Some Anglo-Saxon warriors may have been transgender, says academic

Anglo-Saxons may have been transgender, new research has claimed.

By applying “trans theory” to Dark Age graves, a University of Liverpool researcher has concluded that modern gender norms may not have applied 1,500 years ago.

Some Anglo-Saxon warriors may have been transgender men, it has been argued.

From studying burials in Kent through the “lens of transness”, it has also been suggested that transgender women may have enjoyed high status in Anglo-Saxon society.

The theory has been put forward by James Davison, a PhD candidate and tutor of medieval history at the University of Liverpool, who also convenes the Trans*Historical Conference.

His work comes amid a trend for re-examining historical figures using modern gender categories, which The Telegraph recently revealed had led one museum to label the Roman emperor Elagabalus as trans.

‘Discrepancies’

Mr Davison’s work relates to seventh-century AD burials in Buckland, Dover, some of which contain either feminine or masculine grave goods, such as swords, which appear to be at odds with the sex of the person buried.

These variations are usually recorded as “discrepancies”, but Mr Davison has suggested that Dark Age transgenderism could provide a more convincing explanation.

He wrote: “Using approaches from trans studies – which acknowledge the potential for genders beyond a male-female binary in historical cultures – allows researchers to approach these burials more critically.”

He has argued that using “the lens of trans theory and the 21st-century language of ‘transness’ has the potential to improve historians’ understanding of early Anglo-Saxon gender”.

‘Possibly female’

The Buckland cemetery was excavated by Prof Vera Evison between 1951 and 1953, and is the site of around 170 graves.

One burial contains the remains of a person designated as “possibly female” due to the poor quality of the remains, who died aged 35 and was buried with a number of typically masculine artefacts.

These include a sword, a spearhead, fragments of a decorated shield and fragments of a belt buckle, which suggest it was a warrior’s grave, it has been claimed.

As there is a discrepancy between the sex of the person and their grave goods, Mr Davison argues that “this could be interpreted as the grave of a trans man who enjoyed a position of respect in his community, displaying his wealth, masculinity – and perhaps warrior status – through his shield, sword and spear”.

Another grave contains remains with signs of tooth decay associated with the diet of a high-status individual, who was found by archaeologists to be “definitely male”.

Mr Davison argued that by “taking a trans studies approach to the burial evidence, I can theorise that this could be interpreted as the grave of a wealthy trans woman”.

Writing an article on his research, he conceded that it is not certain that these burials were those of transgender people, and that any theories will be only “speculative”.

However, he has also argued that ruling out the presence of Anglo-Saxon transgender individuals in a “trans-exclusionary” way would depend on troubling “assumptions”.

Attempt at character assassination

His PhD research comes as the historical figure of Elagabalus has swept into gender speculation. The Telegraph revealed last year that the North Hertfordshire Museum classified preferences of the third-century AD Roman emperor as transgender.

Elagabalus was given female pronouns by curators on the basis of classical texts that claim the emperor asked to be called “lady”, but some historians believe these accounts may simply have been a Roman attempt at character assassination.

Information on museum policy states that pronouns used in displays will be those “the individual in question might have used themselves” or whatever pronoun “in retrospect, is appropriate”.