version using the crown of King James V created by the Lord Lyon. That appears only to have been released so far only in a black and white version rather than the full colour version to match the one from the College of Arms.

The designs are set out on the College of Arms website at Royal Cypher

The resemblance to the cyphers of the earlier twentieth century is also true in the use of a stylised version of the Imperial State Crown rather than St Edward’s Crown, which the late Queen specifically chose. My own aesthetic might have led me to retain that, partly because the curve of the arches would complement the design of the CR, and partly because of the link to the Coronation rite that crown symbolises. That however is just my sense, not a criticism, of a good piece of design. It stands well in the tradition of such Royal Cyphers. It also reflects, in his selection of it, His Majesty’s  well known concern for excellence and tradition in matters of design.

 

More on the genetic evidence from the Anglo-Saxon migration

Having posted yesterday about the research into the genomes of burials from time of the Anglo-Saxon migration into Britain two further and quite lengthy articles summarising and interpreting the research have now presented themselves on my system.

The first is from Ancient Origins and can be read at Anglo-Saxon Migration Created a ‘European’ Medieval England

The second is from ClassiCult.it and can be accessed at Anglo-Saxon migration into England during the early Medieval Period

Viking weaving

Scientific American has an interesting article about a research project looking at Viking weaving, notably in Iceland, and based upon the examination of surviving cloth fragments. Now I realise describing the study thus may make some amused, and yes, it does read like something from Kingsley Amis or Tom Sharpe. However, like the researcher and the medieval weaver, be patient.

Although there may be an element to the study of that academic enthusiasm which sees everything, but everything, reflected in a particular project in this account, nonetheless what is argued is striking and revealing of many aspects of Icelandic life, society, economy and cultural adaption through the middle ages. Thus the significant relationship of women to economic activity, the changing relationship with Denmark in the later centuries, adaptability to climate change - that is by weaving a warmer cloth - and the complex world of commerce across the North Atlantic are all opened up for inspection and reflection.

The article can be seen at  Viking Textiles Show Women Had Tremendous Power

Genetic profiling the Anglo-Saxons - and who they were

A recent study about the genetic profile of the population of the migration age in what we term Anglo-Saxon England has confirmed a much more complicated pattern than was once thought. The debate about rupture or continuity of settlement and about the extent of the interaction of different ethnic or social groups has, it would appear, been tipped further towards a narrative of coexistence rather than one of entrenched hostility. The research is set out in an article from Phys.org which can be seen at The Anglo-Saxon migration: New insights from genetics

The article has links to four related articles on the same site. They are from 2014, 2016, 2017, and 2021 and are about what it was, or is, that makes someone Anglo-Saxon.

In order of publication the first looks at evidence from an Anglo-Saxon cemetary in Oxfordshire and can be viewed at Ancient graves hint at cultural shift to Anglo-Saxon Britain

The second is about a genome study of migration age skeletons from a Cambridgeshire cemetary excavation. It can be seen at Ancient genomes reveal that the English are one-third Anglo-Saxon

The third is a sharing of an interpretive piece from The Conversation about the population mix of the migration era and at later perceptions of the Anglo-Saxon nature of the English. It can be read at Why the idea that the English have a common Anglo-Saxon origin is a myth

Finally there is another interpretive article from an Australian research group drawing upon  the archaeological evidence and seeing a mixed population which came to be united or defined by language. It can be seen at Being Anglo-Saxon was a matter of language and culture, not genetics

The funeral of King George II in 1760

In my post The Queen’s Funera I said that the last time a monarch’s funeral was held in Westminster Abbey was in 1760 following the death of King George II. I also wrote that I knew nothing of its nature.

That has now been remedied thanks to the Special Correspondent who sent me a very good account of the 1760 ceremony from the always informative History of Parliament Trust website. The ceremony was a distinctive mix of the public and the private - more like the committal service at Windsor. This article can be seen at The Last Burial of a King in Westminster Abbey

Linked to it is another article from the same site about eighteenth century lyings-in-state in the Prince’s Chamber by monarchs and members of the Royal Family. The Prince’s Chamber adjoined the House of Lords ( as does its replacement in Sir Charles Barry’s New Palace of Westminster ) and was a surviving part of the medieval Palace of Westminster that was demolished in 1823. It is an equally interesting article and can be accessed at ‘A noble sight’: the Prince’s Chamber and Royal Lyings in State in the Eighteenth Century

The National Anthem

There has been quite a bit in the media about the necessary adjustment to singing the National Anthem with the change of monarch. I am tempted to think this is a bit exaggerated as it is really not that difficult to substitute “King” for “Queen”, let alone “him” and “he” for “her” and “she”.

The Internet led me to a slightly intriguing article from the Eastern Daily Press utilising a research project at UEA which is looking at the history of protest songs in this country. This includes the idea that the National Anthrm might originate as a Jacobite song rather than a Hanoverian one. The article is interesting in showing how protest had been articulated in song over the past four centuries.  In addition I would add we have those medieval verses which voice criticism of those in power collected by Thomas Wright for the Camden Society and first published in 1839. The article can be read at UEA academics reveal rebellious roots of God Save the King

Having read that my algorithm led me to Country Life, This has a much more detailed account of the rather complicated, and often obscure, history of such a universally known piece. It can be seen at Who wrote 'God Save The King'? The extraordinary tale of the British national anthem

What exactly is the story before 1745 and the response in London to the news of the Jacobite victory at Prestonpans is fragmented. However it does look, ironically, actually to be Jacobite in origin and originally sung in support of King James II on the eve of the invasion by his nephew and  son-in-law Prince William in 1688. 

The seventeenth century appears to have been the origin of the music - the identity of the actual composer remains very debatable - of the basic text and of the very concept of a national piece of music, which seems to come from the reign of King Charles I. 

The later influence of a patriotic anthem seeking God’s blessing on the Sovereign on Haydn during a visit to London and his subsequent composition of Gott erhalte Franz den Kaiser for the Habsburg monarchy is well known. The later text from 1854 Gott erhalte, Gott beschutze could be translated into the many languages of the Empire. 

Perhaps less will known is that the tune was also used in the German Empire from 1871 down to 1918 for Heil dir im Siegerkranz. There are several spirited renditions of this on YouTube.

The eighteenth century habit of adding topical verses persisted well into the nineteenth century. Thus in January 1859 London theatregoers were regaled with an extra verse to God save the Queen which had been composed celebrating the birth of Queen Victoria’s first grandchild, the future Kaiser Wilhelm II.

So, that digression finished, let us all resolve to sing with heart and voice “God Save the King”

The Queen’s Funeral

Like millions of others here and abroad I followed closely the television broadcast of the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II last Monday. Statistics suggest that 37.5 million people here are estimated to have watched all or part of the broadcast, and 4 billion worldwide. 

The sheer number of foreign heads of state attending, and notably monarchs from Europe and beyond, was in one way not surprising, but seeing their combined presence in Westminster Abbey was a striking tribute.

Spectacle, dignity, precision were the order of the day from the armed services and others involved. Comments about how only this country can do such ceremonial have been quite frequent. This may well be true but is I think rather dismissive of other European monarchies on equivalent ceremonial occasions. The Danish ceremonies at the death of King Frederick IX in 1972 and of Queen Ingrid in 2000, let alone the funerals of Queen Juliana and Prince Bernhard in the Netherlands in 2004 - worth looking at on YouTube - are testimony to a wider, shared tradition of monarchical state funerals.

The crowds lining the routes in London, in Windsor and in between indicate the regard, the affection, the love in which the Queen was held. People were not there just for the show or the spectacle. Some BBC commentators pointed out the standard phrases used by people about it being an historic moment or the importance of being there were attempts to  describe a much more complex set of emotions about community, service and identity, as well as loyalty, respect and devotion on their part.

Dr Kat of the excellent Reading the Past website posted a video on the death and funeral of Queen Elizabeth I in 1603, which can be seen at The End of the First Elizabethan Era. It was particularly interesting to see the striking similarities in the funeral procession of the first Queen Elizabeth to that of the second 419 years later.

The playing of the Beethoven Funeral March composed by Walch  had an almost hypnotic effect with the combination of the music, of the drum beat and marching feet, accompanied by Big Ben. It was in some ways almost exhausting or enervating to watch and hear. The effect for those involved, let alone the Royal Family and for those who knew the late Queen as staff is difficult to imagine.

The various parts of the funeral ceremonies were an instance of the “Invention of tradition” in the proper sense of that oft used phrase. I prefer to think of it as the recovery of tradition, or a blending of tradition and inspiration. This can certainly be said of the ceremonies the preceding week in Edinburgh. This was the most elaborate funeral of a monarch in centuries.

In both Westminster Abbey and St George’s Windsor the nation has temporarily churches which are not only rich in the history of the monarchy but also two buildings where the visual impact for participants and viewers is profound. The vision of King Henry III in commissioning Westminster and of King Edward III in founding the Otder of the Garter and of King Edward IV and King Henry VIII in building St George’s element has withstood the passage of centuries.

This was arguably the most elaborate and public funeral of a sovereign since that of King James I and VI in 1625. Her Majesty was the first monarch to have a funeral service in Westminster Abbey since King George II in 1760. I know nothing of that occasion but suspect that like most royal burials of that period it was muted in its tone. The processions were perhaps longer, more  impressive than others in the twentieth century which were mainly a means of moving the late monarch across the capital to burial at Windsor. Again the Westminster Hall lying- in-state, first held for a monarch in 1910 was longer than previous ones.

The actual service at Westminster had an ecumenical dimension that is a sign of the times. The presence of the Catholic Archbishop of Armagh or the participation of the Cardinal Archbishop of Westminster would have been unthinkable in 1952. The only other time a Cardinal has been involved on such an occasion would or could have been at the funeral of King Edward IV in 1483 when Cardinal Thomas Bourchier was Archbishop of Canterbury.

At Windsor again there were huge crowds and the service m, which had not been broadcast television in 1952, was transmitted. Much was made by the commentators about the symbolic breaking of the Lord Chamberlain’s wand as something never seen by the public hitherto. This specific action is recorded certainly for the funeral of King Henry VIII in the same chapel in 1547, and presumably has an earlier origin.

This then was a day of great emotion, rich in symbolism and history, yet made accessible to a vast viewing public. It was a ceremonial and liturgical celebration in both senses of the word.