Seven Saxon Kings Project

Sophia was the winner of the Seven Saxon Kings illustration competition, a competition run in 2014-15 by All Saints Church, Kingston-upon-Thames, to design a series of seven panels illustrating the lives of seven Saxon kings thought to have been crowned in Kingston-upon-Thames.

Entrants were asked to submit one fully designed panel, and sketches for the other six panels. Sophia's entry, which drew on research using medieval chronicles, was the unanimous choice of the judging panel. After winning the competition, she was asked to work up the designs for the remaining six panels into finished designs, which can be seen below. Re-imagined versions of Sophia's designs have since been rendered in embroidery; these panels are on permanent display in All Saints Church, Kingston-upon Thames.

Browse Sophia's designs for the panels and vision for the project below.

READ SOPHIA'S VISION FOR THE PROJECT

Vision for the Project

"The panels show the kings in chronological order. Each panel features a stylised head and shoulders representation of the respective king, fitting into the niches and giving continuity to the series. Below this, the depiction of each king gives way to an illustration based on the particular events of his reign.

The unifying theme of this design is the question of power in relation to the rule of England. The first three panels show the consolidation of power in territorial and then legal terms. The middle panel depicts a mood of turbulence, while the latter three panels illustrate challenges to royal power. These were particularly prevalent during the reign of Ӕthelred the Unready (r. 979-1016), but it is apparent that challenges to power were faced by each of the Seven Saxon Kings, in an era when kingly power had to be actively maintained.

Strong curves, inspired by the architecture of the church and details from the stained glass windows, feature across the panels. The design draws on lyrical scenery and makes use of astrological events recorded in sources such as the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, complementing the decorated ceiling above the panels. In addition to the information supplied alongside the brief, the design makes use of sources contemporary to the Saxon kings, as well as the work of later medieval writers such as William of Malmesbury.

The design would lend itself to applique techniques, using the texture of different fabrics to enrich the design, as well as stitched embroidery. Beadwork might also be effective for portraying certain elements of the designs."

This panel illustrates the Saxon kingdoms Wessex and Mercia being brought together under Edward’s rule. This is shown as a bridge between the two kingdoms, upon which rests Kingston’s coronation stone. The inclusion of this detail alludes to the strategic significance of Kingston’s situation on the Thames, the boundary between the two kingdoms. The figures shown in a brawl on the coronation stone represent the challenge to the throne from Edward’s cousin Ӕthelwold, and their battle in 903. Edward is pictured wearing a helmet, as the coronation of his successor Ӕthelstan is thought to have been the first to use a crown.

This panel illustrates Ӕthelstan’s consolidation of Anglo-Saxon rule across all of Britain, which earned him the title ‘King of All Britain’. An outline of Britain is shown, subjected to a strong centripetal force to represent the Celtic lands being brought under Saxon rule. The pattern of the chainmail worn by the king flows into the pattern of the sea, while at the centre sits a precious, stone, Ӕthelstan’s namesake. Pulled towards this are the tributes exacted by Ӕthelstan from other rulers. These include, as related by William of Malmesbury, oxen from the Welsh princes, and a ship with a gold beak and purple sail from Harold, king of the Norwegians; as well as gifts from continental rulers such as Hugh, duke of the Franks, and Louis of Aquitaine. The dark section over Scotland alludes to Ӕthelstan’s attempts to subjugate Scotland, and particularly the 937 battle at Brunanburh. The red lines refer to the legend that the scale of the slaughter at Brunanburh turned the soil red. The broken manacles seen behind the king’s head refer to the story that Athelstan set a slave free on the day of his coronation.

Here Edmund is pictured alongside a scroll and the scales of justice, which refer to the three codes of law promulgated at the beginning of his rule. This reference is emphasised by the triangular shape formed by his cloak behind the scales of justice. The scroll has been slashed to illustrate Edmund’s murder in 946, while his murderer, Leofa, is seen slipping away under the king’s cloak. Edmund’s codes of law had placed emphasis upon the elimination of blood feuds; the slashed scroll thus refers on a second level to the violation of law embodied in the act of regicide. The blood from the wound on the scroll runs into a representation of Glastonbury, where Edmund was buried. The king made a number of gifts to the monastery at Glastonbury, and its abbot, Dunstan (pictured), was influential over him. The relics of the Northern saints Aidan, Hilda, and Ceolfrith, whose names appear on the scroll, were translated to Glastonbury during Edmund’s reign. Edmund’s brooch is a further emblem of his connection with Glastonbury, using symbols from the Chalice Well cover found at Glastonbury today. While the well cover was a twentieth century addition, its design was informed by much earlier symbols connected with Glastonbury.

This central panel features the burning down of the minster (built by St. Wilfrid) at Ripon, during Eadred’s protracted attempts to subdue the North. Clouds of smoke rise from the fire, while the turbulent section below the minster suggests a mood of unrest. Eadred’s face appears ashen, alluding to the long illness which afflicted Eadred for much of his reign. In the top left of the panel we see an angel carrying Eadred’s body, and in the bottom right bishop Dunstan, riding a horse whose skeleton is visible. These depictions refer to the story, recorded in the Life of Dunstan, that an angel appeared to Dunstan, heralding the death of Eadred; Dunstan’s horse, it is said, was struck dead at the sight of the angel.

In this panel, a bishop is shown pulling apart Eadwig and a female figure. This refers both to the tale of Eadwig dragged back to his coronation feast by Dunstan; and to Eadwig’s later separation from his wife Ӕlfgifu by Archbishop Oda, on the grounds that the couple were too closely related. The split panel illustrates this separation, but also evokes the separation of the West Saxon and Mercian kingdoms during Eadwig’s reign, with Northumbria and Mercia choosing Eadwig’s brother Edgar as their king. Unlike the depictions of the other kings, Eadwig’s head is off-centre, while that of the bishop also features in the top part of the panel. While king, Eadwig sent bishop Dunstan into exile; and in this panel he is shown vying with the church for power.

The dominating feature of this panel is a horse buckling as Edward was dragged to his death in 978. The panel picks up a shape from the stained glass window above to suggest the motion of Edward’s fall, while a detail in the top right represents Edward’s councillors falling from an upper storey at Calne in 978. In the top left of the panel appears the 975 comet noted in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. Linked to this omen, the bottom of the panel shows a scene of famine and destruction, themes which dominated Edward’s short reign.

In this panel, Ӕthelred’s head sits lower than the heads of the other kings, while waves crash over his shoulders. The 995 comet recorded in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle appears in Ӕthelred’s eye, suggesting a sense of foreboding for his reign. The longboats in the top right of the panel and the crashing waves indicate the near constant attacks by sea over the course of Ӕthelred’s reign. Lower down the panel, Ӕthelred’s hand offers gold coins, which are drawn into a whirlpool. This represents the short-lived effects of his repeated offers of tribute to disperse the attackers. In the left of the panel, the South-East coast of Britain is shown outlined in flame, referring specifically to the ‘indescribable damage’ left by the attackers Olaf and Swein in 994, but also to subsequent attacks. The barbs at the top of the panel echo the stars on the ceiling above the panels.

Got a project? Email: sophia.pearson@cantab.net

SOPHIA PEARSON

ILLUSTRATION

Seven Saxon Kings Project

Vision for the Project