Environment, Society and Landscape in Early Medieval England: Time and Topography

Description

The Anglo-Saxon period was crucial in the development of England's character: its language, and much of its landscape and culture, were forged in the period between the fifth and the eleventh centuries. Historians and archaeologists have long been fascinated by its regional variations, by the way in which different parts of the country displayed marked differences in social structures, settlement patterns, and field systems. In this controversial and wide-ranging study, the author argues that such differences were largely a consequence of environmental factors: of the influence of climate, soils and hydrology, and of the patterns of contact and communication engendered by natural topography. He also suggests that such environmental influences have been neglected over recent decades by generations of scholars who are embedded in an urban culture and largely divorced from the natural world; and that an appreciation of the fundamental role of physical geography in shaping human affairs can throw much new light on a number of important debates about early medieval society. The book will be essential reading for all those interested in the character of the Anglo-Saxon and Scandinavian settlements, in early medieval social and territorial organization, and in the origins of the England's medieval landscapes. List of Illustrations vi Acknowledgements viii Introduction 1 1. Settlement and Society 6 2. Nature's Frame 36 3. Culture, Ethnicity and Topography 61 4. Small Shires, Deep Roots 82 5. The Gradient of Freedom 107 6. Two Countrysides? 125 7. Village, Farm and Field 147 8. Landscape and Settlement 184 9. Woodland and Pasture 207 Conclusion: Time and Topography 234 Bibliography 247 Index 263