Oswald of Northumbria
Oswald (604-642) was a great king of Northumbria, a historical kingdom in the north of England before the country was unified under Athelstan. His father, Æthelfrith, was also king of Northumbria, and a great warrior who died in battle with King Raedwald of East Anglia (possibly the king buried at Sutton Hoo) around 616. Upon Æthelfrith’s death, Oswald’s uncle Edwin took the crown, and the young man went to live in Dál Riata, a kingdom on the west coast of Scotland converted to Christianity by Irish missionaries. Whilst there, Oswald converted to Christianity, having been raised a pagan.
Edwin died at the Battle of Hatfield in 633, and the following year Oswald’s brother, King Eanfrith, was also killed. Both were dispatched by King Cadwallon ap Cadfan of Gwynned, who was in alliance with the pagan King Penda of Mercia. Cadwallon ruled Northumbria for a year, ‘not like a victorious king, but like a rapacious and bloody tyrant’ according to the Venerable Bede (Ecclesiastical History, Book III Chapter 1). Things were not looking good for the newly-crowned King Oswald. Against the great Welsh king, he had only a small army, but valiantly rode into battle.
Oswald, however, had a trick up his sleeve. Just before the battle commenced, Oswald ‘erected the sign of the holy cross, and on his knees prayed to God that he would assist his worshipers in their great distress… raising his voice, he cried to his army, “let us all kneel, and jointly beseech the true and living God Almighty, in His mercy, to defend us from the haughty and fierce enemy”‘ (Ecclesiastical History, Book III Chapter 2). Cadwallon’s massive army, ‘which he boasted nothing could withstand’ (Ecclesiastical History, Book III Chapter 1), was utterly decimated.
Upon taking back Northumbria, Oswald commanded that all of his subjects convert to Christianity, making this battle a key event in the history of Christianity in England. The story, however, is strategically similar to the story of Emperor Constantine (272-337). According to Eusebius, one of Bede’s inspirations as a historian, Constantine was traveling to the Battle of the Milvian Bridge (312) when he saw a cross of light above the sun with the inscription in hoc signo vinces (‘through this sign, you shall conquer’). Having won the battle, Constantine set about converting the Roman Empire to Christianity.
