Killed on this day 794, Æthelberht II of East Anglia.

On 20 May 794, Æthelberht II, King of East Anglia was beheaded on the orders of Offa, King of Mercia, of possibly his queen, Cynethryth, having been captured when he visited King Offa's court at Sutton in modern Hertfordshire. Subsequently, his head is reputed to have fallen from the cart in which it was being transported, and to have cured a blind man who accidentally touched it, leading to Æthelberht's canonisation as Saint Ethelbert. Versions of the story vary in medieval chronicles, none of which were written down until centuries after Æthelberht's death. 

Depiction of a brass plate from Hereford Cathedral showing the martyred Anglo-Saxon king Æthelberht II of East Anglia. GC Haddon in Havergal (1869).

All of the stories agree that Æthelberht, who was born around 774, probably a son of Æthelred I of East Anglia and his queen Leofrana of Mercia. He came to the throne around 779, as a boy-king, and was reputed to have been a good and pious monarch. In 794 he travelled to the court of King Offa of Mercia, to meet Ælfthryth, daughter of Offa, who he was due to wed, something which would have made a powerful dynastic marriage. Some versions of the story record that Æthelberht's mother was against this, as the events had been preceded by a number of ill omens, including earthquakes and an eclipse.

Tales of the actual murder vary. Some depict Offa as a weak but pious king, manipulated into murdering Æthelberht by Queen Cynethryth. Other versions exclude Offa from the plot altogether, alleging that Æthelberht was murdered by a man called Grimbert, or a group of assassins, acting directly on the Queen's orders. Some versions have this happening at the nearby village of Marden, before reaching Offa's court at Sutton. Other versions have him arriving at the court and being welcomed by Offa, before being murdered by Cynethryth's man or men. One version has an elaborate pit trap hidden beneath the bed chamber he is given. 

The events after the murder are more agreed upon. The head of Æthelberht may-or-may-not have fallen from a cart and cured a blind man, but he is certainly credited with healing miracles after his death, and accepted as a saint and martyr by the church. Offa's daughter, Ælfthryth, was apparently so horrified by these events that she retired to a nunnery at Crowland, where she lived for the remaining 40 years of her life, also being made a saint after her death.

Unravelling these the truth behind these stories requires an understanding of the medieval concept of kingship, particularly as it was understood in Norman England where they were eventually written down. At this time, kings were not seen as simply gaining their status by accident of birth, they were placed their by the hand of god. As such, all kings were, by default, good and pious, and anything bad going on at their court had to be down to somebody else. A queen, who was there by marriage rather than birthright, was potentially a good target, particularly one such as Cynethryth, who was not clearly from a royal background. 

Thus, Æthelberht was good and pious, because he was a king. Offa, of course, was also good and pious, because he was also a king. Cynethryth, as a woman and possible commoner, was absolutely able to be a murderess to fit the narrative, while, Ælfthryth, a woman of clear royal descent, could go on to be a saint. As a murdered king, Æthelberht was automatically a martyr, even though he died as a result of political intrigue rather than for his faith.

In Æthelberht's time things may have been seen somewhat differently, if not by the naïve Æthelberht, then certainly by the Mercian king. Offa had come to power in 757, following the assassination of the previous king, Æthelbald, and following a civil conflict against rival Beornred, who was also killed. He then went on to assert his authority over the kingdoms of Kent and Sussex, who were essentially turned into vassal states. He formed an alliance with Wessex, the other major power in England at the time by marrying his daughter Eadburh to King Beorhtric of Wessex. Little that we know about Offa suggests that he would have hesitated to kill a fellow king if such a deed expanded his political power. 

A depiction of King Offa of Mercia. From The Chantry Priest of Barnet, A Tale of Two Roses by Alfred J Church (Seeley, 1885).

For a long time, the only known coins associated with Æthelberht were of a design known as 'Wolf and Twins' pennies, and these were very rare, with two specimens known since the eighteenth century, and a third discovered in Italy in the early twentieth century. These had a motive on one side with a she-wolf suckling a pair of human infants, a reference to the Roman story of Romulus and Remus. This has been seen as a reference to the Wuffingas dynasty of East Anglia, of which Æthelberht was a part, but is also a very potent royal motif, invoking the might of Rome.

A 'Wolf and Twins' coin issued by Æthelberht II of East Anglia. Naismith (2014).

This led to speculation that Offa might have seen Æthelberht as a sub-king, with East Anglia being a subordinate kingdom to Mercia, as Kent and Sussex were. Minting his own coins, and in particular a coin with a Romulus and Remus motif, and thereby comparing the King of East Anglia to the Emperor of Rome, would be a powerful assertion of independence, which might have angered the Mercian king sufficiently to have murdered his East Anglian rival. Because the murder happened the year after the sack of Lindisfarne by Viking raiders, it was suggested that this might have led Æthelberht to realise that his kingdom was at risk, seeking an alliance with the more powerful Offa, but falling into a trap instead.

There are, however, some problems with this story too. The 'Wolf and Twins' of Æthelberht bear the mark of the same moneyer (coin-maker), Lul, as many coins issued by Offa, which seems unlikely if the two were rivals and the coin was offensive to Offa. Then in 2014 a fourth coin from the reign of Æthelberht was discovered by a metal detectorist near Pevensey in East Sussex, with this coin having a different motif, the king's name written around the outside, with a cross in the middle, a design typical of Anglo Saxon pennies. 

This suggests that Æthelberht had a longer history of issuing coins, with more than one design being used during his reign. As such he is much less likely to have been seen as a subordinate king, and the use of the same moneyer as Offa suggests that this was not a contentious issue for him. 

A typical Anglo Saxon silver penny with the inscription Æthelberht Rex around the outside. Naismith (2014).

This makes Offa's motive in killing Æthelberht all the more sinister. There appears to have been no prior claim to East Anglia by the Mercian king, nor any direct insult offered to him by Æthelberht. Seen in this light, the killing was a straightforward power grab; Offa killed Æthelberht, and incorporated East Anglia into his own kingdom, apparently a better arrangement than a dynastic marriage that would have left a son-in-law on the throne.

A map of the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of East Anglia, using modern maps to locate key East Anglian placenames and the coastline in Saxon times. Wikipedia.

Today, Æthelberht is commemorated as a saint by both the Catholic and Anglican churches (under the modernised name of Saint Ethelbert. He is one of the patron saints of Hereford Cathedral (along with the Blessed Virgin Mary), and one of the two main entrances to the precinct of Norwich Cathedral is called St Ethelbert's Gate. There are churches dedicated to him in Norfolk, Suffolk, and London.

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United States returns looted antiquities to India.

The United States has returned 657 antiquities with a total value exceeding US$14 million to India, according to a press release issued by the Manhattan District Attorney's Office on 28 April 2026. Many of the items are alleged to have been smuggled into the US by a trafficking ring led by Subhash Kapoor, an art dealer who formerly ran a gallery in Manhattan, as well as an import/export business specialising in antiquities from India and Southeast Asia. Kapoor is currently serving a seven year prison sentence in India for crimes relating to theft and smuggling. The artefacts were returned to Indian Consul to New York, Rajlakshmi Kadam, in a ceremony in Manhattan.

The returned items include a bronze figure of the Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara, seated on an inscribed double-lotus base over a lion-flanked throne, with an inscription identifying it has having been made by the master craftsman Dronaditya of Sipur. This was part of a collection of bronze statues unearthed near the Lakshamana Temple in Khajuraho, Madhya Pradesh, in 1939, and placed in the collection of the Mahant Ghasidas Memorial Museum in Raipur. The statue was stolen and smuggled to the US some time before 1982, entering a private collection in New York before 2014, from where it was seized by the US authorities in 2025. The statue has an estimated value of about US$2 million.

A bronze statue of the Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara returned to India after being stolen and smuggled into the US. Manhattan District Attorney's Office.

Another item returned was a red sandstone figure of a Buddha standing with his right hand raised in an abhaya-mudra gesture, signifying protection. This item is believed to have been looted somewhere in northern India, and to have been damaged in the process; the statue's feet are broken off, as is most of a halo which would once have sat behind the Buddha's head. It was recovered from a storage unit in New York belonging to Subhash Kapoor by the Manhattan District Attorney’s Antiquities Trafficking Unit, and is believed to have been smuggled into the US by him. The statue has been valued at about US$7.5 million.

A sandstone statue of the Buddha believed to have been looted from northern India. Manhattan District Attorney's Office.

Another notable item returned is a sandstone statue of the Hindu God Ganesha in a dancing pose. This statue is alleged to have been stolen from a temple in Madhya Pradesh, India in 2000, by Ranjeet 'Shantoo' Kanwar, a convicted trafficker and co-conspirator of Subhash Kapoor, and smuggled into the US by Vaman Ghiya, another notorious trafficker from Jaipur in Rajasthan, where it was sold to the New York art dealer Doris Wiener. When Wiener died in 2012, the item passed to her daughter, Nancy Wiener, who has admitted to knowingly falsifying provenance records for looted items, and sold at Christie's Auction House in New York to a private collector, who surrendered it to the Manhattan District Attorney's Office earlier this year. 

A sandstone statue of Ganesha alleged to have been stolen from a temple in Madhya Pradesh. Manhattan District Attorney's Office.

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South Africa returns Chapungu Bird and Human remains to Zimbabwe.

Iziko Museums of South Africa have returned a Chapungu Bird taken from the Great Zimbabwe site in Zimbabwe and eight sets of Human remains to representatives of the Government of Zimbabwe at a ceremony held in Cape Town on 14 April 2026. All were removed from sites within Zimbabwe during the nineteenth century and found their way into the collection of the museums. The timing of the restoration follows a directive from South African President Cyril Ramaphosa that the items should be returned before the Zimbabwean Independence Day Celebrations on 18 April, part of a broader program by South African museums which aims to return objects and remains removed during the colonial era to the countries and communities from which they were taken.

The Chapungu Bird in the collection of the Iziko South African Museum in Cape Town on 13 April 2026, before its repatriation to Zimbabwe. ZimLive.

The Chapungu Bird is one of eight such statues removed from the site by British adventurers in the nineteenth century. Each is made from a dark grey/green soapstone (a soft metamorphic rock) and stands 33 cm high. The statues formerly stood on pedestals about a metre high at the Great Zimbabwe site, and have been taken as a national symbol by the modern state of Zimbabwe, appearing on the national flag as well as coins and banknotes. The statue from Cape Town is the last to be returned to Zimbabwe, which has been seeking their restitution since independence in 1980.

As well as the Chapungu Bird, Iziko South African Museums has returned eight sets of Human remains which were removed from sites in Zimbabwe during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The remains are thought to have come from different communities around Zimbabwe, although full details have not been made available. One set of remains is thought to have belonged to a chief, and to have been exhumed and taken to South Africa in 1910. Another has been reported as a man murdered following accusations of witchcraft. All are known to have been taken from graves without the permission of their families of communities, and to have been retained at the museum as scientific specimens.

The remains of eight individuals taken from Zimbabwe during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, and returned by Iziko Museums South Africa on 14 April 2026. ZimLive.

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France returns historic Djidji Ayôkwé drum to Côte d’Ivoire.

France has returned a historic ceremonial drum, known as the Djidji Ayôkwé ('Panther-Lion'), to Côte d’Ivoire. The drum had been held in the collection of the Musée du quai Branly - Jacques Chirac in Paris since 2006, and has been returned to its home country as the fulfilment of a commitment made by French President Emmanuel Macron in 2021.

The Djidji Ayôkwé is a 3.3 m long, 430 kg slit drum with a Lion or Panther figurine at one end, carved from a single piece of iroko wood. It originally belonged to the Achan (or Tchaman) people who live around modern Abidjan, who used it for communicating over long distances (the large size of the drum meant that it could be heard over a distance of about 20 km).

The Djidji Ayôkwé drum with representatives of the Achan people and the Government of Côte d’Ivoire during a ceremony at the Musée du quai Branly - Jacques Chirac on 23 February 2026. Lisa Villy/RFI.

The ability of the Achan people to communicate over long distances was deemed a threat by the French colonial administration in Côte d’Ivoire, leading to it being seized during a punitive expedition by the French Army in 2016. Following this, it sat in the official residence of the French governor of Côte d’Ivoire in Abidjan until 1929, when it was sent to France and placed in the collection of the Trocadéro Museum (now the Musée de l’Homme). It was moved to the Musée du quai Branly - Jacques Chirac in 2006.

Following a ceremony at the Musée du quai Branly - Jacques Chirac on 23 February, the drum was flown to Abidjan on 13 March, where it was formerly handed over in a second ceremony at Félix-Houphouët-Boigny Airport. The drum will remain inside a packing crate until April 2026, in order to allow it to acclimatise to the local climate (sudden changes in temperature and humidity can cause old wooden objects to crack and split). It will then be placed on display in the new Musée des Civilisations de Côte d’Ivoire, as part of an exhibition funded via a US$100 000 donation from UNESCO.

A ceremony in Abidjan on 13 March 2026 to welcome the Djidji Ayôkwé back to Côte d’Ivoire. Issouf Sanago.

The Djidji Ayôkwé is the first artefact to have been returned to Côte d’Ivoire by France, one of 148 objects the African nation has requested. Despite pledges by French politicians, France has to date only returned 27 objects to its former African colonies, mostly to Senegal and Benin.

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University of Cambridge transfers ownership of 116 artefacts deemed to have been looted from Benin in 1897 to the Nigerian National Commission for Museums and Monuments.

The University of Cambridge has transferred the ownership of 116 artefacts deemed to have been looted from Benin in 1897 to the Nigerian National Commission for Museums and Monuments, according to a press release issued on 8 February 2026. Most of the objects are expected to be returned to Nigeria in the coming year, although seventeen will remain in Cambridge on loan for three years, remaining on display in the university's Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology.

Small bronze high relief figure of a warrior. Probably part of a pendant. University of Cambridge.

The Kingdom of Benin dates back to at least the twelfth century, and covered much of what is now southwest Nigeria. The Oba (King) of Benin ruled from his capital, Edo, which (slightly confusingly) is now the modern city of Benin in Edo State, Nigeria. By the 1890s the Benin had become a major exporter of Palm oil to British traders on the Niger Delta, but in 1896, following a dispute over taxes, the Oba of Benin cut off this supply of oil. The Acting Consul-General of the Protectorate of Nigeria, James Robert Phillips, drew up plans to invade the state and overthrow the Oba, but these were rejected by the British Foreign Secretary, Lord Salisbury. Instead, Philips dispatched an expedition to 'negotiate' with the Oba, which included 250 soldiers and a pipe band. This force was interpreted as an invasion by the Iyase (commander in chief of the army) of Benin, who dispatched a force to intercept the party. The two forces met at Ughoton, with the British force being defeated and the majority of its leaders either killed or captured.

This was used by Philips to justify a much larger 'punitive' expedition, under the command of Rear-Admiral Harry Rawson. On 9 February 1897 Rawson invaded Benin with a force of 1200 heavily armed soldiers and marines, with the city of Edo falling on 18 February. The city was subsequently looted of its rich artwork, with individual soldiers, sailors and marines stripping not just the royal palaces and major temples of the city, but also smaller shrines and the homes of individual citizens. These artefacts were subsequently shipped back to the UK, and disposed of as their new owners saw fit, either being sold privately to museums or collectors, or retained as mementos of the expedition. 

A brass penannular bracelet decorated with heavy slanting bands. University of Cambridge.

The university of Cambridge holds about 470 items from Benin (collectively, often known as 'Benin Bronzes' although this is a little misleading, as none of the items are made of bronze; many metal objects are made of brass, but items made from wood, ivory, and over materials are also lumped under this description). Some of these were donated by family members of people who had been involved in the expedition, but many more were obtained either from the auction house J.C. Stevens, which held a major auction of items from Benin in June 1902, or via the ethnographic dealer and collector William Downing Webster, who made a speciality of dealing in these items. The majority of the items held by the university, however, were donated later in the twentieth century, making it harder to determine their exact provenance. 

The ethnographic dealer and collector William Downing Webster with a collection of carved Elephant tusks. Despite the huntsman-like pose, Webster is not recorded as ever having visited Africa, but travelled widely in the UK, contacting soldiers who had taken part in the sacking of Benin in order to purchase items from them, which he then sold on to museums across Europe. Wikimedia Commons.

In 2017 the university hosted a meeting of the Benin Dialogue Group, which had been set up in 2007 by a consortium of European museums in combination with the Government of Nigeria and the Royal Court of Benin, with a view to building a museum in Benin to house the artefacts looted from the city, at which it was agreed, at least in principle, that the university would consider returning the objects it held to Nigeria. 

In 2019 the university formally adopted a commitment by the to return artefacts to their countries' of origin when they appeared to have been removed illegally, which has also seen items returned to Uganda and Australia. Since when a number of visits have been made to Nigeria by staff from the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, and to Cambridge by representatives of the National Commission for Museums and Monuments.

Brass Leopard with raised spots, attached by the head to a chain. University of Cambridge.

In 2022 the Cambridge University Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology received a formal request from the National Commission of Museums and Monuments in Nigeria for the return of items taken by British-led forces from Benin City in February 1897.  Following this, staff at the museum prepared a list of 116 items which could be traced directly to the expedition, which was then put to the Museum’s Management Committee,  the University Council and the UK Charity Commission for approval. Once this was gained, the museum began drawing up plans for the change of ownership.

Prince Aghatise Erediauwa and Professor Nicholas Thomas, pictured at the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology in 2021 as part of The Benin Dialogue Group. University of Cambridge.

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