Sources
Articles
Books
After Rome: C.400-c.800
Thomas Charles-Edwards (Editor).
The chapters in this volume, each written by a leading scholar of the period, analyse in turn the different nationalities and kingdoms that existed in the British Isles from the end of the Roman empire to the coming of the Vikings, the process of conversion to Christianity, the development of art and of a written culture, and the interaction between this written culture and the societies of the day. Available from:
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The End of the Western Roman Empire
by Ellen Swift. Based on a range of new archaeological research (most
of it carried out by the author herself), this book breaks new ground. It examines changes in the Western provinces in the fourth and early fifth centuries, which ultimately resulted in the collapse of the Western Roman Empire. Available from:
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Birth Myths of the Nations of Britain
England, Scotland, Wales - the 'traditional' view
History is not impartial. Interpretations of early medieval Britain are
linked to a number of distinct agendas: in particular, the foundation myths
of England, Scotland and Wales. The strength of these agendas has coloured,
and in many ways formed, most people's conception of what happened in this
period. The main theme which concerned the 'traditional' (essentially Victorian)
view of the dark ages in this island is that the Welsh, Scots and English
were distinct nations, with a significant racial underpinning to the differences
between them. For example, Bryan Ward-Perkins (English Historical Review, June
2000) observes that:
"Most of the English, if they know anything of early history, feel that their Englishness
derives ultimately from a predominantly Anglo-Saxon ancestry, with perhaps a romantic
tinge, but only a tinge, of later immigrant blood -- Viking, Norman, Huguenot, or
whatever. The Britons (and the Romans) play little part in the perception that the
English have of their ancestry. Consequently, they see themselves as markedly different
from the other ancient inhabitants of the British Isles; and they would never describe
themselves as `Celts', unless their recent ancestry included known Scottish, Irish,
Welsh or Cornish ancestors."
Ward-Perkins (2000) cites Freeman, an influential Victorian Anglo-Saxonist who wrote in
his Old English History for Children (1869):
"The [British] women of course would be made slaves, or they would
sometimes be married to their masters. Thus there may doubtless be some little British
and Roman blood in us, just as some few Welsh and Latin words crept into the English
tongue from the very beginning. But we may be sure that we have not much of their blood
in us, because we have so few of their words in our language ... Now you will perhaps say
that our forefathers were cruel and wicked men ... And so doubtless it was ... But ... it
has turned out much better in the end that our forefathers did, thus kill or drive out
nearly all the people whom they found in the land ... [since otherwise] I cannot think
that we should ever have been so great and free a people as we have been for many ages."
The main strands of the traditional interpretation adopt the following
logic:
- The end of Roman rule was a precise cut-off point point. There
were few if any Germanic or Irish inhabitants in Britain before the Roman
withdrawal. The Britons were left helpless, disorganised and incapable
of defending themselves from hordes of invaders from across both North
and Irish seas.
- The invaders were prolific and warlike. They pushed the Britons
into a narrow western strip: Cornwall, Wales, Cumbria and Strathclyde in
south-west Scotland. The rest of the island (other than the parts of Scotland
inhabited by the mysterious Picts) was repopulated by Anglo-Saxons and
Gaels.
- One brief flowering of British defence, organised by the great
King Arthur, halted the invaders' advance for about fifty years.
- The Cornish and Welsh languages developed from the tongue of
the ancient Britons. Conversely, the English language has no Celtic elements
and derives from Anglo-Saxon, with substantial borrowings from Latin and
(later) Norman French. Gaelic quickly displaced British and Pictish in
most of Scotland, eventually succumbing to English.
As we can see in ,
the essence of this interpretation is that England is fundamentally Anglo-Saxon rather
than British or Celtic in racial and linguistic origin. Similarly, Scotland owes little
to the Brythonic Celts, having been formed by a fusion of the Gaelic west and
north (the mysterious Picts duly absorbed) and the Anglo-Saxons of Lothian
in the south-east. Acceptance of this approach requires that the Romano-Britons,
who numbered in millions, were simply overwhelmed by a few boatloads of
invaders and fled to the west or died. Clearly, there is something wrong
here!
Martin Henig (British Archaeology, December 2002) considers that
'the creation of this myth can be laid at the doors of
(the Briton) and (the Anglo-Saxon). Both were Christians and took their lead from the Old Testament. For Gildas,
God chastised his people, the Britons, for sexual backsliding. For Bede, the English were
the new Israelites coming into the promised land.'
Ken Dark (Britain and the End of the Roman Empire, 2000) uses
archaeological evidence to demonstrate a different pattern of cultural division and evolution. He concludes that the Britons
were alive and well inside 'Anglo-Saxon' territory for several hundred years at least.
Similarly, Martin Henig casts doubt on the interpretation of 'dark age' evidence such as the assumptions that
Anglo-Saxons were buried with grave goods and Britons were not (British Archaeology,
December 2002). "It is not satisfactory to describe, for example, the warrior buried at
Lowbury Hill in Oxfordshire as an Anglo-Saxon - as many have - simply because he possessed
a shield and a spear. His iron spear was enamelled, most unusually, in a Celtic style, and
he was buried with a hanging bowl also in Celtic style. It looks rather as if he wanted
to make it clear that he was British."
An article by Martin Evison looks at this from a genetic and linguistic perspective:
See also a recent article by Tim Gay which point to the survival of Celtic (Brythonic)
words in England and Scotland into the 20th century:
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The Tribes of Britain
by David Miles. The diverse peoples of Britain and Ireland are revealed not only by physical characteristics but also through structures and settlements, place names and dialects. Using the latest genetic and archaeological research, the author shows how different peoples traded, settled and conquered, establishing the 'tribal' and regional roots still apparent today. Its vast scope considers the impact of prehistoric peoples and Celtic tribes, Romans and Vikings, Saxons and Normans, Jews and Huguenots, as well as the increasing population movements of the last century. Available from:
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- Euros
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