The making of England : a new history of the Anglo-Saxon world /
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 eff...
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| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Book |
| Language: | English |
| Published: | London : I.B. Tauris & Co. Ltd., 2017. ©2017. |
| Series: | Library of medieval studies ;
2. |
| Subjects: |
| 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. |
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| Physical Description: | xii, 340 pages : illustrations, maps ; 22 cm. |
| Bibliography: | Includes bibliographical references (pages 293-330) and index. |
| ISBN: | 1784530050 9781784530051 |
| FOLIO Link: | View instance in FOLIO |