Early medieval Northumbria : kingdoms and communities, AD 450-1100 / edited by David Petts and Sam Turner.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Petts, David, Dr.

Turner, Sam (Archaeologist)

Series:

Studies in the early Middle Ages ; v. 24.

Studies in the early Middle Ages

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Social conditions.

History.

Northumbria (Kingdom)--History--To 1500.

Northumbria (Kingdom).

Northumbria (England : Region)--History.

Northumbria (England : Region).

Great Britain--History--Anglo-Saxon period, 449-1066.

Great Britain.

Northumbria (Kingdom)--Social conditions.

Anglo-Saxons--England--Northumbria (Region).

Anglo-Saxons.

England--Northumbria (Region).

Physical Description:

xiii, 332 pages : illustrations (some color), maps (some color) ; 25 cm.

Place of Publication:

Turnhout : Brepols, 2011.

Summary:

This series focuses on Western Europe in the Early Middle Ages and covers work in the areas of history, language & literature, archaeology, art history and religious studies. It brings together current scholarship on early medieval Britain with scholarship on western continental Europe and Viking Scandinavia; these areas have more traditionally been studied separately or in terms of the interaction of discrete cultures and regions. As well as advocating new approaches across geographical and political divisions, this series spans the conventional distinctions between Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages on the one hand, and the Early Middle Ages and the twelfth century on the other.

Responding to renewed interest in the powerful early medieval kingdom of Northumbria, this volume uses evidence drawn from archaeology, documentary history, place-names, and artistic works to produce an unashamedly cross-disciplinary body of scholarship that addresses all aspects of Northumbria's past. Northumbria at its peak stretched from the River Humber to the Scottish highlands and westwards to the Irish Sea, producing saints, kings, and scholars with contacts across Europe, from Scandinavia, Ireland, and Francia to Rome itself. This volume unites papers on all aspects of this major European power of its day, from its origins in the fifth and sixth centuries from British and Anglo-Saxon chiefdoms, through its 'Golden Age' as eighth-century Europe's intellectual powerhouse, to its role as a key element of an international Viking kingdom. Where traditional scholarship has centred on the ecclesiastical high culture of the age of Bede, this work examines the kingdom's social and economic life and its origins and decline as well. There is a stress on approaching established bodies of material from new perspectives and engaging with wider debates in the field, including monumentality, the development of kingships, and the evolution of the early Church. Areas investigated include the kingdom's political history, its economy and society, and its wider place within Europe. Its unique artistic legacy, in the form of illuminated manuscripts and a rich sculptural tradition, is also explored. Book jacket.

Contents:

Part 1 Regions and Places

Military Communities and Transformation of the Frontier from the Fourth to the Sixth Centuries / Rob Collins Collins, Rob 15

Bernician Transitions: Place-Names and Archaeology / Mark Wood Wood, Mark 35

Recent Research into Early Medieval York and its Hinterland / R. A. Hall Hall, R. A. 71

Northumbria in the West: Considering Interaction Through Monumentality / Nicola J. Toop Toop, Nicola J. 85

Thinking about Western Northumbria / Felicity H. Clark Clark, Felicity H. 113

Settlement, Landscape, and Economy in Early Medieval Northumbria: The Contribution of Portable Antiquities / Julian D. Richards Richards, Julian D., John Naylor Naylor, John 129

Local Churches and the Conquest of the North: Elite Patronage and Identity in Saxo-Norman Northumbria / Aleksandra McClain McClain, Aleksandra 151

Plates 179

Part 2 Identities and Material Culture

Intellectual Communities in Early Northumbria / Martin Carver Carver, Martin 185

Yeavering and Bernician Kingship: A Review of Debate on the Hybrid Culture Thesis / Colm O'brien O'brien, Colm 207

The Recursive Structuring of Space: Socio-political and Religious Performance in the Hall / Jenny Walker Walker, Jenny 221

Social and Biological Status in the Bowl Hole Early Medieval Burial Ground, Bamburgh, Northumberland / Sarah Groves Groves, Sarah 241

'Excavating' Northumbrian Manuscripts: Reappraising Regionalism in Insular Manuscript Production / Michelle P. Brown Brown, Michelle P. 267

Re-evaluating Early Medieval Northumbrian Contacts and the 'Coastal Highway' / Christopher Ferguson Ferguson, Christopher 283

A Study in Regionality: Hair Combs and Bone/Antler Craft in North-east England c. AD 800-1100 / Steven P. Ashby Ashby, Steven P. 303.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9782503528229

2503528228

OCLC:

758984612