Arwald (died 686 CE) was the last pagan Anglo-Saxon king and the last king of the

Wihtwara Wihtwara ( or ) were the Early Medieval inhabitants of the Isle of Wight, a island off the south coast of England. Writers such as Bede attribute their origin to Jutes who migrated to the island during the Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain. The ...

, a people that inhabited the

Isle of Wight The Isle of Wight (Help:IPA/English, /waɪt/ Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''WYTE'') is an island off the south coast of England which, together with its surrounding uninhabited islets and Skerry, skerries, is also a ceremonial county. T ...

. He was killed by

Cædwalla of Wessex Cædwalla (; 659 – 20 April 689) was the King of Wessex from approximately 685 until he abdicated in 688. His name is derived from the Welsh Cadwallon. He was exiled from Wessex as a youth and during this period gathered forces and attack ...

during an invasion of his kingdom, at which point the island was Christianised. During the invasion, his two brothers were baptised before also being killed and are now venerated as saints.

Invasion of Wihtwara

According to ''Anglo-Saxon Chronicle A'',

was invaded by

in 686 during the rule of Arwald.

Bede Bede (; ; 672/326 May 735), also known as Saint Bede, Bede of Jarrow, the Venerable Bede, and Bede the Venerable (), was an English monk, author and scholar. He was one of the most known writers during the Early Middle Ages, and his most f ...

's ''

Ecclesiastical History of the English People The ''Ecclesiastical History of the English People'' (), written by Bede in about AD 731, is a history of the Christian Churches in England, and of England generally; its main focus is on the growth of Christianity. It was composed in Latin, and ...

'' states that at the time of this the island's whole population was heathen and the invader sought to slaughter every inhabitant of Wihtwara without mercy and to populate the island afresh with West Saxons. He also promised that if he was successful in conquering the island, he would give a fourth of it to the Church. Arwald was killed during the West Saxon invasion, and his two younger brothers fled to mainland Britain where they were betrayed by those there and captured by Cædwalla's forces. It is unclear how old the brothers were at this time but the use of to describe them suggests an age around 7-14. Cædwalla, who had been wounded during the fighting, ordered them to be executed but Cynibert, a bishop from Hreutford, convinced him to have the boys baptised first. Bede records that these were the first from the island were " saved". He then writes that when "the executioner came, they joyfully underwent the temporal death, through which they did not doubt they were to pass to the life of the soul, which is everlasting" and that Christianity was then imposed on Wight. After taking control of Wight, he upheld his former oath, giving large estates to Wilfrid and from this point onwards, the inhabitants were under West Saxon domination, being administered in Church matters by the

bishop of Winchester The Bishop of Winchester is the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Winchester in the Church of England. The bishop's seat (''cathedra'') is at Winchester Cathedral in Hampshire. The Bishop of Winchester has always held ''ex officio'' the offic ...

by 731. Bede describes Arwald's brothers as "among the first fruits of the island who believed". They are now venerated as saints, however as their names are unknown they are called collectively "St. Arwald" after their father. Their feast day is 22 April. It has been suggested that the brothers were depicted by Bede as willingly being killed and receiving a heavenly reward in order to appease those who sympathised with Arwald's family, which had no recorded survivors of the conquest.

Modern influence

Arwald is portrayed as the pagan antagonist to the Christian Caedwalla in the fiction book ''Caedwalla'' by Frank Cowper (1888).

Notes

References

Bibliography

Primary

* * * Eddius Stephanus, ''Vita Wilfridi''

Secondary

* * *

External links

* {{PASE, 1528, Arwald 1 686 deaths Jutish people Year of birth unknown People from the Isle of Wight Anglo-Saxon pagans 7th-century English monarchs Anglo-Saxons killed in battle Monarchs killed in action History of the Isle of Wight