Beorna (also known as Beonna, Benna, Beanna or Beornus) was a ruler in East Anglia from 749. The end-date of his reign is not known, but may have been around 760 AD. He shared his reign with another ruler called Alberht (Æthelberht), and possibly with another named Hun. Norfolk and Suffolk, the core area of East Anglia. ... Events June - Aistulf succeeds his brother Ratchis as king of the Lombards End of the reign of Emperor Shomu of Japan Empress Koken ascends to the throne of Japan Abu al-Abbas as-Saffah becomes caliph Births Deaths Saint John of Damascus (or Damascene), theologian Ratchis, king of the Lombards... Events Maya civilization city of Dos Pilas is abandoned. ... Alberht, Ethaelbert or AEthelberht (I) was an eighth century ruler of East Anglia, who shared the kingdom with Beorna and possibly with a ruler named Hun in 749. ...

The primary sources for Beonna are very few. They consist of bare references to his accession or rule in late chronicles, which until quite recently it was impossible to verify. However during the last thirty years a sufficient number of his coins have been found to show that he really existed, and on these grounds several deductions have been made concerning his rule and identity.

Annals referring to Beonna

Beanna makes his appearance in an annalistic tradition preserved in late compilations (e.g. Symeon of Durham, Roger of Wendover) in material which may derive from Byrhtferth of Ramsey, a writer of c1000 AD (attribution cited in M.M. Archibald). The record states that Hunbeanna and Alberht divided the kingdom of East Angles between themselves. Florence of Worcester presents an annal for 758 stating that Beornus was then ruling the East Angles. Beorna also appears after AElfwald and before AEthelred in short regnal lists featuring in the Chronicle of John of Worcester and in the de Gestis Regum of William of Malmesbury, Book I. Symeon (or Simeon) of Durham (d. ... Roger of Wendover (d. ... Ramsey may refer to: Ramsey reset test, a statistical test for model specification Ramsey theory, a branch of mathematics that studies the conditions under which order must appear; named for Frank P. Ramsey Baron de Ramsey, a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom, created in 1887 Ramsey is... Florence of Worcester (died July 7, 1118) was a 12th century English chronicler. ... William of Malmesbury (c. ...

The name Beonna

Since the name Beonna also appears on the coins, but is a foreshortened or familiar form lacking the second part of a diathematic structure, the Hun element in the former annal may be a separate name. Hence a tripartite division of the kingdom might be intended. Beornred emerged for a short time in 757 as ruler of Mercia before being driven out by Offa. Archibald cites Charles Oman's suggestion that they could be the same person. Offa (died July 26/29, 796) was the King of Mercia from 757 until his death. ...

No known member of the Wuffing family had a name commencing with B. However there were Mercian rulers (including Beornwulf) using that letter. Considering the name of Beonna himself and of Beodric, the name-founder of Beodricesworth (afterwards Bury St Edmunds), it has been argued that these were members of a family with dynastic claims both in Mercia and in East Anglia. Hence it is suggested that, following the death of Ælfwald, a Wuffing claimant Æthelberht or Alberht divided his rule with a member of that supposed family. The Wuffings were the ruling dynasty of East Anglia. ... Mercia, sometimes spelled Mierce, was one of the kingdoms of the Anglo-Saxon heptarchy, in what is now England, in the region of the Midlands, with its heart in the valley of the River Trent and its tributary streams. ... Beornwulf (died 826) was the King of Mercia from 823 to 826. ... Map sources for Bury St Edmunds at grid reference TL8564 Bury St Edmunds is a town in the county of Suffolk, England, with a population of 35,015 (2001 census). ...

Military affairs in Mercia

The decade of the 750s was turbulent. Æthelbald of Mercia had dominion over Wessex, where Cuthred had ruled since 740. In 752 Cuthred revolted, and (according to Henry of Huntingdon) the East Angles, perhaps led by Beonna, joined forces with Æthelbald against Cuthred in the Battle of Burford Bridge. Several kingdoms were already in turmoil when in 757 Æthelbald was murdered by two of his own bodyguard. Then Beornred ruled Mercia for a few months, rather unsuccessfully, before Offa (a descendant of Æthelbald's grandfather by a different line) emerged and drove him into a remote part of the kingdom. We have Florence's statement that Beonna was ruling in East Anglia in 758. Ethelbald (or Æthelbald) (died 757) was the King of Mercia in England from 716 until his death. ... Map of the British Isles circa 802 Wessex was one of the seven major Anglo-Saxon kingdoms (the Heptarchy) that preceded the Kingdom of England. ... Cuthred of Wessex or Cuþræd (died 756) was the monarch of Wessex from 740 (739 according to Simeon of Durham, 741 according to Florence of Worcester) until 756. ... Events October 26 - An earthquake strikes Constantinople, causing much damage and death. ... Events Pope Stephen II, pope for 3 days in March. ... For Earl Henry, father of two Scottish kings, see Henry of Scotland, 3rd Earl of Huntingdon Henry of Huntingdon (c. ... Events March 9 - A major earthquake strikes Palestine and Syria Offa becomes king of Mercia. ...

Beonna's coinage and moneyers

The coins of Beonna are known from a number of individual finds, but also from two important group finds. One is a series from stratified deposits, from a defensible estuarine settlement near Rendlesham, Suffolk (a Wuffing royal seat). The other is a hoard deposited around 760 at Middle Harling (Norfolk) on the River Thet, north-east of Thetford. Thetford, at the confluence of the Thet with the Little Ouse and upstream of the important settlement at Brandon (Suffolk), was probably also an early seat of power. Rendlesham is a village in Suffolk in England. ... Map sources for Thetford at grid reference TL8783 Thetford is a town in the Breckland area of Norfolk, England. ... Little Ouse may refer to: Little Ouse, Cambridgeshire River Little Ouse This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... Brandon is a small town and civil parish in the English county of Suffolk. ...

Beonna was the first East Anglian ruler (and among the earliest rulers of the English) to have a coinage issued with legends naming the ruler and title - a regnal coinage. He had three named moneyers that are known, Werferth, Efe and Wilred. Of these, the coins of Efe are by far the most numerous, and the obverse dies naming Beonna pass through several different types. Dr Archibald suggests that this may represent intensive issues over a short period for military purposes, rather than a prolonged sequence of issue. Distribution analysis (unconclusive with such limited numbers) may suggest a north-central Suffolk or southern Norfolk mint for Efe, and the same scholar cites Euston, Suffolk, a little southeast of Thetford, as a name possibly derived from Efe.

The Efe reverse is based on the 'standard' type, derived from the foregoing C and R series sceattas, while the radial letters around a central pellet seen in most Beonna obverses may owe more to Northumbrian prototypes. The legends are latin, mixed latin-runic, or (particularly in Wilred's dies) all-runic. Indeed the Beonna coinage as a whole provides an important dateable runic corpus, and may reflect a distinctive East Anglian preference for runic lettering. Beonna is styled 'Rex' or (runic) 'Ress' by Efe. Section from Shepherds map of the British Isles about 802 AD showing the kingdom of Northumbria Northumbria is primarily the name of a petty kingdom of Angles which was formed in Great Britain at the beginning of the 7th century, from two smaller kingdoms of Bernicia and Diera, and... Technical note: Due to technical limitations, some web browsers may not display some special characters in this article. ...

Wilred uses a rune similar to W after the name, possibly to mean 'Walda' or ruler. Dr Archibald mentions an early coin of Offa struck by the same moneyer, who may therefore have struck at the end of Beonna's reign when Offa's power in East Anglia was growing. The similarity of Wilred's all-runic pennies to the unique penny of Alberht or Aethelberht I confirms their contemporaneity, as does the archaeological context of the Aethelberht find. Wilred may have worked in south-east Suffolk.

A fourth type of coin for Beonna has no named moneyer, but a reverse showing an interlace motif. One specimen of this type has been found at Dorestad, and these resemble Frankish or Frisian deniers of the Maastricht area in the same period. This article does not cite its references or sources. ... Statue of Charlemagne (also called Karl der Große, Charles the Great) in Frankfurt, Germany. ... This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ... Flag of Maastricht. ...

Context

Beonna's rule coincided with the anointing of Pippin III and the displacement of the Merovingian dynasty, and also with the martyrdom of Saint Boniface. His issue of a coinage related to Franco-Frisian types implies a continuing engagement in that sphere. He was probably not a Wuffing but shared power with at least one other who probably was of that dynasty. The preponderance of his regnal coinage in this period suggests his seniority within the arrangement of East Anglian rule. During his reign some measure of East Anglian leadership independent of central Mercian authority seems to be maintained. The written evidences and coins confine our knowledge of him to the period 749-c760. He may have assisted Aethelbald against the West-Saxons in 752, and was possibly connected with the unsuccessful attempt of Beornred to take control of Mercia in 757. With regard to his name, the chroniclers of Worcester and Malmesbury (who use the form with 'r', Beorn-) did not have access to his coins (which use forms without 'r' such as Beonna or Benna): but since it is now clear that they possessed an authentic tradition, the form with 'r' has equal validity to the contemporary evidence of the coins. Of the end of his reign nothing is known. Pepin III (714 - September 24, 768) more often known as Pepin the Short (French, Pépin le Bref; German, Pippin der Kleine), was a King of the Franks (751 - 768). ... There are other articles with similar names; see Merovingian (disambiguation). ... For the Roman general of this name, see Bonifacius. ... Florence of Worcester (died July 7, 1118) was a 12th century English chronicler. ... William of Malmesbury (c. ...

Sources

• M.M. Archibald, 1985, The coinage of Beonna in the light of the Middle Harling hoard, British Numismatic Journal 55, 10-54.
• M.M. Archibald, V.H. Fenwick and M.R. Cowell, 1996, A sceat of Ethelbert I of East Anglia and recent finds of coins of Beonna, British Numismatic Journal 65, 1-19.
• J. Campbell (Ed.), The Anglo-Saxons (Oxford 1982).
• R.D. Carr, A. Tester and P. Murphy, 1988, The Middle Saxon Settlement at Staunch Meadow, Brandon, Antiquity LXII, 371-377.
• V.H. Fenwick, 1984, Insula de Burgh: Excavations at Burrow Hill, Butley, Suffolk 1978-1981, Anglo-Saxon Studies in Archaeology and History 3, 35-54.
• J.A. Giles, Roger of Wendover's Flowers of History (Translation - 2 Vols.) (London 1849).
• P. Grierson and M. Blackburn, Mediaeval European Coinage I: The Early Middle Ages (Cambridge 1986).
• D.P. Kirby, The Earliest English Kings (London 1991).
• R.I. Page, An Introduction to English Runes (London 1973).
• S.J. Plunkett, Suffolk in Anglo-Saxon Times (Tempus, Stroud 2005).
• B. Yorke, Kings and kingdoms of Early Anglo-Saxon England (London 1990).
• Website: Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge: Corpus of Early Mediaeval Coin Finds, and Sylloge of Coins of the British Isles (www.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/coins/emc).