Theodore. 46 The religious significance of the ‘English’ is further highlighted when
Pictish King Nechtan “sought help from the ‘English’ who, he knew, had long since
based their religious practices on the example of the holy Roman and apostolic Church”, showing that Bede’s ‘English’ became a source of religious authority. 47
Intertwined with ideas of divine favour and unity through faith is a focus on the virtue of Christian leadership by certain Kings. 48 The f irst mention of “the whole English race” comes from Æthelberht , yet this is not the full extent of correlation between kings, religious unity and power. 49 On his death, Æthelberht “after ruling his
temporal kingdom gloriously for fifty-six years, entered upon the eternal joys of the
heavenly kingdom”, highlighting the link between worldly kingship and heavenly faith. 50 It was important for Bede to portray great rulers, such as Eorcenberht of Kent,
the first “English King” to order idols to be abandoned throughout his kingdom, as
leading figureheads of conversion, which accrued them more power over greater numbers of the ‘English’, affecting a greater unity. 51 In this, there are two prominent
figures – Edwin and Oswald, Kings of Northumbria. In Edwin’s case, his road to
conversion began with his wish to marry Æthelburh, Æthelberht’s daughter, and meeting her brother Eadbald’s demands to allow her to practice Ch ristian worship. 52
At one Easter feast, Eomer, an assassin of King Cwichelm of Wessex, attacked the
king. The blow was taken by “Lilla, the most devoted thegn” who put himself in the
way of the attack, yet the king was still mildly injured. A fight broke out as the assailan t was “attacked from every quarter” and another nobleman died. 53 That
night, Æthelburh bore Edwin a daughter, Eanflæd. Bishop Paulinus attributed her
safe delivery to his prayers to God. “The king was delighted by his words, and
promised that if God would grant him life, and victory over the king who had sent the assas sin who wounded him, he would renounce his idols and serve Christ”. 54 Edwin
was victorious over the West Saxons but was still unsure of Christianity, so learnt
46 Foot, Sarah, ‘The Making of Angelcynn : English Identity before the Norman Conquest’ in Transactions of the Royal Historical Society , Ser. 6, Vol. 6, (: Royal Historical Society, 1997), 39 47 Bede, p. 276 48 Higham, ‘Bede’s vision of an English Britain’, p. 18; Higham, ‘Bede’s Reputation as a Historian in Medieval England’, 483
49 Bede, p. 40 50 Bede, p. 77 51 Bede, p. 122 52 Bede, pp. 84-5 53 Bede, pp. 85-6 54 Bede, p. 86
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