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Anglo-Saxon Kingdoms
Saxons & Jutes of Southern England
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Suther-ge
(Suth Rig / Surrey)
Incorporating the Basingas, Godhelmingas, Noxgaga,
Ohtgaga, Sunningas, & Woccingas
Evidence for what took place in the region that forms the modern (and
ancient) county of Surrey is thin on the ground. A certain amount can be
inferred, and a certain amount understood through educated guesswork, but
when compared to
Kent, for example, the entire
region between the Thames
Valley and the Thames Estuary during the Anglo-Saxon migration period
is a black hole where information is concerned. What can be stated is that
Saxons had
been settling along the shores of the Thames for some time, almost certainly
from the early fifth century onwards, even before the collapse of central
Romano-British authority. Many of them may initially have been employed
as settled mercenary groups, laeti, perhaps even joining other
groups who had been there since the previous century.
Things appear to have gone badly wrong for the governing
Britons in the
period between about AD 440-455. Following a civil war, they were struck
by plague from the Continent and at the same time their many Saxon
foederati and laeti rebelled, massacring hundreds. Some
control seems to have been regained, but apparently not along the Thames
Valley. Here the Britons appear to have been forced back to the west,
towards Aylesbury and Durocornovium (Swindon), never to regain control
(although Londinium itself may still have remained a base of operations
until much later in the century). Newly arrived Saxon groups were already
moving up the Thames, independent of central control, and seemingly
founding settlements of their own from the mid-fifth century onwards.
Some
of these groups drifted off course from the drift of migration westwards
into the Thames Valley to settle on either side of the lower Thames. On
the northern bank of the Thames, Saxons settled the countryside to the
west (and later the north) of Londinium to form the
Middel Seaxe (in what
became the former county of Middlesex). The
Ciltern Saetan also headed
north from the Thames Valley during the late fifth century (and quite
possibly earlier) to found their own kingdom. Some Saxons founded settlements
on the south bank of the Thames and began to push further southwards towards
the great forest of Andredesleag (The Weald), itself a strong barrier to
any further advance. These groups seem to have been related closely to those
of the Middel Seaxe, and the area was known as the Suther-ge (modern Surrey).
To the east were the Cantware,
and to the west were the nascent
West Seaxe.
The name 'suther-ge' means 'southern region', with 'ge' being equated with
the 'gau' or 'district' of later Germany. Suth Rig (pronounced suth-re)
is generally taken to be Old
English for 'south ridge'.
However, upon closer examination, 'suth rig' can be seen to mean 'south
rule' (an area ruled over by someone to the north). The word 'rig', usually
spelled 'ric' and usually pronounced rich, is cognate with the High
German 'reich', and is derived from the
proto-Indo-European
word for a king. But in
Germanic
tongues the word for a king was replaced by 'cyning' (and similar spellings),
meaning a '(man) of the people', seen in 'king' and 'koenig' (German kings
were democratically chosen - ie. elected). Therefore the old word was
transferred to the king's domain. So 'rig' and 'ric' became the domain of
the king, the area he ruled. As for the pronunciation, the 'g' was
originally pronounced in the obvious manner, but it is unclear whether this
was due to Germanic settlers with their use of a hard 'k', or the influence
of Britons and their use of a hard 'k' that was interchangeable with a 'g'.
The latter is favoured here. Another possibility is that the German
foederati in the Thames Valley already pronounced it that way, again
possibly under Brythonic influence, and the new arrivals took their lead from
them. In any event it was softened to a 'y' at some point because the 'g'
became a 'k' and then, due to the influence of Saxon dialect, it became
a 'ch' (as 'suthrich'), and then softened to nothing so that the vowel took
over, 'i' to 'y' (with 'suthrie' becoming 'suthry', remembering that these
are all examples of the name in its spoken form - its written form could
show further variations).
Both names, 'suth rig' and 'suther-ge', indicate the early link to the Middel
Seaxe, probably when both groups were settling areas very close to the Thames.
The link seems to have been relatively brief, as the association had passed
out of memory before the days of written records. The region south of the
Thames was soon controlled by the kings of the
East Seaxe at the same time as
they controlled the Middel Seaxe, from circa AD 600.
One
certainty is that Saxon settlement began in the region before the
appearance of organised kingdoms in the Thames valley. Another is that
Suther-ge was larger than modern Surrey. The Saxon burial grounds at
Croydon, Beddington, and Mitcham are among the earliest in the whole
Thames basin, and the place names of Eashing, Godalming (home to the
Godhelmingas), Tyting, and Woking (home to the Woccingas),
plus Getingas (the ancient name of Cobham), and Binton in Seale (formerly
Bintungas), show that the Wey Valley was a region of primary Saxon
settlement. Further settlements that were later taken out of Suther-ge
included the Basingas (at Basingstoke, now in Hampshire) and the
Sunningas (at Sonning, now in Berkshire). By the 670s the region was
described in the Tribal Hidage (a record of settlements and land holdings)
as a provincia with a subregulus - a sub-king - of its own.
It may also have been home to the mysterious folks called the Noxgaga
and the Ohtgaga (although it is hard to place them anywhere thanks
to their brief mention in the
Mercian tribal hidage).
By 1086, the region was named as Sudrie in Domesday Book, and this usage
gradually softened into the modern 'Surrey'.
(Information by Peter Kessler, with additional information by Edward Dawson,
and from The Oxford History of England: The English Settlements,
J N L Meyers, from The Oxford History of England: Anglo-Saxon England,
Sir Frank Stenton, from Early Medieval Surrey, John Blair (1991),
from A Reassessment of the Occurrences of Old English -ingas and
-ingahām in Surrey Place-Names, Robert J S Briggs (2016), from
The Earliest English Kings, D P Kirby (1991), from Kings and
Kingdoms in Early Anglo-Saxon England, Barbara Yorke (1990), from the
Onomasticon Anglo-Saxonicum: A List of Anglo-Saxon Proper Names from
the Time of Beda to that of King John, William George Searle, and from
External Link:
British History Online.) |
c.460 - 490 |
Saxon groups force their way westwards from the east coast, through
Londinium, and along the
Thames Valley, creating
settlements along the way. In part these settlements may be amongst
already-existing
Germanic
laeti settlements. A large group settle the territory west
and north of the now-abandoned Roman city of Londinium and become the
Middel Seaxe. An
associated group settle on the south side of the Thames become the
people of the Suther-ge ('southern region'). Perhaps the main thrust
of migration into the region is from the newly-conquered kingdom of
Kent, which appears to
retain a level of control over both the Middel Seaxe and Suther-ge for
a time.
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The River Thames provided a corridor in the fifth century for
Saxon groups to enter Britain and found their own settlements,
with some pushing westwards to take land from the Britons and
others happy to stop short where they could found the Middel
Seaxe and its Suther-ge
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There are very few roads at this time, and those that exist are
Romans
roads in the interior. In spite of their existence, trade and the movement
of people is most often by water. Any invading group coming by sea can
either land on the coast, or row up a river. To the Saxons a broad river
such as the Thames is effectively a superhighway. Once
British regional
governance is weakened as it has been, these migrants are able to swarm up
the river - and any other undefended rivers. People think of the Vikings as
something different from the Anglo-Saxons but the truth is that both groups
use the same practices, and the same boats. The Thames Valley is undoubtedly
settled rapidly.
Several substantial Saxon settlements are formed within the Suther-ge, with
the western area providing a home to the theorised Godhelmingas (of modern
Godalming) and Woccingas (of modern Woking). These two groups would appear
to be the largest, as they form their own major territorial divisions in
Suther-ge. The Godhelm in the name is usually found to be a personal name,
but Godhelm seems to be more of an eighth century name than a fifth century
one. Another theorised settlement would be that of the Dorkingas in southern
central Suther-ge. This one is less certain, as Dorking seems not to have
been recorded before Domesday Book, but twelfth century spellings of it as a
place name (Doreking, Dorchinge, and Dorking) are sufficiently numerous to
permit its acceptance. |
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568 |
Perhaps already detached from the
Middel Seaxe, the
Suther-ge area is the subject of a dispute between the kings of the
West Seaxe and the
Cantware at this early point.
Ceawlin defeats Ęthelbert of Kent, driving him back into his own land,
and presumably gaining dominance over the Suther-ge. |
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c.600 |
By
this time the East Seaxe control
the Middel Seaxe. They also
appear to dominate the southern region of the Middel Seaxe, the Suther-ge,
seemingly treating the district as a sub-kingdom. Around 604 King Sęberht
is the first East Seaxe king to be baptised (by Mellitus, first bishop of
London, consecrated by Augustine of
Canterbury himself), but
upon his death the kingdom reverts to paganism. |
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c.623 |
All three joint kings of the
East Seaxe are killed in battle
against the West Seaxe. It has
been realistically conjectured that the dispute concerns the control of Suth-rig.
Sir Frank Stenton, in Anglo-Saxon England writes: 'Like the Saxons of
Middlesex, the Saxons of Surrey have no independent history... At different
periods in the seventh century Surrey appears as a province of
Kent, Wessex, and
Mercia... The only certainty
in the early history of Surrey is the fact that its settlement had begun before
the appearance of organised kingdoms in the
Thames Valley.' |
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661 |
Mercia gains control of
the region, but perhaps only temporarily and with little real authority.
Kent still lays claim to Suthrige,
as it has always done, but it is strangely dormant during this period, at
least as far as surviving records show. |
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666 |
The conversion of the pagan
Saxons to Christianity by the missionaries from
Rome
now leads to the founding of Chertsey Abbey by Eorcenwald. He is supported
in his efforts by King Egbert of Kent,
and becomes its first abbot. He later becomes bishop of London, while the
abbey soon benefits from a great donation of land during the subsequent
period of Mercian
dominance (from about 673).
AD 666 is the year given in the account of the abbey in the Chertsey chartulary,
which is preserved among the Cotton Library's MS Vitel A (Vitellius Augustus)
xiii. folio 20. The Annals of Dunstable (Ann Mon [Rolls Series] iii. 8)
give the year 678, and Reyner, from Capgrave's Life of St Erkenwald,
makes it as early as 630. This early date need not be problematical. It is
possible for a small religious community to have formed before the abbey itself
is founded thirty or so years later.
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Chertsey Abbey, as drawn by a monk in the fifteenth century for
inclusion in the cartulary, some eight hundred years after the
abbey's founding - in 666, 678, or 630 - and certainly much
changed from the original building
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673 |
The sudden death of Egbert I of Kent
leaves a break in the kingship. Suthrige is detached from Kent by
Mercia and entrusted to
the otherwise unknown Frithuwold (the general policy employed by Wulfhere of
Mercia is to subordinate rather than rule directly, so Frithuwold may well
be the first direct ruler of the region). Later materials refer to him as
the brother-in-law of Wulfhere (notably the twelfth century life of Saint
Osgyth of Aylesbury), whilst general scholarly opinion says that he is an
imported Mercian rather than a native of Suthrige.
Frithuwold begins his sub-kingship by continuing to add to the endowments
of Egbert's abbey at Chertsey. Two charters date from this period (670-675)
that come from the Chertsey Abbey archive. These also mention the place name
Getinges. This is the source of the modern Eaton Park name, but the surviving
copies of the charters date from about 1260, which allows for some doubt
over the authenticity of the spelling of this place name. Two independent
attestations of the name at the end of the same century - Ethinge and Etynge
- only adds to this doubt. The general borders of Suthrige itself in this
period are unknown, with it being possible that modern Surrey's easternmost
lands are at this time Kentish while Frithuwold governs territory that
stretches into modern Berkshire.
Three other names also witness Frithuwold's charters - Ęthelwald, Osric, and
Wigheard. There is an Osric of the
Hwicce precisely at this period,
also dominated by the Mercians and also regarded as a sub-king. Wigheard
could be the representative of the late archbishop of
Canterbury, but this would
be strange since his replacement has been in office since 668 so he is more
likely an otherwise unknown sub-king. Barbara Yorke has noted a potential
link between Wigheard and the later Mercian royal family with their names
beginning with 'w' (Wiglaf and Wigstan of the ninth century), suggesting
that he, at least, is a relative of Wulfhere. One of these three sub-kings
is thought to be the ruler of the Sunningas (the area of modern Sonning in
south-eastern Berkshire) which at this time seem to be part of Suthrige. |
c.673 - 675 |
Frithuwold / Frithewold |
Sub-king to
Mercia. Baptised with
his son in 675. |
c.675 - 686 |
Frithuric |
Son. Sub-king to
Mercia. |
680s |
Precisely when it happens is unclear, but by the later
years of his reign, Hlothere controls Lundenwic (London),
the first Kentish king to do so
since 616. He maintains a hall there and his presence suggests that he has
also regained Suthrige for Kent. Could this change of ownership be the
reason for the apparent disappearance of any further sub-kings? They only
seem to reappear when Mercia
is able to restore its control of the region. |
685 - 726 |
Kent becomes a
battleground between
Mercia and the West
Seaxe. King Eadric is killed, although whether in the attack or obscurely
in the chaos following is is unknown. Kent is ravaged and occupied by Caedwalla
of the West Saxons and he leaves Mul, his brother, to rule the kingdom in his
name. Hlothere's gains of Suthrige and Lundenwic are stripped away. By now the
region is certainly known as Suthrige (as mentioned in a charter dated 722). |
694 |
Wihtred
succeeds in freeing Kent of all
foreign usurpers and vassals, and agrees with Ine of the
West Seaxe on the borders of Kent,
Suthrige, and the Suth Seaxe (which
confirms the Kentish loss of Surrey). The tribal territories of the Sunningas now
become part of Berkshire and that of the (perhaps only recently-settled) Basingas
becomes part of Hampshire - both West Saxon domains. Together, the West Seaxe and
Kent hold the line against Mercia
in this period, limiting its ability to interfere south of the Thames. |
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c.771 |
Suthrige again falls under the domination of
Mercia, this time with the
great Offa now serving as its overlord until his death in 796. Again, if not
immediately then very soon after Mercian control is re-established, a sub-king
is appointed. No other sub-king is known before 823, so it is likely that Mercian
control weakens and the post is again abolished. Brorda is a benefactor to Woking
monastery.
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Shown here is a silver penny that is in very good condition,
which was issued during Offa's reign and was minted in London by
Eadhun, although Mercian dominance of London and the south would
eventually be replaced by West Saxon dominance
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fl c.775 |
Brorda |
Sub-king ('praefectus') to
Mercia. |
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fl 823 |
Wulfheard |
Sub-king to
Mercia or confused with
the bishop of Hereford? |
825 |
Ecgberht of Wessex defeats the
mighty Mercia at the Battle
of Ellandon. The sub-kingdoms of Essex,
Sussex and Suthrige submit to him,
and Suthrige is ruled by his son, Ęthulwulf, who is based in
Kent. Suthrige becomes little more
than a province of Wessex, and then of
England. Following
the Norman invasion,
and the fusing together of Norman French and Anglo-Saxon English, the pronunciation
of Suthridge gradually softens. |
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