Dying and Death in Later Anglo-Saxon England

Dying and Death in Later Anglo-Saxon England PDF

Author: Victoria Thompson

Publisher: Boydell Press

Published: 2012

Total Pages: 250

ISBN-13: 1843837315

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Study of late Anglo-Saxon texts and grave monuments illuminates contemporary attitudes towards dying and the dead. Pre-Conquest attitudes towards the dying and the dead have major implications for every aspect of culture, society and religion of the Anglo-Saxon period; but death-bed and funerary practices have been comparatively and unjustly neglected by historical scholarship. In her wide-ranging analysis, Dr Thompson examines such practices in the context of confessional and penitential literature, wills, poetry, chronicles and homilies, to show that complex and ambiguous ideas about death were current at all levels of Anglo-Saxon society. Her study also takes in grave monuments, showing in particular how the Anglo-Scandinavian sculpture of the ninth to the eleventh centuries may indicate notonly the status, but also the religious and cultural alignment of those who commissioned and made them. Victoria Thompson is Lecturer in the Centre for Nordic Studies at the University of the Highlands and Islands.

Wills and Will-making in Anglo-Saxon England

Wills and Will-making in Anglo-Saxon England PDF

Author: Linda Tollerton

Publisher: Boydell & Brewer Ltd

Published: 2011

Total Pages: 348

ISBN-13: 1903153379

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A study of the implications and practices of wills and will-making in Anglo-Saxon society, and of the varieties of inheritance strategies and commemorative arrangements adopted. A remarkable series of Anglo-Saxon wills have survived, spanning the period from the beginning of the ninth century to the years immediately following the Norman Conquest. Written in Old English, they reflect the significance of the vernacular, not only in royal administration during this period, but in the recording of a range of individual transactions. They show wealthy laymen and women, and clerics, from kings and bishops to those of thegnly status, disposing of land and chattels, and recognising ties of kinship, friendship, lordship and service through their bequests; and whilst land is of prime importance, the mention in some wills of such valuable items as tableware, furnishings, clothing, jewellery and weapons provides an insight into lifestyle at the time. Despite their importance, no study has hitherto been specifically devoted to Anglo-Saxon wills in their social and historical context, a gap which this book aims to fill. While the wills themselves can be vague and allusive, by establishing patterns of bequeathing, and by drawing on other resources, the author sheds light on the factors which influenced men and womenin making appropriate provision for their property. Linda Tollerton gained her PhD from the University of York.

Death in England

Death in England PDF

Author: Peter C. Jupp

Publisher: Manchester University Press

Published: 1999

Total Pages: 324

ISBN-13: 9780719058110

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This work provides a social history of death from the earliest times to Diana, Princess of Wales. As we discard the 20th century taboo about death, this book charts the story of the way in which our forebears coped with aspects of their daily lives.

The Death of Anglo-Saxon England

The Death of Anglo-Saxon England PDF

Author: N. J. Higham

Publisher: Alan Sutton Publishing

Published: 1997

Total Pages: 280

ISBN-13:

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Perhaps the best-known fact of English history is the Norman Conquest of 1066, which dispossessed the Anglo-Saxon royal house, marginalized English cultural values and began the near total exclusion of English figures from influence in the realm.

The Anglo-Saxon Way of Death

The Anglo-Saxon Way of Death PDF

Author: Sam Lucy

Publisher: Sutton Publishing

Published: 2000

Total Pages: 224

ISBN-13:

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This account of death and burial in Anglo-Saxon England offers insights into the society and customs of the Anglo-Saxons, their way of life and their understanding of the world. A detailed study of cemeteries, grave-goods and human remains is included.

Heaven and Earth in Anglo-Saxon England

Heaven and Earth in Anglo-Saxon England PDF

Author: Helen Foxhall Forbes

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2016-04-22

Total Pages: 410

ISBN-13: 1317123077

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Christian theology and religious belief were crucially important to Anglo-Saxon society, and are manifest in the surviving textual, visual and material evidence. This is the first full-length study investigating how Christian theology and religious beliefs permeated society and underpinned social values in early medieval England. The influence of the early medieval Church as an institution is widely acknowledged, but Christian theology itself is generally considered to have been accessible only to a small educated elite. This book shows that theology had a much greater and more significant impact than has been recognised. An examination of theology in its social context, and how it was bound up with local authorities and powers, reveals a much more subtle interpretation of secular processes, and shows how theological debate affected the ways that religious and lay individuals lived and died. This was not a one-way flow, however: this book also examines how social and cultural practices and interests affected the development of theology in Anglo-Saxon England, and how ’popular’ belief interacted with literary and academic traditions. Through case-studies, this book explores how theological debate and discussion affected the personal perspectives of Christian Anglo-Saxons, including where possible those who could not read. In all of these, it is clear that theology was not detached from society or from the experiences of lay people, but formed an essential constituent part.

The Landscape Archaeology of Anglo-Saxon England

The Landscape Archaeology of Anglo-Saxon England PDF

Author: N. J. Higham

Publisher: Boydell & Brewer

Published: 2010

Total Pages: 246

ISBN-13: 1843835827

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The Anglo-Saxon period was crucial to the development of the English landscape, but is rarely studied. The essays here provide radical new interpretations of its development. Traditional opinion has perceived the Anglo-Saxons as creating an entirely new landscape from scratch in the fifth and sixth centuries AD, cutting down woodland, and bringing with them the practice of open field agriculture, and establishing villages. Whilst recent scholarship has proved this simplistic picture wanting, it has also raised many questions about the nature of landscape development at the time, the changing nature of systems of land management, and strategies for settlement. The papers here seek to shed new light on these complex issues. Taking a variety of different approaches, and with topics ranging from the impact of coppicing to medieval field systems, from the representation of the landscape in manuscripts to cereal production and the type of bread the population preferred, they offer striking new approaches to the central issues of landscape change across the seven centuries of Anglo-Saxon England, a period surely foundational to the rural landscape of today. NICHOLAS J. HIGHAM is Professor of Early Medieval and Landscape History at the University of Manchester; MARTIN J. RYAN lectures in Medieval History at the University of Manchester. Contributors: Nicholas J. Higham, Christopher Grocock, Stephen Rippon, Stuart Brookes, Carenza Lewis, Susan Oosthuizen, Tom Williamson, Catherine Karkov, David Hill, Debby Banham, Richard Hoggett, Peter Murphy.

The English Execution Narrative, 1200–1700

The English Execution Narrative, 1200–1700 PDF

Author: Katherine Royer

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2015-10-06

Total Pages: 192

ISBN-13: 1317319788

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Royer examines the changing ritual of execution across five centuries and discovers a shift both in practice and in the message that was sent to the population at large. She argues that what began as a show of retribution and revenge became a ceremonial portrayal of redemption as the political, religious and cultural landscape of England evolved.

Dealing With The Dead

Dealing With The Dead PDF

Author:

Publisher: BRILL

Published: 2017-12-18

Total Pages: 461

ISBN-13: 9004358331

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Death was a constant, visible presence in medieval and renaissance Europe. Yet, the acknowledgement of death did not necessarily amount to an acceptance of its finality. Whether they were commoners, clergy, aristocrats, or kings, the dead continued to function literally as integrated members of their communities long after they were laid to rest in their graves. From stories of revenants bringing pleas from Purgatory to the living, to the practical uses and regulation of burial space; from the tradition of the ars moriendi, to the depiction of death on the stage; and from the making of martyrs, to funerals for the rich and poor, this volume examines how communities dealt with their dead as continual, albeit non-living members. Contributors are Jill Clements, Libby Escobedo, Hilary Fox, Sonsoles Garcia, Stephen Gordon, Melissa Herman, Mary Leech, Nikki Malain, Kathryn Maud, Justin Noetzel, Anthony Perron, Martina Saltamacchia, Thea Tomaini, Wendy Turner, and Christina Welch