Arthur's Britain

by Leslie Alcock

Overview

We are all familiar with the heroic deeds and enchantments of the legendary tales surrounding King Arthur. But what evidence is there for a real figure beneath the myth and romance?

Arthur's Britain assembles a wealth of information about the history of Arthur by delving into the shadowy period in which he lived. Drawing on evidence from written and archaeological sources, Leslie Alcock, who directed the famous excavation at Cadbury Castle in Somerset, England, sifts history from fiction to take us back to life between the fourth and seventh centuries. He also provides fascinating detail on how the Britons actually lived, worshipped, dressed, and fought to uncover the real world and people behind the Arthurian legends.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780141390697
Publisher:	Penguin Publishing Group
Publication date:	02/26/2002
Series:	Classic History Series
Pages:	496
Product dimensions:	5.33(w) x 8.40(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

Leslie Alcock is an honorary professional research fellow and former professor of archaeology at the University of Glasgow. He is a past president of the Cambrian Archaeology Association and the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland.

Table of Contents

	List of Plates	x
	List of Text Figures	xii
	List of Maps	xiv
	Preface	xv
	Revised preface, 1987	xvii
1	The Nature of the Evidence	1
	Introduction	1
	Manuscripts	3
	Easter Annals	5
	Narrative history	9
	Inscriptions	10
	Genealogies	10
	Homilies and other religious tracts	11
	Laws	12
	Poetry	13
	Chronology	17
2	Three Key Texts	21
	De excidio Britanniae	21
	The British Historical Miscellany	29
	The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle	41
3	The Arthurian Documents	45
	The evidence of Easter Annals	45
	The evidence of the Historia Brittonum	55
	Some other potentially early evidence	72
	The Glastonbury exhumation	73
	Some general considerations	80
4	The Historical Background, AD 367-490	89
	Introduction	89
	Roman Britain and her problems	93
	Independent Britain	99
	The Saxon revolt and its aftermath	109
5	The Historical Background, AD 490-634	114
	The aftermath of Badon	114
	The early history of Wessex	116
	The other English kingdoms	119
	Celtic kingdoms of the west and north	121
	Early Christianity in Britain	132
	From Chester to Denisesburna	136
6	The Archaeological Background: The Nature of the Evidence	142
	Introduction	142
	Preservation	144
	Discovery	147
	Excavation	149
	Typology	154
	Chronology	156
	Topography	160
7	The Culture of Roman and Sub-Roman Britain	166
	The material culture of Roman Britain	166
	Change and continuity	176
	The early fifth century	181
8	The Culture of the Britons, AD 450-650	197
	Dating evidence, AD 450-650	197
	Secular sites, principally with imported pottery	209
	Artefacts and activities	229
	Religious monuments	238
9	The Enemies of the Britons I: Picts and Scots	253
	The Scotti in Ireland	253
	The Scotti in Britain	265
	The Picts	270
10	The Enemies of the Britons 2: the English	278
	The ancestral English	278
	The pagan English: the evidence of cemeteries	287
	The evidence of settlements	301
	The conversion of the English	307
	Relations between Britons and English	310
11	Economy, Society and Warfare	314
	The economy of the Britons and their enemies	314
	Heroic society	319
	Weapons, tactics and strategy	327
12	Arthur and Britain	351
	Bibliography and References	365
	Supplementary Bibliography, 1987	387
	Index	409