Welcome to Dr Sam Newton’s Wuffings’ Website Website, which aims to provide a focus for the study of Sutton Hoo and the history and culture of the Wuffing Kingdom of East Anglia and beyond.
Please scroll down for information about (1) Wuffing Education study-days, study-mornings, and other events (2) my weekly seminars, (3) available lectures, (4) about me and my works, (5) my books and other publications, and (6) some old but still occasionally useful resources for Wuffing & Sutton Hoo Studies.
1. Wuffing Education Online Study-Days, Study-Mornings Live and Online, and Lectures
18th September 2024: King Ælfred and the Cakes – a live lecture at the White Lion, Ufford, Suffolk IP13 6DW. Please book via the Lion 01394 460770 / info@uffordwhitelion.co.uk
Saturday 21st September 2024: Life-Lore: Old English Proverbs and Wisdom Literature – an online study-day with Dr Eleanor Parker (Brasenose College, Oxford) exploring the world of the Old English-speaking peoples through their traditions of wisdom literature.
Friday 4th October 2024: King Rædwald and the Battle of the River Idle – an online study-day with Dr Sam Newton FSA on one of the decisive battles early English history (c. 617), in which Rædwald of East Anglia, High King of Southumbria, defeated and killed the formidable Æthelfrith, High King of Northumbria, and thus became Rex Anglorum, “King of the English” (as even Bede himself acknowledged in an unguarded moment). We explore the background, location, and consequences of this battle and how it strengthens the possibility that Rædwald was the king who lay in state aboard the richly-laden Sutton Hoo ship-burial.
Friday 11th October 2024: A Landscape History of “Greater East Anglia” – an online study-day with Edward Martin FSA exploring the ways in which we can read the history of the landscape between the Wash and the Thames estuary.
Friday 18th October 2024: The Battle of Assandún (18th October 1016) – an online study-day with Dr Sam Newton FSA on the anniversary of the battle that is least as important in English history as the the Battle of Hastings 50 years later.
Friday 25th October 2024: The Battle of Agincourt (25th October 1415) – a live study-morning on the anniversary of this famous battle with world-class scholar Dr Toby Capwell FSA.
Friday 15th November 2024: The Battle of the River Went (15th November 655) – an online anniversary study-day with Dr Sam Newton FSA on the great battle at the flooded crossing of the River Winwæd, now the Went, where King Oswy of Northumbria defeated and killed King Penda of Mercia, the last of the old pagan warlords, and his many allies, including King Æthelhere of East Anglia.
Friday 22nd November 2024: The Viking Great Armies in England of the Ninth Century – an online study-day with Dr Gareth Williams following the fourteen-year progress of the micel here, or ‘great heathen army’ which landed in East Anglia in 865. Re-examining the historical sources in the light of recent archaeological discoveries, we shall see how this coalition of Viking raiders was able to confront the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms on equal terms, and ultimately to conquer and settle a large portion of England for themselves.
Friday 29th November 2024: The Children of Athena: Greek Intellectuals in the Roman Empire – an online study-morning with Charles Freeman (specialist on the ancient world and its legacy) on the remarkable story of how Greek-speaking writers and thinkers sustained and developed the intellectual legacy of Classical Greece under the rule of Rome. These include Plutarch the historian and Ptolemy the Alexandrian geographer and astronomer. The story extends from the second century BC to the fifth century AD and helped to shape the intellectual landscape of the Middle Ages and Renaissance.
Friday 6th December 2024: Yuletide to Nativity: Christmas in Early England – an online study-morning with Dr Sam Newton FSA rekindling the old magic of Christmas with a look at the significance of the midwinter festival in early England and how it was celebrated.
Friday 13th December 2024: The Battle of the Holme (13th December 902) – an online study-morning with Dr Sam Newton FSA on the anniversary of the battle which ended the West Saxon cousins’ war which nearly destroyed the achievements of King Ælfred following his death in 899. We shall see how his nephew Æthelwald challenged his Will with the help of the Danish army. We shall also look at the clues provided in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle pointing to the site of the battle somewhere in Cambridgeshire.
– click here for the full programme on Eventbrite –
– please note that these events are not recorded –
2. Weekly Morning Seminars in Sutton Hoo Studies 2024, live and online
3. If you wish to book me to deliver a lecture or study-day, click here for a selection of titles.
4. About Me and My Works
5. My Books:
1. The Reckoning of King Rædwald (2003)
2. The Origins of Beowulf and the pre-Viking Kingdom of East Anglia (1993)
My more recent published papers, such as “The Forgotten History of St Bótwulf (Botolph)” (2016), can be downloaded from my page on Academia .
Above: Dawn over Iken Hoo, where St Bótwulf (Botolph) founded his famous minster in 654. Thanks to Dominic for this picture ©Iken Canoe Hire (the best way to view Iken Hoo is from a canoe).
6. Resources for Wuffing Studies:
Wuffings’ Who Was Who (genealogical & historical information)
Sutton Hoo: Burial-Ground of the Wuffings (some of the wonders of the royal ship-burial)
Wuffing and Related Places of Interest (sites where the Wuffings walked; and more) – work in progress
In Defence of the Wuffings (Book Review) – my response to some of Professor Martin Carver’s theories about Sutton Hoo and the kings of East Anglia.
Sutton Hoo: Burial-Ground of Dissidents? – further thoughts on Professor Martin Carver’s theories about Sutton Hoo.
Some Wuffing Studies’ reading lists
Some Old Links to related Websites
