| Description |
1 online resource (xii, 340 pages) : illustrations, map. |
| Series |
Library of medieval studies ; 2 |
|
Library of medieval studies ; v. 2.
|
| Bibliography |
Includes bibliographical references (pages 293-330) and index. |
| Summary |
During the tenth century England began to emerge as a distinct country with an identity that was both part of yet separate from 'Christendom'. The reigns of Athelstan, Edgar and Ethelred witnessed the emergence of many key institutions: the formation of towns on modern street plans; an efficient administration; and a serviceable system of tax. Mark Atherton here shows how the stories, legends, biographies and chronicles of Anglo-Saxon England reflected both this exciting time of innovation as well as the myriad lives, loves and hates of the people who wrote them. He demonstrates, too, that this was a nation coming of age, ahead of its time in its use not of the Book-Latin used elsewhere in Europe, but of a narrative Old English prose devised for law and practical governance of the nation-state, for prayer and preaching, and above all for exploring a rich and daring new literature. This prose was unique, but until now it has been neglected for the poetry. Bringing a volatile age to vivid and muscular life, Atherton argues that it was the vernacular of Alfred the Great, as much as Viking war, that truly forged the nation. |
| Note |
Print version record. |
| Contents |
Introduction: Helmet and crown -- Part I: Mapping a journey through the Anglo-Saxon world -- 'The Italian journey' -- 'On the road' -- Interlude I: The charter bounds of Alveston and Tiddington -- Part II: The reign of King Alfred -- Literacy and the use of English: Alfred's reforms -- The rule of government: 'The craft of all crafts' -- The importance of Bede -- Interlude II: The dedication to the king in the preface to the Old English Bede -- Part III: The expansion of Wessex -- The reign of Edward the Elder -- The lessons of history: 'Edwardian' literature -- Interlude III: 'When the sun most brightly shines', from the Old English Metres of Boethius -- Part IV: War, poetry, and book-collecting -- 'King Æthelstan the Pious, famed throughout the wide world' -- The 'Great War' and medieval memory -- 'Prophet in his own country': The early life of St Dunstan -- 'By skill must love be guided': The school of Glastonbury -- Interlude IV: A passage from 'St Dunstan's classbook' -- Part V: Building the nation -- The reign of King Edred: Dealing with the Northumbrians, the queen mother, and the archbishop -- Politics, monasteries and the rise of Bishop Æthelwold -- Lawsuits, law-books and sermons: Archbishop Dunstan and King Edgar -- Winchester, chief city of Edgar's England -- Interlude V: The poem The Coronation of Edgar. |
| Subject |
Anglo-Saxons -- England.
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English prose literature -- Old English, ca. 450-1100 -- History and criticism.
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Great Britain -- History -- Anglo-Saxon period, 449-1066.
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HISTORY -- Europe -- Great Britain.
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Anglo-Saxons. (OCoLC)fst00808980
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English prose literature -- Old English.
(OCoLC)fst01711049
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England. (OCoLC)fst01219920
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Great Britain. (OCoLC)fst01204623
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| Chronological Term |
449-1100
|
| Genre/Form |
Criticism, interpretation, etc. (OCoLC)fst01411635
|
|
History. (OCoLC)fst01411628
|
| Other Form: |
Print version: Atherton, Mark. Making of England. London : I.B. Tauris & Co. Ltd., 2017 9781784530051 (OCoLC)949770972 |
| ISBN |
9781786721549 (electronic book) |
|
1786721546 (electronic book) |
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9781350988897 (electronic book) |
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1350988898 (electronic book) |
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9781786731548 (ePDF) |
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