Strathclyde and the Anglo-Saxons in the Viking Age

Strathclyde and the Anglo-Saxons in the Viking Age PDF Author: Tim Clarkson
Publisher: Birlinn
ISBN: 1907909257
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 235

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Book Description
This book traces the history of relations between the kingdom of Strathclyde and Anglo-Saxon England in the Viking period of the ninth to eleventh centuries AD. It puts the spotlight on the North Britons or 'Cumbrians', an ancient people whose kings ruled from a power-base at Govan on the western side of present-day Glasgow. In the tenth century, these kings extended their rule southward from Clydesdale to the southern shore of the Solway Firth, bringing their language and culture to a region that had been in English hands for more than two hundred years. They played a key role in many of the great political events of the time, whether leading their armies in battle or forging treaties to preserve a fragile peace. Their extensive realm, which was also known as 'Cumbria', was eventually conquered by the Scots, but is still remembered today in the name of an English county. How this county acquired the name of a long-vanished kingdom centred on the River Clyde is one of the topics covered in this book.It is part of a wider history that forms an important chapter in the story of how England and Scotland emerged from the early medieval period or 'Dark Ages' as the countries we know today.

Strathclyde and the Anglo-Saxons in the Viking Age

Strathclyde and the Anglo-Saxons in the Viking Age PDF Author: Tim Clarkson
Publisher: Birlinn
ISBN: 1907909257
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 235

Get Book Here

Book Description
This book traces the history of relations between the kingdom of Strathclyde and Anglo-Saxon England in the Viking period of the ninth to eleventh centuries AD. It puts the spotlight on the North Britons or 'Cumbrians', an ancient people whose kings ruled from a power-base at Govan on the western side of present-day Glasgow. In the tenth century, these kings extended their rule southward from Clydesdale to the southern shore of the Solway Firth, bringing their language and culture to a region that had been in English hands for more than two hundred years. They played a key role in many of the great political events of the time, whether leading their armies in battle or forging treaties to preserve a fragile peace. Their extensive realm, which was also known as 'Cumbria', was eventually conquered by the Scots, but is still remembered today in the name of an English county. How this county acquired the name of a long-vanished kingdom centred on the River Clyde is one of the topics covered in this book.It is part of a wider history that forms an important chapter in the story of how England and Scotland emerged from the early medieval period or 'Dark Ages' as the countries we know today.

Strathclyde and the Anglo-Saxons in the Viking Age

Strathclyde and the Anglo-Saxons in the Viking Age PDF Author: T. J. Clarkson
Publisher: John Donald
ISBN: 9781906566784
Category : Cumbria (England)
Languages : en
Pages : 204

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Book Description
This book traces the history of relations between the kingdom of Strathclyde and Anglo-Saxon England in the Viking period of the ninth to eleventh centuries AD. It puts the spotlight on the North Britons or 'Cumbrians', an ancient people whose kings ruled from a power-base at Govan on the western side of present-day Glasgow. In the tenth century, these kings extended their rule southward from Clydesdale to the southern shore of the Solway Firth, bringing their language and culture to a region that had been in English hands for more than two hundred years. They played a key role in many of the great political events of the time, whether leading their armies in battle or forging treaties to preserve a fragile peace. Their extensive realm, which was also known as 'Cumbria', was eventually conquered by the Scots, but is still remembered today in the name of an English county. How this county acquired the name of a long-vanished kingdom centred on the River Clyde is one of the topics covered in this book.It is part of a wider history that forms an important chapter in the story of how England and Scotland emerged from the early medieval period or 'Dark Ages' as the countries we know today.

The Makers of Scotland

The Makers of Scotland PDF Author: Tim Clarkson
Publisher: Birlinn
ISBN: 190790901X
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 317

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Book Description
During the first millennium AD the most northerly part of Britain evolved into the country known today as Scotland. The transition was a long process of social and political change driven by the ambitions of powerful warlords. At first these men were tribal chiefs, Roman generals or rulers of small kingdoms. Later, after the Romans departed, the initiative was seized by dynamic warrior-kings who campaigned far beyond their own borders. Armies of Picts, Scots, Vikings, Britons and Anglo-Saxons fought each other for supremacy. From Lothian to Orkney, from Fife to the Isle of Skye, fierce battles were won and lost. By AD 1000 the political situation had changed for ever. Led by a dynasty of Gaelic-speaking kings the Picts and Scots began to forge a single, unified nation which transcended past enmities. In this book the remarkable story of how ancient North Britain became the medieval kingdom of Scotland is told.

The Men of the North

The Men of the North PDF Author: Tim Clarkson
Publisher: Birlinn
ISBN: 1907909028
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 382

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Book Description
The North Britons are the least-known among the inhabitants of early medieval Scotland. Like the Picts and Vikings they played an important role in the shaping of Scottish history during the first millennium AD but their part is often neglected or ignored. This book aims to redress the balance by tracing the history of this native Celtic people through the troubled centuries from the departure of the Romans to the arrival of the Normans. The fortunes of Strathclyde, the last-surviving kingdom of the North Britons, are studied from its emergence at Dumbarton in the fifth century to its eventual demise in the eleventh. Other kingdoms, such as the Edinburgh-based realm of Gododdin and the mysterious Rheged, are examined alongside fragments of heroic poetry celebrating the valour of their warriors. Behind the recurrent themes of warfare and political rivalry runs a parallel thread dealing with the growth of Christianity and the influence of the Church in the affairs of kings. Important ecclesiastical figures such as Ninian of Whithorn and Kentigern of Glasgow are discussed, partly in the hope of unearthing their true identities among a tangled web of sources. The closing chapters of the book look at how and why the North Britons lost their distinct identity to join their old enemies the Picts as one of Scotland's vanished nations.

The Vikings in Islay

The Vikings in Islay PDF Author: Alan Macniven
Publisher: John Donald
ISBN: 9781906566623
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 400

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Book Description
Challenging the traditional assumptions about the nature of Viking settlements in the Inner Hebrides, this book aims to stimulate the debate on what happened in Islay 1,200 years ago, when Viking settlers from Norway clashed with the indigenous Scots of Dal Riada. The Hebridean island of Islay is well known for its whisky, its wildlife, and its association with the MacDonald Lords of the Isles. There would seem to be little reason to dwell on its fate at the hands of the marauding Northmen during the Viking Age. Despite a pivotal location on the sea road from Norway to Ireland, there are no convincing records of the Vikings ever having been there. In recent years, historians have been keen to marginalize the island's Viking experience, choosing instead to focus on the enduring stability of native Celtic culture, and tracing the island's modern Gaelic traditions back in an unbroken chain to the dawn of the Christian era. With no written accounts to go by, the real story of Islay's Viking Age has to be read from another type of course material: the silent witness of the names and local places. The Vikings in Islay presents a detailed historical-philological survey and systematic review of approximately 240 of the island's farm and nature names. The conclusions drawn turn traditional assumptions on their head. The romance of Islay's names, it seems, masks a harrowing tale of invasion, apartheid, and ethnic cleansing.

A Political History of Scotland 1832-1924

A Political History of Scotland 1832-1924 PDF Author: Iain G. C. Hutchison
Publisher: Birlinn Ltd
ISBN: 1788854306
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 360

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Book Description
In this way it provides an illuminating perspective and serves as a corrective to both Scoto-centric and Anglo-centric interpretations of events. Previous studies have tended to concentrate on the resources of the main record repositories in London and Edinburgh, and, while these collections are indispensable for any interpretation of the period, they do tend to highlight two types of politics more than others - the political operations of the great landed estates and the 'high politics' of the front benchers - and they are not always fully representative of all parts of Scotland. This book therefore has paid attention to a wide variety of source material in private hands and in local record centres to redress the balance and provide a more balanced picture. This scholarly but very readable study will appeal to all those with an interest in the political history of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

The Picts

The Picts PDF Author: Tim Clarkson
Publisher: Birlinn
ISBN: 1907909036
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 288

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Book Description
The Picts were an ancient nation who ruled most of northern and eastern Scotland during the Dark Ages. Despite their historical importance, they remain shrouded in myth and misconception. Absorbed by the kingdom of the Scots in the ninth century, they lost their unique identity, their language and their vibrant artistic culture. Amongst their few surviving traces are standing stones decorated with incredible skill and covered with enigmatic symbols - vivid memorials of a powerful and gifted people who bequeathed no chronicles to tell their story, no sagas to describe the deed of their kings and heroes. In this book Tim Clarkson pieces together the evidence to tell the story of this mysterious people from their emergence in Roman times to their eventual disappearance.

Æthelflæd

Æthelflæd PDF Author: Tim Clarkson
Publisher: Birlinn Ltd
ISBN: 1788850564
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 287

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Book Description
The true story of the Lady of the Mercians. At the end of the ninth century AD, a large part of what is now England was controlled by the Vikings – heathen warriors from Scandinavia who had been attacking the British Isles for more than a hundred years. Alfred the Great, king of Wessex, was determined to regain the conquered lands but his death in 899 meant that the task passed to his son Edward. In the early 900s, Edward led a great fightback against the Viking armies. He was assisted by the English rulers of Mercia: Lord Æthelred and his wife Æthelflæd (Edward's sister). After her husband's death, Æthelflæd ruled Mercia on her own, leading the army to war and working with her brother to achieve their father's aims. Known to history as the Lady of the Mercians, she earned a reputation as a competent general and was feared by her enemies. She helped to save England from the Vikings and is one of the most famous women of the Dark Ages. This book, published 1100 years after her death, tells her remarkable story.

Women in Scotland c.1100-c.1750

Women in Scotland c.1100-c.1750 PDF Author: Elizabeth L. Ewan
Publisher: Birlinn Ltd
ISBN: 1788854454
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 265

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Book Description
This collection of essays addresses women in Scotland in the medieval and early modem period, drawing on archival sources from Court of Session records to Middle Scots poetry. The editors argue persuasively that it is important to know about Scotswomen from all social levels. The book includes a time line and introductory bibliographical essay. The twenty essays in the collection are arranged under the themes of religion, literature, legal history, the economy, politics and the family. They demonstrate the connections between Scottish women's experience and those in England and the continent, as well as highlighting what was unique for the history of Scottish women. Through this comprehensive review of the feminine situation during more than six hundred years of Scottish history, the reader will discover how women really lived and what they really thought, whatever their place in society.

The Celtic Placenames of Scotland

The Celtic Placenames of Scotland PDF Author: William J. Watson
Publisher: Birlinn Ltd
ISBN: 178885361X
Category : Reference
Languages : en
Pages : 472

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Book Description
First published in 1926, this book remains the best and most comprehensive guide to the Celtic place-names of Scotland and is essential reading for anyone interested in Scottish history and the derivations of place-names the length and breadth of the country. It is divided into sections dealing with early names, territorial divisions, general surveys of areas and also looks at saints, church terms and river names. As the standard reference work on the subject it has never been surpassed. This edition contains a new introduction which includes biographical material about the author, together with corrigenda and addenda.