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Rædwald (, 'power in counsel'), also rendered as Raedwald or Redwald, was a 7th-century king of East Anglia, a long-lived Anglo-Saxon kingdom which today includes the English counties of Norfolk and Suffolk. He was the son of Tytila of East Anglia and a member of the Wuffingas dynasty (named after his grandfather, Wuffa), who were the first kings of the East Angles. Details about Rædwald's reign are scarce, primarily because the Viking invasions of the 9th century destroyed the monasteries in East Anglia where many documents would have been kept. Rædwald reigned from about 599 until his death around 624, initially under the overlordship of Æthelberht of Kent. In 616, as a result of fighting the Battle of the River Idle and defeating Æthelfrith of Northumbria, he was able to install Edwin, who was acquiescent to his authority, as the new king of Northumbria. During the battle, both Æthelfrith and Rædwald's son Rægenhere were killed. From around 616, Rædwald was the most powerful of the English kings south of the River Humber. According to Bede he was the fourth ruler to hold ''imperium'' over other southern Anglo-Saxon kingdoms: he was referred to in the ''Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'', written centuries after his death, as a ''bretwalda'' (an Old English term meaning 'Britain-ruler' or 'wide-ruler'). He was the first king of the East Angles to become a Christian, converting at Æthelberht's court some time before 605, whilst at the same time maintaining a pagan temple. In receiving the faith he helped to ensure the survival of Christianity in East Anglia during the apostasy of the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of Essex and Kent. He is generally considered by historians to be the most favoured candidate for the occupant of the Sutton Hoo ship-burial, although other theories have been advanced. == Sources == The kingdom of East Anglia () was a small independent Anglo-Saxon kingdom that comprised what are now the English counties of Norfolk and Suffolk and perhaps the eastern part of the Cambridgeshire Fens. Few sources have survived that were written by the Anglo-Saxons in England, and East Anglia has even less documentary evidence than most of the kingdoms existing at that time. The historian Barbara Yorke has suggested that the reason for the paucity of East Anglian sources was almost certainly the Viking expansion in the 9th century as the monks and scribes of East Anglia produced as much work as those living in other parts of England. The devastation caused by the Vikings is thought to have destroyed all the books and charters that may have been kept there.〔Yorke, ''Kings and Kingdoms of Early Anglo-Saxon England'', p. 58〕 Rædwald is the first king of the East Angles of whom more than a name is known, though no details of his life before his accession are known.〔Hoggett, ''The Archaeology of the East Anglian Conversion'', pp. 28–30〕 The earliest and most substantial source for Rædwald is the ''Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum'' (''Ecclesiastical History of the English People''), completed in 731 by Bede, a Northumbrian monk. Bede placed Rædwald's reign between the advent of the Gregorian mission to Kent in 597 and the marriage and conversion of Edwin of Northumbria during 625–26. Later medieval chroniclers, such as Roger of Wendover, gave some information about East Anglian events, but Yorke suggests that the annalistic format used forced these writers to guess the dates of the key events they recorded. Such later sources are therefore treated with caution.〔 The ''Anglian collection'', which dates from the late 8th century, contains an East Anglian genealogical tally, but Rædwald is not included.〔Plunkett, ''Suffolk in Anglo-Saxon Times'', p. 70〕〔'' 'Regnal lists' '', by David E. Thornton, in 〕 Rædwald is however referred to in the 8th century ''Vita'' of St Gregory the Great, written by a member of the religious community at Whitby.〔 The Battle of the River Idle, in which Rædwald and his forces defeated the Northumbrians, is described in the 12th century ''Historia Anglorum'', written by Henry of Huntingdon.〔''The chronicle of Henry of Huntingdon, comprising the history of England, from the invasion of Julius Cæsar to the accession of Henry II. Also, The acts of Stephen, king of England and duke of Normandy'', translated by Thomas Forrester, is available to read (online )〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Rædwald of East Anglia」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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