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Early Medieval Kingship
- GenresHistory
193 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1977
About the author
Peter H. Sawyer
21 books3 followersPeter Hayes Sawyer was an English historian. His work on the Vikings was highly influential, as was his scholarship on Medieval England. Sawyer's early work The Age of the Vikings argued that the Vikings were "traders not raiders", overturning the previously held view that the Vikings' voyages were only focused on destruction and pillaging.
Sawyer is particularly known for his annotated catalogue of Anglo-Saxon charters. Anglo-Saxon charters are referenced by "Sawyer" numbers (abbreviated 'S' as for example in charter "S 407") according to his catalogue.
Sawyer is particularly known for his annotated catalogue of Anglo-Saxon charters. Anglo-Saxon charters are referenced by "Sawyer" numbers (abbreviated 'S' as for example in charter "S 407") according to his catalogue.
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
June 28, 2020
Early Medieval Kingship (Ed Sawyer and Wood), 1979, 158 pages,
This book is another book of essays and is Western Europe based, rather than just Anglo-Saxon centred, which is a shame, as that's the part I was most interested in. The writing is quite small, so although it's not a huge book, you get your money's worth. The sportsman who paid £4 for it and sold it to me for £16, certainly got their money's worth, anyway.
There are some very juicy looking titles in this book, but the only worry I had was its age – it's almost as old as I am. As it happened, whilst a few papers were a bit dated in places and all could probably be revised in some ways, their fundamentals probably wouldn't be changed.
One issue I had with this book was that the important quotes from the sources were in Latin, which was never taught at my school (that functioned on the expectation that most of the pupils would probably end up working down the pit). Luckily some of the quotes I could recognise and translate from their context.
Kings, kingdoms and consent by I Wood, 24 pages
This largely discusses kingship on the continent, with only a couple of pages specifically delving into Anglo-Saxon kings. The impression you come away with is just how messy it must be to study the various Frankish kings, with the sheer numbers of disputes, splits and murders. I shouldn't be surprised if the Franks themselves had regarded their situation as a bit untidy, too. In addition to the Franks, the Visigoths, Ostrogoths, Burgundians, Lombard ideas of kings are also looked at with their individual peculiarities and situational responses considered. It seems that there was usually a level of uncertainty over succession, that multiple kings didn't necessarily mean a division of territory and that kingship responded dynamically to political change.
Julian of Toledo and the Royal Succession in late 7th century Spain by R Collins, 20 pages
Invaluable if you're into Julian of Toledo and the Royal Succession in late 7th century Spain, but I'm not and so I didn't read it.
Inauguration Rituals by J Nelson, 22 pages
This was another paper where Anglo-Saxon England doesn't feature that strongly. The majority of it is given over to Frankia, where anointing had a somewhat chequered history, being slow to catch on as an essential element of king-making. This is then followed by an investigation into the situation regarding King Edgar. Here good logic is used to deduce that Edgar was anointed twice. This paper felt a touch dated.
Kingship, genealogies and regnal lists by D Dumville, 33 pages
This delves into insular king lists and genealogies and it gives you plenty to think about. Strangely for a paper on this topic it doesn't consist of a single table or diagram showing the actual lists in question and this is a huge omission, as whilst it's not hard to follow, this would have made it a lot easier. Idea that the inclusion of both Wessex and Kent within the Anglian collection shows their 8th century inclusion within the Anglian world seems doubtful as Mercian control of Wessex was never that deep rooted. The section on what we can learn from anthropologists certainly brought out just how flexible genealogies can be and also just how cautiously they need to be treated as sources. In talking of the Anglian Collection Dumville was incorrect in the security of Aldfrith of Lindsey's date, as it has been subsequently demonstrated that his attestation on a charter of Offa's is actually that of Ecgfrith, son of Offa. This valuable paper closes with a brief look at the professional learned class.
Lex scripta and verbum regis: legislation and Germanic law from Euric to Cnut by P Wormald, 34 pages
There was a lot of very interesting stuff in this paper, but not all of it concerned Anglo-Saxon England and whilst it's nice to get comparisons with Visigoths and Lombards, their manner of approach was extremely different to that of Kent and Wessex. I'd have been much happier with one more tightly focussed on Anglo-Saxon England. However, that aside, some excellent points were elucidated. Things that obvious that they are easily overlooked, such as there being no specific element of a law code cited in any of the A/S cases that we know of. This is one that I'll probably have to read again to fully get every nuance, particularly in light of the continental element. It's a pity that there aren't more books discussing early English law, especially available for a reasonable price.
Kings and Merchants by P Sawyer, 20 pages
This is a great paper that is both thorough and unlike many in this book, also a very pleasant reading experience. It's almost as if Sawyer was aware that writing something that people would enjoy reading was more important than impressing his peers with dense prose. He discuses the various reasons for the movement of goods, the rise of royal interest in trade, the growth of a monetary economy and the expansion of trade. This is a cracking paper to read if you want an introduction to Anglo-Saxon trade.
This book is another book of essays and is Western Europe based, rather than just Anglo-Saxon centred, which is a shame, as that's the part I was most interested in. The writing is quite small, so although it's not a huge book, you get your money's worth. The sportsman who paid £4 for it and sold it to me for £16, certainly got their money's worth, anyway.
There are some very juicy looking titles in this book, but the only worry I had was its age – it's almost as old as I am. As it happened, whilst a few papers were a bit dated in places and all could probably be revised in some ways, their fundamentals probably wouldn't be changed.
One issue I had with this book was that the important quotes from the sources were in Latin, which was never taught at my school (that functioned on the expectation that most of the pupils would probably end up working down the pit). Luckily some of the quotes I could recognise and translate from their context.
Kings, kingdoms and consent by I Wood, 24 pages
This largely discusses kingship on the continent, with only a couple of pages specifically delving into Anglo-Saxon kings. The impression you come away with is just how messy it must be to study the various Frankish kings, with the sheer numbers of disputes, splits and murders. I shouldn't be surprised if the Franks themselves had regarded their situation as a bit untidy, too. In addition to the Franks, the Visigoths, Ostrogoths, Burgundians, Lombard ideas of kings are also looked at with their individual peculiarities and situational responses considered. It seems that there was usually a level of uncertainty over succession, that multiple kings didn't necessarily mean a division of territory and that kingship responded dynamically to political change.
Julian of Toledo and the Royal Succession in late 7th century Spain by R Collins, 20 pages
Invaluable if you're into Julian of Toledo and the Royal Succession in late 7th century Spain, but I'm not and so I didn't read it.
Inauguration Rituals by J Nelson, 22 pages
This was another paper where Anglo-Saxon England doesn't feature that strongly. The majority of it is given over to Frankia, where anointing had a somewhat chequered history, being slow to catch on as an essential element of king-making. This is then followed by an investigation into the situation regarding King Edgar. Here good logic is used to deduce that Edgar was anointed twice. This paper felt a touch dated.
Kingship, genealogies and regnal lists by D Dumville, 33 pages
This delves into insular king lists and genealogies and it gives you plenty to think about. Strangely for a paper on this topic it doesn't consist of a single table or diagram showing the actual lists in question and this is a huge omission, as whilst it's not hard to follow, this would have made it a lot easier. Idea that the inclusion of both Wessex and Kent within the Anglian collection shows their 8th century inclusion within the Anglian world seems doubtful as Mercian control of Wessex was never that deep rooted. The section on what we can learn from anthropologists certainly brought out just how flexible genealogies can be and also just how cautiously they need to be treated as sources. In talking of the Anglian Collection Dumville was incorrect in the security of Aldfrith of Lindsey's date, as it has been subsequently demonstrated that his attestation on a charter of Offa's is actually that of Ecgfrith, son of Offa. This valuable paper closes with a brief look at the professional learned class.
Lex scripta and verbum regis: legislation and Germanic law from Euric to Cnut by P Wormald, 34 pages
There was a lot of very interesting stuff in this paper, but not all of it concerned Anglo-Saxon England and whilst it's nice to get comparisons with Visigoths and Lombards, their manner of approach was extremely different to that of Kent and Wessex. I'd have been much happier with one more tightly focussed on Anglo-Saxon England. However, that aside, some excellent points were elucidated. Things that obvious that they are easily overlooked, such as there being no specific element of a law code cited in any of the A/S cases that we know of. This is one that I'll probably have to read again to fully get every nuance, particularly in light of the continental element. It's a pity that there aren't more books discussing early English law, especially available for a reasonable price.
Kings and Merchants by P Sawyer, 20 pages
This is a great paper that is both thorough and unlike many in this book, also a very pleasant reading experience. It's almost as if Sawyer was aware that writing something that people would enjoy reading was more important than impressing his peers with dense prose. He discuses the various reasons for the movement of goods, the rise of royal interest in trade, the growth of a monetary economy and the expansion of trade. This is a cracking paper to read if you want an introduction to Anglo-Saxon trade.
Displaying 1 of 1 review