After Rome

The chapters in this volume, each written by a leading scholar of the period, analyze in turn the different nationalities and kingdoms that existed in the British Isles from the end of the Roman empire to the coming of the Vikings, the process of conversion to Christianity, the development of art and of a written culture, and the interaction between this written culture and the societies of the day.

Thomas Charles-Edwards is Jesus Professor of Celtic at the University of Oxford and a Fellow of Jesus College.

List of illustrations

x

List of maps

xii

Acknowledgements

xiii

List of contributors

xv

Introduction

1

(22)

Thomas Charles-Edwards

New nations

3

(5)

Fifth-century Britain

8

(4)

Ireland: territories, peoples, and dynasties

12

(11)

1 Nations and kingdoms: a view from above

23

(38)

Thomas Charles-Edwards

The fifth and sixth centuries: Britain

24

(7)

The fifth and sixth centuries: Ireland

31

(3)

The seventh century

34

(11)

The long eighth century, 685-825

45

(16)

2 Society, community, and identity

61

(42)

John Hines

The natural environment

63

(2)

Economic life

65

(11)

Social units

76

(7)

Social networks

83

(8)

Macro-groups

91

(10)

An overview

101

(2)

3 Conversion to Christianity

103

(38)

Thomas Charles-Edwards

Space and time: the landscape and the calendar

105

(2)

The implications of conversion

107

(7)

Christianity, the Roman Empire, and the barbarians

114

(1)

The conversion of Ireland

115

(8)

The conversion of Northern Britain

123

(1)

The conversion of the English

124

(17)

4 The Art of authority

141

(50)

Jennifer O'Reilly

The Romani, art, and building in the Roman manner

143

(5)

Jerusalem

148

(2)

The cult of the Cross

150

(1)

The Ruthwell Cross

151

(3)

The Codex Amiatinus

154

(5)

The Insular Gospel books

159

(1)

The Book of Durrow

160

(4)

The spiritual interpretation of Scripture

164

(4)

The authority of Scripture and the symbols of the Evangelists

168

(5)

Four-symbol pages: the Book of Kells

173

(4)

The individual Evangelist and symbol: St Luke and the Lichfield Gospels

177

(5)

The Crucifixion in the Durham Gospels: an image of orthodoxy

182

(9)

5 Latin and the vernacular languages: the creation of a bilingual textual culture

191

(30)

Andy Orchard

Latin and the vernacular in sub-Roman Britain and early- Wales

194

(7)

Latin and the vernacular in early Ireland and Scotland

201

(6)

Latin and the vernacular in Anglo-Saxon England

207

(11)

Conclusion

218

(3)

6 Texts and society

221

(38)

Robin Chapman Stacey

The sources

224

(12)

Texts and contexts

236

(5)

Writing history

241

(18)

Conclusion

259

(12)

Thomas Charles-Edwards

Universal and national

261

(5)

The unity of the British Isles

266

(5)

FREE SHIPPING

Amazon no longer offers textbook rentals. We do!

Summary

Author Biography

Table of Contents

Supplemental Materials