Since the Sutton Hoo film 'The Dig' came out today I thought I'd focus my #earlyenglishqueens thread on the wife of King Raedwald of East Anglia! We know of Raedwald's wife through Bede: though she is not named she is important to his narrative of the conversion to Christianity

There are five royal marriages between Christians and non-Christians in Bede's HE, but only King Raedwald's marriage is a case of a Christian man married to a pagan woman. Raedwald's wife is portrayed by Bede as dissuading him from Christian worship after his conversion: 2/

'He was seduced by his wife [...] and perverted from the sincerity of his faith, […] serving both Christ and the gods whom he had previously served; in the same temple he has one altar for the Christian sacrifice and another small altar on which to offer victims to devils.' 3/

Though Raedwald's wife is portrayed as an evil temptress, this narrative reveals to us that during the conversion process Christian and non-Christian worship was practiced simultaneously (and this blending of two belief systems is arguably evident in grave goods at Sutton Hoo) 4/

In another episode in Bede's HE we see Raedwald's wife in a different and more positive light: She dissuades her husband from dishonourably murdering a young Edwin of Northumbria, a merciful act which leads to King Edwin's eventual conversion to Christianity by Paulinus. 5/

As Bede's intention wasn't to shed light on the roles of royal women, we must extrapolate from the evidence: though her portrayal is complex, in both instances Raedwald's wife is a persuasive figure who exerts a great degree of influence over her powerful husband. 6/

Theories have been put forward that it may have been Raedwald's wife who orchestrated the elaborate burial at Sutton Hoo. Though I would not like to speculate on this, there is a certainly a strength of character reflected in Bede's portrayal of this unnamed queen. 7/7