Eadgyth and Otto - Image from Wikipedia

It was widely reported last week that remains, thought to be those of Eadgyth of Wessex, were undergoing analysis at the University of Bristol. If the identity is confirmed then they would be the oldest identified remains of a member of the English royal family.

Eadgyth and her family were key figures during the early part of Cestrescire's period of interest. She was the granddaughter of Alfred the Great and niece to Aethelflaed, Lady of the Mercians. Her half-brother was King Athelstan. At the age of 19 she was married to Otto, Duke of Saxony. It is thought that on her death, she was buried in Magdeburg where she lay until the recent discovery (although her coffin was moved in the later middle ages).

Eadgyth's story highlights a crucial period in the formation of Britain and Europe. She lived more than a century before Hastings and the Norman conquest. Many of the nations we know today were yet to be unified, and Viking attacks still ravaged Europe. Despite this, both Eadgyth and her sister became Queens in mainland Europe, suggesting that even then, Saxon royalty were prominent figures on the continent. Her husband, Otto, went on to be crowned Holy Roman Emperor and is now known as Otto the Great. Athelstan, Eadgyth's half-brother was the victor at the battle of Brunanburh. Little known today, it is considered to be the battle that unified England, and went a long way to determining the shape of Britain as we know it to day.

Image by portable antiquities

Thought to date from around the 7th century, the Staffordshire hoard is the largest collection of Anglo-Saxon gold ever found. Now an appeal has been launched to raise £3.3million, in order to keep the collection from being sold and potentially broken up

In terms of what will be learned from the hoard, through careful study over many years to come, it's value is incalculable. But it has another value, which is perhaps even greater: this is one of those very few, special finds which captures the imagination of the general public.

As re-enactors, we know well how challenging it can be to get people interested in Anglo-Saxon England. There is no Pyramid or Parthenon to visit. Many of our most remarkable artefacts are hard to appreciate at first glance. Swords and armour are often corroded or broken. Books and tapestries have to be studied and understood. In the period still known as the dark ages, people too often imagine brutes wrapped in a bearskins. Now we can picture warriors richly adorned in gold and jewels, shaped by master craftsmen at the pinacle of their art.