Biblical scene (detail) from Old English Hexateuch, C11 2/4

London, British Library, Cotton Claudius B.iv, f.59

This image: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Witan_hexateuch.jpg#/media/File:Witan_hexateuch.jpg

When did the Anglo Saxons arrive? That’s a commonly asked question. The simplest and most traditional answer is: shortly after the end of Roman Britain.

If your curiosity is sated by that answer, then read no further. This course is not for you.

But if your next questions might be along the lines of: When was that? Who were they? Where did they come from? What happened to the Roman Britons? Isn’t the term “Anglo-Saxon” itself problematic? …then we think you might enjoy this course. It may not fully answer all of those questions, and it will certainly raise still more questions. But that’s OK – it’s the nature of history!

Put less obtusely, we’re going to use both the archaeological record and historical sources to tell the story of England from the fifth century to the Norman Conquest. Along the way, we will see the rise of new kingdoms – most notably, Northumbria, Mercia, and Wessex. We’ll also get to know the strange hybrid culture that developed through those centuries. We’ll encounter great and still (perhaps) familiar names: Edwin, Penda, and Oswald – all battling for the land north of the Humber. A century later we’ll meet Offa of Mercia – a powerful king, perhaps the first to be addressed on equal terms by his counterparts abroad. On again to the Wessex of Alfred the Great, his struggles against the Vikings, and the ultimate ascendancy of his royal line – the first to rule over all England.

We’ll end in the period which leads to the Conquest of 1066. By this time, perhaps, we will have learned why England was considered such a great prize to all the kings who fought for it in that year.

RJW F2414 Online course (via Zoom)

10 weeks, Tuesday 23 April - Tuesday 2 July (incl., with half-term break on 28 May)

£110 (individual registration); £198 (for two people sharing one screen).