| Ine | |
|---|---|
.jpg) King Ine depicted in the Transfiguration Window ofWells Cathedral. | |
| King of Wessex | |
| Reign | 689–726 |
| Predecessor | Cædwalla |
| Successor | Æthelheard |
| Died | After 726 Rome |
| Spouse | Æthelburg of Wessex |
| House | Wessex |
| Father | Cenred |
Ine orIni (died in or after 726)[1] wasKing ofWessex from 689 to 726. At Ine's accession, his kingdom dominated much of what is nowsouthern England. However, he was unable to retain the territorial gains of his predecessor,Cædwalla of Wessex, who had expanded West Saxon territory substantially. By the end of Ine's reign, the kingdoms ofKent,Sussex, andEssex were no longer under West Saxon sway; however, Ine maintained control of what is nowHampshire, and consolidated and extended Wessex's territory in thewestern peninsula.
Ine is noted for hiscode of laws (Ines asetnessa or "laws of Ine"), which he issued in about 694. These laws were the first issued by anAnglo-Saxon king outside Kent. They shed much light on the history of Anglo-Saxon society, and reveal Ine's Christian convictions. Trade increased significantly during Ine's reign, with the town of Hamwic (nowSouthampton) becoming prominent. It was probably during Ine's reign that the West Saxons began to mint coins, though none have been found that bear his name.
Ine abdicated in 726 to go to Rome, leaving, in the words of the contemporary chroniclerBede, the kingdom to "younger men". He was succeeded byÆthelheard.
Early sources agree that Ine was the son ofCenred, and that Cenred was the son ofCeolwald; further back there is less agreement.[2] Ine was born around 670[3] and his siblings included a brother, Ingild, and two sisters,Cuthburh and Cwenburg. Ingild is given by theAnglo-Saxon royal genealogies as ancestor of kingEgbert of Wessex and the subsequent kings of England.[4] Cuthburh was married to KingAldfrith of Northumbria,[5] and Ine himself was married toÆthelburg.[2]Bede tells that Ine was "of the blood royal", by which he means the royal line of theGewisse, the early West Saxon tribal name.[6]
The genealogy of Ine is known from theAnglian King-list, theWest Saxon Genealogical Regnal List (which may share a common source with the Anglian King-list) and theAnglo-Saxon Chronicle (which certainly drew on and adapted an early version of the West Saxon Genealogical Regnal List, alongside other sources). Both the Regnal List andChronicle were put into their present form in the late ninth century, probably at the court ofAlfred the Great, and show scholars at pains both to emphasise that all West-Saxon kings descended fromCerdic and to put Cerdic's foundation of the dynasty earlier than their sources claimed, yet nonetheless are often at variance.[7][8][9]
Ine's predecessor on the throne of Wessex wasCædwalla, but there is some uncertainty about the transition from Cædwalla to Ine. Cædwallaabdicated in 688 and departed forRome to be baptized. According to the West Saxon Genealogical Regnal List, Ine reigned for 37 years, abdicating in 726. These dates imply that he did not gain the throne until 689, which could indicate an unsettled period between Cædwalla's abdication and Ine's accession. Ine may have ruled alongside his father, Cenred, for a period: there is weak evidence for joint kingships, and stronger evidence of subkings reigning under a dominant ruler in Wessex, not long before this time.[10] Ine acknowledges his father's help in his code of laws,[11] and there is also a surviving land-grant that indicates Cenred was still reigning in Wessex after Ine's accession.[12][13]
The extent of West Saxon territory at the start of Ine's reign is fairly well known. The upperThames valley on both sides of the river had long been the territory of the Gewisse, though Cædwalla had lost territory north of the river to the kingdom ofMercia before Ine's accession. To the west,Ceawlin of Wessex is known to have reached theBristol Channel one hundred years before.[14] The West Saxons had since expanded further down the southwestern peninsula, pushing back the boundary with the British kingdom ofDumnonia, which was probably roughly equivalent to modernDevon andCornwall.[15] On the West Saxons' eastern border was the kingdom of theEast Saxons, which includedLondon and what is nowSurrey. To the southeast were theSouth Saxons, on the coast east of theIsle of Wight. Beyond Sussex lay the kingdom of Kent.[16] Ine's predecessor, Cædwalla, had made himself overlord of most of these southern kingdoms,[17] though he had not been able to prevent Mercian inroads along the upper Thames.[15]
Ine retained control of theIsle of Wight, and made further advances in Dumnonia, but the territorial gains Cædwalla had made in Sussex, Surrey and Kent were all lost by the end of Ine's reign.[15]
Ine made peace withKent in 694 when its kingWihtred gave Ine a substantial sum in compensation for the death of Cædwalla's brotherMul, who had been killed during a Kentish rebellion in 687. The value of the amount offered to Ine by Wihtred is uncertain; most manuscripts of theAnglo-Saxon Chronicle record "thirty thousand", and some specify thirty thousand pounds. If the pounds are equal tosceattas, then this amount is the equal of a king'sweregild—that is, the legal valuation of a man's life, according to his rank.[18][19]
Ine kept theSouth Saxons, who had been conquered by Cædwalla in 686, in subjugation for a period.[20] KingNothhelm of Sussex is referred to in a charter of 692 as a kinsman of Ine (perhaps by marriage).[12][21] Sussex was still under West Saxon domination in 710, when Nothhelm is recorded as having campaigned with Ine in the west against Dumnonia.[15]
Control of Surrey, which may never have been an independent kingdom, passed between Kent, Mercia, Essex, and Wessex in the years before Ine's reign. Essex also included London, and the diocese of London included Surrey; this appears to have been a source of friction between Ine and the East Saxon and Mercian kings until the province was transferred to the diocese of Winchester in 705.[22] Evidence for Ine's early control of Surrey comes from the introduction to his laws, in which he refers toEorcenwald, bishop of London, as "my bishop".[15][23] Ine's subsequent relations with the East Saxons are illuminated by a letter written in 704 or 705 by BishopWealdhere of London toBrihtwold, theArchbishop of Canterbury. The letter refers to "disputes and discords" that had arisen "between the king of the West Saxons and the rulers of our country". The rulers that Wealdhere refers to areSigeheard andSwæfred of the East Saxons, and the cause of the discord was the East Saxons' sheltering of exiles from the West Saxons. Ine had agreed to peace on the condition that the exiles were expelled. A council atBrentford was planned to resolve the disputes.[21][24] By this point Surrey had clearly passed out of West Saxon control.[21]
Bede records that Ine held Sussex in subjection for "several years",[25] but in 722 an exile namedEaldbert fled to Surrey and Sussex, and Ine invaded Sussex as a result. Three years later Ine invaded again, this time killing Ealdberht. Sussex had evidently broken away from West Saxon domination some time before this.[2][15] It has been suggested that Ealdberht was a son of Ine, or a son of Ine's brother Ingild.[26]
In 710, Ine and Nothhelm fought againstGeraint of Dumnonia, according to theAnglo-Saxon Chronicle;[2]John of Worcester states that Geraint was killed in this battle.[27] It has traditionally been thought that Ine's advance brought him control of what is nowDevon, the new border with Dumnonia being theriver Tamar.[21] However, this does not match with subsequent events such as the Battle of Hehil orAthelstan driving the Britons from Isca (Exeter). TheAnnales Cambriae, a tenth-century chronicle,[28] records that in 722 the British defeated their enemies at theBattle of Hehil. The "enemies" must be Ine or his people, but the location is unidentified; historians have suggested locations in both Cornwall and Devon.[15][29]
Ine fought a battle atWoden's Barrow in Wiltshire in 715, either against theMercians underCeolred or together with them against an unnamed opponent; the result is not recorded. Woden's Barrow is atumulus, now calledAdam's Grave, atAlton Prior,Wiltshire.[30] Ine may not have recovered any of the lands north of the Thames that had belonged to the West Saxons under previous kings, but it is known that he controlled the southern bank: a charter dated 687 shows him giving land to the church atStreatley on the Thames and at nearbyBasildon.[15][31]
In 721, theChronicle records that Ine slew one Cynewulf, of whom nothing else is known, though his name suggests a connection to the Wessex royal line. A quarrel apparently arose in the royal family soon afterwards: in 722, according to theChronicle, Ine's queen Æthelburg destroyedTaunton, which her husband had built earlier in his reign,[2] around 710.
The first mention of the office ofealdorman in Wessex, and the first references to the shires they led, occur during Ine's reign. It may have been Ine who divided Wessex into something approximating the modern counties of Hampshire, Wiltshire, Somerset, Devon, and Dorset, though earlier administrative boundaries might also have influenced these borders.[20] It has also been suggested that these counties began as divisions of the kingdom among members of the royal family.[10]
By about 710, in the middle of Ine's reign, the trading settlement of Hamwic had become established on the west bank of theriver Itchen; the site is now part of the modern city ofSouthampton. The goods traded at this port included glass vessels, and finds of animal bones suggest an active trade in hides. Further evidence of trade comes from finds of imported goods such as quernstones, whetstones, and pottery; and finds of sceattas from the town include Frisian coins. Specialist trades carried on in the town included cloth-making, smithying, and metalworking. It is not known whether Ine took an interest in Hamwic, but some of the goods he favoured, including luxuries, were imported there, and the merchants would probably have needed royal protection. The total population of Hamwic has been estimated at 5,000, and this high population itself implies Ine's involvement, since no-one but the king would have been able to arrange to feed and house such a large group of people.[32][33]
The growth of trade after about 700 was paralleled by an expansion of the area of circulation of thesceat, the common coin of the day, to include the upper Thames valley.[21] It is thought that the firstWest Saxon coinage was minted during Ine's reign, though no coins bearing his name have been found—sceattas typically gave no hint of the reigning king.[20]
The earliest Anglo-Saxon law code to survive, which may date from 602 or 603, is that ofÆthelberht of Kent, whose reign ended in 616.[34][35] In the 670s or 680s, a code was issued in the names ofHlothhere andEadric of Kent.[36] The next kings to issue laws wereWihtred of Kent and Ine.[37][38]
The dates of Wihtred's and Ine's laws are somewhat uncertain, but there is reason to believe that Wihtred's laws were issued on 6 September 695,[39] while Ine's laws were written in 694 or shortly before.[15] Ine had recently agreed to peaceful terms with Wihtred over compensation for the death of Mul, and there are indications that the two rulers collaborated to some degree in producing their laws. In addition to the coincidence of timing, there is one clause that appears in almost identical form in both codes.[40] Another sign of collaboration is that Wihtred's laws usegesith, a West Saxon term for noble, in place of the Kentish termeorlcund. It is possible that Ine and Wihtred issued the law codes as an act of prestige, to re-establish authority after periods of disruption in both kingdoms.[21]
Ine's laws survive only because Alfred the Great appended them to his own code of laws.[41] The oldest surviving manuscript, and only complete copy, is inCorpus Christi College, Cambridge MS 173, which contains both Alfred's and Ine's law codes and the oldest extant text of theAnglo-Saxon Chronicle. Two more partial texts survive. One was originally a complete copy of Ine's laws, part of British Library MSCotton Otho B xi, but that manuscript was largely destroyed in 1731 by a fire atAshburnham House in which only Chapters 66 to 76.2 of Ine's laws escaped destruction. A fragment of Ine's laws can also be found inBritish Library Burney MS 277.[37]
It is possible that we do not have Ine's laws in their seventh-century form. Alfred mentions in the prologue to his laws that he rejected earlier laws which he disliked. He did not specify what laws he omitted, but if they were the ones no longer relevant in his own time, it cannot be assumed that the surviving version of Ine's laws is complete.[37] Ingrid Ivarsen suggests that the laws were originally composed in Latin and translated into Old English.[42]
The prologue to Ine's laws lists his advisors. Three people are named: bishopsEorcenwald andHædde, and Ine's father, King Cenred. Ine was a Christian king, whose intent to encourage Christianity is clear from the laws. The oath of a communicant, for example, is declared to carry more weight than that of a non-Christian,[37] and baptism and religious observance are also addressed. Significant attention is also paid to civil issues—more than in the contemporary Kentish laws.[43]
One of the laws states thatcommon land might be enclosed by severalceorls (the contemporary name for Saxon freemen). Any ceorl who fails to fence his share, however, and allows his cattle to stray into someone else's field is to be held liable for any damage caused.[41] This does not mean that the land was held in common: each ceorl had his own strip of land that supported him. It is notable that a king's law is required to settle a relatively minor issue; the laws do not mention the role of local lords in obtaining compliance from the ceorls.[44] It is clear from this and other laws that tenants held the land in tenure from a lord; the king's close involvement indicates that the relationship between lord and tenant was under the king's control.[45]
The laws that deal with straying cattle provide the earliest documentary evidence for anopen-field farming system. They show that open-field agriculture was practiced in Wessex in Ine's time, and it is probable that this was also the prevalent agricultural method throughout the English midlands, and as far north and east asLindsey andDeira. Not all of Wessex used this system, however: it was not used in Devon, for example.[44] The law which mentions a "yard" of land is the first documented mention of that unit. A yard was a unit of land equal to a quarter of ahide; a hide was variable from place to place but could be as much as 120 acres (49 ha). The yard in this sense later became the standard holding of the medievalvillein, and was known as thevirgate. One historian has commented that "the beginnings of a manorial economy are clearly visible in Ine's laws."[45]
The fine for neglectingfyrd, the obligation to do military service for the king, is set at 120 shillings for a nobleman, and 30 shillings for a ceorl,[41] incidentally revealing that ceorls were required to serve in the army. Scholars have disagreed on the military value of the ceorl, but it is not surprising that all free men would fight, since defeat might have meant slavery.[46]
Another law specified that anyone accused of murder required at least one high-ranking person among his "oath-helpers". An oath-helper would swear an oath on behalf of an accused man, to clear him from the suspicion of the crime. Ine's requirement implies that he did not trust an oath sworn only by peasants. It may represent a significant change from an earlier time when a man's kin were expected to support him with oaths.[47]
The laws made separate provision for Ine's English and British subjects, favouring the former over the latter; theweregilds paid for Britons were half of those paid for Saxons of the same social class, and their oaths also counted for less.[48] The evidence they provide for the incomplete integration of the two populations is supported by research into placename history, the history of religious houses, and local archaeology, which indicates that the western part of Wessex was thinly settled by the Germanic newcomers at the time the laws were issued.[17] It is notable that, although issued by the Saxon king of a Saxon kingdom, the term used in the laws to define Ine's Germanic subjects isEnglisc. This reflects the existence, even at this early date, of a common English identity encompassing all the Germanic peoples of Britain.[49]
Ine was aChristian king, who ruled as a patron and protector of the church. The introduction to his laws names his advisors, among whom areEorcenwald,Bishop of London andHædde,Bishop of Winchester; Ine says that the laws were also made with the advice and instruction of "all my ealdormen, and chief councillors of my people, and also a great assembly of the servants of God".[23][50] The laws themselves demonstrate Ine's Christian convictions, specifying fines for failing to baptize infants or to tithe.[20] Ine supported the church by patronising religious houses, especially in the newdiocese of Sherborne,[20] which had been divided from thediocese of Winchester in 705. Ine had opposed this division, ignoring threats of excommunication from Canterbury, but he agreed to it when Bishop Haedde died.[21]
The first West Saxon nunneries were founded in Ine's reign by Ine's kinswoman, Bugga, the daughter of KingCentwine, and by Ine's sisterCuthburh, who founded the abbey ofWimborne at some point after she separated from her husband, King Aldfrith of Northumbria.[33][51] At the bishopAldhelm's suggestion in 705, Ine built the church which later becameWells Cathedral,[52] and theAnglo-Saxon Chronicle also records that Ine built aminster atGlastonbury. This must refer to additional building or re-building since there was already a British monastery at Glastonbury.[53]
Ine has been credited with supporting the establishment of an organized church in Wessex, though it is not clear that this was his initiative. He is also connected with the oldest known West Saxonsynods, presiding at one himself and apparently addressing the assembled clerics.[54]
There is a tradition that Ine was a saint, and was the dedicatee of St Ina's Church inLlanina nearNew Quay, Wales. However, a more likely dedicatee for this church is the fifth-century WelshSaint Ina.[55][56]
In 726, Ine abdicated, with no obvious heir and, according toBede, left his kingdom to "younger men" in order to travel, with his wifeÆthelburg, toRome where they both died; his predecessor, Cædwalla, had also abdicated to go to Rome and was baptized there by the pope. A pilgrimage to Rome was thought to aid one's chance of a welcome in heaven, and according to Bede, many people went to Rome at this time for this reason: "... both noble and simple, layfolk and clergy, men and women alike".[6] Either Ine orOffa of Mercia is traditionally supposed to have founded theSchola Saxonum there, in what is today the Romanrione, or district, ofBorgo. The Schola Saxonum took its name from the militias of Saxons who served in Rome, but it eventually developed into a hostelry for English visitors to the city.[57] According toRoger of Wendover, Ine founded the Schola Saxonum in 727.[58]
Ine's successor was KingÆthelheard; it is not known whether Æthelheard was related to Ine, though some later sources state that Æthelheard was Ine's brother-in-law.[59] Æthelheard's succession to the throne was disputed by anætheling, Oswald, and it may be that Mercian support for Æthelheard in the unsettled aftermath of Ine's abdication both helped establish Æthelheard as king and also brought him into the sphere of influence ofÆthelbald, the king of Mercia.[2][26]
Ine of Wessex | ||
| Regnal titles | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | King of Wessex 688–726 | Succeeded by |
| International | |
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