Landscapes of Defence in Early Medieval Europe

Description

This volume is the result of a conference at University College London in 2007 which addressed the scale and form of civil defences in early medieval Europe, c. 800-1000. Previous work has largely focused on individual sites or specific categories of evidence. These papers offer new interdisciplinary perspectives driven by a landscape approach. Several contributions focus on civil defence in England around the time of King Alfred the Great, and together provide a new agenda for the study of Anglo-Saxon military landscapes. European case-studies facilitate a comparative approach to local and regional defensive structures and interpretive paradigms. Topics and themes covered include civil defence landscapes, the organization and form of defensive structures, and the relationships and dynamics between social complexity, militarization, and external threats. With papers ranging from England to Spain and Germany to Scandinavia the volume is of relevance to a range of disciplines including archaeology, history, onomastics, geography, and anthropology. John Baker is Research Associate at the University of Nottingham, Stuart Brookes is Research Associate, and Andrew Reynolds is Professor in Medieval Archaeology, both at the UCL Institute of Archaeology. Front Matter ("Editorial Board", "Title Page", "Copyright Page", "Table of Contents", "Illustrations", "Summary", "Acknowledgements", "Preface"), p. i Free Access Archaeological Correlates for Anglo‑Saxon Military Activity in Comparative Perspective, p. 1 Andrew Reynolds https://doi.org/10.1484/M.SEM-EB.1.100872 Mapping Anglo-Saxon Civil Defence, p. 39 Stuart Brookes https://doi.org/10.1484/M.SEM-EB.1.100873 The Language of Anglo-Saxon Defence, p. 65 John Baker https://doi.org/10.1484/M.SEM-EB.1.100874 West Saxon Fortifications in the Ninth Century: The Perspective from the Written Sources, p. 91 Barbara Yorke https://doi.org/10.1484/M.SEM-EB.1.100875 Wallingford: Place, Space, and Defence, p. 111 Neil Christie, Oliver Creighton, Matt Edgeworth https://doi.org/10.1484/M.SEM-EB.1.100876 Military and Non-Military Functions of the Anglo-Saxon Burh, c. 878–978, p. 129 Gareth Williams https://doi.org/10.1484/M.SEM-EB.1.100877 Aspects of Suburban Settlement at Early Urban Centres in England, p. 165 Andrew Agate https://doi.org/10.1484/M.SEM-EB.1.100878 The Costs and Consequences of Anglo‑Saxon Civil Defence, 878–1066, p. 195 Richard Abels https://doi.org/10.1484/M.SEM-EB.1.100879 A Viking Age Landscape of Defence in the Low Countries? The ringwalburgen in the Dutch Province of Zeeland, p. 223 Letty ten Harkel https://doi.org/10.1484/M.SEM-EB.1.100880 Frankish and Slavic Fortifications in Germany from the Seventh to the Eleventh Centuries, p. 261 Peter Ettel https://doi.org/10.1484/M.SEM-EB.1.100881 The Viking Age Paradox: Continuity and Discontinuity of Fortifications and Defence Works in Eastern Scandinavia, p. 285 Charlotte Hedenstierna-Jonson, Lena Holmquist, Michael Olausson https://doi.org/10.1484/M.SEM-EB.1.100882 Defensive Sites of the Early Middle Ages in North-West Spain, p. 303 Juan Antonio Quirós Castillo https://doi.org/10.1484/M.SEM-EB.1.100883 Military Stress, Central Power, and Local Response in the County of Castile in the Tenth Century, p. 341 Julio Escalona https://doi.org/10.1484/M.SEM-EB.1.100884 Front Matter ("Index", "Titles in Series"), p. 369