An English Empire: Bede, the Britons, and the Early Anglo-Saxon Kings (Origins of England) [Paperback]

N. J. Higham (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0719044243 | ISBN-13: 978-0719044243 | Publication Date: August 1995

This second book in the "Origins of England" trilogy examines the organization and make-up of Anglo-Saxon England in the early 7th century, taking as its starting point the highly rhetorical account of Britain's ecclesiastical history written by Bede. Bede made efforts to legitimise the English domination of his own day by comparing it to the Roman rule of Britain in the past. N.J. Higham re-examines and reinterprets the principal literary sources for an English "empire": Bede's famous list of "overkings" in Historical Ecclesiastica, and the Tribal Hidage. He argues that a comparatively stable and long-lived pattern of regional "overkingships" existed in early England. King Raedwald's career as a king and "overking" is described in detail. The book closes with an account of relations between the Anglo-Saxons and Britons in early England which provides insights into the structure of rural society in the age of Bede.

Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Manchester Univ Pr (August 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0719044243
• ISBN-13: 978-0719044243
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.5 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,276,793 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Reading between the lines......, September 11, 2002

By 

Dianne Foster "Di" (USA) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

This review is from: An English Empire: Bede, the Britons, and the Early Anglo-Saxon Kings (Origins of England) (Hardcover)

For ages, the contemporary writings of the Venerable Bede, an early Christian churchman, have served as a mainstay for historians attempting to understand 7th Century Britain. Bede was probably Saxon descent, or an Angle as he preferred to call the Germanic invaders of Britain. By the time Bede lived and wrote, the Saxons (Germanic peoples from what is today northern Germany, Holland and Denmark) had established power in Britain, albeit fractured by warring factions. Apparently, the first Saxons had been imported by the Romans to serve as mercenary soldiers and secure Britannia from non-Roman invaders. After official Rome withdrew formal support in the 5th Century, the remaining Romano-British people and Saxon soldiers joined forces. Following waves of invasion from the Germanic areas of Europe, by the 7th Century, Saxons ruled most of Britain.

Higham argues Bede's Historia Ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum or Ecclesiastical History of the English People is a biased accounting of his times. Bede serves as both apologist and historian for the Saxon invaders, portraying them as a "chosen people" who brought the word of God to the heathen. Never mind that many of the Romano-Britains were probably already Christian. One of Bede's complaints is that the Britains do not reckon Easter using the "Roman" method.

Using the writings of Bede and other contemporaneous material such as the `Tribal Hidage', a tribute list thought to reflect the kingship structure of the period, Higham constructs a population profile. By the 7th Century, the Britains had become mostly rural farmers and slaves or servants, who lived and worked on landed estates controlled by Saxon overlords. Higham deduces their status as much from what Bede says as what he doesn't say. He deconstructs Bede's text, examining his use of various terms such as `pagan' and `imperium', the latter a word used by Bede to equate Saxon rule with that of the Romans.

Several things I like about this book include: 1) Higham's ideas concerning the identity of the great warrior buried at Sutton Hoo; 2) His links to Beowulf ; 3) His investigation of the use of various Latin, British, and German (Angles=English) terms in different contexts; 4) His view of how the Britains moved from Roman domination to Anglo-Saxon serfdom.