Medieval Maritime Culture as a Stage for Christian Faith

Medieval Maritime Culture as a Stage for Christian Faith

Imagery related to seafaring practices and ships in general was very prevalent in medieval England. As Christianity spread throughout the 6th and 7th centuries, English art, specifically literature and sculpting/metalwork, began to practically uniformly adhere to specific themes related to the Christian God and the teachings of Jesus. This tendency is best highlighted through two poems of the time, The Wanderer and The Seafarer, as well as the famous Sutton Hoo ship burial. The English were a seafaring people during the Middle Ages out of necessity. As a result, poems such as the two previously mentioned are ideal in terms of analyzing the apparent connection between ships, maritime culture, and faith in God. Such poems also highlight a certain connection between God and the physical environment. It seems as though the English viewed nature as a kind of echo of God's possible wrath. Furthermore, the Sutton Hoo burial seems to provide a very clear snapshot of the English transition from a pagan system of beliefs to a Christian one.

(http://employees.oneonta.edu/farberas/arth/arth212/sutton_hoo.html)

The pair of spoons pictured above are engraved with the names "Saul" and Paul." These spoons bearing the names of two overtly Christian figures were found at the Sutton Hoo burial site alongside other far more pagan artifacts. This dichotomy is striking in that it indicates a true transitional period in English history. Sutton Hoo is also interesting as a site as a result of its apparently systematic, religious burial. The entire ship was buried along with very significant artifacts of the time and possibly even a body. This burial, along with most burials, seems to represent a kind of longing for a "return to nature." It seems as though the spiritual aspects of nature were often thought to be synonymous with the power of God in England during the Middle Ages. This linkage is very well expressed within both The Wanderer and The Seafarer.

While the Sutton Hoo burial site serves as an effective indicator of the period of transition from pagan to Christian, these poems provide some real insight as to how the English feared God and associated the wrath of nature with God's wrath in the Middle Ages. The Seafarer is specifically unique in terms of its portrayal of nature as a direct pathway to God. It seems as though the author believed that, just as human beings tend to fear nature, so too should they fear God. Similarly, The Wanderer also seems to be a purposeful warning related to a possible judgement day. It is almost as if the environment (the sea, specifically) serves as a message for the poem's central seafaring warrior. In both poems, however, God is portrayed as the only source of permanent stability. Prosperity and peace of mind are entirely dependent upon one's faith in the Christian God according to both The Seafarer and The Wanderer. 

The Sutton Hoo burial site seems to set the scene for what would ultimately become a widespread religious explosion that is very well depicted within The Seafarer and The Wanderer. This physical site, in conversation with the poems, serves as a clear indicator of a religious transformation in England. Ships also serve as figurative "prisons" in all three cases. The poems depict Englishmen who are at the mercy of nature (and God) while on their ships, and Sutton Hoo was buried with artifacts trapped within it. This representation of ships harkens back to God serving as a savior of mankind. It seems as though the prominence of maritime culture in England during the Middle Ages served as an ideal platform upon which religious figures of the day were able to spread their gospel.