Although I had initially set out a list of pre Anglo-Saxon
books to read before going into the Saxons themselves, I decided that I could
not wait any longer. And although I am still half way through Barry Cunliffe’s Iron
Age Communities in Britain, I decided that my Anglo-Saxon book collection was
so big that it was a little embarrassing that I had not started on any of them
yet. I decided to commence with one that looked like a basic overview and chronology
of the Anglo-Saxon period, and Leonard Dutton’s book seemed a perfect place to
start. I had initially bought it because I was compiling sources on Egbert of Wessex,
so that I could possibly attempt to write a book on him sometime in the future.
However, these dreams were squashed when I was in conversation with the owner
of a publishing company who has already written two thirds of a book on the
very same King. He mentioned that he had translated all of Egberts charters,
and that he had discovered something significant in one of them which has been
overlooked by previous historians. The fact alone that he was able to translate
old English led me to the decision that I ought to leave this idea of writing a
book alone for the time being.
What first struck me was how the chronology of events is
limited almost entirely to the military aspect of Anglo-Saxon history; only
straying into other areas when essential. This was something I enjoyed
immensely, as the military history and reign of the kings provides the bare
bones of the subject, in which I can start adding the meat later with more specific
books. There were also multiple illustrated maps throughout, depicting the
current political situation, positioning of fortification and where possible, maps
of battlefields. I consider myself somewhat of a visual learner, and can get
easily confused if I do not have a map of the area I am reading about close to
hand, so this was ideal for making all the information go straight into the
long term memory bank.
The Anglo-Saxon has seemed to me to be the ultimate
incarnation of the Englishman, but while reading this book I couldn’t help but
have sympathy with the native Britons who were having their homeland taken from
them. I found myself simultaneously supporting all parties, form Aurelianus and
King Arthur to Hengist and Oswald of Northumbria. One person I took a charm too
in particular was King Urien of Rheged, who was described by Leonard Dutton as
‘a latter day Arthur’. He was a native British leader of one of the last regions
to resist being absorbed by the Anglo-Saxons, which also happen to be my home
county of Cumbria. At its height Rheged stretch from southern Scotland to Liverpool,
and during the reign of Urien they almost dispelled the Angles from
Northumbria. Urien pushed King Ida and his men all the way back to the island
of Lindisfarne, and besieged them there until Urien was assassinated at the
behest of one of his own allies who had grown jealous of his militaristic
skills. Following this Ida managed to gain a beachhead and then finally defeat
the Brittonic alliance. Rheged remained independent until sometime around 750,
where is said to have been peacefully integrated into the kingdom of
Northumbria through inheritance.
Another matter, even earlier than when Uriel lived, was the
stupidity of the British king Votigern who invited the Saxon mercenaries Hengist
and Horsa to Kent so that they would help the Britons defend their borders.
There was also a more sinister purpose to this invitation however. In the
previous year Flavius Aetius had defeated Attila the Hun at the battle of
Catalonian fields, and for a while it seemed likely that the Romans could
return to Britain. Votigern was the leader of the anti-Roman faction in
Britain, and inviting the Saxon mercenaries over would be of great help in
ensuring that the Romans couldn’t return. A year after this however it was
realised that Rome’s decline was terminal, and there would no return. Votigern
had already made his mistake however, and it didn’t take long for the
mercenaries to betray him and start to pillage and settle in the lands of Kent.
The mess was mainly left to Ambrosius Aurelianus, leader of the pro-Roman
faction, to clean up. Ambrosius and his successor, King Arthur, managed to stem
the flow of Saxon expansion, but only temporarily.
Aside from these two account of the native Britons, the rest
of the book focuses on stories of Anglo-Saxon kings. These proved very informative,
as kings such as Oswald of Northumbria, who Tolkien had based Aragon on will make
the reader sympathise with the journey taken to reclaim a kingdom. Although it
is easy to see the opposing side to Oswald’s story, as King Edwin, who
succeeded Oswald’s father was only reclaiming his own lands as well. Oswald is
also remembered for destroying the famous British rebel Cadwallon ap Cadfan,
but was himself defeated after an eight year reign by the great Pagan king of
Mercia, Penda. King Ine of Wessex and King Caedwalla of Wessex are two other interesting
characters, who I thought ought to have books written about them. I found a
short fifty page book on Ine by Ray Gibbs which I believe focuses on many of
his successful law reforms. Although Ine is said to have been lacking skill
militaristically, he is credited with having an unusually long reign for the
time, and for preventing his subjects from making slaves of fellow Englishmen.
The book takes us up to the reign of Ecgbert of Wessex,
leaving us at the start of the age of the Vikings. From this point on the
narrative of England’s history changes, and so I have prepared a book which
starts from the point that this one leaves us. Next I will be reading ‘The
Anglo-Saxon’s at War’ by Paul Hill, which will look at military campaigns and army
composition up until 1066. Although I decided to read these two books for the
chronology of the Anglo-Saxons, I have found myself building a stronger
admiration and interest for the struggles of the native Britons, and so I will
continue to amass some more books on the post-Roman Celts.
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