[Archport] Midlands museums face Vatican battle for Staffordshire Hoard

["Paulo Monteiro" <pmonteiro@ntasa.pt>]

Birmingham Mail, 21 December 2009

Midlands museums face Vatican battle for Staffordshire Hoard

It has been described as the "stuff of dreams". It brought one archaeologist to tears at the very sight of it.

But the awe-inspiring Staffordshire Hoard, one of the most important discoveries of Anglo-Saxon treasure in British history, may be whisked away by the Vatican.

That is the fear of experts who believe the haul of 1,500 artefacts, made of gold and silver and decorated with precious stones, could be the lost treasure of King Edwin, a seventh century Christian monarch.

Edwin ruled Northumbria from about 616 AD until his death in 633 AD.

At the time of his death, he was one of the most powerful Kings in Saxon England and had also conquered large parts of the ancient Mercian kingdom.

And it is here that the £3.3 million hoard was discovered in a field almost 1,370 years later.

The former pagan monarch had converted to Christianity in 627 AD and set about converting the rest of England by force with the backing of Pope Boniface V and the wealthy Roman Catholic Church.

The two traded letters and Boniface showered Edwin - who later became a saint - with gifts of gold and silver from Rome to keep him loyal.

Edwin died at the Battle of Hatfield Chase in 633 AD when he was killed by the forces of pagan warrior King Penda, who had his royal court in Tamworth. His treasure was never found, lost in the mists of time.

Until, that is, the hoard was discovered in July on farmland near Burntwood, less than 15 miles away from Tamworth, by metal detector user Terry Herbert.

The treasure, which included hundreds of bejewelled battlefield items, added up to around 5kg of the purest of gold and 2.5kg of silver.

But it was the Christian significance of some of the relics, including a folded cross and a bracelet with a Biblical inscription, that led to a significant phone call to Midland archaeologists from the Vatican.

Deb Klemperer, from the Potteries Museum in Stoke-on-Trent, was one of the first archaeologists at the scene when the hoard was discovered. She is now among Midland groups trying to raise the £3.3 million needed to buy the treasure - to keep it in the region.

"I've been told that the Vatican think it may be the lost treasure of St Edwin," she told the Sunday Mercury.

"There is some suggestion that because St Edwin became a Christian, the Pope sent him gifts to try and keep him on board.

"This is what we may have found in Staffordshire.

''St Edwin was killed in battle with King Penda of Mercia in 632 AD, and I think it is likely that it is his hoard.

"The way it has been stripped down - the weapons have been taken from their pommels, the gold bent this way and that - it seems like it was won in battle.

"If we cannot raise enough money to buy the hoard, the Vatican would certainly be interested in acquiring it I'm sure.

"But so would thousands of other people from around the world, and that is what we have to guard against.

''The worst thing that could happen would be to have the collection split up amongst private collectors."

The Staffordshire Hoard gained worldwide media attention when it went on display at Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery in September. Almost 65,000 people visited the artefacts, making it the most successful exhibit in the museum's history.

Tests are still being carried out but experts believe the supreme quality of the craftsmanship indicates royal ownership, dating from the seventh century.

Britain was then a war-torn land, split into different regions ruled by different kings battling to fill the power vacuum left after the fall of the Roman Empire.

In describing a world when talk of dragons and magic was common, archaeologists sometimes liken the period to JRR Tolkien's Lord Of The Rings.

It was also a time when the Catholic Church was growing ever richer and more powerful. Rome was looking to stretch its influence to Britain, supplying gold gifts to Christian Kings as sweeteners.

Birmingham Museum received calls from across the world about the Staffordshire Hoard, including from the Vatican who showed an "active interest".

In an interview with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, Simon Cane, deputy director of the Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery, said: "The Vatican have a press office and they're interested. Plus the fact that this is Christian material.

"From this period the Catholic church was supporting Christian Kings in England so therefore they have an active interest. If we're finding Christian articles, it's highly likely they're connected with Rome."

Dr David Symons, Curator of Antiquities at Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery, said the church's links to Saxon England were undeniable.

''Following the collapse of the Roman Empire, Britain had been cut loose and Germanic peoples, the Angles, the Saxons and so on, had flooded in from Northern Europe," he explained.

"Eventually various Kingdoms emerged, such as Kent and Mercia, and they were all fighting each other like ferrets in a bag.

"Mercia eventually became the dominant power in England and would have been communicating regularly with Charlemagne at that point in France.

"In fact, this is the point when Christianity really began to take over the pagan Saxon world.

"For example, there is evidence that the King of Kent married a Princess from the French Royal family, so there was a very real international dimension to life in Saxon England at that time.

"They weren't just a horde of hairy barbarians running around a tiny island, it was much more sophisticated than that.

"Christianity was a major influence and the papacy in Rome was very powerful. There is a lot of evidence of this from the use of Latin to literacy and connections with France.

"The Vatican was a real powerbroker. Against that backdrop there is a chance that some of the Staffordshire gold could be from the Vatican.

"We will be working hard in the new year with Stoke City Council to raise enough money to acquire the hoard and keep it on show in the Midlands. I know we have the backing of the British Museum in that cause."

The problem is that Stoke and Birmingham city councils, alongside the museums and other interested bodies, will have just four months to raise the £3.3 million needed to keep the treasure in the UK.

Fight

The fundraising campaign has already gained the support of the Government and talks have begun with funding bodies the Heritage Lottery Fund, Art Fund and National Heritage Memorial Fund.

There will be a further public appeal to increase the £40,000 already raised through public donations, and an initial book on the find has been produced, with £1 donation from each sale going to the Hoard Appeal.

But compared with the bottomless coffers of the highly secretive Vatican - one the richest institutions on the planet - it is clear that the Midlands could have a real fight on its hands.

Alex Jones, Director of Heritage Services at Birmingham Archaeology, who worked on the original dig in Staffordshire said: "I have heard the Pope mentioned in relation to the hoard, but do not know in what context.

"I do not want to think about the hoard leaving the region, let alone the country. Mercia is crucially important to Midland history, so it is vital we keep the hoard here and I am confident we can raise the necessary funds."

When the Sunday Mercury contacted the Vatican press office they refused to comment - and repeatedly hung up on our reporter.

Terry Herbert, 55, and farmer Fred Johnson, who owned the land where the historic discovery was made, are set to split any of the £3.3 million raised. Neither was available for comment last night.

 

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