Civitas to Kingdom: British Political Continuity 300-800 [2 ed.] 0718514653

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Civitas

t o Kingd om British Political Continuity300-800 K .R .Dark

S t u d i e si nt h eE a r l yH i s t o r yo fBritain

Ci vit as to Ki ng do m

Civitas to Kingdom: British Political Continuity 300-800

This book is dedicated to my grandparents: Charley a n d Phillis Rainsbury

K. R. Dark

Leicester University Press

Leicester, London and New York Distributed exclusively in the USA and Canada by St. Martin's Press, Inc.

Contents L e i c e s t e r University P r e s s (a division o f P i n t e r P u b l i s h e r s L t d )

25 Floral Street, London, WC2E 9DS First published in Great Britain in 1994 © K. R. D a r k 1994

Act 1988, this publication may not be reproduced, stored or transmitted, in any f o r m or by any means, or process without the prior permission in writing of the copyright holders or their agents. Except for reproduction in accord-

ance with the terms of licences issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency,

List of figures Foreword Preface

Introduction 1

photocopying of whole or part of this publication without the prior written permission of the copyright holders or their agents in single or multiple copies

Explaining the end of Roman Britain Preliminaries

whether for gain or not is illegal and expressly forbidden. Please direct all

Surplus and romanization

enquiries concerning copyright to the Publishers at the address above.

Distributed exclusively in the USA and Canada by St. Martin's Press, Inc., Y 10010, USA Room 400, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N

Section 77 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

2

ISBN 0 7185 1465 3 \

Library ofC o n g r e s s Cataloging -in-Public ation Data Dark, K. R. (Kenneth Rainsbury)

Civitas to kingdom: British political continuity, 300-800/K. R .

Dark. p.

cm.

Includes bibliographical references (p.) and index. I S B N 0-7185-1465-3

1. Great Britain-Politics and government- -To 1485. 2. Romans Great Britain-Politics and government. 3. Great Britain. Britons-Politics and government. Antiquities, Celtic. 4

5. Monarchy--Great Britain-

3

History. 6. Great Britain-History-To

1066. 7. Britons-K ings and rulers.

DA 135.D35 1994

.I Title.

941.01-de20

Typeset by BookEns Ltd, Baldock, Herts. Printed a n d bound in Great Britain by SRP Ltd, Exeter

93-26496 CIP

To w n s

13

Villas Late R o m a n villas a s e s t a t e c e n t r e s

25

The religious lites

30

Conclusion

49

Hill-fort and other 'native' secular élite sites Military sites

K. R. Dark is hereby identified as the author of this work as provided under

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

Politics and Culture in Late Roman Britain Introduction

500 w01 ne

Apart from any fair dealing for the purposes of research or private study, or criticism or review, as permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents

28

40 44

The Originsof the sub-Roman Kingdoms

5 0

Introduction Britain in the fifth c e n t u r y

51

50

S t G e r m a n u so f A u x e r e

52

Other sources for early fifth-century Britain

53

Explaining the fifth-century transformation

55

The British Church in the fifth century The economy of fifth-century Britain

64

Conclusion

69

T h e Character and Context of British Dynastic Foundation The Carveti

The Brigantes The Ordovices/Gwynedd The C o r n o v i i / P o w y s

68

71 71 77

74 78

The Demetae/D yfed and Brycheinio g

79

Ceredigion

83

The Silures /Gwent and Glywysing

83

T h e C a t u v e l l a u n i a n d Tr i n o v a n t e s The Dobunni

The Durotriges Dumnonia

Overall synthesis of dynastic origins Civitates and Kingdoms

86 89 90

91 94

97

Introduction

The political geography of Roman Britain

5

Sub-kingdoms, Estates and Towns in sub-Roman Britain

Introduction T h e L l a n d a ff C h a r t e r s

6

133

137 137

140

148

Elmet

151 152

Estates S u b - R o m a n small towns Conclusion T h e C u l t u r e o fs u b - R o m a n B r i t a i n

159 164

172

Introduction

How do we assess culture on archaeological grounds? Kings, halls, hill-forts and warbands

178

C h r i s t i a n i t y, r o m a n i z a t i o n a n d H e r o i c society

181

Manuscript production in sub-Roman Britain The Celt ic Her oic Age Kingship, administration and warfare

Surplustaxati on, and coinage Clientship, hunting and feasting Long-range trade, the control of information and Byzantine

194 200

diplomacy

Exchange inside kingdoms Conclusion

7

213 216

T h e British K i n g d o m s 6 0 0 - 8 0 0 Introduction

217

The second phase of the Anglo-Saxon conquest AD 600-700

218

T h e origins of Wa l e s AD 6 0 0 - 8 0 0

The expansion of Gwynedd and Wales in the ninth century The meaning of absence: society, economy and environment

228

AD 600-800

Corn wall

Conclusion: from core to periphery Introduction to regional review

The e c o n o m i c e x p l a n a t i o n

2 41 242 2 43

The milita ry expla nation

2 44 2 45

e Political philosophy and the legacyof Rom

246

The demographic explanation Indiv idual s a n d e x p l a n a t i o n

246

255

General conclusion

The multiple estate model Sub-kingdoms

240

Sub-Roman Britain ni context, AD 400-600

T h e textual and epigraphic sources Archaeological sources T h e evidence of Church d e d i c a t i o n s General conclusions

235

Regional review Conclusion to regional review The envir onme ntal expla natio n

235

Appendix 1Where and when did Gildas write? monuments in

Appen dix 2 The chronology of early Christian R o m a n Britain Abbreviations used Bibliography Index

958

sub267 270

272 308

L is t o f fi g u r e s

28 29

30 31

Class-I inscriptions in Wales

118

Cairns and ecclesiastical enclosures reusing earlier sites,

120

T h e Plas G o g e r d d a n e x c a v a t i o n

122

inscribed stones with tribal names, and horizontal incised Class-I inscriptions, in Wales and the South-west

Organically-tempered pottery in the South-west and the

124

West C o u n t r y 33

Dedications to dynastic saints Reconstruction of borders of the sub-Roman British

32

Cover

Folio 100v of the Vergilius Romanus

34

11

35

Anglo-saxon tribal names, possibly indicating preceding

152 153

14

36 37 38

British polities: - s a t e n a m e s a n d the Hwicce T h e Cornish H u n d r e d s

156

1

R o m a n Britain in the fourth c e n t u r y

Evidence for social stress and the distribution of wealth in late fourth-century Britain Reconstruction of a (stage 1) Romano-British town Reconstruction of a Romano-British villa

26

R e c o n s t r u c t i o n of a R o m a n o - B r i t i s h t e m p l e

31

Temple numbers in use during the first to the fifth centuries AD in Britain and Continental Europe Some evidence for Christianity in Roman Britain Reconstruction of an undocumented Romano-British

33

4 5

6 7 8

9

Reconstru ction of the sub-Roma n church at Uley

Class-I inscribed stones and cantref boundaries in Wales

158 160

39

T h e excavation at Brawdy hill-fort G a t e h o l m island

40

Comparative plans of areas enclosed by wallsof Romano-

164

41

Sub-Roman occupation in western British towns (below) Aerial photograph of S o u t hCadbury hill-fort

53 SO

163

British s m a l l t o w n s a n d s u b - R o m a n h i l l - f o r t s (above).

37

church 9

134

k i n g d o m s in t h e sixth c e n t u r y T h e Elmetiacos inscription

2 3

130

42

166

Late and s u b - R o m a n hill-forts from Britain a n d t h e Continental Roman Empire

167

10

T h e d i s t r i b u t i o n ofe v i d e n c e for the d e s t r u c t i o n o f p a g a n t e m p l e s in early fi f t h - c e n t u r y Britain

61 63

Reconstruction of a small Dark Age hill-fort

170

Deliberat ely buried p a g a n sculpture at Uley

43

11

177

T h e Church in sub-Roman Britain

44

12

T h e e x c a v a t i o n at B i r d o s w a l d

13

66 67

14

A r e c o n s t r u c t i o n o fs u b - R o m a n Wr o x e t e r

15

69

Romano-British and sub-Roman structures (above). Internal planningof sub-Roman Gateholm and the

179

St Paul in the Bail, Lincoln, u n d e rexcavation

45

Roman fort and town sites in the north of Britain with e v i d e n c eof sub-Roman activity

73

16 17

T h e Caelextis inscription

18

T h e Vo r t i p o r s t o n e

77 81 82

19

A Catuvellaunian/Trinovantian kingdom? South Wales and south-wes tern peninsula of England,

20

A Class-I stone with a metrical Latin inscription

182

47

An illumination from the Vergilius Romanus (folio 108r)

188

48

A w o r k a b l e s y s t e m of c o i nc i r c u l a t i o n

202

49

210

52

Aerial photograph of Tintagel Distributions of Roman coins and penannularbrooches. The inset shows a type G penannular brooch from Cadbury Congresbury The extensionof the Anglo-Saxon area Degannwy hill-fort

221

95

53

A Class-III inscription

222

Llangorse Crannog under excavation

99

54 55 56

R o m a n o - B r i t i s h civitates D y n a s t i c i n d i c a t o r s in Wa l e s

226 227 230

101

57

A possible Dobunnic kingdom in the fifth/sixth centuries

108

58 59

111

60

Aerial photograph of the hill-fort at Coygan Camp

22 23 24 25

Irish names, and sub-Roman sites mentioned in the text Approximate zones of dynastic origins in fifth- and sixthcentury Britain The Romano-British extent of the territories of the Brigantes and the Carvetii

93 51

106

AD 26

27

The Ordous inscription The textually attested polities ofsixth-cen tury sub-Roman Britain a n d their R o m a n o - B r i t i s h p r e d e c e s s o r s

50

87

showing ogom stones and Class-I inscriptions containing

21

R o m a n o - B r i t i s h small town at I r c h e s t e r(below) 46

112

T h e P i l l a r of E l i s e

Aerial photograph of Tenby Castle Zones of collapse of the Roman Empire by the sixth

219

247

century

Major cultural zones in sixth century Britain The medieval Welsh castle at Dinas Bran Gildas's Britain: places mentioned, or possibly mentioned, in the text of De Excidio

61

214

T h e chronoloou o f c u h . R o m o n incorintion

248 257 261

Foreword

xi

has provided, however,isa coherent series of challenging new interpret-

ations of the fortunes of the Britons in the late and post-Roman world. It

Foreword

is a particular merit of the interpretative models here advocated that

theyreflect many of the approaches of modern archaeological theory without being clothed in thejargon that sometimes disfigures such work. I am confident that this book will prove to be a seminal study and I take

great pleasure in the fact that it will give an entirely new meaning to the

phrase, the 'Dark Ages'!

N. P. Brooks

Univer sity of Birmin gham July 1993

The aim of the Studies in the Early History of Britain is to promote works of the highest scholarship which open virgin fields of study or which surmount the barriers of traditional academic disciplines. As interest in the

origins of o u r society and culture grows while scholarship yet becomes

ever more specialized, interdisciplinary studies are needed more urgently, not only by scholars but also by students and laymen. The series there-

fore

includes research monographs, works of synthesis and also

collaborative studies of important themes by several scholars whose

training and expertise has lain in different fields. Our knowledge of the

early Middle Ages will also be limited and fragmentary, but progress can be made if the work of the historian embraces that of the philologist, the

archaeologist, the geographer, the numismatist, the art historian and the

liturgist - to name only the most obvious. The need to cross and to remove academic frontiers also explains the extension of the geographical

range from that of the previous Studies in Early English History to include the whole island of Britain. T h e change would have been wel-

. . P. R comed by the editor of the earlier series, the late Professor H Finberg, whose pioneering work helped to inspire, or to provoke, the interest of a new generation of early medievalists in the relations of Britons and Saxons. The approach of this series is therefore deliberately wideranging. Early medieval Britain can only be understood in the context of.

contemporary developments in Ireland and on the Continent. This volume investigates and reinterprets the end of Roman Britain and the origins of kingdoms in the Celtic West, tracing their social and cultural development in the early Middle Ages. It therefore balances and

complements an earlier volume in the series: The Origins of Anglo-Saxon

Kingdoms (1989), where Steven Bassett coordinated a team of thirteen experts to produce a major advance in our understanding. Here Ken Dark tackles the same issues for the Britons and single-handedly offers a

synthesis of the archaeological, historical and philological evidence. Together the two volumes provide a radically new foundation for under-

standing the politics, culture and economy of late Romanand early medi-

eval Britain, based upon the very latest scholarship. Given the difficulty

of dating and interpreting much of the archaeological evidence and of reaching a secure critical understanding of the written sources, there will r a r a i r

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Preface

Preface

xili

centuries. This, I hope to show, is unsupportable for the period prior to circa AD 600, after which the British kingdoms of the West were increasingly marginalized in political, as well as in geographical, terms In tracing the political and cultural development of Britain from the fourth to ninth centuries I shall, therefore, also employ a different

approach frommost other studies of this subject by continuing to concentrate on the British part of the story after AD 400, rather than that of the Anglo-Saxons. Until the seventh century, by far the majority of Britain was outside the area of Anglo-Saxon control. and even in that

part of Britain which may be considered Anglo-Saxon, there may have been substantial British enclaves. Rather than stressing the importance of the Anglo-Saxon East against

a 'Celtic fringe' to the West, it seems, therefore, that until the Anglo-

T h e t h e m e o f this book is t h a t R o m a n Britain e n d e d not in the fi f t h cen-

tury, but the seventh, and, in a sense, not even then. This interpretation carries with i t implication s not only for how we view Roman Britain and

the Celtic Dark Ages, but for broader studies of the end of the Roman Empire and the dynamics of state societies. It also affects how we view the r e l a t i o n s h i p b e t w e e n t h e Celtic a n d the A n g l o - S a x o n a r e a s of Britain

during the fifth to seventh centuries.

Saxon expansion in the seventh century it was Anglo-Saxon England which constituted the periphery (whether to the British or Continental Franks), rather than the Britons of the West. If we are to place fifth- to

seventh-century Britain in clearer focus it is, therefore, important to emphasize its British, rather than Anglo-Saxon, aspects.

In order to trace political and cultural trends among the Britons through these centuries, it is necessary for the geographical scope of this

Historians have usually discussed the end of Roman Britain in terms of the severance of the British from Roman rule, while archaeologists have concentrated on the disuse of 'Roman' characteristics such as

book to shift, as the British c o n t r o l l e d less of the island as time pro-

towns and villas. This is unsurprising, given the nature of historical and archaeological evidence, but the differing conclusions which they have reached might be seen, in part, as a result of examining each source in

essary to review, in brief, other areas of Europe during the fifth to seventh centuries, and to continue the story of the British kingdoms until,

isolation. There have been few studies attempting to give equal weight to both archaeological and historical evidence. These discussions have also taken place within a framework stressing either the 'Roman' or 'medieval' aspects of the question, because those who have written them have approached the subject as either Romanists or medievalists, each with their own preconceptions, and, to some extent,

asking different questions of the evidence. Consequently, this book differs from most studies of the period in taking a fully-interdisciplinary approach, aiming at the integration of archaeological and historical aspects across period boundaries. Another d i ff e r e n c e is that it a t t e m p t s to place Britain in a E u r o p e a n c o n t e x t

throughout the period covered. Most historical and archaeological accounts, while recognizing that Roman Britain has to be discussed in its Imperial setting, adopt an insular

framework for discussing 'Celtic' Britain after circa AD 400, as if it

ceased to be part of a wider European world. I aim to demonstrate that

placing the British kingdoms within their broader European perspective

assists recognition of their Late Antique character. This brings us to, perhaps, the most widespread preconception about

theBritons during the fifth to seventh centuries: that they constituted a 'Celtic fringe' to the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of eastern England. They

are, therefore, usually considered relatively unimportant, compared to

gressed, and Anglo-Saxon rule incorporated new territories. In order to provide a context in which toplace sub-Roman Britain it willalso be necout of what had been Roman Britain, only the kingdoms of Wales were

left u n d e r British rule.

A further omission from previous studies has been the important developments in archaeological theory and in historical method, made since the 1960s. Although this book represents the first work of its length to c o m b i n e b o t h a p p r o a c h e s in the s t u d y o f early Britain, it is i m p o r t a n t

to note a t the outset that philosophical speculation and sociological jargon will not be found within it. I have made my theoretical views clear else-

where, and do not consider this the place to reiterate them, so theoretical

discussion will be i n t r o d u c e d only where it is n e c e s s a r y to h e l p i n t e r p r e t

historical information and archaeological material. All archaeology and history is, however, written within a theoretical framework - there is no such thing as an 'theoretical' study - and so the reader will find the application of theory illustrated and elaborated throughout the text.

Finally, the history of this book itself should, perhaps, be outlined. It

presents, in a revised form, the final t w ochapters of my 1989 Cambridge Ph.D. dissertation, up-dated and with additional bibliography, and with a new chapter on Late Roman Britain (Chapter 1). It remains only to acknowledge those who have assisted in the production of this work, both as a Ph.D and as a book. I have undoubtedly benefited from the facilities and opportunities provided by the Universities of

Cambridge and Oxford. I especially recall the value of being able to attend lectures and seminars by, and of less formal discussions with, r

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xiv

Civitas to Kingdom

Williams, C. Whittaker and .I Hodder in Cambridge; Professors C. Mango and J. Herrin, and Doctors J. Howard-Johnston, J. Matthews and B. Ward-Perkins in Oxford; and, as an undergraduate, Professor P.

Introduction

Rahtz and Doctors T . Dickinson and E. James in York. Many others have provided unpublished data, or discussed questions

. Biddle, relating to this work with me: L. Alcock, C. Arnold, J. Bell, M

M. Blackburn, G. Boon, D. Brook, E. Campbell, P. Casey, V. Dickinson,

. James, W. Evans, C. Green, M. Henig, C. Hicks, C. Hills, D. Hooke, H . Metcalf, F. Moore, J. Muke, M. Jones, S. Kelly, J. Knight, J. Lewis, M B. Myhre, R. Niblett, B. O'Brien, U . O'Meadhra, O. Padel, S. Rault,

R. Samson, R. Sharpe, J. Sheppard, B. Wailes, R . White, G. Williams,

P. Williams, a n d S. Youngs.

The chapters of my Ph.D forming the basis of this book were written under the supervision of Doctors D. N . Dumville and A . Lane, and Pro-

fessor C. Renfrew, for all of whose advice and help I am grateful. My thanks, too, to Professor N. P. Brooks for his helpful advice. Special thanks are due to my family, especially my parents and my

aunt, Amelia Bartlett, and to Petra Day, who have not only read the complete text, but constantly supported and assisted in preparing this work for publication.

Before we can consider the end of Roman Britain, we have to ask what we understand by this term. It can be defined in several ways. Conventionally, it has been measured in the relinquishing of rule by the Imperial

government, and the cessation of specific 'Roman' types of archaeological site, such as towns,villas, forts, and temples.Alongside this it h a soften

been evaluated i ncultural terms by assessing when people ceased to live in a romanized fashion. Other options for answering this question include changes in perceptions of identity - w h e nBritons ceased to call themselves Romans, or when non-Britons ceased to consider the British population as Roman. Alternatively, administrative and tenurial change might form a guide to when Roman Britain ended - when Britons ceased t oown and rule their own land.

Historians and archaeologists, by placing importance on those aspects

most easily examined through the sources of each subject, have often understood the end of Roman Britain in relation to contrasting aspects

among these options. To historians, political and cultural definitions have

often s e e m e d i m p o r t a n t , or economic factors closely related to these, such as taxation or land tenure. Archaeologists have, unsurprisingly, concen-

trated on material change as evidence for the end of the Roman period. It is,

therefore, surprising that the end of Roman Britain has been perceived, by

scholars of both disciplines, to occur within a narrow timespan between the late fourth and mid-fifth century. The lone voice of dissent has been that of

Richard Reece, who has favoureda far earlier date, ni the mid-third or early fourth century, although historians such as Kathleen Hughes, James

C a m p b e l l , a n d We n d y Davies have all s t r e s s e d the i m p o r t a n c e of the

Roman inheritance during the fifth to seventh centuries, especially among the Britons. To quote Kathleen H u g h e s ,'We have not sufficiently recognised the influence of the Romano- British and sub- Roman past on the history of early medieval Wales',' but such observations are far from

Folio 100v of the Vergilius Romanus (Vatican library cod. lat. 3867). It is suggested, in Chapter 6, that this manuscript was produced in sub- Roman Britain. While the naturalistic style may preserve details of sub-Roman

extending Roman Britain into the later fifth century and beyond. Recently, Nicholas Higham has suggested that while Roman Britain ended, in its material aspects, in the early fifth century, some semblance

of romanized administration and taxation continued u n t i lthe end of that

life, the small hats worn by two of the figures derive from a Late Antique

artistic convention, to depict Trojans wearing the 'Phrygian cap'.(Vatican Library shote)

K

Uncheo

MPho C o l t i c C h u r c h .

so t h i e o w o l i d c o n c o n t ?

C M C S

1 (1081)

1_90 (15)

2

Introduction

Civitas to Kingdom

century.? This represents the only attempt to prolong secular Roman institutions into the period after AD 450 on archaeological grounds,

3

Llandaff Charters as a source for fifth- to seventh-century British his-

tory, and the identification of what may be the earliest surviving British

although Michael Lapidge has argued for the survival of Roman education,

book: an illuminated manuscript containing naturalistic scenes in Late

law, a n d b u r e a u c r a c y until the sixth c e n t u r y on historical evidence.§ As

A n t i q u e style.

Lapidge has written, recent work on the sixth century British writer G i l d a s t e n d s '. .

. to imply that

m u c h m o r e o f the fabric

of R o m a n

civilisation was still visible in sixth-century Britain than has hitherto been a s s u m e d . '

Here I shall attempt to examine all of the themes mentioned above: including, for example, the continuity or discontinuity of site-types and of administration and land tenure, changing perceptions of identity and

Examining my main theme, therefore, leads to the consideration of many specific questions of Roman and post- Roman archaeology and history. It also opens many new potential avenues of enquiry and approaches which may form a foundation for future studies, both of British evidence and in the archaeology and history of other areas, for instance in the development of a framework of explanation for widespread cul-

the character of British culture, from the fourth- to the ninth-century.

T h i s shows that, although Roman rule certainly did e n d in the early fifth

tural change. In conclusion, it is important to note that it would have been impossible to write this book without the basis provided by the detailed studies of

century, and notwithstanding some discontinuity among the élite,

other scholars, among them many of those mentioned in the Preface.

Roman modes of life survived among the British for centuries after that

T h e y have laid a firm foundation for the study of the transition from

date and took place within a political framework partially inherited from Roman Britain. Yet romanization did not survive, as we shall see, unaltered, nor in other than a Late Antique form. We shall not recognize

it fi we seek a facsimile of the early Roman western provinces, nor if we deny the same regionalism and trends of change visible within the

centuries of Roman rule. It is crucial to recognize that the geographical extent of the British

kingdoms in which such continuity may have occurred also changed

through the period considered here. In AD 410 all of Britain was probably under British rule, but by the end of the seventh century the

Anglo-Saxons controlled the whole of the lowland zone, where the most

romanized part of the Romano-British population had once lived. Yet this decline in the extent of British political control did not occur until the later sixth and seventh centuries, and it is the intervening 'Dark Ages' which most concern us here. T h e archaeology a n d h i s t o r y of these c e n t u r i e s e n a b l e u s to t r a c e

many other themes. Political geography, urban history, the spread of

Christianity, and topics examined. to introduce the Latin literacy will

the origins of insular monasticism, are all among the In discussing Late Roman Britain it will be necessary origins of feudalism, and the post-Roman history of form an important theme in considering the culture of

sub-Roman Britain. Specific archaeological questions, for instance, the interpretation of the widespread 'dark earth' deposits found in many Late Roman towns, and the problem of how to assess non-material culture from material evidence, will also be introduced. Historical

sources are also examined in detail, including a reconsideration of the 2.

N. Higham, Rome, Britain and the Anglo-Saxons (1992); K . Hunter-Mann, 'When (and What) was the End of Roman Britain?', in Scott, TRA, 67-78, has noted that t h econventional dating for the end of coinage and mass-production in fifth-century Britain is uncertain (71-2).

.3 M. Lapidge, 'Gildas's Educationand the Latin Culture of sub-Roman Britain', in Gildas: New Approaches, eds. M . Lapidge and D . Dumville (1984), 27-50.

4.

Ibid., 50.

Roman to medieval Britain and, although some may disagree with the interpretations proposed here, I h o p e that this book will provide a fresh perspective which all of them will welcome. Of course, all of its shortcomings, and any factual errors within this work, should be attributed to t h e a u t h o r.

1

P o l i t i c s a n d C u l t u r e in L a t e Roman Britain

INTRODUCTION

Roman Britain undoubtedly has a very rich database.' It si also usually supposed by archaeologists to be a well-understood period, in whichonly minor details need adding to an established picture As true as this may

be for the early Roman period, it cannot be claimed that Late Roman Britain is well understood at present.? Controversy about the character

of town and villa sites persists while issues concerning the role of the

army, and the degree of romanization among the civilian population, occupy much current thought and writing about the period.3 Sub-Roman Britain, conversely, is usually cast in different terms. A

wild Celtic society, resembling the Iron-Age, about which little is known

and where few firmly-established facts can be found.* Almost everything about this period has, at some time or another, been controversial. Questions of social change and process, or even of a modern 'social

archaeology', have hardly been touched upon in either period. There are

a few exceptions: Richard Hodges has incorporated sub-Roman Britain

into his very broad overview of the 'Anglo-Saxon achievement', and

. Todd (ed.), Research on Roman Britain 1960-89 (1989). .1 E.g. M .2 Contrast Clear, ERB and Frere, Britannia, Ch. 15-16; R . Reece, My Roman Britain (1988).

3. Millett, RB, Ch. 8 and 9; Cleary, ERB, 50-64. 4. E.g. Alcock, AB.

. Bradley, 'Thirty Years of Roman Britain' 5. For recent discussions of this deficiency: R

Brit, 12 (1990), 393-96; E. Scott, 'In search of Roman Britain: talkinga b o u ttheir generation' Ant, 64 (1990), 953-56; E. Scott, Introduction: TRAC (Theoretical Roman Archaeology Conference) 1991',(1-4) and 'Writing the RomanEmpire'(5-22) both in . Hingley, 'Past, present and future - the study of the Roman Period in Scott, TRA; R

Britain',SAR, 8 (1991),90-101;P. Rahtz, 'Newapproachesto medieval archaeology, part 1,' (12-23) and R . Hodges, N ' ew approaches tomedievalarchaeology, part ,2 (24-

32), in Twenty-five Yearsof Medieval Archaeology, ed. D. .A Hinton (1983); R . Hodges,

'Method andtheory in medievalarchaeology',ArchaeologiaMedievale,1 (1982),7-37;

D .Austin, 'The 'proper study' of medieval archaeology', in From t h e Baltic to the Black Sea: Studies in Medieval Archaeology, eds L. Alcock and D . Austin (1990), 9-42 . 6. R . Hodges, The Anglo-Saxon achievement (1989), Ch. 2

6

Politics and Culture in Late Roman Britain

Civitas to Kingdom

scholars such as Richard Hingley and Eleanor Scott, have explored spe-

cific problems in Late Roman social archaeology.? On an even wider scale, Joseph Tainter, Colin Renfrew and Klaus Randsborg have analysed

the end of Roman Britain in cross-cultural an d /o r long-term studies of

cultural change.&

This lack of modern synthesis, employing methods and approaches now conventional in the rest of world archaeology, is especially regrettable

as it was the study of Roman Britain on which R. G. Collingwood

founded 'social archaeology' as a discipline.° Even in the early 1960s, when the 'New Archaeology' was being founded in prehistory, socio-

economic questions were foremost in the archaeology of sub-Roman

communities. 01 Indeed, Francis Haverfield, John Lloyd, and C. A. Ralegh Radford had already attempted Late- and sub-Roman 'social archaeology'

prior to World War II, during prehistory's 'classificatory' phase.! Modern scholars have, however, been quick to recognize that not only Roman Britain, but Anglo-Saxon England, and even later medieval Wales, are inexplicable without understanding the transformation of political organization and geography which took place during the fourth

to seventh centuries. 12 Their studies have concentrated either on narrow time-spans or specific localities, and have placed (I shall argue, undue)

emphasis on discontinuity in the study of the British West.13 Moreover,

few, fi any, scholars are specialists on both Late Roman and sub- Roman

Britain. This has usually led to analysis of the end of Roman Britain being undertaken from a specifically 'Roman' or 'Post-Roman' point of

view. I Obviously, such a viewpoint eliminates equal consideration being given to processes of d e c l i n e and state-formation. Nor have such studies been devoid of other preconceptions. Celtic literature, of late medieval date and often uncertain origin, has coloured academic images not only of sub-Roman, but even Late Roman Britain. 51 This has led to a view of the sub-Roman British l i t e , placing them in

7

what is arguably late medieval antiquarian guise: the 'cowboys and

Indians' of pre-Norman Wales. From the 'Roman' point of view, scholars have been keen to maintain interpretations derived from Classical medi-

terranean history in the study of Roman Britain.16 Other scholars have abandoned, seemingly obvious, romanization for a view of native society d r a w n from equally late s o u r c e s as those m i s t a k e n l y u s e d in s u b - R o m a n

studies. 71 Historians and archaeologists have also held other preconceptions: for example, economic or political philosophies, or attitudes such as the

romanticism of those deeply sympathetic to 'Celtic', as opposed to 'Roman', elements.18 Against these views have been arrayed scholars, mostly of the preceding generation, whose sympathies lie with 'Roman'

elements or with Imperialism, such as MortimerWheeler. This comment is not intended to belittle these scholars and I, for one, have the greatest respect for them. But it must alert one to the realization that discussion of Roman Britain's transformation into medieval England and Wales has been cast in terms not wholly the product of scholarly concerns. Perhaps some bias is unavoidable, but this clearly must be minimized, not form the basis of analysis.

That is not to say that, even if biased, much work undertaken by these scholars cannot be accepted: a biased opinion can still be true. There is much that has stood the test of time and of critical review. Nor need the recognition of bias, however subconscious, lead us to adopt a timid approach ourselves, or fall into the trap of relativism. In my opinion, pro-

gress in understanding Roman Britainhas been made and archaeological

hypotheses are testable, fi only in probabilistic terms.19 Let us now turn to late Roman Britain, where this study must begin E X P L A I N I N G T H E E N D O F R O M A N B R I TA I N

There has been a recent tendency to explain the end of Roman Britain ni 7. E.g. Hingley, RSRB; and 'Domesticorganisation and genderrelations inIron Age and

Romano-British households', in The Social Archaeology of Houses, ed. R . Samson (1990), 125-48; E. Scott, 'A critical review of the interpretation of infant burials in

Roman Britain, with particular reference to villas', JTA, / (1990), 30-46; 'Romano-

British villas and the social construction of space', in The Social Archaeologyof Houses, ed. R. Samson (1990), 149-72; and 'Animal and infant burials in Romano- British villas: arevitalisation movement', in Sacred and Profane eds P. Garwood, et al.(1991), 115-21.

8. Randsborg, The first. 9. R. G. Collingwood, Roman Britain (1924). 10. L. Alcock, Dinas Powys (1963), Ch. 3.

F. Haverfield, The Romanization of Roman Britain (2nd edn., 1912); C. A. R . Radford, "Tintagel: the castle and Celtic monastery. Interim report', Ant ,J 15 (1935), 401-19. 12. S. Bassett, 'In search of the origins of Anglo-Saxon kingdoms', in Bassett, OAK, 3-27; P. Garwood,'Social transformation and relations of power in Britain in the late fourth to the sixth centuries AD', SAR. 6 (1989), 90-106.

11.

13. S. Haselgrove, 'Romano-Saxon attitudes', in Casey, The End, 4-13. 14. Cleary, ERB, 114.

15. E.g. Alcock, AB; .C E . Stevens, A' possible conflict of laws in Roman Britain', JRS, 37

its Imperial context.2 This is a profitable approach, but one must not neglect the considerable evidence that the fourth-century diocese of Britanniae was unusual, even compared to north west Gaul, a point to which we will return at the end of this book. Nor is the relevant western Imperial context able to be restricted to the Western Roman Empire, and it will be seen that some o four strongest analogies for the political

and cultural history of Britain, during the fifth to sixth centuries, are from the East rather than Gaul and Spain

Consequently, we need to propose integrated explanations incorporating local and provincial scales with the dioceses and Empire. Such explanations

16. Hingley, RSRB, 2-3. 17. Even in e.g. Hingley, RSRB, 7. 18.

Reece, My Roman Britain.

19. Contrast e.g. Haverfield, The Romanization with Millett, RB. E a

i

nC l o w

F R R

8

Politics a n d Culture in Late Roman Britain

Civitas to Kingdom

must avoid both over-simplification and triviality.

9

They are, of course,

e x t r e m e l y difficult to formulate.

The only hope would seem to be in examining local and regional change within a comparative perspective where widespread processes

can be compared to local changes. Nor must we neglect the reflexive

character of the relationship between the diocese of Britannia and the Empire. Change in Britain was not a mere product of 'Imperial' processes but played a part in the formation and articulation of Empirewide changes - the elevation of Constantine I should, in itself, be sufficient example of this at the start of our period.21

The approach here, then, considers the textual and archaeological evi-

dence for what was happening within Britain, but does not neglect its wider context. We must also avoid the philo-romanism that encourages modern scholars to look only inside the Empire for these processes, but instead refer also to the Germanic, Irish and other areas beyond the

Imperial frontiers, while avoiding the anti-Roman tendencies that might

brushes

persuade us to ignore the Imperial context. Obviously, constraints of length and readability mean that these comparative perspectives are only able to be employed using secondary sources to provide already interpreted data. So we must be aware that

what we see as comparative material is, itself, an outcome of archaeological and historical interpretation, and of the chances of discovery and preservation t h a t also s t r u c t u r e the d a t a from Britain.

PRELIMINARIES

Late Roman Britain was divided into not one, but five, provinces (fig. 1).22 Each province had a capital within it, and was subdivided into civitates, or tribal areas.23 Each civitas had its own capital. The provincial administration collected taxes, conducted public works, enforced law and governed the local matters of t h e province.24 The diocesan adminis-

tration, based in London, governed the provinces of Britain and was

directly responsible to the prefect, based in Gaul, who was in turn responsible to the emperor.25

An extensive bureaucracy, legal profession, and professional army

They'

TOURIT

b

u

m

i

e

Figure I Roman Britain in the fourth century, showing provinces, centres of civilian administration and military commands. (Based on Jones and Mattingly, Atlas and Frere, Britannia.) Circled n u m b e r s :

1 = Britannia Prima 2=

Britannia Secunda

3 = Flavia Caesariensis 4 = Maxima Caesariensis

The location of the fifth province, Valentia, is uncertain.

21. N . Baynes, Constantine the Great and the Christian Church (2ndedn. 1972); A. H. M. Jones, Constantine and the conversion of Europe (New York, 2nd edn. 1962).

. Thompson, 'Ammianus Marcellinus and 22. Frere, Britannia, 199-200. See now E. A Britain', Nottingham Medieval Studies,34 (1990), 1-15, who argues that t h eprovince of Valentia is identical to Maxima Caesariensis. If so, Britain still had four provinces

at the end of the fourth century.

23. Ibid., 192-3. 24. Ibid., 201.

25. J. H. W. G. Liebenschuetz, 'Government and administration in the Late Empire, The

Civilian a d m i n i s t r a t i v e centres: Double circles = Provincial c a p i t a l s

Filled circles Squares

= Civitas capitals

= Coloniae, not also provincial o rcivitas capitals

M i l i t a r yc o m m a n d s :

Open circles = Forts of the Dux Britanniarum certainly identified in the Notitia Dignitatum

Open triangles indicate the line of Hadrian's Wall, part of the com-

mand of the Dux Britanniarum

10

Politics and Culture in Late Roman Britain

Civitas to Kingdom

1

supported these functions.26 Latin was the language of government and literacy was a n e s s e n t i a l in all but the lower r a n k s o f the army.27

There were also town councils (curiae) where local councillors could govern the affairs of the city, and these councils were held in the great 'civic centres' of Romano-British cities, the forum/basilica complexes.28

The forum, as is well known, was a market place, and along its perimeter ran rows of offices for lawyers, bureaucrats, tax collectors, etc. There would also be a council (curia) chamber, as has now been excellently illustrated by the well-preserved example at Caerwent.? The basilica

was, literally, the town hall, and as well as a large hall building - able to be used for public business and meetings - it contained still more

offices.30

0

The diocese of Britannia played a notable role in fourth-century history.

In the early fourth century the highly successful (and still controversial)

Constantine I, who established Christianity as the religion of the Roman Empire, was proclaimed Emperor in York. In t h elater fourth century,

Magnus Maximus, whose challenge for the West in the 380s was a signifi-

cant military and political event, was also proclaimed Emperor in Britain.

Britain had also been well-placed to avoid the political, military, and economic upheavals of the third century in the Roman West, when the Empire seems a l r o s t to have been on the verge of collapse. In the third

century, too, it had been part of an independent so-called 'Gallic empire'

Earn

under Carausius and Allectus.31 As Sheppard F r e e has pointed out, the name 'Gallic empire' is a misnomer, as these were potential challengers for the Roman Empire as a whole, but Britain seems to have been well

defended, and indeed wealthy, while much of the West declined and was militarily and politically insecure. 32

S U R P L U S A N D R O M A N I Z AT I O N

They

Late Roman Britain was a very wealthy diocese.33 The fourth century saw a remarkable increase in the number of villas, of wealthy native settlements, and of wealth deposited at temples. Silver plate and coin h o a r d s are relatively w i d e s p r e a d c o m p a r e d to the r e s t o f the w e s t e r n

Empire, suggesting that, although there was a perception of threat, there

26. Frere, Britannia, 201. 27. A. H. M. Jones, The later Roman Empire 284-602 (3 vols, 1964), II, 989. Latin in Roman Britain is summarized in Thomas, CIRB, 61-76. 28. Frere, Britannia, 193 and 201. 29. R. J. Brewer, 'Caerwent-Venta Siluram: a civitas capital', in Burnham and Davies, CC, 75-83 (82).

30. Frere, Britannia, 193; D . F . Mackreth, 'Roman public buildings', in Urban archaeology in Britain, eds J. Schofield and R. H. Leech (1987), 133-46 (139-40).

31. Frere, Britannia, 326-33; N. Shiel, The Episode of Carausius and Allectus (1977). 32. Ibid., 272-3, 327, and 336; Clear, ERB, 81-2.

33. Ibid., 272-3 and 336; Cleary, ERB, 98-9. For a quantitive study of the material from

Britain see T. Lewit, Agricultural production in the Roman economy AD 200-400

Figure 2 Evidence for social stress and the distribution of wealth in late fourth-century Britain, and the main areas of fourth-century activity at pagan temples (dated by coin-finds). (Based on Jones and Mattingly, Atlas and Cleary, ERB.) Fille d c i r c l e s

= Hoards of gold or silver coins.

Open circles = Hoards of silver plate a n d jewellery Broken line indicates main areas containing temples with coin-finds 1 = Maiden Castle 2 = Lydney Note: some hoards include Christian artefacts

12

Politics a n d Culture in Late Roman Britain

Civitas to Kingdom

was widesp read wealth to be safeguarded (fig. 2), and major public buildings were still being maintaine d, which may suggest general stability.3 In the countryside, there are few signs of defended settlements, suggesting on that there, too, any threat was perceived rather than felt. This impressi of security is strengthe ned by the existence of rural industries which

dominate d the fourth-ce ntury Romano- British economy. This pattern of prosperity a n d security contrasts with the evidence from Gaul, for example,

where the third and fourth century period was one of economic decline

13

The character of Late Roman Britain was, therefore, such that élite culture in the diocese was integrated into that of the Empire, and there was the wealth to s u p p o r t a s u b s t a n t i a l élite.

This élite, for the most part, was based on towns, villas and 'native'

settlements, but the military commanders in the diocese may also be

considere d as members of the political élite, so we must include military sites in any list of fourth-centu ry élite settlements. Let us now consider each of these types of élite settlement in turn.

53 and of the emerg ence of fortifi ed rural settlem ents.

There seem obvious reasons why this was the case. The third-century

TOWNS

continen tal empire had been damaged economic ally by barbarian incur-

sionsand political uncertainty. Britain was not only remote from these

incursions but also relatively secure and under strong military protection.36 The amount of surplus produce available in Roman Britain was, therefore,

(Much has been written about the decline of Romano-British towns.

Richard Reece has proposed drastic decline in the third and fourth

substantial, and was increased by intensive agriculturalproductivity and

centuries, # Simon Esmonde Cleary and Dodie Brooks argue for gradual decline from the mid-fourth century, to extinction in the early fifth cen-

prior to the Roman conquest, and was strong enough in the lowlands to

only in the early, or mid-fifth century.61 There is a procedural problem,

olds. 73 large-scale production, as in the Chilterns or Cotsw first century, if not the n i The romanization of the diocese had begun

produce an lite culture, derived, for the most part, not from the Celtic

world but from the classical tradition. 38 In villas and towns Britons read

classical literature, took part in classical religions, bathed and ate like is not to say Romans, and partici pated in Roman-style civic life.39 This

that romanization was everywhere intensive,and there wereelites living

a native lifestyle, especially in remote areas; but, in general, élite culture

towns are was m o r e o r less r o m a n i z e d in t h e a r e a s where villas a n d found. 40

This level of romanization is, after all, what we find ni North Gaul or

, Spain at the same period,# and is amply evidenced in Britain by mosaics and ns inscriptio Latin style, classical the in painting, and architect ure? letters, and artefacts such as writing styli, votive objects, and curse-tablets. 31

tury, 51 and Martin Biddle and Sheppard Frere propose drastic decline

here; if we use a single site, or even a small group of half a dozen sites, as our guide, specific facets pertinent only to that specific site or group are

liable to bias the record.17Conversely, our evidence overall si of a poor

quality, propelling the analyst toward such selective usage.

The problem with handling any of this evidence is that major Roman towns are, by definition, big places; relatively, most excavations are extremely small. 81 Aerial photographs and field walking, combined with very large-scalenineteenth-century excavations, help to remedy this.94

Ideally one would find a hypothes is that was testable by this small sample of (not strictly compara ble) excavate d evidence. This hypothe sis would encompass our excavated data, yet be applicable to survey and textual evidence. This is what will be attempted here. Fourth-century Romano-British towns

34. Cleary, ERB, 72 and 96-9.

35. Ibid., 129.

36. Frere, Britannia, 336-7 and 353. . Branigan, Town and country. The archae37. For Late Roman sites in these areas see: K ology o f Verulamium and the Roman Chilterns (1973); RCHM, Iron age and Romano-

Britishmonuments in the Gloucestershire Cotswolds (1976). On the scaleof production in Late Roman Britain see: K. R. Dark, 'Proto-industrialisation and the end of the

Roman Britain contained many towns, broadly divided by archaeologists into 'large' and 'small' categories. Large towns had public buildings, notably fora, basilica, entertainm ent or religious buildings and, often,

Roman economy', in Dark, ExternalContacts. 38. Millett, RB, 29-35, 38-9 and 65-101. Although Millet may underestimate the case for

intensive romanization in early Roman Britain, see e.g. T. F. C. Blagg, 'Architectural munificence in Britain: the evidence of inscriptions', Brit,21 (1990).13-30. For com-

parison, P. Galliou, 'Celtic renaissance or Roman change, Roman Brittany revisited, OJA, 5 (1986), 67-76.

39. Frere, Britannia, 232-3, 261-2, and 304; Jones and Mattingley, Atlas, 284-5.as the first 40. The attractions of aromanized lifestyle are evidenced in Britain as early . Cunliffe, Excavations at Fishbourne 1961-71 (1971). century AD: B. W 41. .J Matthews, Western aristocracies and the Imperial court AD 364-425 (1975), 78-80; .L A . Curchin, Roman Spain (1991), 78-129, 154-92 42. R. G. Collingwood and I. Richmond, The archaeology of Roman Britain (2nd edn. 1969), 108-73.

44. R. Reece, 'Town and country: the end of Roman Britain', World Archaeology, 21 (1980), 77-92.

45.

Cleary, ERB, 132-4 and 145-53; D. A . Brooks. A ' review of the evidence for continuity

in British towns in the 5th and 6th centuries', OJA, 5 (1986), 77-102.

. Biddle. 'Fourth century fables: theLate Roman town ni Britannia. The Fourth 46. M Graham Webster Lecture (1987); Frere, Britannia, 247-9 and 368-70. 47. This seems a major failing of Reece's approach: Reece, 'Town and country'.

48. M. O. H . Carver, Underneath English towns (1987), 112-13. 49. E.g. R. Niblett, A ' new plan of Verulamium', Herefordshire archaeology, 9 (1983-6). 99_8.

C l e a r

E R R

Politics a n d Culture in Late R o m a n Britain

Civitas to Kingdom

15

walls (fig. 3).50 Some small towns may also have had these characteristics,

y. On display in Canterbury Figure 3 Reconstruction of a (stage 1) Romano-British town, based on evidence from Canterbur Heritage Museum ®

14

although many did not, but the scale of their amenities was much less than the large towns, and there is much more evidence of specialized functions for whole small towns (for example, as temple-settlements or industrial sites) and less evidence of administration, judicial or administrative roles.™ The division seems to be a Roman one, for inscriptions and textual sources provide us with a terminology for urban centres differentiating civitates and coloniae from vici, and other more minor settlem en ts .5 2

In fourth-century British towns, public buildings were maintained, and

even newly constructed, until the middle of the century.53 T h i s is consistent

with. and even exceeds, the evidence from Italy and Gaul.5 In the towns there were also now more large town-house complexes, masonry-built and resembling villas in their architecture, plan, and even decoration. T h e

artefactual and industrial evidence, as well as the continued presence of fronts of shops (as at Silchester and Caerwent) attest a continuing trading and productive role. 56

Byt h e end of the fourth century, and in the early fifth century, these

industrial, low-status domestic, and shop zones were disused, and many town-houses alsow e n t out ofuse.$7 Overlying their rubble there is a deposit known as 'dark earth'58 The 'dark earth' is an often almost homogenous layer of (as the name implies) dark, sometimes black, soil. It contains Romano-British artefacts, often slag, and charcoal; occasionally Romanperiod or sub-Roman features overlie it, or cut through it. On some sites it

seems to havebeen dumped, at othersthere are slight variations within it. 95 It is unsurprising, perhaps, that Reece, Esmonde Clear, Dixon, and others have seen the 'dark earth' as a wasteland deposit indicating

d i s u s e . T h e micro-morphological analysis of the soil has produced a different result, suggesting that it represents the collapsed and mixed remains of buildings constructed of wattle and daub, industrial and domestic debris; a recent micromorphological study, however, has sug-

. Clarke, "The pre-industrial city in Roman 50. Carver, Underneath English towns, 25. S Britain', in Scott, 'TRA, (1993) 49-66, discusses the character of Romano-British tow ns.

51. B. C. Burnham and .J Wacher, The small towns of Roman Britain (1990). 52. Millett,RB, 103-4. 53. Mackreth, 'Roman public buildings', 133-46. 54. Randsborg, The first, 85-6.

. Walthew, "Thetownhouse and villa house in Roman Britain', Brit, 6 (1975), 189-. 55. C. V 205.

. Perring, 'Domesticbuildings in Romano-British towns', in Urban archaeology, ed. 56. D Schofield and Leech, 147-55; Clear, ERB, 77. 57. Cleary, ERB, 130-2. 58. Ibid., 147. 59. Ibid., 147-8. Aconcise summary of examples of many of the variants is provided by, .A

Selkirk, 'Dark earth and the end of Roman Lincoln', Current Archaeology, 129 (1992), 364-7.

60. Cleary, ERB, 147-8; Reece, 'Town and country'; P. Dixon, "The cities are not populated as once they were', in The city in Late Antiquity, ed. .J Rich (1992), 145-60.

16

Civitas to Kingdom

gested that it could result from the stabling of animals.61 This latter view seems refuted by the quantity of artefacts found within the deposit, and animal dung is often a constituent of the daub used in building, so cannot be taken as evidence of stabling without corroborating factors. Biddle a n d E v a n s have p o i n t e d to the i n d u s t r i a l waste a n d charcoal as evidence of its c o n t e m p o r a n e i t y with m e t a l w o r k i n g at the towns where it is found.

and Biddle has noted that at Viking-Age towns, as at Birka, 'dark earth' is taken as a n o c c u p a t i o n d e p o s i t , not an i n d i c a t i o n of desertion.62 T h i s

comparative evidence supports the view that 'dark earth' represents human occupation, and this conclusion is supported by the continued

use, throughout the fourth century, of large urban cemeteries, as at

Lankhills, outside Winchester.63 These cemeteries are strong evidence that a substantial urban population remained.

The 'dark earth' is, then, an excellent example of material evidence not

'speaking for itself' to archaeologists. If we discard our preconceptions and approach the problems scientifically or comparatively we arrive at a

different conclusion from that empirically 'obvious'.

Nor is the simple assertion that 'dark earth' derives from the decay of timber buildings, an entirely satisfactory explanation. The decay of timber and wattle and daub buildings is common to vast numbers of archaeological

Politics and Culture in Late Roman Britain

17

stakeholes) for their additional support, 6 Such buildings need not have

been hovels, although they are unlikely to have been architecturally elab. orate.67

Upon disuse they would have been eroded by wind and rain, forming heaps of little more than soil and artefacts, with some charcoal from their fires, as the wooden and plant elements rotted away. These heaps might well. as collapsed structures, sometimes retain the 'dumped' look of "dark earth'. Their eroded mass would become further modified by animal burrows, roots of plants growing on their surface, and, fi later ploughing

occurred, this too would have mixed them. Consequently, the resulting

soil would resemble 'dark earth' containing fragmentary artefacts and

charcoal. It might show evidence of ploughing or wasteland plants, but

these would represent post-depositional modification rather than inform us of the nature of the occupation.

I f the 'dark earth' does represent (thatched?) mud-walled buildings

this would account for its occurrence on non-Roman sites and its variability in exact d e t a i l s from site to site. B u t it m e a n s that in t h e late fourth

century to early fifth century, Romano-British towns were as full of

buildings as they had been in the earlier fourth century, perhaps even

sites without 'dark earth', and this suggests that 'dark earth' si either a

more so. Moreover, the depth of the deposits, and the variation sometimes found within them, raises the possibility that these layers repre-

of specific types of b u i l d i n g s . It would seem most likely that the latter

t i m e s over.

result of specific types of modification of such deposits, or of the decay is the case, or that both aspects play a part in the formation of this

deposit, as 'dark earth' does not seem to be found only in urban contexts, only in the fourth century, or only in Britain.65 'Dark earth' might most easily be formed by the decay of t u r for mud-

walled buildings, possibly incorporating wattle and daub elements, per-

haps using stakes (represented usually in the archaeological record as

61.

. For the methods used and this analysis, see M . A . Courty, P. Goldberg, and R Macphail, Soils and micromorphology in archaeology (1989). See also H. Dalwood, 'The use of soil micromorphology for investigating site formation processes', i nInterpretation

sent the construction, decay and modification of such buildings many If 'dark earth' represents no more than a desertion deposit, why does it

not occur at Roman fort sites, or inside villa buildings? That it is absent

from these sites argues for an interpretation other than a post-desertion

accumulation of silt. The characteristic of places with 'dark earth' is that, potentially, they could have been concentrations of lowstatus populations. When the Baths Basilica site at Wroxeter was deserted in the early fifth century prior to its sub-Roman rebuilding, no 'dark earth' f o r m e don it. Thus, at a site where we can observe the fifth-century history of a n urban

plot in detail, desertion and 'dark earth' are not found together 86

Further corroboration of the hypothesis proposed above comes from a

of stratigraphy: a review of the art, ed. K . Steane (1992), 3-6, whose different conclu-

surprising quarter. Many have depicted London as the epitome of Late

sions do not, however, refute the possibility that this soil derives from buildings. 62. Biddle. 'Fourth century fables; .J Evans, "Towns and the end of Roman Britain in

the late second century, not in the late fourth, or early fifth century. 69 Yet

northern England',

SAR, 2 (1983), 144-9.

Roman urban decline in Britain, because it developed a 'dark earth' in

. Biddle,'The study of Winchester:archaeology and history i na British town 196163. M

83', in British AcademyPapers on Anglo-Saxon England, ed. E. G. Stanley (1990), 299. F. J. Jones, 'The cemeteries of Roman York', ni Archaeological Papers 341 (318); R . W . Barley, eds P. V . Addyman and V . E. Black (1984), 34from York presented to M 42; Cleary, ERB, 198-9.

64. B . Yule,

'The dark earth and Late Roman London', Ant. 64 (1990), 620-8; and

'Truncation horizons and reworking in urban stratigraphy', in Interpretation of stratigraphy: a review ofthe art, ed. K. Steane (1992), 20-22; Dalwood 'The use of soil

micromorphology'. For a possible type of building see Cleary, ERB, 32. 65. E.g. for 'dark earth' in Verona see P. J. and M . .C L . R . Hudson, 'Lombard immigration and its effects on north Italian rural and urban settlement, in Papersin Italian archaeology, eds C. Malone and S. Stoddart (1985), 225-46 (235). Fora rural British example

see S . J. Simpson, F . M . Griffith, and N . Holbrook. "The Prehistoric, Roman, and Early Post-Roman Site at Hayes Farm. Clyst, Honiton', Proceedings of the Devon Archaeological Society, 47 (1989), 1-28.

66. It is interesting that at the GPO site, Newgate Streetin London, m o r ethan 500small

postholes underlay the 'dark earth', these are still unpublished but there si a photograph ofthem in P. Barker, Techniques of archaeological excavation (1977), 157. Dalwood "The use of soil micromorphology', p. 4, observes that there were similar features at Worcester.

67. Evidence from medieval and post-medieval archaeology shows that cob or turf-

walled buildings need not be small or survive as archaeologically discrete features; G.

Beresford, "Three deserted medieval settlements on Dartmoor', Med Arch, 32 (1988), : 175-83 (esp. 176-7).

68. R . White, Excavations onthe site of the Baths Basilica', ni From Roman Viroconium to medieval Wroxeter, ed. P. Barker (1990), 3-1.

. Roskams, 'London - new understanding of the Roman city', ni Roman Britain: 69. E.g. S

recent trends, ed. R. F. J. Jones (1991), 67-8 (68); Cleary, ERB, 82-3;Reece, 'Town and country'.

18

Politics and Culture in Late Roman Britain

Civitas to Kingdom

the walls were built later than this, whatever their exact date, and major alteratio ns continue d through the fourth century. ° The town was capital of the province in the third century, of the diocese in the fourth century, and renamed Augusta." Is it credible that these modificatio ns and honours were afforded to a deserted and derelict town?

There is, however, a convincing explanation of why these changes came about at such an early date, in that the trading function that was the raison d'être of London was terminated by changes in the imperial economic svstem.? Trade-patterns no longer used great ports in Britain,

and the province, as it was in the second century, became self-sufficient

by the fourth century and orientated toward an internal, not trading, economic organization. 37 Other changes characte rized the late fourth century to early fifth century in these urban centres. Public buildings were used, and even built, in the fourth century, but by the end of the century had been given over

to other uses, at least in part."* Fora could become metalworking centres, and iron-working was apparently widespread in the towns. Major structures might also be either disused, or given over to miscellaneous occu-

19

although production increased ni the fourth century, and the market

.8 eco no my de ve lop ed

T h e late fourth-century and early fifth-century town had, therefore,

changed from its fourth-century form to become a production centre with an urban population living in insubstantial structures, around the stone-built mansions of the rich. In the late fourth century, urban tem-

ples survived but there were churches ni peripheral locations. The monu-

mental aspects of the town had declined and long-distance maritime

trade all but disappeared, although manufacturing still continued ni

urban centres. It was in this form that the major towns entered the fifth c e n t u r y.

The small towns of fourth-century Britain are much less well-known

archaeologically.& They, too, show evidence of the stone-built mansions of the wealthy, and for production and religious functions. Yet they also contain much more evidence for exchange and for service industries.

'Strip buildings', believed to be Late Roman shops, are known from small towns as well as the civitates and coloniae, although it would clearly

be a mistake t o s u p p o s e that none were to be found wherever t h e r e w a sa

pations.76 Another characteristic is the presence of Christian artefacts and prob-

substantial urban population, as at Verulamium and Caerwent.82 Nor would it be impossible to build such structures in mud brick or turf.

striking characteri stic of these churches is their periphera l location.16 This may suggest that while individual Christians held high office in

tions from larger towns in the fourth century, as they had done earlier. Their role was as service centres to the surrounding countryside.83 With

able churches. Excepting the possible church at Silchester, the most

towns, as both the textual and artefactual evidence suggests, the Church

did not enioy the status (and so access to key urban locations) that it had

in Gallic towns." Moreover, urban temples generally have coin sequences running through the fourth century, even in provincial capitals

such as York and London, 18 and no Christian symbolism is known from a mosaic in a Romano-British town. 91

The only remaining characteristic of note is the evidence for adecline in long-range trade centred on towns. In the fourth century, production and exchange centred on British markets, often regional markets,

70. Cleary, ERB, 82. 71. Ibid., 47.

72. Cleary, ERB, 82-3. 73. A. J. Parker, 'Trade within the Empire and beyond the frontiers', The Roman World,

T h e picture from small towns seems to be that they had different func-

their locally-based economies, unsurprisingly they were less affected by the decline of long-range trade and most, fi not all, had no more than a few monumental buildings.8 Although small towns sometimes have 'dark

earth' deposits, they seem to have changed less during the later fourth

century than did the larger urban centres.

Administrative and legal c h a n g e s in the Empire

These changes in the major towns and the continuity of functions of the small towns can be placed in a broader imperial context in two ways; by comparative study of their archaeology, and by an examination of legal and administrative changes within the late Empire In the fourth century the legal burden upon civic officials of financing public projects and their liability for tax shortfalls made public office unattractive all over the Empire.85 A rural landowner could lead a more

ed. Wacher, II, 635-57; M. G . Fulford, 'Britain and the Roman Empire: the evidence

for regional and long-distance trade, in Roman Britain, ed. Jones, 35-47. 74. Mackreth, 'Roman public buildings', 139. 75. T. J. Strickland, 'The Roman heritage of Chester: the survival of the buildings of Deva . after the Roman period', in The rebirth of towns ni the west, AD 700-1050, eds R Hodges and B. Hobley (1988), 109-18.

76. S. S. Frere. "The Silchester Church: the excavation by Sir Ian Richmond in 1961 Arch, 105 (1975), 277-302. For a sceptical view, see A. C. King, "The Roman Church at

80. M . Jones, 'Agriculture ni Roman Britain: the dynamics ofchange, (127-34) and M . G . Fulford, 'The economyof Roman Britain' (175-201) in Research on Roman Britain, ed.

Todd.

81.

Burnham and Wacher. The small towns.

82. Cleary, ERB, 64-6 and 75-7.

83. Hingley, RSRB, 25, 78-80, 86-93 and 111-16.

2 (1983), 225-38.

84. Burnhamand Wacher, The small towns; K . R . Dark, 'Pottery and local production at

78. M . J. T. Lewis, Temples in Roman Britain (1966). 79. Thomas, CIRB.

85. Cleary, ERB, 9 and 13. For the overall context see J. H. W . G . Liebeschuetz, "The end

Silchester reconsidered', OJA,

77. Cleary, ERB, 35-7.

the end of Roman Britain', in Dark, External Contacts.

of the ancient city', in The city ni late antiquity, ed. .J Rich (1992), 1-49.

Civitas to Kingdom

20

stable and financially secure existence.86 Moreover, the incomes of towns, derived from taxation, were taken by the Imperial administration.87

Consequently, ti is unsurprising to see public works confined todefences and building-maintenance,88 with no new structures and a decline in the monumental character of towns. When public works were undertaken, the cheapest suitable available materials (usually blocks re-used from

earlier buildings) seem to have been utilized; a practice found elsewhere in the Empire.89 Similarly, in the Mediterranean, Bryan Ward-Perkins has shown that the Late Roman period saw a diversion of capital from

public fora, baths and so on, to defences and churches.° In Britain, there is no evidence that large public churches were constructed and, as we shall see, this may reflect the different religious climate.

Another legal restriction, at the end of the fourth century, was the clo-

sure and confiscation of pagan temples.91 This legislation does not seem to have been enacted in Britain, as temples continued to be used in towns until the end of Roman rule.92 Again, this may reflect a different

religious affiliation among most of the Romano-British secular lite from that in o t h e r p a r t s of the Empire.

The legal changes in the Empire consequently illuminate the character

of late Romano- British towns. The decline of monumental centres is typical, as too is the concentration on defence. But the survival of pagan temples and lack of large churches in Britain suggest a stronger pagan element among the ruling secular élite. Yet law still required the secular élite to participate in urban adminis-

tration and, for that matter, in the administration of the law.93 It is, there-

fore, another expected pattern to find l i t e residences in towns in the fourth century and it may well be that as the century reached its final

quarter, towns seemed a far safer location than rural estates. 49 The administrative decentralization of the late Empire is also a factor to consider. Martin Millet has noted British evidence for this and its consequence: the loss of administra tive functions from major towns to small towns.95 This may also be attested by the decline of administrative

Politicsand Culture in Late Roman Britain

21

tent with that implied Again, the evidence fromBritish towns is consis e as a whole. Nor is Empir the i n es chang ve istrati by the legal and admin it surprisingto tofind o fthe provincial find ppalatial ala complexesi n theheartsAnoth er such com-

capitals: York, London, Cirencester and Lincoln.°

plex, ta Colchester, mayreflectthecontinuing importanceof that town

as a colonia, and one might look for a similar complex at the remaining colonia, Gloucester.° I t is, therefore, unsurprising ot find more wealthy mansions, and fewer public buildings, ni late Romano-British towns. The presence of palaces in the provincial capitals and of new defences are also unremarkable. The lack of monumental churches and the continued functioning of temples

may be explicable ni entirely religiousterms.The decline of long-range maritime trade is a characteristic of the whole north west Empire, and

made even more unsurprising by the intensification of local production

seen in Britain. Simply put, we may see little exceptional about the late

Romano-British town in its western Imperial setting in the fourth century, apart from the details of its history. So, Reece is almost certainly incorrect: these towns were more than 'administrative villages', but they were probably not, as Frere and Cleary have supposed, functioning in their early fourth-century form by the end of the fourth century. Among Late Antique towns they show the

same changes visible ni Italy or Gaul, except, perhaps, in their wide-

spread 'dark-earth' deposits; but these may be explained in terms of the

intensification of urban-based production parallel to what is found in the countryside - the concentration of p o o rdwellings representing industrial workers.99

The picture of late Romano-British urbanism provided by archaeology is then, unexceptional, not uniquely catastrophic. 10 A closer consideration of the comparative context within the Late Antique world also enables us to arrive at a clearer understanding of the end of the Romano-British town, and to this we now turn

complexes in the larger towns, and the continued importance of small t o w n s in their localities.

86. Ibid., 13. 87. Mackreth, 'Roman public buildings', 139. 88. Cleary, ERB, 63 and 72.

89. T. F. C. Blagg, 'The reuse of monumental masonry ni late Roman defensive walls', in

90.

Late Roman towns in comparative perspective

A vast database of textual, epigraphic and archaeological information is

available for the study of Late Antique towns. This shows a strikingly consistent pattern in the way in which Roman towns developed in the

. Hobley (1983), 130-5. Roman urban defences in the west, eds J. Maloney and B B . Ward-Perkins, From classical antiquity ot the middle ages. Urban public buildings in northern and central Italy AD 300-850 (1984).

91. .J Harries, "The rise of Christianity', ni The Roman World, ed. Wacher, 796-811 (804). 92. R . .F .J Jones, 'Cultural change ni Roman Britain', in Roman Britain, ed. Jones, 115-

20 (119); P. Horne, 'Romano-Celtic temples in the third century', in The Roman west

. C. Kingand M. Henig (1981), 21-6. ni the third century, eds A

93. Frere, Britannia, 183 and 201-2. 94.

Not least b e c a u s e of their late Roman defensive walls and military detachments.

Cleary, ERB, 24-7 and 54. . Millett, 'Central places in a decentralised Roman Britain', in Central places, 95. M archaeology and history, ed. E. Grant (1986), 45-7.

96. The evidence for this si historical, see Frere, Britannia, 190 and 199.

97. P. J. Drury, "The temple of Claudius at Colchester reconsidered', Brit. 15 (1984), 7-50 (31-7) 98. Reece. 'Town and country'. 99. Dark, 'Proto-industrialisation'.

100. That is, I disagree with Reece: 'Town and country

22

Politics and Culture in Late Roman Britain

Civitas to Kingdom

first millennium AD. This can be divided into four general stages. These are:101

Stage Stage Stage Stage

1: 2: 3: 4:

the the the the

Classical city Late Antique town polyfocal administrative centre medieval town.

This pattern of development has been documented for Asia Minor,

Greece, Italy and Gaul, for example. 102 In Asia Minor, cases include

Ephesus, and Sardis; in Greece, Athens and Corinth; in Italy, Rome and Luni; and in Gaul, Trier and Tours, 103

Similarities are also found in the a r e a s of t o w n s to c o n t i n u e in use from

stage 2 to stage 3: centres of governmental administration and episcopal monucentres, monaste ries, sometim es market places, defence s, and

mental buildings reused for different purposes. This pattern is, again, attested in all of these regions. Around these foci survived groups of lesser buildings, or life continued amid the ruins, reutilizing dilapidated masonry constructions . 10 Suburban areas also separated into distinct

23

The medieval towns were constructed around these foci, enablingthe

along. survival of important locations from Antiquity to the middle ages, well side the survivalof the urban community overall.The process seems g by far attested and, although not universal, it is very widespread, formin e. the most common sequ ence of urban chang

ce si generIt is, therefore, interesting to note that although the sequen ntinople Consta In widely. very differ s change these f o ally found, the dates fifteenth the in Turks the the town was in stage 3 when conquered by century, 106 but Athens had become a stage 4 town by that date. When Tours had reached stage 3 in the sixth century, Ephesus was a stage 2 town and Damascus already in stage 4.107 Nor are these merely regional variations; adjacent towns might be in stages 2, 3, and 4, as in the Late Antique Balkans. 108 It is clearly the sequence, the relative chronology and character of change, not its date, that is consistent across the Empire. If this is the case, then we might use this pattern to reinterpre t the rBritish evidence. The exceptio ns, such as Padua or Milan. left characte

foci, with similar types of building surviving. 105

istic traces of their survival as stage 1 or stage 2 towns in the street-grids of the later cities.109 In Britain, there are no such traces, and we have seen that the Late Romano- British town was usually in stage 2 duringthe

101. The classical city I define as an expression of Mediterranean classical urbanism, with

early fourth century. In the late fourth century we might still classify some towns, such as Silchester, Caerwent and Verulamium, as stage 2 towns, but cities such

forum, public baths, monumental architecture, temples to classical deities, a Roman model of urban government, mercantile and crafts-production functions, and depen-

dence upon its agricultural hinterland. The late antiquetown I define as having a larger, lowstatus population, walls, and military units stationed atit, substantial suburbs, and both temples and churches. It need not have a forum, baths, monumental architecture, mercantile functions and its economy depends more heavily on massproduction. In stage 3, only lite residences, and religious buildings need survive. The

town has lost its productive role and has ceased to be a population concentration of

exceptional size. It is, once again, closely integrated with its agricultural hinterland The medieval stage 4 may vary ni size from a large populationconcentration with mercantile and administrative functions to a small agricultural village. It is distinguished

by succeeding a stage 3 site but lacking the characteristics of stage 1.

102. H. Sivan, "Town and country in late antique Gaul: the example of Bordeaux', in Fifth

century Gaul: a crisis of identity?, eds .J Drinkwater and H. Elton (1992), 132-43; B Ward-Perkins, 'The towns of northern Italy: rebirth or renewal, (16-28) and D . Whitehouse, 'Rome and Naples: survival and revival ni central and southern Italy' . Bullough, 'Urban (28-31) in The rebirth of towns, eds Hodges and Hobley; D. A

change ni medieval Italy: hte example of Pavia', Papers ofthe British Schoola tRome, ' he shaping of hte medievalByzantine city', (1-36) and 34(1966), 82-130; M. Angold, T J. Russell, 'Transformations ni early Byzantineurban life. The contribution and limitations of archaeological evidence' (137-57) both ni Byzantinische Forschungen, 10

(1985); C. Foss, 'Archaeology and "the twenty cities" of Byzantine Asia, American

Journal of Archaeology, 81 (1977), 469-86.

. Foss, Ephesus 103. C. Foss. Byzantine and Turkish Sardis (Cambridge, Mass. 1976); C after antiquity (1979); B. Ward-Perkins, 'Luni, the prosperityof the town and its territory', . in Archaeology and Italian society. Prehistory, Roman, and medieval studies, eds G Trever the and Trier Roman n, Wightma . M E . 179-90; (1981), Hodges . R and Barker (1970); Whitehouse, 'Rome and Naples; H. Galinié, 'Reflections on early medieval Tours', in The rebirth of Towns, eds Hodges and Hobley, 57-62.

104. On this characteristic i ngeneralsee Strickland, 'The Roman heritage.

. Brühl, 'Problems of continuity of Roman civitates in Gaul, as illustrated by the 105. .C R interpretation of cathedral and palatium', ni The rebirth of towns, eds Hodges and

as Winchester and London, as stage3 towns. In the fifth century all the

towns eventually entered stage 3 in the British areas, with emergence as

stage 4 medieval cities only in the eighth century, and usually later.

To take some examples: Martin Biddle has proposed a sequence for Winchester which fits our picture of the fourth-century Romano-British town (stage 2) until the early fifth century, whereupon the town became a

polyfocal royal administrative site in the sixth to seventh century, and a medieval town (stage 4) in the ninth century. 11° Philip Barker and Steven Bassett have suggested a sequence for Wroxeter of stage 2 Late Roman town until the late fourth century, polyfocal settlement with administrative, probably market, and episcopal functions in the fifth to sixth centuries, and then a medieval village clustered around the church in the seventh to ninth centuries (stage 4).11 In Gloucester, evidence suggests a change

. Mango, Le dévelopement urbain de Constantinople IVe- VIle siècles (Paris, 1985). 106. C 107. C. Mango, Byzantium. The Empire of theNew Rome (1980), 60-87.

108. .V Velkov, Cities in Thrace and Dacia i nlate antiquity (Amsterdam, 1971);A . Poulter,

T ' he use and abuse of urbanism in the Danubian provincesduring the Later Roman

Empire', in The city ni late antiquity, ed. J. Rich (1992), 99-135. 109. Ward-Perkins, 'The towns of northern Italy.

110. Biddle. "The study of Winchester'.

111. S. Bassett. 'The Roman and medieval landscape of Wroxeter' in From Roman Viroconium, ed. Barker, 10-12; a n dChurch anddiocese ni the West Midlands: the transition from British to Anglo-Saxon control', in Pastoral carebefore the parish. eds J. Blair and R. Sharpe (1992). 13-40 (35-9): P. Barker. Wroxeter Roman City. Excava-

t i o n s 1 9 6 6 - 1 9 8 0 (1081)

Politics a n d Culture in Late R o m a n Britain

Civitas to Kingdom

24

from the typical Late Roman pattern (stage )2 in the fifth century, to a stage 3 polyfocal settlement including religious, possibly market, and élite residence, functions. 12. These persisted until the ninth century

when it became an Anglo-Saxon town (stage 4). In York, where the stage 2 Late Roman town survived until the early fifth century, there are hints of stage 3 sub-Roman polyfocal administrat ive functions centred on the Principia area (an episcopal church?) and élite settlements (evidenced by

imported pottery and major timber-framed buildings), as well as, perhaps, other churches (as at Bishophill), becoming a stage 4 Anglo-Saxon town in the seventh century. 3 Even London, which entered stage 2 in the second century, became a stage 3 polyfocal settlement after that time, to judge from evidence of a fortified administrative core around the modern Tower area, churches in the Tower area and elsewhere, and, perhaps, a continuing focus of secular administratio n in the Cripplegate fort. 114 It, too, became a stage 4 settlement in the seventh century, when it was an Anglo-Saxon town. 115

T h e s e examples illustrate that the British evidence closely fits the Empire-wid e pattern, so far as the major towns are concerned. 16 The

evidence from small towns is, as yet, insufficient for its testing there, although there are hints, as we shall see, of greater continuity in terms of

population and settlement-siz e from Roman to sub-Roman Britain at these settlements. The relevance of these broader patterns of urban development to s m a l l towns is as yet unknown, but need not be expected. All of the cities upon which it is based were major administrative centres, and all began the process as stage 1 towns.

This overall pattern may, then, help us to understand the end of Romano-British towns. In Britain the transition from Late Antique town

to polvfocal administrative settlement came later than the late fourth century and was probably within the fifth century, although (for reasons

already outlined) London was, uniquely, so transformed in the late second

century. There may have been greater continuity at small towns, but this

is as yet uncertain, and may, in part, depend upon arguments to be dis-

cussed in Chapter 5.

If we employ this model we can better u n d e r s t a n d not only our archae-

ological, but also our textual sources. There were still foci such as St

25

Even more significantly, at an intermediatedate inpopul theated sixtheven century, now when Gildas says that the 'towns of our land are notdeser and ruins n i ted, are they as they once were, right up to the present unkempt, 18 we should take this at face value: people stilllived in towns,in but as Wacher has reminded us, 'life in towns' is not 'town life' 19 So occur? what sen se did con tinu ity

The towns survived as administrative and episcopal centres, as market

places and, perhaps too, as a consequence, as places where justicewas

administered and taxes collected.These had been their most important Late Roman functions, otherfunctions - production, population-

concentration and entertainment - had, perhaps, been completely lost.

Yet continuity occurred, and the towns revived as widely as did their

continental counterparts by the ninth century. The archaeological lesson

isclear: without this comparative perspective, and a firm realization of

the limitations of our samples and nature of urban deposits, interpretation

has been distorted. This has been simply because preconceptions have coloured our view of what constituted urban decline (the disuse of monu-

mental centres and cessation of long-range trade) and of the evidence itself (as in the case of the 'dark-earth'). In addition, the small, perhaps

timber, administrative and ecclesiastical foci of the stage 3 town are

much less easily found in archaeological rescue excavation than the

closely-packed stone-built housing of the classical Roman city, or its large public complexes. Towns, whether in their Late Roman or sub-Roman forms, were not

the only l i t e sites in late fourth-century and early fifth-century Britain.

There were also those equally 'Roman' settlements: villas. VILLAS

The villa is one of the most widespread and most visible f o r m sof secular élite domestic settlement in Late Roman Britain (fig. 4).120 Small- to medium-sized (often called 'modest') villas were especially common in Britain in the fourth century.121 T h e s e were n o t ' s t a t e l y h o m e s ' like the

palatial villas, such as Woodchester, Bignor, North Leigh, or Frocester, 122 yet it would be a mistake to suppose that these structures had no display

Alban's shrine to visit in the fifth century, as the Vita Sancti Germani states, and it is unsurprising to find something of the fabric of RomanoBritish Carlisle surviving for St Cuthbert to see in the seventh century.!?

e l e m e n t . 123 R e c e n t work at M e o n s t o k e a n d e l s e w h e r e m u s t also m a k e us

112.

118. Gildas, DE, 1:26. 119. Wacher, TRB, 411. 120. E.g. D. Miles, "The Romano-British countryside, in Research on Roman Britain, ed. Todd, 115-26, especially 123.

Dark, Discovery.

. G . Ramm, 'The end of Roman York', in Soldier and civilian in Roman Yorkshire, ed. 113. H

R . M . Butler (1971). 179-99: J. R. Perrin. Roman pottery from the Colonia: 2 (1990). . R . Dark. 'A sub-Roman re-defence of Hadrian's wall?. 396: Wacher, TRB, 176-7; K

114.

Brit. 23 (1992). 111-20 (113)

P. Marsden. Roman London (1980), 163-86; R . Merrifield, London, city of the Romans (1983), 205-59; D. Perring, Roman London (1991), 106-31. . Vince, Saxon London (1990). 115. A 116. Empire-wide data on towns is, however, variable both in quantity and quality.

117. M. R. McCarthy, 'Thomas, Chadwick, and post-RomanCarlisle, in The Early Church

121. I. Richmond. 'The plans of Roman villas i nBritain', (49-70) and A . L. F . Rivet, 'Social and economic aspects'. (173-216) in The Roman Villa in Britain, ed. A . L. .F Rivet

(1969).

122. Millett, RB, 187-8; Richmond, 'The plans'. 123. Millett, RB, 196. For a list of the archaeological attributesof villas including possible

display elements, see R. Rippengal, 'Villas as a key to social structure?Some comments o n recent approaches to the Romano-British villa and some suggestions toward an alternative' in Scott. T R A 7 9 - 1 0 1(97-8).

26

Civitas to Kingdom

Politics a n d Culture in L a t e R o m a n Britain

27

villas ni the fourth century. One wonders about the role of carpets, and wall-hangings - all found elsewhere in the Late Antique world, in the

129 in te rio r of villas.

Consequently, even the 'simplest villa' was notjust a house or a farm. Although not 'palatial' in the sense that this may be used of some Late Antique complexes, it was higher, more spacious and more structurally sophisticated than the majority of rural settlements.130 A villa was not then, simply a 'romanized farm',131 but an lite statement built into the landscape. It was, as Ti m Potter has said, 'a country residence designed

to im pr es s'.132

It is reasonable toassume that theenduring character of masonry construction,i n contrast to the transience ofwooden building, was perceived by late Roman Britons. Ifso, this is also relevant to the social role of villas: a demonstration of longevity of tenure and of continuity has been recog. nized elsewhere by archaeologists as an important part of 'monumentality'. Prehistorians have seen 'monuments' as assertions of enduring status and legitimacy, and this view could as easily be extended to villas as to prehistoric megaliths and barrows. 133 Of course, this point can be made more strongly for the 'palatial'villas.

Figure 4 Reconstructiono fa Romano-British villa,based onevidence from

Littlecote. Copyright Guy de la Bédoyere, reproduced with the kind per-

mission of B. T. Batsford Ltd.

reassess the likelihood that 'modest'villas represent not simple one-storey structures of little architectural sophistication, but may have been both two-storied and have incorporated display architecture.124 Discoveries of stone-carving and external painting at such mediumsized villa sites, for example at Piddington, 125 confirm thisimpression. It may be further supported by the situation of 'modest' villas within grand-looking enclosures of little defensive value, for example at Barton Court and Ditchley - a characteristic of the fourth century.126 So, as

buildings, even 'modest' villas seem to have been designed 'to be seen'

and 'to impress', rather than simply as farms. These aspects are also found exaggerated within grander villas. Mosaics

Although the massive palaces of the Mediterranean or Gaul - possibly

senatorial residences - are absent, some large and luxurious villas are found in Britain.134 Sites like Eccles, Woodchester, North Leigh, or Chedworth reached their height of elaboration and romanization in the fourth century. 135 Such villasa r e undeniably 'monumental' - facades and reception rooms, as well asmosaic-paved dining halls, all bespeak display through the romanized classical idiom. It is difficult to find any convincing interpretation of these 'palatial' villas that is other than as secular

élite sites on the top of the social scale.136 These sites, like the small- and medium-sized villas, may well be seen in terms of the concept of 'monumentality' developed in prehistory. Yet they also s h o w us how romanized were the highest rural classes. Classical

tastes in art, language, architecture, and furnishings are all attested at these sites, and 'there seems to have been little that was British, or even

were never as c o m m o n in R o m a n Britain as they were in the fourth century,

and thent h e yw e r e commonest onv i l l a sites.127 Fourth centuryvillas also c o n t a i n e d wall p a i n t i n g s an d , at least, on o c c a s i o n s , e l a b o r a t e furni-

ture. 128 The displayelement is, therefore, found both inside and outside

129.

Although, perhaps explicable in eastern terms: C. Mango, Byzantium and its image

(1984), 52.

130. Hingley, RSRB.

131. Nor were all villas supported by agriculture: K . Branigan, 'Specialisation in villa economies', in The economies ofRomano-British villas, eds K . Branigan and D . Miles (1990), 42-50.

. Potter; A' newdomestic building facade from Roman Britain' . C. King and T. W 124. A JRA. 3 (1990), 195-204.

125. R. M. andD . E. Friendship-Taylor, Iron age andRoman Piddington: an interim report on the excavation of a late Iron Age settlement a n d Romano-British villa (1989).

. R . Radford, 126. D.Miles,Archaeologya tBartonCourt farm. Abbingdon, Oxon(1984); C. A

'The Roman villa at Ditchley, Oxon', Oxoniensia, I (1926), 24-69.

127. Millett,R B , 175. 128. J. Liversidge, Furniture inRoman Britain (1955); a n d 'Furniture andinterior decoration'

in T h e

R o m a n

villa

e d

Rivet

121-79

. W 132. T . Potter, Roman Britain (1983), 25. 133. C. Renfrew, Approaches to social archaeology (1984), 160 and 178-80.

134. E.g. R . .J A . Wilson, Piazza, Armerina (1983); A . Ferdière, Les campagnes en Gaule Romaine (2 vols, Paris, 1988), I, 164, 170, 178, and 183. 135. G. Clarke, 'The Romanvilla at Woodchester', Brit, 13 (1982), 197-228; R. Goodburn, The Roman villa, Chedworth (1972); A. Detsicas, The Cantiaci (1983), 120-26; Richmond, 'The plans'.

136. .I Richmond, 'Roman provincial palaces', ni Roman archaeology andart, ed. P. Salway (1969). 2 6 0 - 8 0

28

Politics a n d Culture in Late Roman Britain

Civitas to Kingdom

more generally Celtic' at them, to use Malcolm Todd's phrase. 731 Romanization enables us to go beyond the understanding of monuments studied in prehistory, by making it possible to assign cultural labels' and values to artistic and architectural features. In this case we can see that the élite of Romano- British society was identifying itself with an Empirewide classical culture associated with the Imperial state. The use of the standardized idiom of classical architecture also helps us to note divergences from the idiom or from its conventions, or irregularities when compared to other provinces. Interestingly, the Romano-British villas show no less romanization, given the scale of the

sites, than do Gallic villas. 138 Mosaics are common and bath suites widespread.139 Reception rooms, elaborate entrances and approach-'drives' suggest an emphasis in Britain on the entertainment of guests or clients, who might be impressed by these features.10 The importanceattached

in to entertaining visitors might include both the 'reception rooms' found 'aisled

complex villas and the hall-like rooms found in hall-villas and in buildings'. 11 Notably the impression of romanized display at these struc-

tures is also reinforced by towers, if that is what they are, placed at their corners - a feature unknown from pre- Roman buildings. 142 Villa-owners, by using Roman architecture, emphasized the difference between their residences and the other, timber-built, single-storey buildings of their tenants. This importance attached to entertainment of visitors, display,

and the 'monumentality' of the sites may thus extend from the humblest

to the most complex villas. 13 It seems a valid interpretation for villa sites of in fourth-c entury Britain overall, and an explanat ion of the attractio n

emulating 'Roman' tastes.

29

later medieval manor-houses,145 There are many similarities between Late Roman villas and late medieval manorial centres which make this a closer comparison, extending from the plan to the emphasison enter-

taining guests. 16 Located ni rich agricultural land, often adjacent ot

lower-status settlements, and sometimes surrounded by enclosures, manor-houses and villas share similar types of location in their contemporary landscapes.' Both, too, are often closely associated with religious centres, although ni the case of villas, these may be either paganor

Christian.

Continuity between villas and manorial centres in Britain is out of the

question, so these similarities can only be used as comparative evidence

when we consider the character of late Romano-British villas. According to the Diocletianic legal and tenurial system, the tenurial relationships between tenant and landlord, between master and servant, and between the landlord and the state, had been frozen into a remarkably 'feudal' mode. 148 It is probable that in the lowland zone, at least, Roman law was enforced, and the stress placed on administrative and social uniformity by the Late Roman government may have strengthened the resolve of the central administration to do this. 19 If so, as the villa-owning classes

were, most probably, closely involved with the administrative lite governing the towns and administeringthat law, and as the secular lite had most to gain from its enforcement, the tenurial system in force on fourth-

century Romano-British villa estates is more likely to have been essentially that of the Diocletianic code, than a Celtic legal framework. 150 While there is no reason to suppose that, in Britain, villas survived as secular l i t e centres (still less with their Late Roman trappings) after the mid-fifth century, 151 it must be pointed out that, in Gaul, they may have continued to be estate centres through the Merovingian and Carolingian

LATE ROMAN VILLAS AS E S TAT E C E N T R E S

Another aspect of the fourth-century Romano- British villa is of special interest here. Most villas were the c e n t r e s of rural estates, whether or not they were also c o n n e c t e d with industrial p r o d u c t i o n or u r b a n - b a s e d

administration. 14 As an estate centre, the villa emphasized familial and

tenurial continuity in a way similar to that expressed by the building of 137. M . Todd, Roman Britain 55 BC-AD 400 (1981), 224.

138. S. Clarke, 'The social significance of villa architecture in Celtic northwest Europe', OJA, 9 (1990), 337-83, has in my opinion discredited Smith'sinterpretation of British

villas in kinship terms. For Smith's view see, J. T. Smith, 'Villas as a key to social

structure', in Studies ni the Romano-British villa, ed. M . Todd (1978), 149-86.

139. Millett, RB, 175.

140. [bid., 197. See also T. Rook, "The Roman site at Dicket Mead, Lockleys, Welwyn', Herefordshire Archaeology, 9 (1983-6), 79-175 (162).

141. Hingley, RSRB, 39-51. On the use of reception rooms see, R. MacMullen, Changes ni

the Roman Empire. Essays in the Ordinary (Princeton, 1990), 79-80. 142. D. S. Neal, 'Romano-British villas - one or two storied?', in Structural reconstruction, ed. P. J. Drury (1982), 153-71. 143. Potter notes that the fourth century was the heyday o felaborate villas: Roman Britain, (1983), 25-6. Branicon a n d M i l e s T h e

145. As at Thruxton - Hingley, RSRB, 43;and Lullingstone - G . W . Meates, The Roman villa at Lullingstone. Kent, 1: the site (1979).

146. Richmond, 'The plans', for the seemingly 'medieval' architectural feature of chimneys,

see the argument b y Johnson for such features at villas: D. Johnson, 'Villas n i Hampshire and the Isle of Wight', in Studies, ed. Todd,71-92. For some comparative medieval manorialsites see Clarke, The archaeology of medievalEngland (1984), 48, 51, and 6061; M . Wood, The English mediaeval house(1965).

147. Millett, RB, 205-10, who, however, doubtsthe regularassociation of villas and 'village . Hingley, 'Boundaries surrounding settlements in Britain. Hingley, RSRB, 102-5; R iron age and Romano-British settlements, SAR, 9 (1990), 96-103. Due to the concentration on the main villa buildings by excavators, the frequency with which low-status, and perhaps more insubstantial, settlements occur adjacent to villas, may

still, despiteaerial photography, be underestimated. 148. J. Percival, 'Seignurial aspects of late Roman estate management', EHR. 332 (1969),

149-73;J. M. Carrié, '"Le colonat du bas empire" un mythe historiographique, Opus, 1 (1982), 351-70; and U ' n roman des origines. Les généaloges du colonat du bas

empire', Opus, 2 (1983), 205-51 (esp. 210); J. Percival, 'Fifthcentury villas: new lifeor death postponed?', Fifth century Gaul, eds Drinkwater and Elton, 156-64; Millett, RB, 203 draws attention to a reference in the Theodosian code to land tenure in Britain based on the 'colonate. 149. On the attitudes and methods of the later Roman state see Jones, The later Roman empire

150. For a recent discussion of the relevant evidence see Hingley, RSRB, 100-10. 151. Dark, Discovery.

Civitas to Kingdom

Merovingian andCarolingianhistory in Gaul.53 Onomastic evidence also

supports this view.154 T h e similarity between late Romano-British villas and latem e d i e v a lm a n o r i a l centres may thus be based not on a relationship of institutional- or settlement-continui ty within Britain but on a shared relationship with late Romano-Gallic villas. 155

If so, we may interpret villas in both Britain and Gaul as fulfilling a

similar function to manorial sites: the estate centres of a rigid tenurial system expressing élite control and status. If one adopts this model of villa settlement then one might expect social tension between the élite and lower classes, alongside evidence of a highly productive agricultural economy. 156 Thel a t t e r is certainly evidenced both in textual sourcesa n d in the archaeological record, but the former is more difficult to observe. 157 If one were to assume that the culture of the lower classes

was predominantly 'Celtic', then the situation may have been aggravated by the l i t e use of r o m a n i z e d symbolism to show off their status.158 Yet

this i sn o t awholly satisfactory picture, partly because the romanization

of thelower classes, albeit to a lesser degree than the lite, is attested all over the lowland zone:158 masonry buildings, romanized artefacts, and even, perhaps, limited literacy, were widespread as excavated evidence shows.159 So, 'class-conflict is unlikely to have been expressed as a straightforward Celtic:Roman opposition. 160 It would seem that even low-status inhabitants of remote regions would go to some lengths to acauire romanized luxuries, suggesting that there was not a 'conflict of

cultures' in Late Roman Britain between native and Roman. 161

THE RELIGIOUS ÉLITES It is in religion that classdifference is most noticeable. In comparison to other western dioceses, paganism is widely attesteda m o n gR o m a n Britons,

andmany temples and shrines continued intothe fourth century (fig. 5); 152. Percival,'Fifth century villas', and 'Seignurial aspects'. 153. Percival, 'Fifth century villas'; Lewit, Agricultural production, 131-7 and 151-61, lists ten villas with fifth to sixth, or even seventh-century occupation in Gaul,Italy and Spain.

154. .J Percival,The Roman villa (1976), 171-4. 155. Clarke, "The social significance, has demolished any objection tocomparing British a n d G a l l i c villas.

Agricultural production.

157. Frere,Britannia, 272.

158. But note thatF r e e hasconvincingly counteredCollingwood's suggestion of a conflict between Celtic and Roman culture: Free,Britannia, 306. 159. Frere, Britannia,303; J. Evans, 'Graffiti and the evidence ofliteracy and pottery use in RomanBritain', Arch J, 144 (1988), 191-204. 160. Evidence oft h eu s e of 'Roman' artefactso nlow-status siteswould seem torefute this, e.g.a t Catsgore: R. Leech, Excavations atCatsgore 1970-3 (1982). 161. Sucha hypothesis was hinted at by Collingwood, but, as we have seen, hasb e e n disc o u n t e d b u B r e r e : F r e r e . B r i t a n n i a . 306.

the kind permission of Essex County Council.

periods.152 If this seems far-fetched, archaeological evidence attests the widespread occupation of villas in fifth- to seventh-century Gaul and Spain, and at least one Roman-style villa had a demonstrable

156. For Romana g r i c u l t u r e see L e w i t ,

31

Politics a n d Culture in Late R o m a n B r i t a i n

Figure 5 Reconstruction of a Romano-British temple, based on evidence from Witham. By Frank Gardiner, reproduced with

30

32

Civitas to Kingdom

Politics a n d Culture in L a t e R o m a n Britain

33

yet as soon as the Roman withdrawal from Britain had occurred, Chris-

tianitv seems to have become dominant. 162 No pagan site seems to have

-living in the sixth century, paganism was a matter of antiquity.16s This all -contrasts with Gaul, where pagan temples received offerings until the sixth century and texts mention pagans until the end of that century. 161 In order to see how Britain can so rapidly have transformed from hav.

ing a pagan majority to a Christian majority,we need first toexamine one

of the greatest misconceptions about fourth-century Britain: the pagan

be found in the paganism of Julian the Apostate in the 360s,167

This evidence does not stand close scrutiny. First, the distribution of

temples with late fourth-century coin deposits, the basis for constructing

E

20d

increased at temples already in use. The unusual histogram of templenumbers found in Britain has exceptionally late 'peaks' in the mid- and late-fourth century ( fi g .6), 166 An obvious context for such a revival might

3rd

is taken

uncritically: late fourth-century temples were constructed and activity

C o n t i n e n t a l Europe

Britain. 165 The evidence for this sounds convincing if it

Aah

revival. There has long been a claim that there was a late fourth-century pagan revival in the western Roman Empire, and more specifically in

the relevant histogram, is very restricted, concentrating in the Chilterns

and West Country/Severnside regions.168 Second, in the latter region the two 'type-sites' (Lydney and Maiden Castle) have both been reassessed

since their excavation by Wheeler. 169 The Lydney temple has been reexcavated and shown to have been constructed not in the late f o u r t h cen-

fury but much earlier in the Roman period. 170 The dating evidence for

4th

s t h

t h e temple-construction at Maiden Castle is a coin hoard beneath the cella floor - but there is no certainty that this was the original floor, and a

. Henig, Religion ni Roman Britain (1984), esp. 224; M. J.Green, The religionsof civilian 162. M Roman Britain (1976).

163. Henig, Religion in Roman Britain,224. For evidence suggesting that w e should credit 3rd

Gildas's observation, see Dark, Discovery.

prehistoric ritual monuments ni Britain and the Armorican peninsula', i n Scott, TRA, 133-46.

165. H. Born, The pagan revival in the west at the end of the fourth century',in The con-

flict between Christianity and paganism in the fourth century, ed. A. Momigliano(1963),

Britain

. R . Dark, 'Roman-period activity at 164. E. James, The origins of France (1982), 93-5; K

2nd

193-218. The suggestion of a pagan revival has recently been supported ni D . Watts, Christians and pagans in Roman Britain (1991), esp. 224-6.

166. Horne, 'Romano-Celtic temples in the third century, ni The Roman West ni the third century, eds A . King and M . Henig (1981) 21-26(22) 167. But on Julian's unpopularity see R . Browning, The emperor Julian (1975), 94-5. 168. Jones and Mattingley, Atlas, 299.

169. P. Rahtz and L. Watts, "The end of Roman temples in the west of Britain', in The end, . E. M . Wheeler and T. V. Wheeler, Reporton the excavaed. Casey, 183-210 (191-4); R tion of the prehistoric, Roman and post-Roman site in Lydney Park, Gloucestershire (1932); R. E. M. Wheeler, Maiden Castle, Dorset (1943); P. J. Casey, 'Excavations at Lydney Park, Gloucester', University of Durham and University of Newcastle-on-lyne Archaeological Reports for 1980 (1981), 30-2.

. P. Wright, A' Revised Restoration of the 170. Casey, 'Excavations at Lydney Park'; R Inscription on the Mosaic Pavement found in the Temple at

Cloncestorchive'

Brit

I £ (1985) 948_9

Lydney Park,

§

•

s

Fisure6 Temple numbers in use during the first to the fifth centuries AD in Britain and Continental Europe. (After Horne, 1981.)

survived as a centre of paganism as late as circa AD 450, and to Gildas,

34

P o l i t i c sa n d Culture in Late Roman Britain

Civitas to Kingdom

35

hoard at Lydney was shown to have been incorrectly stratified by the excavator. 171 So both Lydney and Maiden Castle, the two key examples used in this hypothesis, do not support it insofar as it is far from certain that they were constructed in this period. Nor does the histogram of t e m p l e numbers offer the support it might

be supposed to. It could be read as reflecting lite involvement with temples - providing them with wealthy and datable objects, or having them built

afresh - rather than showing overall commitment to paganism among the majority of the population. Such a view is supported by the concentration of evidence for low-status rural Christianity in exactly the areas

where late fourth-century pagan temples are located.172 The contrast

between temple architecture and finds, and that of the Christian

churches in this area, suggests that paganism attracted the support of

the rich. 173 It might also be doubted fi the Mediterranean paganism of Julian would have prompted a pagan revival of Romano-Celtic religion in distant Britain. 174

Consequently, the late fourth-century revival of Romano-British

paganism would seem a modern academic myth, based on the erroneous

ASho

dating of Lydney and Maiden Castle. This is not to say that paganism was other than a widespread and wealthy religion (or religions) in fourth-

century Britain. 175 But the observable archaeological evidence of an increase in ritual activity in the late fourth century could as easily be explained in terms of localized responses by the pagan aristocratic élite

tothe threat of Christianity (as Carver has suggested), 176 or to the mood

of anxiety which seems to have gripped late fourth-century paganism

(leading to increasingly bizarre and localized forms of pagan religious ritual), or to the increased social stress caused by barbarian raiding.17

It may be no coincidence t h a t there is some correlation between those

areas containing late fourth-century temples and those containing late fourth-century coin hoards (see fig. 2).178 That this is not only a reflection of the deposition of ritual hoards is suggested by a close correlation with this pattern: the evidence collated by Keith Branigan for the destruction of villas during t h e fourth century. 179 These show a strong riverine distri-

bution in the West Country, suggesting their destruction in Irish maritime raiding. Consequently, it seems reasonable to take the hoards as

171.

Ibid..

172. Thomas, CIRB, 139 and 265.

173. For the 'poverty' exhibited by finds and structures indicating Christianity: Watts, Christians and pagans, 217-19. 174. Julian's reign may have been the most insecure period in fourth-century British history. Cleary, ERB, 44-5. 175. Cleary, ERB, 119-20.

176. M . O. H . Carver, 'Sutton Hoo ni context, Settimane de studio del centro Italiano di

studi sull'alto medioevo, 32 (1986), 77-123. . Green, The Gods of the Celts (1986), 130-31. 177. M

178. P. Isaac, 'Coin hoards and history in the west', in The Roman west country, eds K. Branigan and P. .J Fowler (1976), 52-62; S. Archer, 'Late Roman gold and silver coin

hoards ni Britain: a gazetteer', in The end, 29-65; Jones and Mattingley, Atlas, 299.

179. K. Branigan, 'Villa settlement in the west country', in The Roman west country, eds B r a n i g a n a n d R o w l e r 120-41 ( 1 3 6 - 9 )

Figure 7 Some evidence for Christianity in Roman Britain.

(Based on

Thomas CIRB, Watts 1991.) Large filled circles = Textual evidence for bishops or martyrs Small filled circles Small open circle Open triangle

Filled recta ngle Filled square Open square

Probable Christian cemeteries or Churches

Possible Christian Church

Hoards containing artefacts with Christian symbols Christian tombstones

Probably Christian, lead tanks

Building material with Christian symbol Note: illustration shows only evidence unlikely to have been moved far from its point of origin.

36

Politics a n d Culture in Late R o m a n Britain

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37

indicating circumstances of social stress brought about by raids. If so,

this increase in stress might also explain the fourth-century activity at

these temples more convincingly than adducing ap a g a n revival or general mood of pagan anxiety, although thel a t t e r may well have existed in the late fourth c e n t u r y.

This brings us to the evidence for Christianity (fig. 7). Christians had probably been present inBritain since the second century and certainly there were Christian churches in the Fourth century.so Although there were high-status fourth-century Christians in Britain, as the evidence From Lullingstone andHinton St Mary villas shows, the social composition

&the Christian community was probably predominantly low-middle-status, as Dorothy Watts has argued on the basis ofarchaeological evidence. 18r This low status support could afford only very modest churches and artefacts and is unlikely to feature in historical sources (fig. 8.182 The

evidence collected b y Charles Thomas and Dorothy Watts suggests that Christianityw a sf a rm o r ew i d e s p r e a d in the Romano-British countryside

than elsewhere in the West, for example, in Gaul.183 Against this, the term paganus is often adduced, with itsambiguous meaning of 'country dweller' or 'pagan', but this isa continental terma n d usage, not a British

one, and so is irrelevant.I s It would certainly be hard to parallel low-status rural, or small-town, Christian cemeteries - such as Bradley Hill, Shepton Mallet, Icklingham, or Ancaster - in fourth-century Gaul. 185 Such sites make it very probable that Christianity was winning converts in the Romano-British countryside at at i m e when it was still predominantly an urban religion in the Gallic provinces. Moreover, the low-status of British Christians compared to Gallic or other Continental Christians, and their relatively unromanized rural set-

ting, means that they may be greatly under-represented in the archaeological and historical record. Apart from a few clergymen, no British

Christians a r e m e n t i o n e d by o u r few t e x t u a l s o u r c e s on fourth-century

British religion, and so these can hardly be used as negative evidence.

Low-status Christians int h e Romano-British countryside may not have been able to afford p u r p o s e - m a d e artefacts with Christian symbols or

functions, and their churches may have been typically wooden buildings

or the simplest of stone structures, as at Icklingham.186As Watts has pointed out, church buildings may lack any distinctively 180. Jones and Mattingley, Atlas, 295-300; Thomas, CIRB.

181. Watts, Christians and pagans, 217-19.

182. The historical sources are ni anycase sparse; Thomas, CIRB, Ch. 2. 183. Thomas, CIRB; Watts,Christiansandpagans; .C Thomas, 'Recognising Christian origins: an archaeological and historical dilemma', in The Anglo-Saxon Church, eds L. A. S. Butler andR . K. Morris (1986), 121-5.

184. Cleary, ERB, 38. T h e term is unattested in Roman Britain. 185. R. Leech, "The excavation ofa Romano-British farmstead andcemetery on Bradley Hill,Somerton, Somerset',Brit, 12 (1981),177-270; S. West, "The Romano-British site at Icklingham', , East AnglianArchaeology, 3 (1976), 63-126. For the distribution of evidence of Christianity i n Roman Gaul, see, Ferdière, Les campagnes, II, 238. 186. Thomas, CIRB, 186 and 191-2; Watts, Christians and pagans, 220-22; West, 'The

Figure 8 Reconstruction of an undocumented Romano-British church, based on archaeological evidence from Colchester. By Peter Froste, reproduced with the kindp e r m i s s i o n of Colchester Archaeological Trust.

Christian features,187 and there is a strong argument that the number of churches in fourth-century Britain may at present be greatly under: estimated. Potter and Johns have highlighted the fact that in the Roman

west, the main thrust of church building did not come until the later fourth and early fifth centuries. Moreover, the "congregational churches"

tended to be built on the edges of the city, . . . while cemetery churches . . . were constructed, as the law demanded, outside the city walls'. 188 Further limitations on our ability to recognize the extent of RomanoBritish C h r i s t i a n i t y derive from a c o n s i d e r a t i o n o f the a t t e s t e d c o n s e rvatism of the sub- R o m a n British church.

CharlesT h o m a s and other scholars have made a compelling case that the sub-Roman Church derived from that of Roman Britain. 189 As Wendy Davies has recently reaffirmed, the sub-Roman British Church was distinguished by its extreme conservatism, and it is this that, for example, seems to have preserved the use of the fifth-century method of calculating Easter until the seventh century and even later.190 If the Romano-British Church was as conservative as the sub-Roman British Church, then it may have been slow to disuse house-churches and to adopt religious symbolism. 191 In the Mediterranean, religious symbolism

187. 188. 189. 190.

Watts, Christians andpagans, 100-101. T. W . Potterand C. Johns, Roman Britain (1992), 206. Thomas, CIRB, 347-55. W . Davies, 'The myth of the Celtic Church',i n Edwards and Lane, The early Church, 12-21.

191. For conservatism ni Late Roman Britain, in general, see J. Evans, 'Settlement and society in northwest England in the fourth century', in Settlement and society in the o co r d M r u o r e o

Romann o r t h . e d s P R Wilcon y F l r

38

Politics a n d Culture in Late R o m a n Britain

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Eusebiu s, 192 was oppose d by such eminent fourth-century ecclesiastics as was in the This and house-churc hes persisted into the fourth century. e. tectur archi and art centre of chang e in Chris tian If Late Roman Christians in Britain were especially conservativ e, then we cannot use the absence of Christian symbolism or church buildings as

of Christians. Some, possibly most, a guide to the presence or absencehurches and may have been opposed

Christia ns may have used house-c to, or sceptical of, the use of religious symbols in the fourth century and

39

hardly surprising that the sub-Roman Christian crowds addressed by St

Germanus were allegedly Pelagian, given the social revolutionary

tendencies of Pelagian writers, or that, a century later, Gildas might express social-revolutionary aims within a Christian religious context.198 I f a religious divide between Christians and pagans was parallel with a social division in the countryside, then it may be that the tendency for mosaics within villas' reception rooms to display pagan mythological subjects fulfilled the role of enhancing class-solidarity among pagan aris-

reasonable confidence free-standing church buildings identifiable 19with symbols do occur at Where 3 symbol. n Christia a include Roman Britain

tocrats. 199 These displays may have asserted difference betweenthe l i t e and any Christian tenants who happened to, or (due to the restrictions of client-patron relations) were forced to, see them.200 This is hardly a pro-

tus Roman Christia n worship was carried out in the houses of low-sta

notable groups of villas with similar pagan themes prominently shown on

that none of the l a t e r . Suppor t for this view comes from the observ ation in

if probable churches, they are all in high-status contexts. Of course,

of Britons, then a combination of poverty, conservatism, and a lack the in tifiable uniden es church housesuch r e d n e r , would

roman ization archaeological record.

of lowThere is, therefore, strong reason to assume that the numbertimated .

status Christia ns in Roman Britain may have been underes

Although low-status pagan structures and burials do exist,these are cer-

tainly not so numerous as to negate the view that ni the fourth-century

conlowland zone, there were many low-status Christians. So, we may

struct a social profile of religion in Late Roman Britain with Christianity

paganism strongest among the poor; but rarely found among the rich, and the among t dominan but poor, the among perhaps, ad, still widespre élite. 194

position capable of testing, but might explain why Britain contains some

01 thei r r e c e p t i o n r o o m mosaics.2

We need not, however, refer to class tensions - perhaps shown by subRoman writers - to provide evidence for religious conflict between Christians and pagans in fourth-century Britain. Archaeological evidence of

the destruction of Christian religious artefacts by pagans, and epigraphic evidence, suggests pagan hostility towards Christians.202 Such attitudes can only have further aggravated tension between lowstatus Christians and the ruling pagan élite. That such behaviour continued in the Christian Late Roman State, despite official support for Christianity and disapproval of paganism, may have caused this to seem an intolerable

situation.

It is, therefore, possible to reinterpret the Late Roman villa as an

Although we may doubt that there was a pagan revival in fourth-century

estate centre operating within an exploitative and rigidly-structured

ples where domestic settlemen t is found alongside the religious aspects

its romanized display elements. There may have been widespread social tension, deepened by religious differences, between the l i t e and their

us élite may mason ry buildin gs.195 In some temple s the religio

tenants.

d on the temBritain, there was a pagan religious élite. This was centre

atus of these sites, and this domestic evidence consists of high-sthave

rural economy, but expressing legitimacy, continuity and status through

derived from local landowners, high-rank military officers, or leading

These matters of religious history may, as we shall see, be crucial to our understanding of the end of the Romano-British villa system, and

wheresoldiers often took part inthe cult. 196 Martin Millet has observed

even to the e n d of lowland R o m a n Britain, b u t villas were not t h eonly form of s e t t l e m e n t in Late R o m a n Britain. R e c e n t s t u d i e s have

a, townspeople; this was especially the case in regard to the mithrae tied to . . that t h e function of religion and the priesth oods was clearly distri butio n 'the that noted have Johns and r Potte and ', the aristocracy of late temples follows that of villas very closely, and there can be little ised them'. 197 doubt that it was the villa-ow ners who promo ted and patron status Chrislower rural ead widespr for case a Accepting that there is one might then , paganism us high-stat rural ad widespre for and tianity,

see this as a major ideological division between the l i t e and their tenants, with the social control of the élite closely tied to paganism. If so, it is

emphasized the importance of 'native' forms o fsecular é l i t esettlement.

198. I. Wood,'The fall of the western empire and the end of Roman Britain', Brit, 18 (1987), 251-62; D . A . Brooks, 'Gildas's De Excidio, its revolutionary meaning and purpose, SC. 18/19 (1983/4),1-10. In saying this, I am not supporting Myres's view o fthe role of Pelagianism; J. N. L. Myres, 'Pelagius and the end of Roman rule in Britain', JRS,

50 (1960), 21-36. 199. S . Scott, 'An outline of a new approach for the interpretation of Romano-British mosaics, and some comments on the possible significance of the Orpheus mosaics of

fourth-century Roman Britain', JTA, 2(1992) 29-35;and A ' theoretical framework forthe

192. C. Mango, The art of the Byzantine empire 312-1452 (Toronto, 1986), 16-18.

193. Thomas, CIRB.

British Christian commu194. This is in contrast to the conventional view of the Romano-

nity: Thomas, CIRB. 195. E.g. at Uley and Lydney. 196. Cleary, ERB, 120.

study of Romano-British villa mosaics', in Scott, TRA, 103-14.

200. Millett, RB, 197.

' n outline, ot have been sym201.These are the 'Orpheus mosaics' considered by Scott, A bols of social dominance.

202. M . Henig, 'Religion i nRoman Britain', ni Research on Roman Britain, ed. Todd (1989). 219-34; P. Rahtz, 'Pagan and Christian yb the Severnsea', ni The archaeologyand hist o r yofGlastonbury Abbey. eds L. Abrams and .J. P. Carley (1991). 3_37.

40

Politics a n d Culture in Late Roman Britain

Civitas to Kingdom

H I L LF O R T AND OTHER 'NATIVE' SECULAR L I T E SITES

Hill-fort s e t t l e m e n t in Roman Britain has not been the subject of a comprehensive overall survey.203 Tw o conflicting interpretations have been

p r o p o s e d : t h a t h i l l - f o r t o c c u p a t i o n in t h e f o u r t h - c e n t u r y r e p r e s e n t s t h e

emplacement of quasi-military or militia forces, or that these were secular élite sites of non-military character. 204 There were also, of course, hilltop and hill-slope temples and shrines, although hilltop religious sites are not as commonly found as is often supposed by archaeologists; most hillsited temples and shrines were on the hill-slope. 205 The argument for a military characte r has fallen into abeyance in

recent years, perhaps due to the lack of categorically military artefacts, although these are generally rare in the archaeol ogical record of Late

RomanBritain. Another possible explanation is that the change in interpretation is due to the predominantly civilian character of contemporary

archaeologists, as opposed to those earlier romanists who favoured the military view, such as Brigadier Wheeler.206 Although this change of interpretat ion may not be wholly justified in the terms in which it has so far been phrased,207 there is no positive evidence for a military interpretation. There is no conclusive evidence, for example, that hill-fort banks

were refurbished so as to make t h e m defensible, o r of e l e m e n t s of contem-

porary military design in buildings or enclosures.208 Notably, the pre-

41

encompasses the West and North, and overlaps with villa settlement in a

bandrunning across the perimeterof the lowland-zone.212 In areas such types are found as Somerset, Dorset, and Oxfordshire, both settlement

but to the East, Late Roman hill-fort settlements rarely occur. Such hilltop usage has beenfound, on excavation, to be either religious or

ind ust rial in cha rac ter. 213

S o there are strong grounds (given the extent of hill-fort surveys and excavations) to argue that villas and hill-forts with secular élite occupation are two, partially overlapping, Late Roman distributions. It would be convenient to explain this as thehill-forts fulfilling the roleof villa-sites in less romanized areas, but such a view may be only partially correct. While we may note the importance in the archaeological record of both of

these types of site, other 'native' settlements seem also to have had a sec ula r élite cha rac ter. 214 Such settlements are currently poorly understood, especially in the

eastern part of Britain. Innorth-west Wales, enclosed hut groups sometimes share the wealth of the 'poorer' villas, yet without display elements or classical architecture.215 They also occur in such a density across the landscape that ti is hard to assign all of them to the sort of tenurial role

which we might choose to assign to villas.216 Such sites complicate the

overall picture in north-west Wales for they suggest a 'middle class' of

moderately wealthy rural settlements, a characteristic of other areas

from Cornwall to Kent and from the Solway Firth to the Isle of Wight. 712

dominance of timber curvilinear structures inside these sites and their

Such sites have a native character and moderately rich finds or a

contrast them with the hilltop forts of, for example, the Late Roman

forts (where the exceptional wealth of the finds and/or architecture stand out in a local context).218 Seen in this way we may recognize that, however strict the social and legal framework of the villa-system, Late Roman Britain did not have a rigidly polarized class structure but, instead, a graduating range of social ranks from the slave to the would-be emperor.219 Such a view reinforces the recognition of villa and hill-fort sites as exceptional in their local contexts. It makes us recognize that they stand above sites which, themselves, were wealthier than the majority

weak u n i v a l l a t e e n c l o s u r e s (or lack of r e f u r b i s h m e n t ) m a y be t a k e n to R h i n e l a n d o r Alps.209

to Consequently, there seems no reason to assign a military function these sites. Artefactually they are, in local relative terms, rich.Pottery, glass and coinage occur more commonly on these sites than at the other local non-villa, secular civilian centres. Although few such hill-forts are

known in plan, there can be little doubt that many contained rectangular

and other

masonry structures.210 Thus they would seem wealthy,

although not especially romanized , secular settlement s. As artefacts

associated with local consumption and production are commonly found at these sites in conjunction with structural evidence, an interpretation

of them as secular l i t e homesteads seems most plausible.211 The distribution of hill-fort settlements of this type si interesting as it 203. The closest is: I. C. G. Burrow, 'Roman material from hillforts, in Casey, The end, 212-29.

204. G. Simpson, Britons in the Roman army (1964), 150-6. 205. Lewis, Temples, 132-3.

206. R . E . M . Wheeler, Segontium and the Roman occupationof Wales (1923).

207. 208. 209. 210.

Simpson, Britons. S. Johnson, Late Roman fortifications (1983), 241. Ibid., 226-44.

.I Burrow, Hillfort and hill-top settlement in Somerset in the first to eighth centuries AD (1981), esp. 139-40. i n c l a n .

D O D D

romanized character but poor finds, unlike either the villas or the hill-

of rural s e t t l e m e n t s a n d it is h a r d to s u p p o s e t h a t t h e s e sites did not

operate in relation to each other in some tenurial relationship defined in 212. No general distribution map is available, the closest is: P . J. Fowler, 'Hill-forts A D 300-700', in The Iron age and its hill-forts eds M. J e s s o nand D . Hill (1971), 203-13.

213. For an industrial example: J. H. Money, 'The Iron age hill-fort and Romano-British iron-working settlement at Garden Hill, Sussex: interim report on excavations 196876,' Brit, 8 (1977), 339-50.

. Hingley, 'The Romano-British countryside: the significance of rural settlement 214. R

forms', ni Roman Britain, ed. Jones, 75-80 (76 and 79). 215. W . S . Hanson and .L Macinnes, Soldiers and settlement in Wales and Scotland', ni Roman Britain, ed. Jones,85-92; R . S. Kelly, 'Recent research on the hut group settlements of North-West Wales', in Burnham and Davies, CC, 102-11.

216. Hingley, RSRB, 141. 217. Hingley, RSRB, 139-48. 218. E.g.a t Dinorben: W. Gardner and H. N. Savory. Dinorben (1964and 1971).

219. There were certainly both in Roman Britain:A. Birley,The People of Roman Britain (1979), 3 0 - 2and 145-50.

42

Civitas to Kingdom

terms of local or Roman law, even fi this relationship is not immediately c l e a r t o u s t o d a y . 220

Returning to the relationship between the distribution of villas and

hill-forts in Roman Britain, it is possible to begin analysis by noting that the hill-fort sites occur in contexts where site-form and artefact types seem to indicate the continuity of pre- Roman to Roman society and, at least to some extent, economics.221 Local studies have produced evidence that Late Roman hill-fort use may stand in a direct succession to

earl Roman and late pre-Roman hill-fort settlement.222 This impression of 'continuity' is reinforced by the occurrence of 'native' artefacts and building-types on hill-fort sites as elsewhere in these areas.223 Textual and place-name evidence may also indicate pre-Roman to Roman continuity in these areas. John Koch's work has made a case for the maintenance, into the middle ages, of native dynastic genealogies and perhaps even narrative stories, as well as the names of figures of native mythology.22 Place-names in the highland zone probably include

pre-Roman examples, also suggesting continuity. 22 Consequently, the social and economic setting of the hill-fort sites is one of varying degrees of romanization, with widespread continuity from the native past. T h e r e is no evidence that the l i t e s who used these sites

were intrusive to the West and North of Britain, and local origins may be expected. The areas in which hill-fort usage is most commonly found are those in which there was apparently no resistance to Roman Imperial

annexation or in which, although resistance was strong, there is no evi-

dence that the area later became a civitas.226 This would encompass

Cornwall, Devon and most of Wales, but not the most part of those areas in which villas and hill-forts 'overlap'.

Hill-forts may, therefore, be seen as expressions of a greater political

continuity from the pre-Roman period. This is paralleled by the religious use of hill-fort sites, when continuity of site from the Pre- Roman IronAge to the Late Roman period has, occasionally, been demonstrated.227 It is, therefore, necessary to ask what was the character of the local élite of highland Britain in the immediately pre-Roman period. Textual and linguistic sources leave us in little doubt that this l i t e comprised royal

Politics a n d Culture in Late R o m a n Britain

43

dynasties and their attendant aristocracies, a situation analogous to con228 temporary Gaul or later Irel and

The only objection to the interpretation of these sites as representing

the homesteadsof this lite, including native dynasties, surviving into

the Roman period is a preconception among modern scholars that

Roman administration swept all this away.

Roman-period textual

sources certainly donot inform us of this, the conquered kings whose fate is known were often fêted, not murdered or imprisoned.229Likewise

the Dumnonii, Demetae,and Dobunni may have 'surrendered' without a

military conquest, enabling the ruling élites to come to some accommo-

dation with the Roman administration, 230

The association between hill-forts and kings is well-established in preRoman Iron-Age Europe and Britain, and in immediately post-Roman

Britain and Ireland.231 It is not p o s s i b l eto know whether this association

held true in Roman Britain, but, given the evidence of local continuity

and of kingship in these areas, it is possible to propose an interpretation of hill-fort sites, in the highland zone at least, as the homesteads of local

secular lites and the seats of dynasties of pre- Roman origin. It might be supposed that this does not resolve the question of why

hill-forts are found in the territories of well-attested civitates with urban

capitals andvillas, but the occurrence of villas and civitas-government

did not preclude dynastic continuity, as the case of Titus Cogidubnus demonstrates.232 The occurrence of hill-forts and villas juxtaposed in the landscape, might be encompassed within the interpretation proposed by Hingley of the differential deployment of wealth. 23 It might also be seen

in terms of the differential represent ation of rank. Undoubte dly, at least two symbolic systems existed in Roman Britain - classical and native. These might have been felt appropri ate to signal different messages in a

lowland context: native continuity, or identity with the Empire. Consequently, the spatial distribution of symbolism may give us useful

information about both the culture of t h e secular élite and its origins. As

we shall see, by no means all of the villa-owners of eastern Britain are

likely to have derived from the pre- Roman British population . We may

see reflected in the choice of symbolism those who felt (probably with justification) that their origins lay in the pre-Roman British past, and

whose social and economiclife was articulated through primarily 'Celtic'

codes of action, and those whose life was articulate d through principall y

'romanized' models of behaviour. Those areas in which thedistribution . Todd, 'Villa and fundus', in The economies, eds Branigan and Miles, 14-20 (20). 220. M

221. Hanson and Macinnes, 'Soldiers and settlement; Hingley, RSRB, 139-48. 222. E.g. Coygan Camp: G . J. Wainwright, Coygan Camp (1967); J. L. Davies, 'Aspects of native settlement in Roman Wales and the Marches' (Ph.D. thesis, University of Wales) (1980).

223. E.g. at Dinorben: Gardner and Savory, Dinorben. 224. J. T. Koch. A ' Welsh window on the Iron Age: Manawydan Mandubracios', CMCS. 14 (1987), 17-52. 225. K. R. Dark, The early British court: place-names and archaeology (forthcoming).

. R . Dudley and G . Webster, The Roman Conquest ofBritain AD 43-57 (1965), 129226. D 79.

228. Frere, Britannia, Ch. 2 and .3 For Iron Age Britain in general, B . W . Cunliffe, Iron age communities in Britain (3rd edn., 1991). For the later Irish evidence: D. O Corráin, Ire. land before the Normans (Dublin, 1972), 1-44. For Gaul see references in 231 below.

229. Birley, The people, 24-5; Frere, Britannia, 189.

230. Dudley and Webster, The RomanConquest, 112 and 133.

231. C. L. Crumley, Celtic social structure: the generation of archaeolorically testable hypotheses from literary evidence (Ann Arbor, 1974); F. Audouze and O. Büchsenschütz, Towns, villages, and countryside of Celtic Europe (1992); Free, Britannia, 13; Dark, D iscovery.

232. Birley, The people, 1.

233. Hingley. RSBB 159-6

•44

Politics and Culture in Late Roman Britain

Civitas to Kingdom

of the two settlement forms overlapped, might be seen as those in which

both Celtic and Romanized symbolic systems were available to provide

choice in élite s t r a t e g i e s .

If this is so, then it tells us much about the landed élite ofLate Roman Britain, and also informs us of the continuity of the concept of kingship through the Roman period. It is hardly surprising that such a contrast between upland and lowland lites is found, because this contrast can be found throughout a wide range of artefact types and settlement forms.

The maintenan ce of kingly aspiration s and 'Celtic' symbolism was to

play a crucial role in establishing the character of sub-Roman élites. It 'native' must also be noted that although the estate organization of these

landowners remains unclear, it is unlikely to have been based on written deeds or Roman law. Well-defined estate boundaries might, however, still be expected.234

Native settlements and hill-forts were not, however, the only secular

adminélite sites in the fourth-century highland zone. The Imperial and

istrative élite of the centraliz ed Roman State maintain ed its own 'élite the sites' in these areas - t h e forts of n o r t h e r n and western Britain - from

second century onward.235 M I L I TA RY S I T E S

Late Roman fortificatio ns in Britain have been the object of a number of

extensive and detailed modern studies, and the command structure of these sites is well-understood for most of the diocese (see fig. 1).236 There

45

hostile Picts and, arguably, hostile Scots.240 In the east there was also na obvious threat: Germanic raiders inthe Channel and the North Sea.341 There is no reason to suppose that fourth-century Germans lacked the ability to launch raids on eastern England, and textual sources make it quiteclear that lowland Britain was under constant threat ni the fourth century.212 The western Britishsituation seems, in contrast, to imply that no threat was perceived ni the fourth century.This may be supported by recent re-analysis of textual evidence by David Dumville, who suggests that the Irish only became a military problem in the late fourth cen.

tury.243 With the discovery of Roman signalstations in north Wales, ti

may be possible to reinterpret the function of the forts a tSegontium and Cardiff, and to recognize that they might have operated in a similar fashion to thoseon the east coast. This seems to have been to provide a forward intelligence and observation system which signalledan attack to the fort.

from which naval detachments or troops were then dispatched to intercept it.241

Military sites (as official establishments) might be expected to fulfil an

important administrative role, but they show little evidence of this and there is no r e a s o n to as s ign most forts a g r e a t e r a d m i n i s t r a t i v e role t h a n

villas. The evidence supports only a limited administrative role for the eastern and northern forts, with the possibility that there was a more

pronounced administrative role for the fewsites found in the west.This

may have been especially true of Segontium - the only known official administrative centre in fourth-century north-west Wales.

The most famous aspectof Roman Britain's defences is, of course,

underthecommand of a comes, and a scattering of forts ni the diocese,

Hadrian's Wall. In the fourth century the Wall still operated a forward intelligence service and had mile-castles and turrets functioning along its line.245 To the south its supply-lines remained protected by forts, perhaps of a less embattled character to those o nthe Wall. Yet it is unclear

the second and third centuries, there were few forts ni the west.238 The

role, except along the Wall zone itself, which m u s t have b e e n under mili-

were three main divisions, the north British defences under the comdefences mand of the Dux Brittaniarum, the eastern and southern coastal

n in probabl y under the c o m m a n d of another comes.237 Unlike the situatio

a handful of s o u t h - w e s t e r n p e n i n s u l a m a y h a v e h a d n o n e at all, a n d only

forts were maintained in Wales.239 In north Britain the need for defence was obvious. Beyond the Wall lay

234. Ibid., 102-10. 235. For a summary and distribution see Jones and Mattingley, Atlas, 64-140. 236. M. W. C. Hassall, 'Britain in the Notitia', in Aspects of the Notitia Dignitatum eds R. . Houlder, The Roman army in Goodburn and P. Bartholomew (1976), 103-18; P. A . Welsby, . A Britain (1982), 97-103; Clear, ERB, 50-64; Frere, Britannia, 217-28; D The Roman military defence of the British Province in its later phases (1982). For the . Tomlin, 'The army of the late empire', in The . S. O Late Roman army in general see R Roman World, ed. Wacher, .I 107-133. 7th centuries AD' 237. Frere, Britannia, 217-26; I. Wood, 'The channel from the 4th to the inMaritime Celts, Frisians, and Saxons, ed. S. McGrail (1990), 93-7. 238. Welsby, The Roman military defence, map 1 (unnumbered); P. J. Casey, 'Coin evidenceand the end of Roman Wales', Arch ,J 146 (1989), 320-9.

whether any of these sites fulfilled more than a localized administrative tary control in order to operate.

Modern scholars often write as if the Wall was not a defensive line, but

this is not the case;246 epigraphic, textual, and archaeological evidence all help confirm that, in the fourth century, Hadrian's Wall was a defensive

. R . Nieke and H. B. Duncan, 'Dalriada: the establishment and maintenance of an 240. M early historic kingdom in northern Britain', ni Power and Politics in Early Medieval Britain and Ireland, eds S. T. Driscoll and M . R . Nieke (1988), 6-21 (8-11).

241. J. Haywood, Dark Age Naval Power (1991), 37-54. 242. Ibid.

243. Personal communication, D . N. Dumville, 1990, on the basis of as yet unpublished work.

244. Frere, Britannia, 341-5. Interestingly, Gildas DE, 1:18, says that the Romans p' laced towers overlooking the sea at intervals on the south coast, where they kept their

for they were afraid of thewild barbarian beasts attacking them on that front too'.ships: It is generally taken that these towers are the 'forts of the Saxon shore 245. S. Johnson, Hadrian's Wall (1989), 109-11; D . .J Breeze, and B . Dobson, Hadrian's Wall (3rd edn

1987) 61. Froso Britannia

46

Politics a n d Culture in Late R o m a n Britain

Civitas to Kingdom

system, under attack, at least, on occasions .26 In such circumsta nces the whole array of forts and lines of commun ication can be explaine d as a maior defensive network, maintained from need.

of the While their primarily military function is undeniable, the 'forts

Saxon Shore' also present problems of interpretation.347 They have pro-

duced coin-histograms and artefact assemblages reminiscent of urban sites, but, so far, few structures.218 This could be because they contained their military detachm ents billeted in tents, but this is unlikely in view of elsesites military Roman Late permane nt defences and the character of denser much contained have s where.249 Alternatively, they may sometime

concentrations of population than at others, functioning a s refuge-sites.

Another option, the most plausible at present, is that m o s t of the internal

structures- like the Richborough church? - were timber-framed and so have evaded detection. So far as we know at present, these forts may

have been densely occupied; this is certainly what the finds imply,251 but

47

non-Britons to become established sa communities ni remote areas.The

significance of Danubians,Palmyrans, Mesopotamians and Greeks settl-

ing as coherentcommunities in Roman Britain, ona widespreadscale, seems ot be ot have been underestimated. The character of not only settled

fourth-century military zones, but of those in which veterans had from the second century onwards, was potentially multicultural.256 Con-

sequently, although the Roman army increasingly recruited from local

communities, there was not necessarily a straightforward British, or even

Celtic, 'background' stretching back to the pre-Roman period upon

which fourth-century local culture could be based.25? Alongside British communities displaying the continuity which we have considered when discussing hill-fort sites, there may have been other communities of a strikingly non-British character, especially in settlements near longestablished forts. In thefourth century these forts may have contained soldiers and their families, and so taken on the character of fortified

this does not, of course, rule out a refuge function.

domestic settlements.2os If there were many communities in Roman Britain derived from areas

naval detachments.252 fI so, the strategy may have been to use intelli-

outside Britain or Gaul, the only common culture which these people could share with the provincials of the surrounding area was probably Roman, and the only common language, Latin.259 If correct, this in itself

and t h e n to i n t e r c e p t t h e m while still at sea. Clearly t

groups, contrasting with that of the romanized rich, and shows that

The military importance of the sites is unclear. They may have been for land troops but their lack of inland road-networks, harbourside siting, and the practicalities of fighting a seaborne enemy, suggest their use for

gence' scout-ships and look-outtowers ot warn of approaching attackers, h i s would enable

refutes the concept of a common British culture among all low-status

Roman ships to use their technological advantage to its full. If the 'forts of the Saxon shore' were naval bases, they may have

Latinity was not restricted to the élite. This having been said, scholars have, in my opinion, tended to overemphasize the numbers of Germanic troops who may have been

played a limited role in the administ ration of the surround ing countryside.253 Consum ption and producti on might have been linked to the

maintenance of the base giving it a 'small-town' character, without the

whole range of 'small-town' functions being implied.254 Consequently, it is unsurprisi ng to find no evidence of villa clusters around such sites, nor

other evidence of especial wealth in their hinterland. Despite this, these rule and proforts, again, clearly represe nted express ions of governm ent tection.

found in Roman Britain. Certainly, Germanic soldiers served in considerable numbers in the Roman army, and were to be found in Britain.260 But the two crucial questions of the extent to which this occurred, and of whether there was a relationship b e t w e e n these units and the Anglo-Saxons

of the fifth century onwards, seem unresolved.261 There are very few con-

vincingly Germanic burials from Late Roman contexts in Britain, and no

large convincingly Germanic cemeteries, contrasting with many from

crucial role in the In two ways, however, these militar y sites did play a

Gaul.262 Moreover, apart from these burials, there are few fourth-century Germanic artefacts from Britain, and their lack of fourth-century

screen of varying effectiveness against barbarian attacks, and it was the

stratigraphical context makes ti plausible that many, perhaps almost all of these, may have been 'heirlooms' brought by Anglo-Saxon settlers in

246. Breeze and Dobson, Hadrian's Wall, 39-43and 60-1.

255. Birley, The people, 28 and 107-14. 256. Ibid., 107-14. 257. Such a view is to be found in, e.g., N . Higham, Rome, Britain, and the Anglo-Saxons

political and social development of Britain. They provided a protective

of army, rather than trade or adminis tration, that enabled large numbers

247. Free, Britannia, 337 and 340 248. Wood. "The channel': V. Maxfield (ed.), The Saxon shore (1989). 249. Ibid.; Clear, ERB, 61.

250. Maxfield (ed.), The Saxon shore; Johnson, Late Roman Fortifications.

251. For a possible example: P. D. C . Brown, "The church at Richborough', Brit, 2(1971), 225-31.

252. J. C. Mann, 'The historical development of the Saxon shore, (1-11, esp. 2 and 10-11))

and C. P. Burnham, 'The coast of south-east England in Roman times', (12-17) in The Saxon shore, ed. Maxfield. 253. But note Clere's view that the hinterland was crucial: H. Cleere, 'The classis

Britannica', in The Saxon shore, ed. Maxfield, 18-22.

(1992), 41-2.

258. Cleary, ERB, 59-61.

259. Evans, 'Graffiti'; Free, Britannia, 302-4.

. MacMullen, Corruption and the decline ofRome (Yale, 1988), 199-204 and 209-17; 260. R and Changes in the Roman empire, 49. Interestingly, Myres has noted how seldom they are foundin Britain: J. N . L . Myres, The English settlements (1986), 81-2.

261. Cleary, ERB, 191.

262. Ibid, 55-6. For a possible example: C. Hills and H. Hurst, A ' Gotha tGloucester?' , .J 69 (1989), 154-8.

Ant

48

Politics a n d Culture in Late R o m a n Britain

Civitas to Kingdom

the fifth century (and possibly later).263 Convers ely, while there is as

49

indicates that the culture of Roman Britain cannot simply be explained

much archaeological evidence, and rather more epigraphic evidence, for Eastern Mediterraneans (for example, at South Shields) on British military sites of the fourth century,261 no unit in Roman Britain bore any specific

in terms of Roman andnative. Consequently, whilenativecontinuity may be ascertainable, the changing political, social and cultural context

Frisians are known to have served in the Diocese.265 This brings us to the vexed question of the so-called 'Germanic' military belt-sets and other fittings.266 There seems reason to suppose thatthese belt-sets were symbols of official authority;26? they are finely produced, have a principally urban and military distribution, and concentrate in

useful interpretative categories.

title such as Saxons, Angles, Jutes, or even Franks, although some

eastern Britain. They may well be the textually- attested cingulum, but

there is no reason to assign them a specifically Germanic character.268

heirThe occurrence of such belt-sets, in Anglo-Saxon graves, even if as Gerlooms, is no evidence of them being specifically associateds owith n Roma f bodie the from looted been manic groups, for they may have

or sub-Roman Britons. The wearing of military trophiestaken from one's

opponen ts in this way is well a t t e s t e d so there is no obvious reason, even

ofRomano-British settlement and societycannot be analysed simply ni terms of romanization and native continuity, although these are still CONCLUSION

Fourth-century Britain was a wealthy society with an efficient moneybased market economy. Its rulingclasses lived in towns and villas, ni

temple complexes, and in military fortresses, as well as native-style setflements. The towns were undergoing a sequence of change, common throughout the Roman Empire, and existed in several forms. The villas

were the centres of a legally-enforced,exploitative tenurial system, and

the luxury residences of landowners. Temples, in an élite culture still dominated by paganism, still received donations from the rich, although there was probably no revival in paganism in the late fourth century. Hill-

within the framework of our own preconceptions, why military buckles in barbarian graves necessitate barbarian soldiers in the Late Roman army.269 The Roman-period role of these belt buckles in their original context may have been to represent high rank in official service - military or civilian

adopt Roman ways. But romanization, even Latinity, was widespread,

been utility, prestige, fashion, or personal sentimentality. It has also to

of diverse origins. Class-conflict can be recognized, notably a radical contrast between

of functio nal - and they may have subseq uently been reused for reason s pointed out that service in the Late Roman bureauc racy was referred

s need not as 'militare', so, even if apparently military, the belt buckle trappings official other and belt-sets ry Fourth-centu soldiers.270 indicate

are sources for the fourth-ce ntury secular élite, but not necessari ly for t h e d i s t r i b u t i o n or c h a r a c t e r of its soldiery - a n d certainly not for the

identification of its Germanic troops.

T h e m u l t i c u l t u r a l c h a r a c t e r o f R o m a n forts a n d v e t e r a n s e t t l e m e n t s

263. J. Hines, 'Philology, archaeology, and the Adventus Saxonum vel Anglorum', ni Britain,, . Bammesberger and .A Wollmann (Heidelberg 400-600: language a n d history, eds A 1990), 17-36. 264. J. N. Dore and .J P. Gillam, The Roman fort at South Shields (1981); Birley, The people. 265. Birley, The people, 110. 266. To cite some of the principal contributions: S. C. Hawkes and G. C. Dunning, 'Soldiers

and settlers in Britain, fourth to fifth century: with a catalogue of animal-ornamented 'Some buckles and related belt-fittings', Med Arch, 5 (1961), 1-70; S. C. Hawkes,

recent finds of Late Roman buckles', Brit, 5(1974), 386-93; C. J. Simpson, 'Belt-buckles

new and strap-ends of the later Roman empire; a preliminary survey of several groups', Brit, 7 (1976), 192-223;C. Hills, 'Archaeology of Anglo-Saxon England in the

forts and other native settlement-types housed the remaining represent-

atives of pre-Roman dynasties and aristocracies, where these did not

forming the only common culture for indigenous and immigrant groups

the religious affiliations of the rulers and ruled. Christianity had strong

low-status support but paganism dominated the culture of the élite, who

chose to employ its symbolism to assert their control of, and difference from, the lower classes. Nevertheless, there were Christian members of the lite, both in the towns and in the countryside, and both bishops and clergy. But the status of the Church was lower than elsewhere in the West, and its resources far less.

As the economy began to slow down in the late fourth century, 2 and barbarian raids increased, it would be surprising if the tensions inherent in such a system were not exacerbated, as we have seen reflected in the

deposits of hoards and increased (and increasingly eccentric) pagan religious devotion by the lite. Moreover, elsewhere in the West,this was a period of increasing Christian militancy and lower-class unrest. If these concepts were imported into Britain, they might be expected to

destabilize the system still further. It is against this background that we

must examine the origins of sub-Roman Britain.

. Böhme, 'Das pagan period:a review', Anglo-Saxon England, 8 (1978), 297-329; H. W

ende der Romerherrs chaft in Britannien un die angelsachsische Besiedlung Englands

i 5 Jahrhundert', Jahrbuch des Romisch-Germanischen Zentralmuseums, 33 (1986), m 466-574.

267. Cleary, ERB, 34. 268. Ibid., 34 and 51. 269. For a recent discussion: Cleary, ERB, 55-6.

271. As characterized by .I Richmond, Roman and native ni north Britain (1958)

272. Millett, RB, 185.

The Origins of the sub-Roman Kingdoms

2

The Origins of the sub-Roman Kingdoms

51

s of of the diocesan government, we may conclude that it was the civitate Roman Britain that formed the polities of the fifth-century British areas, if these polities were not wholly originated in the post-Roman period. After the end of the diocesan government, ni the fifth century, the whole

of

what had beenRoman Britainwas not a tany administration prior to the thirteenth century.6

time under a single

This background of administrative discontinuity and the initial con-

trastbetween Gildas's reges (kings') and the Late Roman bureaucratic

government sets the scene for fifth-century political change. BRITAIN IN THE FIFTH CENTURY INTRODUCTION

In the fifth century Britain transformed from a Roman diocese to a

patchwork of kingdoms, ruled by native, Germanic and, perhaps, Irish

dynasties. Conventional views of the origins of the sub-Roman British

kingdoms explain them in terms ofmigration, or the assumption of political control by local aristocrats, or military leaders, from among the ruling

classes of Roman Britain.' This chapter re-examines the evidence for sub-Roman dynastic origins in Britain and proposes a new interpretation.

The only hint of the post-Roman survival of the Roman diocesan structure is to be found in St Patrick's Confessio where the term 'Britanniae' is still used, whereas Gildas, writing in the next century, uses

'Britannia', suggesting that he perceived Britain as a single political unit,

not as several distinct provinces.? Nor do we hear again of the provinciae

by name, or as polities, and the available evidence all suggests d i s c o n t i n u i t y in this respect.

Nicholas Higham has pointed out that the list of civitates available to Gildas may indicate a province-wide perspective, as may his ability to

The first problem offifth-century British history is the lack of textual and archaeological evidence. There is, however sufficient materialfor us

to assess the outlines of the emergence of kingship and political change

ni this crucial period. There are a number of annalistic and narrative sources written in Gaul and the Mediterranean that provide us with

information about the period AD 400-450, such as those written by

e may use Zosimus, Procopius, and Constantius? Within Britain w Gildas's De Excidio Britannia for evidence of the British appeal to Aetius, and, perhaps, for a general impression of sixth-century British perceptions of the early fifth century. Archaeological sources include coinage, metalwork, and still, for the early part of the fifth century, pot-

tery.° Epigraphic evidence unfortunately ends in, or before, the early fifth century and does not resume until the earliest Class-I inscriptions. 01

British political history of this period has often been discussed in terms of the Anglo-Saxon settlement, as by Sonia Hawkes and J. N. L. Myres," or in terms of the official date of Roman withdrawal - AD 410 making the assumption that British forms of government emerged immediately following that event. 21 Others have supposed that Roman ruledid

write confidently about five kingdoms within Britannia Prima. Higham

not survive in the West and North even as late as AD 400, while yet others have seen the fifth century as a period of invasions by Irish, 'Welsh', and

shall see, however, that there may be evidence for smaller ecclesiastical

6. J. Campbell, 'The end of Roman Britain', in The Anglo-Saxons, ed. J. Campbell (1982),

has suggested that this might indicate contacts throughout an ecclesiastical diocese coterminous with what had been the civil province.' We.

dioceses in fourth-century Britain and Gildas may be interested in the whole of the Roman Imperial diocese of Britain, rather than its smaller ecclesiastical c o u n t e r p a r t s . 5

With this evidence inadmissable as proof of the post-Roman survival

8-19.

7. Cleary, ERB, 136-8; J. P. C. Kent, 'The end of Roman Britain, the literary and numismatic

evidence reviewed', in Casey, The end, 15-28. 8. Recent scholars have been divided over the reliability of Gildas a sa witness to the fifth century,e.g.: D. N . Dumville, "The chronology of De Exidio Britanniae, Book I,' in Gildas: New Approaches, eds Lapidge and Dumville, 61-84; P. Sims-Williams, 'Gildas and the Anglo-Saxons', CMCS, 6 (1983), 1-30. For the appeal to Aetiussee: Gildas, DE, 1:20.

1. Patrick, Confessio, 23, 32, and 43; Gildas, DE. 2. Gildas, DE, gives no hint in his text that he considered Britain divided into provinces.

3. N. J. Higham, 'Old light on the Dark Age landscape: the description ofBritain in the De Excidio Britannice of Gildas', Journal of Historical Geography, 17.4 (1991), 363-72. 4.

b i d . . 369.

5. N. Wright, 'Gildas's geographical perspective: some problems',in Gildas: New Approaches eds.

M . Lapidge and D. Dumville (1984), 85-105 (esp. 87).

9. Dark, Discovery.

10. K. Dark, 'Epigraphic, art-historical, and historical approaches ot the chronology of Class I inscribed stones', in Edwards and Lane, The early Church, 51-61.

1. .J N. L. Myres, TheEnglish settlements (1986); S. C. Hawkes, "The early Saxon period evidence, in The Archaeology of the Oxford Region, eds G. Briggs, J. Cook, and T.

Rowley (1986), 64-108. 12. S. Johnson. Later Roman Britain (1980 ).

52

The Origins of the sub-Roman Kingdoms

Civitas to Kingdom

Votodinian tribesmen derived from unromanized areas and of Celticheroic character, 31 Their leaders are supposed to have formed new king. d o m s by conquest.

Most prominent among the textual sources used for discussing early

fifth-century Britain have been the letter of Honorius, telling the British

civitates to look after their own security, and the Vita Sancti Germani of Constantius. The former, once doubted as a source for Britain, has been . Thompson.T h i s is an convincingly restored to that role by E. A of modern scholars, and majority the uncontroversial view, supporte d by

affords a date of AD 410 for official recognition of the inability of the Roman State to defend the British provinces.

The Vita Sancti German is often supposed to be the most useful source for fifth-century Britain. Is This is because ti is a near-contemporary

source claimed as the last evidence of British contact with the Continent

(which it certainly is not), and is the latest extensive account of a visit to

theisland by a continental writer in the fifth century. Thompson and others

have felt able to construct a very large edifice of speculation and interpretation on the foundations provided by this text.16 It is, therefore, necessary to ask whether we can use this work of hagiography in such a fashion.

53

this, ti may mean for Gaul or Italy." Although much has been read into vervan halft ota on more than a lack of informationtry.about rele y not, be o , or maoccurring It mayevents century before ni a different coun only the that the early fifth century thepolitical situation of Britain rinthan f 'chie a was in, Brita i n n) St Alba man named by Constantius (othe (a ntis pote e nicia tribu r i u e h t s a man' of a 'region', and possibly the same

man of tribunicianpower') of the 'second'visit. The only other political information fromBritain isthat Germanus met wealthy Pelagians, who or bishops, or rhetorical ploys. could be élite Christians,

I fwewere ot place any importanceon the mention of a tribune, then 'tribune' (tryfan in we might suggest that it, and the survival of the name of Roman institutions o fgovernment Welsh), could support the survival this would be to use tenuous evidence But throughout the fifth century.?? e' for a name may suggest that in 'tribun f o use indeed, because the later the terminology this case, too, it may have been a title. Alternatively, entury Britain. fifth-c from than could derive from Constantius, rather

The Vita Sancti German is not, therefore, a fruitful source for early fifth-century Britain, and especially not in regard to British political his-

in an tory. We may, then, examine the other sources for this period

attempt ot understand its political development. ST GERMANUS OF AUXERE Our principal source for the famed visit of St Germanu s of Auxere to early fifth-century Britain was written by Constantius of Lyon, probably

between

AD

480-90. Prosper

of Aquitaine's Chronicle, but

not

Constantius' Vita, dates Germanus's visit to AD 429.17 Although there

are two visits recorded in the Vita it is, as Chadwick has pointed out, doubtful whether both, containing similar events, occurred: one maybe a duplicate of the other. 81 T h e source for Constanti us' Vita may well have

been Lupus of Troyes who accompanied Germanus on his 'first' journey,

and who was available as an eye-witne ss in the 470s.19 T h e reason for St

Germanus's mission was religious - to combat Pelagianism - but it

should not be forgotten that he was a distinguished soldier before enter-

ing the Church,2 and according to Constantius won a battle against the

O T H E R S O U R C E S FOR EARLY F I F T H - C E N T U RY BRITAIN

The loss of Britain to the Anglo-Saxons features in the Gallic Chronicle of 452 but this may relate only to the south-east of the lowland zone -

arguably even to only one or two of the Late Roman provinces.T h e panegyrist Claudian also refers to Stilicho withdrawing troops from Britain

in 401-2 but the reliability of this, and the importance of the action, are doubtful.24 Otherwise we are l e f tw i t h two much later sources written by Zosimus a n d Procopius, a l t h o u g h Z o s i m u s b a s e d his work for this p e r i o d

on the probably reliable Olympiodorus,25 to whom we shall shortly return. There are no other textual sources for early fifth-century Britain. Although there are problems with the archaeological sources too, o n event (if that is the term) - the Anglo-Saxon settlement of eastern Eng-

Saxons while on his visit to Britain.

Constantius clearly did not know much about Britain, as Thompson

has shown; the passage concerning the island lacks the detail provided. 21. Ibid.. 1-14.

22. Alcock, AB. 124.

13. E.g. Alcock, AB; Frere, Britannia, 355 . Thompson, 'Fifth century facts?', Brit, 14 (1983), 272-4, who refutes the view of P. 14. E. A Bartholomew, 'Fifth century facts', Brit, 13 (1982), 261-70. See Clear, ERB 138. 15. E.g. even in: .I Wood, 'The end of Roman Britain: continental evidence and parallels',

in Gildas: New Approaches, eds Lapidge and Dumville, 14-16. 16. E. A. Thompson, St Germanus of Auxerre and the end of Roman Britain (1984). 17. Ibid., 1. 18. N. K. Chadwick, Poetry and letters in early Christian Gaul (1955), 259. 19. T h o m p s o n , St Germanus, 3. 20. Ibid.. 9 3 - 4 .

23. M . E. Jones and P . .J Casey, T ' he Gallic Chronicle restored: a chronology for the

. Anglo-Saxon invasions and the end of Roman Britain, Brit, 19 (1988), 367-98, and R W . Burgess, 'The Dark Ages return to fifth-century Britain: the restored Gallic Chronicle exploded', Brit, 21 (1990). 185-95, represent contrasting views on the credibility of the

Chronicle of 452. The starting point for historical enquiry must still be: M.Miller, "The

last British entry ni the "Gallic Chronicles"', Brit, 9 (1978), 315-18

24. Millett, RB, 215 and 229, seems ot considerthiscredible,but i favour Birley's veiw that ti is a' poet's fantasy: A. R. Birley, The Fasti of Roman Britain (1981), 375.

25. Cleary,ERB 137-8. On Zosimus see F . Paschoud, Cinq études sur Zosime (Paris, 1975);

and on Procopius see A.Cameron, Procopiusand thesixth century(1985).

54

Civitas to Kingdom

land - was clearly underway by the mid-fifth century. Gildas and later writers saw the introduction of Anglo-Saxon mercenaries as the most sig-

nificant. and iniquitous, act of the sub-Roman administration in the fifth

century.2 Higham has recently argued that it was the employment of these mercenaries by sub-Roman communities in eastern Britain, incapable of undertaking their own defence, which led to the political

takeover of eastern England by Germanic peoples.28 It is difficult ot

credit that the British population was so de-militarized in the fifth century that this could be the case, as sub-Roman inhabitants of Gaul and Italy (even more romanized areas) undertook their own defence at this

time.29 Nor does this explanation account for why some lowland areas

with widespread evidence of romanization did not pass under Germanic rule for centuries, and the military frontiers of the Roman diocese in the North r e m a i n e d under British control.30

The Anglo-Saxon takeover of eastern England certainly meant a drastic

reduction in the sub-Roman zone of Britain between AD 410 and circa AD 500. Archaeologists, who have generally felt inclined to accept Gildas's testimony that Anglo-Saxons arrived in Britain as mercenary

soldiers, have pointed to the coincidence of Anglo-Saxoncemeteries of fifth-century date and strategic centres in Romano-British political geography.3 This pattern seems well-established, and the explanation that these communities were strategically located by sub-Roman overlords may be acceptable. The interpretation, on the basis of the datable cemeteries, that during the fifth century (and probably by the later fifth century) by far the majority of eastern England was occupied by AngloSaxons, or at least by people using Anglo-Saxon material culture, seems difficult to refute. 32

Historians have viewed such evidence more variably, but recent studies h a v e felt inclined to accept the implacement of mercenary units however we designate them in Latin terminolog y - by sub-Roma n rulers. 3

Accepting these conclusions, eastern England passed out of Roman political domination in the course of the first decade of the fifth century, and was re-defende d by s u b - R o m a n authorities in the early-to-m id fifth

century. By the late fifth century, most of it was controlled by AngloSaxons.

Neither this textual evidence, nor the archaeological evidence for Ger

The Origins of the s u b - R o m a n K i n g d o m s

55

manci settlement, solves the question at how, and in what context, the

ma-Roman British kingdoms however emerged, the evidence tutions The insti D 410. does, oman rule had ended by A

enable us to see that R l inistrative bureaucracy, proveincia of Roman government - theunaadm evi. ther is r o N . date that r afte ed structure and army - all seem ge ttest in continued to eb imported o r used dencethat gold or silver coina coina ial offic and ary milit r o ge was used f fifth-century Britain. As such san governorts the interpretation that the dioce payments, this alsoto supp function. ment had ceased

Employing the testimony of Zosimusand Procopius alongsidethese archaeologicalevi. contemporary historical sources, and combined with

dence,anew interpretation of the emergence of kingship infifth-century Britain can,however,be proposed. This interpretation explains the rapid c to kingly government and

bureaucrati transformation in Britain, both ofélite . g rulin n istia Chr a o t an of a pag

EXPLAINING THE FIFTH-CENTURY TRANSFORMATION fourth In Gaul, two popular movements are noticeable at the end of the n Christia f o rise the s i first The century. fifth early the n i and century

militancy35 This is associated most often with St Martin of Tours, and

early western monasticism, but was a far more widesprea d trend in the later-fourth and early-fifth centuries from Egypt to Italy, as well as to Gaul.36 Instead of gradual conversion, militants now wanted to eradicate

paganism swiftly and, fi necessary, by force. They destroyed temples and cult images - an efficient way of genuinely converting bystanders who saw cult-statues as not merely symbols, but as their deity him- or her-

self. In the pagan culture of revenge, visible in the curse tablets of Late

Roman Britain and Gaul, the destruction of such statues passing unavenged would show the falsity of the pagan god or goddess concerned.ar No pagan would be likely to worship a broken idol. The second trend is the popular rebellion known as the bacaudae.38 These were armed civilians, probably predominantly of the lower

classes, who freed themselves from governmental and landlordly exploitation by becoming independent by force of arms. The bacaudae have been seen by Thompson as social revolutionaries, although this view has

26. .J Hines, P ' hilology, archaeology, and hte Adventus Saxonum vel Anglorum, ni Britain,

400-600: language and history, eds A . Bammesbergerand A. Wollmann (Heidelberg, ' he south-east after the Romans: the Saxon settlement, 1990), 17-36; S. .C Hawkes, T

. .A Maxfield (1989), 78-95. in The Saxon shore, ed. V

34. Cleary, ERB. 138; Kent,'The end:

27. Gildas, DE. 1:23. 28. N. Higham, Rome, Britain, and the Anglo-Saxons (1992).

35. J. Matthews, Western aristocracies andImperial court AD 364-425 (1975), 154-60; C.

253-70; J. Drinkwater a n d H. Elton (eds). Fifth century Gaul. A crisis of identity? (1991). 30. E.g. the West Country and lowlandsof the west midlands: see Chapter 4.

36. E.g. B. Watterson, Coptic Egypt (1988), 42.

. Tomlin, 'Meanwhile, in north Italy and Cyrenaica..., in Casey, The end, . S. O 29. E.g. R

' he south-east'. 31. E.g. Hawkes, T 32. Ibid.: Hines, 'Philology'.

33. E.g. .J Campbell, 'The lost centuries: 400-600*, in The Anglo-Saxons, ed. Campbell, 20-3.

Pietri, 'Gaul', ,I 337-8, and 'Martin of Tours', I, 531 i nEncyclopaediaof the early

Church.ed. J. Fontaine, transl. .A Walford 2( vols, 1992). 37. For the 'culture of revenge' see. e.g., R. S. O. Tomlin, "The curse tablets', in The temple of Sulis Minerva at Bath: vol.2:the finds from thesacredspring, ed. B. W.Cunliffe (2 vols, 1988), 59-277.

38. E. A. Thompson, Peasant revolts ni Laet Roman Gaul and Spain, Past and Present, 2 (1952), 11-23

56

The Origins of the sub-Roman Kingdoms

Civitas to Kingdom

been debated 3 This may or may not have been the case, but the key ele. ment is that they were armed, predominently low-status, civilian rebels.

R. G. Collingwood suggested that the bacaudic rebellion spread to

Britain. 01 Thompson went on to propose that the bacaudae overthrew.

the diocesan government and established their own, independent,

state.11 To Thompson, such rebels were supposed to be pagans, but, as

we have seen, low-status rebels in Britain, unlike Gaul, might equally

well have been Christian. If both the Christian militancy of Martinian monasticism and low-status rebellion spread to Britain, they might have led to a low-status Christian uprising against the Late Roman pagan élite. This interpretation of sub-Roman political history can be tested even in these sparsely documented years. In order to test this hypothesis we might seek four criteria. First, that

religious and class-tensions were intense in late fourth- and early fifth-

century Britain - we saw this to be the case in the preceding chapter. Second, that these concepts - low-status, civilian, rebellion and Martinian militancy - spread to Britain at the appropriate time. Third, that there is evidence of cessation of both the pagan secular and pagan

religious lite of Roman Britain at the same time. Fourth, that there is evidence of the deliberate destruction of pagan temples and sculpture in the early fifth century. Al of these criteria can be satisfied. Jeremy Knight has drawn notice to the ecclesiastics who are attested

to journeying b e t w e e n Britain and the Continent in the fifth centurv. 24

They have, as he observes, strong Martinian monastic connections,18 and

he has noted evidence suggesting that an early (pre-AD 460) version of the Vita Martini was known in the British Isles.14 Anthony Birley has observed that Martin's pupil, Victricius, may have come to Britain at the

end of the fourth century, as he says in a letter to Ambrose that he had

taken to Britain the precepts of the martyrs.15 Birley has also shown that the name 'Victricius' is rare at this time, and its occurrence on a pewter bowl with a chi rho symbol from Appleshaw in a late-fourth-century (or later) context may suggest that it was known in Britain at the end of the fourth century. 46 It is not necessary to identify Victricius of Rouen as the owner of the bowl to realize that this name might have gained popularity

among British Christians as a result of his visit.

57

Britain, but the tI is more difficult to find evidence for bacaudae ni rebelion was most intense wasthatusclosest very area ni which bacaudic in no ry and other site finds leaveBrita ot Britain - Armorica, aasndni potte in. 71 ry entu contact with late fourth-c doubt that Armorica w 81 It in. certa se, cour f o are, Fifth-century contacts between the two oareas was orica Arm f o dae bacau e h t f wouldbe surprising, then, if knowis,ledge no that rve obse t o ct corre e, cours f o d o notpresentin Britain. Ian Wo Continental source tells us that there were w bacaudae in Britain. This e have seen, Continental obiection is, however, weak because, as ernin g Britain.

on conc sources give us almost no informati evidence of the sudden ascendancy of piece er strong even n a There is s, a

of militant Christians of lowstatus origins: the testimony of Orosiu family the character, Spanish writer of the early fifth century, concerningtantin d in e III, electe and career of Constantine III.50 The usurperto Cons elewas e H n. Britain in AD 406, was a poor soldier prior his elevatio similarityof the and on devoti vated, we are told, because of his Christian had been elevated to

his family's names to those of Constantine I, who is the purple exactly a hundred years previously. This anniversary unlikely to have held much significance except for Christians, andIII.so ti may be that it was a Christian element who selected Constantine and He invaded Gaul with initial success but failed to win the Empire

wasexecuted at Arles ni AD 411. In theshortperiod of his ascendancy he secured two Gallic bishoprics for his favourites among the clergy; both

were Martinian militants.S! Constantine III also h a da son, Constans, who before Constantine's elevation (while he was merely a 'poor soldier') was a monk.52 Constans is, therefore, the first attested British monk, and given the low-status of his family, is most likely to have been a monk in

Britain. He seems to have been in Britain at the time of Constantine's

elevation, so if, as Orosius tells us, he went from monk to general, he may have done so within a British context.

Consequently, we can make a strong link between Britain and the

Christian monastic militants of Gaul, and a link between them and lowstatus Britons. Therefore, it seems credible to suppose that both the

wave of Christian militancy sweeping the Empire, and the bacaudic

rebellion in Armorica, were known in early fifth-century Britain. Interestingly, during the fifth century the bacaudae became linked with specific

ally Christian forms of heroism', and, fi we are to credit Bede's testimony,

39. Thompson, 'Peasant revolts'.

For an alternative view, see J. F. Drinkwater, 'The

Bacaudae in fifth-century Gaul', in Fifth century Gaul, eds Drinkwater and Elton, 20817. But Drinkwater agrees that low-status elements formed a part of these groups. . Collingwood and J. N . .L Myres, Roman Britain and the English settlements 40. R. G (1937), 303-4.

41. Thompson, St Germanus, 34-8. . Knight, 'In Tempore Iustini Consularis: contacts between the British and Gaulish 42. J. K church before Augustine', in Collectanea historica:essays in memory of Stuart Rigold ed. A . Detsicas (1981), 54-62.

43.

Ibid.

44. .J Knight, 'The early Christian Latin inscriptions of Britain and Gaul: chronology and context', in Edwards and Lane, The early Church, 45-50 (48).

45.

46.

A . R . Birley, The people of Roman Britain (1979), 156.

Ibid..

But see: Thomas, CIRB. 110-11.

47. M. G. Fulford, 'Britain and the Roman empire: the evidence for regional and longdistance trade', in Roman Britain: recent trends, ed. R. F. J .Jones (1991),35-47 (44-6).

48. L. Fleuriot, Les origines de la Bretagne (Paris, 1982), 13-50 and 134-47. 49. Wood, 'The end', .3 50. The following account of Constantine III's career derives entirely from Orosius, Bk. T :

R . J. Deferrari, The seven books of history against the pagans (Washington, 1964), 357.

51. Knight, In' Tempore, 55. Early fifth-century Gaul isdiscussedinmoredetail by Knight

in his forthcoming book: .J K . Knight, The end of antiquity: authority, continuityand

change in Gaul, Britain and Atlantic Europe, AD 235-700.

52. Orosius, Bk. .7 This is found credible by Birley, The people, 156. For another possible fifth-cen tury British monk see Thomas, CIRB, 51

58

Civitas to Kingdom

The Origins of the sub-Roman Kingdoms

the dedications of the only two Romano-British (or sub-Roman)

c h u r c h e s cited in his Historia Ecclesiastica were b o t h to St M a r t i n 53

In order to explain how the transition from Roman to native rule, and from pagan to Christian lite culture, occurred so rapidly if these trends

were present in Britain, we might consider the enigmatic comment of

Zosimus that the Britons had, ni AD 409, revolted along with Armorica,

expelled Roman administration,

abolished Roman law,

and seceded

from the Empire.$ Although, as we shall see, it is doubtful whether Roman law was abolished, it is possible that elements of it - the taxation and tenurial system - were. This rebellion while Constantine III was in Gaul, could be seen as a second phase of t h e proposed low-status Chris-

tian rebellion, resulting from the failure to secure satisfaction through

the appointment of the rebels' own emperor. If so, the end of Roman political control dated to AD 409, and the letter of Honorius of AD 410 could be read to be the Roman Government's acknowledgment of the practical reality of this political situation, even if it hoped to regain political control o f Britain into the fifth century.55

It can be suggested, therefore, that the trends of Martinian militancy

and low-status rebellion were probably to be found in early fifth-century Britain. We have evidence of the rise to political leadership of a low-status Briton with militant monastic connections, and of a British rebellion

59

cannot tell w hether this was the elite before, or after, hte changes whcih ing to identify.58

we are seek

There are, however, two types of site which we can recognize as

belonging to the ruling elite of Britain in the first decade ofthe fifth cenury because they can be dated by coins:villas and templesites. If the paganat thisdate, wemight majority of majorlandowners were stil alwith the pagan élite, although of site ni gener

associate both types In order t otest there were certainly villas occupied by Christians also.

the hypothesis proposed above we may, therefore, examine the fifth-century

phases of both villa and templeorsites Italy, I n contrast with Gaul, Spain,

Romano- British villas terminate

patterns of in the early fifth century, prior to the end of Late Roman s These eads. coinage use, and are often replaced by small farmst tatus farmsteads might represent impoverishment, 'takeover' by lower-s

groups, or thesymbolic rejectionof Late Romanlite values.These s'uccessor' farmsteads are apparently short-lived and, even if they are taken torepresent continuing 'villa-occupation', cannotbeextended beyond

the mid-fifth century.6 At other sites, however, new sub-Roman timber

buildings seem to have been erected at villa sites, suggesting that there were variations within this overall pattern.°

Interestingly, some villas withChristian decorative motifs show evi-

against the romanizedadministration. The historical sources, therefore,

dence of survival into the early fifth century.62 It seems that others may, at some probably fifth-century point, have become monasteries, as in Gaul.63 In a new religious and political climate, Christian villa-owners

hypothesis.

thereby gaining both religious approval and tenurial survival. Alternatively, and perhaps more plausibly, they may have become involved in

in so far as they provide any reliable information about early fifth-century Britain, are consistent with this interpretation. This brings us to the archaeological evidence, comprising the third and fourth tests of this

In order to conduct our third test, it is necessary to identify the sites associated with the pagan élite at the end of Roman Britain. This is made more difficult b e c a u s e most characteristic

forms o f Late R o m a n élite

artefacts ceased production in the early fifth century, and mortared

stone buildings were clearly rare after circa AD 400 and perhaps unknown after circa AD 500.56 Despite the severe chronological problems surrounding the termination of Romano-British material culture overall. and this may well have been very much later than has often been supposed,$ specifically l i t e artefacts of early or mid-fifth century date are so far unknown, with the possible exception of the later examples of the b e l t - s e t s a l r e a d y d i s c u s s e d in C h a p t e r 1. T h e Insular d i s t r i b u t i o n of

these late examples, their occurrence at Romano- British towns and in sub-Roman and Anglo-Saxon contexts, may suggest that these artefacts are to be associated with the secular l i t e of fifth-century Britain, but we

53. Thomas, CIRB. 280-1. For the quotation,see R . van Dam, Leadership a n dcommunity in Late Antique Gaul (Berkeley, 1985), 83-4 and 53-6. 54. 'Zosimus 6, 5.2; R .T. Ridley, Zosimus. New history (Canberra, 1982); E. .A Thompson, 'Britain AD 406-410', Brit, 8 (1977), 208-18.

55. Favouring a literal interpretationof Zosimus 6, 5.2 does not, o fcourse, mean that we

should simply adopt the interpretationproposed by Thompson in his St Germanus, 37. 56. Dark, Discovery. 57. Cleary, ERB, 178; Dark, Discovery.

might have found advantage in turning their estates into monasteries,

the trend of religious militancy. The British evidence does, therefore, suggest that the history of land

tenure and villa s e t t l e m e n t was d i ff e r e n t from t h a t in Gaul. T h i s differ-

ence occurs too early in the fifth century to be attributed to the Anglo-

Saxons. It suggests tenurial change and replacement of the landowning élite in the early fifth century, immediately prior to the termination of Roman patterns of coinage use. As such, it is in accordance with the interpretation proposed here.

The abrupt termination of activity on pagan religious sites in the early

fifth century is also consistent with this view.64 Although some temples

functioned into the first decade of the fifth century, they did not receive

58. For a distribution map: Hawkes, T ' he south-east', 83.

59. Dark, Discovery: Cleary,ERB, 134.

60. Dark, Discovery.

61. Ibid.; K . Branigan, Latimer (1971).

. R. Dark, 'St Patrick's' willula and the fifth-century occupationof 62. K Romano-British villas', ni Saint Patrick, A.D. 493-1993, D. N. Dumville with Lesley Abrams et al (1993),

19-24 63. Ibid.

64. Dark, Discove ry.

60

The Origins oft h e sub-Roman Kingdoms

Civitas to Kingdom

61

E n te r

Figure 9 Reconstruction of the sub-Roman church, and possible monastery, replacing a pagan complex at Uley. By Joanna Richards.

coinage demonstrably later than AD 409, and the last coins found on . Burnett to t h a t year.65 them are the clipped siliquae, dated by A The replacement of temples by what seem to be Christian religious sites is now widely attested for early fifth-century Britain at, for example;

Brean Down, Nettleton, Uley, and Lamyatt Beacon (fig. 9).66 Thisi s a

characteristic first convincingly attested in the countryside of t h e western

Empire in Martinian monasticism. Again, the rapidity of this change is

unparalleled in the Gallic countryside, where widespread conversion 65. A. Burnett, 'Clipped siliquae and the end of Roman Britain', Brit, 15 (1984), 163-8.

Casey sees this taking place over alonger period, supporting K e n t ' s viewo f a n e n d of

D 402: P. .J Casey, 'Coin evidence and the end of Roman coinage importation in A Wales',Arch J. 146 (1989), 320-9 (esp. 324-5); Kent, 'The end'.

66. Dark, Discovery: A. M. Apsimon,'The Roman templeonBrean Down, Somerset, Pro. .J ceedings of the Universityo fBristol Speleological Society, 10 (1965), 195-258; W Wedlake, Theexcavation o f the shrine of Apollo, Nettleton, Wiltshire 1956-71 (1982); .A WoodwardandP . Leach, Excavations at West Hill. Uley. Gloucestershire (fortheoming);R.

H. Leech, "Theexcavation ofa Romano-Celtic temple anda latercemetery on Lamyatt Beacon, Somerset', Brit. 17 (1986). 259-328. 67. The replacement of temples by churches and monasteries in Gaul is discussed in

there?

sUr

• 5 .

1 0 0k m

60miles

Figure 10 The distribution of evidence for the destruction of pagan temples

in early fifth-century Britain. (Based on Lewis, 1966.) Filled circle = Rural temple in use after AD400, with evidence of

destruction orr e p l a c e m e n t by s u b - R o m a n cemetery

Open circle

= Rural temple with fourth- or fifth-century evidence of destructiono rreplacement by sub- Roman cemetery Filled square = Urban temple in usea f t e r AD 400, w i t h evidence of

destruction or replacement by sub-Roman cemetery Open square = Urban temple with fourth- or fifth-century evidence of destruction o r replacement by s u b - R o m a n cemetery

Note that the concentration of evidence coincides with the main area of

fourth-century activity at pagan temples shown in Figure 2.

The Origins of the sub-Roman Kingdoms

Civitas to K i n g d o m

62

Table 1

63

Some temples where activity can be dated to the early fifth

century B o u r t o nG r o u n d s

Brean Down Caerwent

Carrawburgh Frilford

Farley H ar lo w Lamyatt Beacon

JordonH i l l L o n d o n ,M i t h r a e u m

NettletonS h r u b

X

Ly d n e y

Maiden Castle Pagans Hill Wo o d e a t o n

Uley Key:

destruction

c= u s e d for sub-Romancemetery, b u t uncertain whether destroyed d = possibles u b - R o m a n domestic use ? = uncertain end

began with Martin, rather than earlier.68 The character of this change

would also explain the lack ofB r i t i s h evidence of low-status residual paganism, such as Gregory of To u r s found in Frankia.69 The last way of testing this hypothesis is to seek evidence for the destruction of pagan religious artefacts and buildings (fig. 10). This has been widelv noted in Britain - at Witham, Colchester, Great Chesterford, Springhead, Segontium, Housesteads and Rudchester?® - to list just a few of t h ee x a m p l e s spanning theR o m a n Diocese from Hadrian's Wall to Kent, and from Wales to Lincolnshire. This destruction characteristically concentrated ont h em a i n cult statues, as might be expected if it was undertaken in a similar way toM a r t i n ' s programme in Gaul. While these instances are conventionally dated to the fourth century, all might equally well belong to the early fifth century, as the detailed analysis of material from London hassuggested to Ralph Merrifield." When we list some temples where activity can be dated to the early fifth century, an interesting pattern emerges, as most of these show evidence of having been destroyed (table 1). At Uley, the destruction of the main cult statue probably occurred in the early fifth century, and the deliberate burial of its head might echo secular Celtictreatment of conquered enemies (fig. 11).72 Interestingly, not a single major cult statue from a late fourth century Romano-Br itish 68. Cleary, ERB, 38.

69. E. James, The Originso fFrance (1982), 93-5. 70. Thomas, CIRB, 133-6; D. Watts, Christians and pagans in Roman Britain (1991), 241.

Figure 1 Deliberatelyburied pagansculpture a t Uley. Copyright Birmingham University Field Unit.

pagan temple has survived undamaged to be excavated by modern

archaeologists.

The results of each of the four tests are in accordance with what we would expect if the interpretation proposed here is correct. It seems, then, that in lowland Britain we can date the transition from Roman to British rule to AD406, with the accession of Constantine III, and the end

of diocesan bureaucratic government and of the status of the pagan lite

to AD 409. That this is also consistent with the chronological limit to such changes may be afforded by our first evidence of post-Roman British kingship, which would seem to be provided by the personal name 'Vortigern'.73 This name, as Kenneth Jackson has shown, is a personal name a n d not a title, but it includes the element tigern: probably the sub-

Roman term for 'king'. So, the name 'Vortigern', belonging perhaps to the early or mid-fifth century, ™represents our earliest evidence of postRoman British kingship. Although AD 410 (the official date of the Roman Imperial withdrawal) could be taken as a terminus post quem for

the emergence of this institution in lowland Britain, it seems at least equally possible, as we have seen, that this occurred in AD 409, before Honorius told the civitates to take upa r m s and see to their own defence.

' Romansculpture rehabilitated: the Pagan's Hill . C. Boon, A For specific examples: G

This may have been exactly what they had already done, and, as we shall see, by doing sotheysurvived - uniquely among the peoples of the Western

Londinium', in Roman life a n d arti n Britain, eds J. Munby andM. Henig (2 vols, 1977),

73. K . H . Jackson, 'Varia: II. Gildas and the namesof hte British princes', CMCS, 3 (1982), 30-40.

' eli. Henig, R dog', Brit, 20 (1989), 201-17; R. Turner, luy chimneys, Witham (1982); M . Todd (1989), gion in Roman Britain', ni Research on Roman Britain, 1960-89, ed. M 219-34. ' rt and religion in Roman London - aninquest on the sculptures of 71. R. Merrifield, A I , 375-406.

74. Dumville «Thechr ono ln

64

The Origins of the sub-Roman Kingdoms

Civitas to Kingdom

Empire - for another two centuries as politically independent kingdoms

under the rule o f what h a d been provincial citizens.

This interpretation may account not only for the emergence of a sub.

Roman kingly élite ni the lowlands, but also for sub-Roman élite culture,

combining Roman and non-Roman aspects. It may be no coincidence that this culture recalls the material culture of low-status sites of the

fourth century, where the combination of British and Roman elements is

pro no un ced .75

This explanation, and the evidence on which it is based, relates only to the lowland civitates of R o m a n Britain. It is unlikely to hold true for the

relatively unromanized highland areas, especially as evidence of Christianity in these areas is weak until the later fifth century.76

In the highland zone, dynastic origins may have been more directly

65

their Galic counterparts, are known from textual sources.9 These bishops coterminus with the Late Roman provinces, teem ot have had dioceses l capital, but no episcopal church has yet been each based ni a provincia

ecated, and on artefacts orburials of,or relating to, fourth-century British bishops are confidently known." So, archaeology does not help us to Britain. Textual evidence locate the episcopalcentres of fourth-century opal sees - London, York,Cirencester

provides only a list of a few episc poorer and Lincoln- and the implication thatthe British Church was than its Continentalcounterpart (fig.12). when T h elocation of fifth-century episcopal seesmay besuggested places') Gildas mentions twenty-eight civitates (meaning 'administrative has highlighted in Britain, perhaps referring to a list of these.82 Bassett le identification probab the g archaeological and historical evidence enablin

of sub-Roman episcopal churches at what may well be four of these sees:

related to the pre-Roman past. We saw in Chapter 1 that in these areas tribal dynasties may have survived into the fourth century, and that the Roman military formed the only non-local élite. It is, then, unsurprising

Wroxeter, Worcester,Gloucester, and Lichfield (Wall),& The evidence

that tribal kingship reappeared when, in the late fourth to early fifth

suggesting thatsub-Roman territorial dioceses had already comeinto

centuries, Roman military sites ceased to be manned." The political 'takeover' of these areas by British kings need not have involved rapid

Christianization from the first. Explaining the emergence of sub-Roman kingship in these areas is, therefore, a simple matter of recognizing that

local rulers already existed to assume political control as soon as romanized civil and military administration ceased to be effective.

During the course of the fifth century, the survival of sub- Roman low.

land kingdoms to the south and east of these tribal highland realms may have promoted sub-Roman 'romanization', at least of their lites, in the same way as romanized culture made inroads in Ireland in the fifth and

sixth centuries.78 The conversion of the highland kingdoms of Wales had clearly been achieved by the time Gildaswrote in the mid-sixth century,

and may have assisted this process.? In the lowlands, however, the e v e n t s of the early fifth c e n t u r y m i g h t be e x p e c t e d to have a ff o r d e d a new s t a t u s a n d role to the C h u r c h .

he adduces suggests that these survivedinto the sixth century and later,

existenceprior to the Anglo-Saxon conquest of lowland Britain, and so

probably in the fifth century. Bassett's work may, then, enable us to locate a sub-Roman ecclesiastical organization comprising bishops based at Late Roman administrative centres, although possibly, fi the Late Roman centres of ecclesiastical

government survived as pre-eminent, theremight have been senior bishops

based at the old provincial capitals.$ This system of ecclesiastical

administration is supported by the widespread association, noted by Warwick Rodwell, between late medieval churches (of Anglo-Saxon ancestry) and fora (or their equivalents) in Roman towns.85 As these include the sub-Roman church discovered in the Roman forum at Lincoln,

and post-date the romanized functions of the fora, they may date to after

the late fourth century but before the mid-fifth century (fig. 13).86 The lone excavated example, at Lincoln, was a simple wooden-apsed church in the centre of the forum, surrounded by burials (see fig. 12).87 Such sites may represent the placing of episcopal churches at the physicalcentre of

urban life in the early fifth century, but Bassett suggests that other bishops T H E B R I T I S H C H U R C H I N T H E FIFTH C E N T U RY

Although Christianity was not the religion of the majority of the Late Roman British upper classes, it did, however, certainly produce its own

élite. By the early fourth century, British bishops, albeit poorer than 75. E.g. compare the finds from Cadbury Congresbury; P. J. Fowler et al., Cadbury Congresbury, Somerset, 1968: an introductory report (1970); Cadrex' P. Rahtz et al), Cadbury Congresbury 1968-73. A late/post-Roman hilltopsettlement in Somerset (1992);

with those from local low-status site of the fourth century, e.g. R . H . Leech, 'The excavation of a Romano-British farmstead and cemetery on BradleyHill, Somerton,Somerset'

Brit, 12 (1981), 177-270. 76. Thomas, CIRB, 138. 77. 78.

Dark, Discovery.

L. L a i n g , 'The

romanisation of Ireland in the fifth century', Peritia, 4 (1985), 261-78

79. Gildas. DE. On the date of Gildas's work. see Dumville. " T h echronology'

80. Thomas, CIRB, 197-8. 81. Ibid.. 197

82. S. Bassett, Churches in Worcester before and after the conversion of the AngloSaxons', Ant J. 69 (1989), 225-56 (228). 83. Ibid.: Church and diocese in the West Midlands: the transition from British to AngloSaxon control', in Pastoral care before the parish, eds .J Blair and R . Sharpe (1992), 1340; and forthcoming.

84. As in the fourth century: Thomas, CIRB, 197-8.

85. W . Rodwell, T ' emple archaeology: problems of the present and portents for the future

Temples, Churches and Religion in Roman Britain, ed. W . Rodwell 2( vols, 1980). ,I

211-41

86. Ibid.: B. Gilmour, 'The Anglo-Saxon church at St Paul ni the Bail, Lincoln', Med Arch. 23 (1979), 214-18. The most recent account si A. Selkirk, 'St Paul ni the Bail, Current Archaeology,129 (1992), 376-9. Iamgrateful ot M.Jonesforprovidinga pre-publication copyof hisforthcoming paper,'StPaul in the Bail,Lincoln:Britain ni Europe?"

87. Gilmour. "The Anglo-Saxon church: Selk irk,' S tPaul

66

The Origins oft h e sub-Roman Kingdoms

Civitas to Kingdom

M

Figure 13 The apse of the sub-Roman church at St Paul in the Bail, Lincoln, under excavation. Copyright City ofLincoln Archaeology Unit.

i s

stayed put in peripherally-sited Roman churches, as at Gloucester. Consequently, we may be able to recognize the location, and even specific sites, of fifth-century episcopal churches. In western Britain, at least,

Neera 0 0k m

0 m i l e s

Figure 12 The Church in sub-Roman Britain. (Based on Thomas CIRB, Morris 1989, a n d Cameron 1977.) Open circles = LateRoman episcopa l centres Open squares = Martyrialshrines on evidence of Gildas Filled circles =

67

Sub-Roman burials int h e fora of Late Romantowns,

perhapsindicating the locationo f churches Filled squares = Probable andpossible sub-Roman monasteries, identified on textual a n d archaeologicalevidence Place-nameevidence suggesting sub-Roman churches or monasteries: Open triangles = Place-names containingthe element-mynster

Filledtriangles = Place-names containing the element -eccles Broken lines indicate eastern boundary of main concentration of Class I inscribed stones

these may have remained episcopal centres into the sixth century. If this i s so, episcopal sees were probably located a t coloniae, civitas or provincial capitals, even when these capitals had lost their other administrative functions; but there were probably other bishops at what had been small towns.88 Whethert h e status of bishops based at civitascapitals differed from those based elsewhere is unknown. Bishops were, of course, to remain important figures in the British territories throughout the remainder of the periodc o v e r e d by this book, but, lacking t e x t u a l or archaeological evidence, we are unable to ascertain how the fifth-century episcopate was supplied with candidates, their background, or their relationship to Late R o m a n o - B r i t i s h h o l d e r s of this office. In the sixth cen-

tury Gildas's De Excidio makes it clear that aristocrats sought episcopal office, but the background of these men can only be ascertained by

understanding the broader context of sub-Roman élite origins.89 Weh a v es e e n evidence that monasticism was introduced to Britain at the end of the fourth century or in the first decade of t h e fifth century.

The history of British monasticism between Constans and the time of . R . Brühl, 'Problems of continuity of Roman civitatesa s illustrated by theinterpretation 88. C of cathedral and palatium' in The rebirth of towns ni the west, A D 700-1050, eds R. Hodges andB. Hobley (1988), 43-6.

89. Gildas, DE. II1:67-8.

68

Civitas toK i n g d o m

The Origins oft h e sub-Roman Kingdoms

69

Gildas is uncertain, althoughthere may have been British monks on the

C o n t i n e n t . In Britain itselft h e r ea r e several excavated sites- for example

Uley, Nettleton, andPoundbury - which may be fifth-centurymonasteries

(see fig. 12).91 Uley and Nettleton, perhapssignificantly, had been pagan temple sites, with evidence of deliberate destruction, and Poundbury overlies a Christian cemetery of the fourth century.

The only other sources for monasticism in fifth-century Britain are St Patrick's writings, which make it clear that both he and the British bishops with whom he corresponded were acquainted with monasticism, and a reference in the Religiosa Historia containing a contemporary account of

Britonsvisiting St Simon Stylites inSyria.° This last piece of evidence,

if n o t rhetoric, could attest the earliest indicationso f the asceticism that is noticeable in the character of British monasticism by the sixth century.93 T h i s is, however, all that can be discerned offifth-century British monasticism, and the political role of abbots, or abbesses, is uncertain

even in G i l d a s ' s day.94

T H EE C O N O M Y O F F I F T H - C E N T U R Y B R I T A I N

The economic impact oft h e s e social and political changes must not be underrated. Gildas, Constantius and Patrick all seem to indicate that fifth-century lowland Britain was a wealthy society.95 If s o , this may be explained both byt h e removal of t h e fourth-century tax burden and by the elimination from the economic system of a non-producing, but intensively-consuming, élite. Late Roman display strategies and temple

donations now expunged from the system might well encourage economic expansion. One might argue from Gildas's later praise of themoderation shown by the fifth-century r u l e r s , from Patrick's modesty about

his lite origins, and possiblyfrom thesuccessorbuildings to Roman villas, that the new l i t e may have made a show n o t of opulence, as hadt h a t of

the fourth century, but of modest poverty.96 Obviously, this would erinforce change, generating an even greater economic 'boom'. Consequently, instead of economic decline following the 'end of Roman Britain in AD 410, we might see a period of rapid economic growth in the early fifth century, in contrast to the decline of the later fourth century.°? An

Figure 14 Continuityand wealth in sub-Roman Britain: a reconstruction of sub-Roman Wroxeter (phase 2 of the Baths Basilica site). Copyright P.

Scholefield/P. Barker/English Heritage.

economic 'boom', in early to mid-fifth century Britain is, however, not

reflected ni a greater 'wealth' ni the archaeological record.

If such a 'boom' occurred it is hardly surprising that Gildas could see

thisa s a period of economic wealth.98 Nevertheless, in order for elements of administrative, educational and legal continuity to occur (as, we shall

see, they almost certainly did), it is necessary to argue that political

change took place without the wholesale disruption of Romano-British society (fig. 14).

CONCLUSION 90. E.g. Thomas, CIRB, 51. 91. Dark, Discovery.

92. .L Gougaud, Christianity in the Celtic lands (1932), 58, quoting Theodoret of Cyrrhus, Religiosa historia, 2.6.

93. H. Pryce, Ecclesiastical wealth ni early medieval Wales', in Edwards and Lane, The early Church, 22-32 (esp. 23).

94. Gildas, DE, II:28 shows that abbots existed by his time, but gives no information on their political role, fi any. 95. Patrick, Confessio; Gildas, DE; Constantius, Vita sancti Germani. 96. Dark, 'St Patrick's illula'

. R . Dark, 'Pottery andlocal production at the end ofRoman Britain', in Dark, External 97. K Contacts.

These arguments enable a new general interpretation of early to midfifth-century Britain to be proposed. Prior to the official Imperial withdrawal ni AD 410, the mainly pagan secular aristocratic élite of Late Roman Britain was replaced by a Christian administration, with low-status origins. After the failure of Constantine III, the new administration still sought to maintain Roman modes of administration and cultural values.

It adopted a British political structure (the only available alternative Imperial Romanrule) based onkingship. This change resulted in the ter-to 98. Gildas. DE. I:21.

70

Civitas to Kingdom

mination of many aspects of lite culture, notably at villas and temples, while the withdrawal of the Roman army terminated activity at fort sites.

Following this, there was a period of economic boom, and of an

increase in the social status of ecclesiastical office. As a response to increasing barbarian attacks, perhaps following the final withdrawal of the Roman army, Germanic mercenaries were employed (following the

3

The Character and Context of British Dynastic Foundation

Late Roman model) to defend the east of Britain. By the late fifth cen

tury, relations between the British authorities and these mercenaries had been transformed - arguably by another, more violent, revolution. Eastern England thenceforth passed (mostly but not entirely) underGermanic political control, while the sub-Roman society founded in this period continued to flourish in the west and north. This, then, presents us with an overall background to the origins of

sub-Roman kingship in Britain. To isolate the locational context, to further define the character of the emergence of these dynasties, and to establish their relationship to the later British dynasties, ti is necessary to explore in more detail those fifth-century British kingdoms which survived beyond the limits of Anglo-Saxon settlement. The archaeological

We can focus on the transition from Late Roman to sub-Roman rule more exactly by looking in more detail at the evidence for each kingdom in turn. Moving from north to south and east to west, I shall takeevery tribal area or civitas in the west and north of Britain, the provinces of

only supports the model put forward so far, but even permits us to discern some traces of sub-Roman dynastic history in the fifth to seventh

attested in ninth-century sources. For reasons which wil become clear,

and bistorical evidence for these western and northern kingdoms not

centuries.

Britannia Prima and Flavia Caesariensis,as a potential kingdom, also

considering two additional kingdoms, Brycheiniog and Ceredigion,

thecivitates of the Catuvellauni and Trinovantes willalso be examined.

Surprisingly, this is an exercise not previously attempted in a systematic way

THE CARVETII The Hadrian's Wall system may have had its headquarters in Carlisle in AD 400, but this is uncertain. Otherwise, no military site of the fourth century was still in use in the early fifth century in the Eden Valley.' So it may be improbable that the sub-Roman rulers of the Carveti emerged from among local military commanders. Carlisle is the only substantial town in the civitas, and there were no villas. Carlisle itself has produced two main sites with evidence of sub-

Roman occupation. A 'strip building' in BlackfriarsStreet may belong to the fifth century, and a masonry building at the Abbey was constructed in the late fourth century a n dused into (perhaps well into) the fifth century.?

The reference t oa fountain, in use in Carlisle in the seventh century, in the life' of St Cuthbert is well known, and seventh- to eighth-century material has been recognized in the town. The form of the two sub-Roman buildings is striking. The 'strip building'

is the classic urban commercial building-type of fourth-century Britain.

It would have little rationale outside of a romanized (stage 2) town, as it is designed for space-saving commerce and accommodation. The late' .1 K . R. Dark, A ' sub-Roman re-defence of Hadrian's Wall?', Brit, 23 (1992), 111-20. 2. Ibid, summarizes the relevant data.

. R. McCarthy, 'Thomas, Chadwick, and post Roman Carlisle, ni The Early Church .3 iM n We s t o r y R a t a i n a n d L a o l a n d

72

The Character and Context of British Dynastic Foundation 73

Civitas to Kingdom

construction date of, and use of mortared stone in, the other sub-Roman building also suggests that romanization in Carlisle continued from the fourth to fifth centuries.

This evidence suggests that Carlisle was still afunctioning, romanized,

and possibly urban, community into the fifth century. A s nohill forts

with sub- Roman occupation have been found in the civitas and there is no evidence for an intrusive dynasty, the obvious interpretation is that of

an urban origin for the sub-Roman dynasty based in this (still operating) town.

This dynasty was later celebrated by Welsh poets who sang of Urien and his son Owain, kings of Rheged.' It seems credible from their poems

(Canu Taliesin) that Rheged was broadly coterminous with the civitas of the Carvetii, although the kings of Rheged are claimed to have ruled a

much larger area, perhaps the civitas of the Brigantes. The poetic recollection of a dynasty based in this area seems in support of a sub-

Roman dynasty, based at Carlisle and ruling among the Carvetii, but it raises the p r o b l e m that Urien is said to have h a d his court at L I w y f e n d 6

This location seems to be a recognizable area of modern Cumbria: Lyvennet. It has been suggested that the undated hut-group at Burwens,

Crosby Lodge, was Urien's court, but there is no supporting evidence for this a n d no r e a s o n to a c c e p t the identification."

The evidence suggests, therefore, that Carlisle was the political centre of the Carvetii in the fifth century, as a successor to its fourth-century

role. Carvetian kingship emerged in an urban setting; although if military

headquarters' staff were present in the town, a military origin cannot be entirely ruled out, an urban civilian origin for the dynasty of the sub. Roman Carveti seems most plausible.

1 0 0k m

Figure 15 Roman fort and town sites in the north of Britain with evidence

of sub-Roman activity, possibly indicating high-status secular use, and rivers

T H E BRIGANTES

forming possible southern boundaries of the Brigantian kingdom. Hadrian's Wall is shown as an unbroken line.

The other northerncivitas of the fourth century that was not in Anglo-

Saxon control by AD 500 was that of the Brigantes (fig. 15). The fourthcentury capital of the civitas was probably York, although Aldborough (Isurium Brigantum) was still used in the fourth century and shows evid e n c e of s u b - R o m a n occupation.& T h e r e is no e v i d e n c e that the villas of

the fourth-century Brigantian area were used as secular l i t e sites in the fifth to sixth centuries, o t h e r than early fifth-century ' s q u a t t e r ' occupation -

perhaps, the last phase of the villa occupation and probably of early or mid-fifth-century date.°

Filled circles

= Forts with sub- Roman activity

Filled squares = Fourth-century towns with sub-Roman activity Note the line of sites between York (Y) and Corbridge (C) along the main Roman road between York and Hadrian's Wall, and the single site on both the Derwent and Mersey.

In the Brigantian areas, only military sites in the command of the dux Britanniarum show fifth- to sixth-century evidence, as I have discussed elsewhere. I° It may well be that the Carveti and Brigantes maintained this military command into the sixth century, but this, although presumably

administered by the kings of those tribes, was not, ni itself, likely to be the origin of sub- Roman Brigantian kingship.! Continuity of occupation

.4 On this poetry see D . N . Dumville, 'Early Welsh poetry, problems of historicity', ni Early Welsh poetry: studies in the book of Aneirin, ed. B . F. Roberts (1988), 1-16. 5. Ibid., 3.

si not attested at fort sites, and the command spanned two territories, that of the Brigantes and that of the Carveti. If the Carveti had their

6. N. Higham and B . Jones, The Carvetii (1985), 133.

7. Ibid. 8. Dark. 'A sub-Roman'. 9. B. R. Hartley and R. L. Fitts. The Brigantes (1988).

10. Dark, 'A sub-Roman'. 114.

11. Ibid.

Civitas to Kingdom

74

The Character and Context of British Dynastic Foundatio n

own sub-Roman dynasty and this, as we have seen, may have emerged in an urban context, the origins of post-Roman Brigantian kingship may be sought e l s e w h e r e t h a n in the c o m m a n d of the

Dux o r its c o n s t i t u e n t

units.

There is no indication of Irish or other intrusive dynasties, such as may be provided by ogom inscriptions. In the towns, there is evidence of fifth-

to sixth-century occupation. At York, timber-framed buildings were

erected and, at some pre-ninth post-fourth-century date, a stone fortification ("The Anglian Tower') was added to the walls. 21 This tower's date can only be c o n j e c t u r e d , on the basis of analogy. It might be s u p p o s e d

that mortared stone construction rules out a sub-Roman date, but recent

e x c a v a t i o n s at Wroxeter have i d e n t i fi e d a s u b - R o m a n m o r t a r e d s t o n e

building, 13 and we have seen that a late fourth- or fifth-century stone h o u s e was built in Carlisle. Masonry c o n s t r u c t i o n is also a t t e s t e d at fifth-

century Dorchester-upon Thames, Verulamium, and perhaps at Poundbury in Dorset.14 It is, therefore, possible that the 'Anglian Tower' may be of a similar d a t e

It is possible that York remained the political centre of the Brigantes in the same way that Carlisle retained its importance among the Carvetii. The discovery of what may be the only imported Mediterranean amphora known in northern Britain, in addition to the line of sub-Roman

sites along the road linking York and Hadrian's Wall, may help strengthen this possibility (see fig. 15).15

of the

identification of sites perhaps analogous to 'nuclear forts' in north-west

Wales. I Both types of site have northern associations.

This is not the supporting evidence that it might seem for the alleged

Votadinian origin of the Venedotian dynasty. These types of monument occur mainly in the Irish and Pictish lands north of the Fife peninsula,

rather than in the Votadinian area.19 Three, or possibly four, nuclear forts - Dalmahoy, Ruberslaw, Humbleton Hugh, andperhaps Moat Knowe (Buchtrig)2 - may be in Votadinian territory, with the remaining

six in the north and west of Scotland (and, perhaps a seventh, Cronk Sumark in the Isle of Man). A possible site has recently been identified at Briton Ferry in south Wales.? The standard forms of fifth- to seventh-

century cemetery in the Votadinian area were probably long-cist and round-cairn burial, rather than square barrows or square cairns.22 The Tandderwen square-ditched monuments may be evidence of con-

tactwith the north, but, if so, they are evidence for contact with Pictland.

Similarly, the citadel forts could attest direct contact with Dál Riada,

Pictland or the Votadinian area. It may be that s u c hconnections attest

contact between north Wales and Pictland during the period considered here, o r that they are simply an expression of wider, and perhaps more long-lived, northern contacts facilitated by the maritime potentialities of the north-west Welsh coast.23 There is certainly nothing recognizable to the modern archaeologist that is specifically Votadinian about such contacts. Indeed, one might note the presence of an Irish prince in fifth- to seventh-century Gwynedd, not far from Tandderwen at Clocaenog, or the Elmetiacos commemo rated at Llanaelhaiarn24 without adducing an

T H E ORDOVICES/GWYNEDD A l t h o u g h in n o r t h - w e s t Wa l e s (one

75

Irish or Elmetian origin for thedynasty. Evidently, an eminent kingdom least r o m a n i z e d a r e a s ,

might attract aristocrats from far away to serve i t . If these aristocrats

Gwynedd, in the Roman-period territory of the Ordovices, was militarily the s t r o n g e s t k i n g d o m in Wa l e s in the sixth a n d s e v e n t h c e n t u r i e s - to

judge from our textual sources. 61 Its second dynasty maintained this military strength, augmenting it with political p r o p a g a n d a in the ninth century.

It is this political propaganda that has coloured recent interpretations of

Venedotian dynastic origins. I Although now historically discredited, the Cunedda story - that a Votadinian chief from the Edinburgh region expelled the Irish, and so gained the kingship of north Wales - has

recently found favour among archaeologists, with the discovery of

square-ditched barrows at Tandderwen, and could be supported by the

18. K. S. Brassil, W. G. Owen, and W. .J Britnell, 'Prehistoric and early medieval cemeteries at Tandderwen, near Denbigh, Clwyd', Arch J, 148 (1991), 46-97. For the

'nuclear forts' see, Dark, Discovery.

19. Dark, Discovery; E. Alcock, 'Burials and cemeteries in Scotland', in Edwards and

Lane, The early Church, 125-9 (126-8).

20. RCAHM Inventories, Scotland. Roxburghshire I (1956), 102-5, and 167-9; R . B. K .

Stevenson, "The nuclear fort at Dalmahoy, Midlothian, and other Dark Age capitals', Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, 83 (1949), 186-98; G. Jobey, 'Hill

forts and settlements in Northumberland', Archaeologia Aeliana, 43 (1965), 21-64 (35,

fig. 9).

21. P. Wilkinson,'HenGastell', Archaeology ni Wales, 31(1991), 43; B. S. Nenk, S. Margeson, and M . Hurley, 'Medieval Britain and Ireland in 1991', Med Arch, 36 (1992), 301-2.

12. Ibid.; P. C. Buckland, 'The "Anglian Tower" and the use of jurassic limestone in

York', ni Archaeological papers from York, eds P . V . Addyman and V . E . Black (1984),

51-7.

13. R . White,

'Excavations on the site of the Baths basilica', in From Roman Viroconium

to medieval Wroxeter, ed. P. Barker (1990), 3-7.

14. C. Sparey Green, personal communication. 15. J. R . Perrin, Roman pottery from the Colonia: 2 (1990), 396; Dark, 'A sub-Roman'

. Davies, Wales in the Early Middle Ages (1982), 104. 16. W

17.

D. N . Dumville. 'Sub-Roman Britain: history and legend'. Historv. 62 (1977). 173-92

22. J. Close-Brooks, 'Pictish and other burials', in Pictish Studies, eds J. G. P. Frielland W. G. Watson (1984), 87-114. For thedistribution of square-ditched barrows ni Scotland see also: G. S. Maxwell, 'Settlement in Southern Pictland: a new overview', in The

e LookAt Old Problems, ed. A.Small (1987), 31-44 (34-5); Alcock, 'Burials', Picts. ANw 125-7; S.Foster, 'The state of Pietland ni the age of Sutton Hoo', ni Carver, ASH,

217-34 (231-2). 23. Dark, Discovery.

24. Nash-Williams, ECMW, stones nos. 87 and 176. 25. C. Thomas has suggestedeven from Merovingian Gaul, "Gallici nautae d eGalliarum provincis" - a sixth/seventh century trade with Gaul, reconsidered', Med Arch, 34

(1990).

1 - 2 6 (6 a n d

19).

76

The Character and Context of British Dynastic Foundation

Civitas to Kingdom

77

brought families, warbands or friends with them, it is perhaps unsurprising that they, or their descendants, could becommemora ted in terms, and with monuments, relating back to their homeland but set within the kingdom in which they served. If we dismiss this as evidence for an external origin for the Venedotian dynasty, what evidence is there of local continuity from the L a t e Roman past? The names used in territorial suffixes in Gwynedd, and the over-

kingdom name of Gwynedd, are Brittonic not Gaelic. It is difficult to see

whence the terms such as magistratus and ciuis found on Class-I inscribed stones in the kingdom could have derived but from the Late

Roman past and this suggests a Roman provincial origin. Vorteporix's memoriali n Dyed may, however, suggest that Irish dynasts might adopt the respectability of romanitas in their monuments, soBritishness is not

assured by Latin terms.26 But there a p p e a r s to have beené l i t e - s i t e conti-

nuity at Dinas Emrys, and possibly Degannwy, from the late RomanoBritish past.2 There is also evidence perhaps indicative of settlement continuity in Gwynedd. Excavated evidence suggests continued occupation at Late Roman hut groups,28a n d l a t e rmedieval settlements are also often adjacent to those late Romano-B ritish sites. 92

fI a local Romano-British origin seems possible, what is the potential

context for this? There were no fourth-century towns or villas in the Ordovician area, and the only military site with certain evidence of late

fourth-century activity is Segontium.30 T h i s does not show evidence of

fifth- toseventh-c entury activity, although it may have survived in folklore (or dynastic ceremonial?) as a 'royal place' to be re-utilized in the eighth century, or later, as a high-status enclosure.31 The origin of the dynasty of sub-Roman Gwynedd may, therefore, be

sought in local civilian society. The obvious candidate is the tribal leadership, seen in Chapter 1 to have survived through the Roman period.

The memorial ofCaelextis Monedorigi (fig. 16) may afford evidence of

the fifth-century survival and élite status of the dynasty, as the monument standsi n Cantref Orddwy, t h e' h u n d r e d of the Ordovices',32 The re-emerg ence of a tribal dynasty following the end of imperial rule is well-paralleled in modern post-colonial situations, notablyi n Africa.33 Obvi-

ously, this might (but need not) have occurred prior to the establishment

26. Nash-Williams, ECMW, 138. . Edwards andA. Lane, Early Medieval Settlements in Wales AD 400-1100.(1988), 27. N 45-6,a n d 56-7.

. S. Kelly, 'Recent research on the hut group settlements of northwest Wales',i nCC, 28. R eds B u r n h a m and Davies, 102-11.

. Crew, 'Rectilinear Settlements ni Gwynedd', BBCS,31 (1984), 320-1. 29. P

30. Edwards and Lane, Early Medieval Settlements, 115-6.

31. For evidencethat this occurred at Segontium see, Edwards and Lane, Early Medieval Settlements, 115-6.

32. .J E. Lloyd, A Historyo f Wales from the EarliestTimest o theEdwardian Conquest, 3rd

edn. (2 volumes, 1939) 250; Nash-Williams, ECMW, st. no. 272. 33. R.Oliver, 'Colonisation and Decolonisation inTropical Africa, 1885-1965', in Invasion . B. Johnson . .C Burnham and H and response: The Case of Roman Britain, eds B 1 0 9 0 1

1 9 0 9

Figure 16 The Caelextis inscription (Nash-Williams, ECMW, . R . Dark. no. 272). Copyright, K

stone

of dynasties in the more romanized lowland zone. The date of abandonment of the Roman fortifications at Segontium and on Anglesey may enable us to date the foundation of the new kingdom. As they were not disused before the early fifth century, we might see the dynasty restored during the fifth century, not so long before the lowland civitates transformed into kingdoms.

Adopting this interpretation of post-Roman dynastic origins in this kingdom, it is possible to re-examine the evidence of a (?mid-) sixth-century change in the name of the kingdom, from 'the Ordovices' to the kingdom of Gwynedd. Gildas records that Maglocunus had killed manykings and captured by force the kingship of north-west Wales, while by the ninth century at latest, Maelgwn (Maglocunus) was seen as a great, if dislikeable, king.3 Interestingly, Maglocunus was probably associated 34. D a v i e s .

Wa l e s i n t h e E a r l y M i d d l o

Ago

191

78

The Character and Contextof British Dynastic Foundation

Civitas to Kingdom

with Anglesey by Gildas.35 The name Gwynedd (Venedotia) itself may

derive either from the name of a tribe resident on the shores of Menai, or

from another, presumably small, tribal group (*Veni), accordingt o the great modern scholar of Welsh placenames, Melville Richards.38 Conse-

quently, it si possible that Maglocunus, a sub-king basedo n Anglesey, based seized t h e over-kingship from his 'uncle the king' of the Ordovices,

in Merioneth (Cantref Orddwy) - at the same time killing the sub-kings of several sub-kingdoms loyal to him.37 These events might lead to a replacement of the over-kingdom name and a shift in its political focus. So this sequence of events would explain the name change, Gildas's textual evidence, Maglocunus' later pre-eminence (unless this is derived wholly from Gildas's text), and the apparent evidence of the Caelextis stone for O r d o v i c i a n d y n a s t i c c o n t i n u i t y.

Such an interpretation is, at least, consistent with the available evi-

dence, and no more 'dramatic' than events recorded by Bedeor Gregory

of Tours in their accounts of the sixth and seventh centuries.38 In such a

sparsely documented period it is not, however, likely to be easy to find supporting evidence for this interpretation. Whether or not this specific sequence is correct, in any case, we may accept fifth-century continuity from Ordovician kingship, and a sixth-century establishment of an Anglesey-based dynasty, as the most plausible explanation for the dynastic foundations of Gwynedd.

79

of Cuneglasus, the evidence from Wroxeter does encourage us to suppose that this was, fi not the political centre of the Powysian kingdom in the

fifth century, at least one of them. 21 This evidence and the testimony of Gildas appears to be contradictory, but there may be a chronological factor at work here, for it would seem that 'Wroxeter' was relocated, perhaps to the hill-fort of the Wrekin (where the excavated evidence is ambiguous in

its hints of Late, or post-Roman use), probably in the late fifth-century,

or early sixth-century.43

If we accept the apparent evidence of Wroxeter, then we may tentatively accept the Powysian territory as another in which urban origins seem probable for the sub-Roman dynasty. The one remaining problem with this interpretation is the name 'Powys'; most scholars have agreed

that this derives from late Latin pagenses, 'the people of the country'. 4

This is a surprising name for the kingdom of an urban-founded dynasty,

although it could be the result of propagandist manipulation to negate rural opposition to urban rule. Alternatively, the name Powys could be analogous to the name Dumnonia, if this does indeed mean 'the people of the land', as may be the most plausible etymology (rather than supposing an otherwise unattested pagan god "Dumnos). 54 Margaret Gelling's argument that the tribal-name derived from 'pagans' is hardly tenable as the

name persisted after the sixthcentury, in an area certainly Christian by that point.16 It would seem, then, that neither the place-name nor Cuneglasus' apparent 'Celtic heroic' aspect form a barrier to an interpretation of an urban origin for this dynasty.

T H E CORNOVII/POWYS

The territory of the Cornovii may be taken to be represented by the subRoman kingdom of Powys. In Powys there is evidence of sub-Roman high-status occupation at the Roman town of Wroxeter (see fig. 14) and, possibly, at the small Late Roman rural homestea d at New Pieces.39 No Roman fort or villa shows evidence of sub-Roman high-status use, and,

althoush an Irishman is commemorated on an inscription from Wroxeter,

this need imply no more t h a n a mercenary c h i e f i n the employ of the subR o m a n authorities.40

It is probably in Powys that Gildas attests what may be his most

"Celtic'-sounding king - Cuneglasus - with a British name, possibly riding in

T H E D E M E TA E / D Y F E D A N D B RY C H E I N I O G

The civitas of the Demetae (later Dyfed) and the kingdom of Brycheiniog may be considered together, as they are the only areas where dynastic origins may be explained in relation to migration from outside Roman

Britain. In the case of Dyfed, as we shall see, this migration may have

occurred within a Romano-British context, and prior to the establishment of the sub-Roman kingdom.

The British kingdoms of Dyed and Brycheiniog, to judge from textual,

ogom and place-name evidence, originated in Irish aristocratic, and perhaps

a chariot, and (at least partly) based at a hill-fort. 1 Despite Gildas's picture

42. Dark, Discovery; White, 'Excavations'. 43. S. C . Stanford, 'The Wrekin Hill-fort Excavations, 1973', Archaeological Journal, 141

35. Gildas, DE, II.33.

36. M. Richards, 'Early Welsh territorial suffixes', Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland, 95 (1965), 205-12 (205).

37. Gildas, DE, I1.33. . . 400-1100: archaeology and history', in Glamorgan 38. J. K. Knight, 'Glamorgan AD County History, ed. H . N . Savory (1984), 315-64 (340). 39. White, 'Excavations'; Edwards and Lane, Early MedievalSettlements, 97-8. 40. R. P. Wright and K . H . Jackson, A' Late Inscription from Wroxeter', Ant J, 48 (1968), 269-300 (297). Gildas, DE, 1.23, shows that the employment of barbarian soldiers was aconcept known in earlymedieval western Britain, whilet h e word francamus in Canu Takesin G i l d e r

m a y D

E

attest

t

h

e p r e s e n c e also.

(1984), 61-90, Stanford notes the lack of Romano- British pottery from excavations at

the Wrekin site (p. 86). But a structural postmay, on the basis of radiocarbon dating,

belong either to the Roman or the immediately post-Roman period ( p . 72); however, as the topsoil had been removed by machine in this area (p. 62) ti is unclear what this

represents in structural or occupational terms. It has been suggested t h a t the name

. Webster, The Cornovii (2nd. edn. 1991), 18, 'Wrekin' relates to that of Viroconium: G

and 138-9. But note the comments of Gelling: M . Gelling, "The early history of western Mercia', in Bassett, OAK, 184-201 (192). 44. .C

Thomas, Celtic Britain (1986). 116.

45. Rivet and Smith, PNRB, 342-3. 46. M . Gelling, The West Midlands ni the early middle ages (1992), 40.

80

Civitas to Kingdom

The Charactera n d Context of British Dynastic Foundation

81

folk, migration into the areas.1? In Dyfed this may have been due to the expulsion or migration of the Deisi to the civitas of the Demetae in the fifth century or before, to judge from both the ogom inscriptionsa n d textual sources,a n d consequentl y is the result ofIrish internal politics.18 It

must,h o w e v e r, reflect upon the nature of L a t e - R o m a n D y e d .T h ecivitas was relatively un-romanize d even by south Welsh standards.49 Internal

disunity may have led to both the seemingly rapid and peaceful Roman

conquest of the area in the first century, and the apparently equally rapid and peaceful Irish colonization, establishing its sub-Roman dynasty.50 In Dyed, fourth-century high-status occupation continued at native sites

into the fifth to sixth century, as we see at Coygan Camp (fig. 17), and

this may imply population and, perhaps (at the latter), social continuity.51 This implies that the local aristocracy presumably found it possible to

come to terms with the imposition of a n Irish dynasty. The area may

have already had links with Ireland as settlement-forms, and perhaps other aspects of local Romano-British culture, seem to have been adopted in Ireland in the fourth or fifth centuries.52 These contacts m a y havem a d e an Irish dynasty more acceptable toD e m e t i a n aristocrats. As

Leslie Alcock has suggested, this migration could have occurred within

the Roman period but the difficulties of identifying characteristically Irishm a t e r i a l of the fourth or fifthc e n t u r i e s make it impossible, at pres-

ent, to confirm or refute this suggestion.53 If this suggestion were con-

firmed, it would explain both the local l i t e continuity, and the rapid integration of an officially approved Irish population group. If such a group was introduced by the Late or sub-Rom an authoritie s to protect

the civitas, it might have formed the basis of the sub-Roman dynasty. This pattern of integration might be supported by the survival of the tribal name, and that of the Romano-British civitas-capital Carmarthen

(Moridunum.)54 It might account for the occurrence of British and Irish

names on bilingual o g o m inscriptions and for monolingual Latin inscriptions, as both types of monuments probably commemorate the subRoman é l i t e . It might also explain the romanization of the Demetian kings attested by Vortiporix's memorial (fig. 18).56 It is, therefore, possible that the Irish settlement of Dyfed may have

. Richards, "The Irish Settlements in South-west Wales; A Topographical 47. M Approach', Journal ofthe Royal Society ofAntiquaries of Ireland, 90 (1960), 133-62.

48. Ibid., especially 133-6.

49. H. James a n d G. Williams, 'Rural Settlement in Roman Dyed', in The Romano-British Countryside, Studiesi n Rural Settlement and Economy, ed. D. Miles (2 vols, 1982), I, 289-312. 50. Ibid.

51. Dark, Discovery; Edwards and Lane, Early Medieval Settlements, 44-6.

52. E. O'Brien, 'Pagan and Christian burial inIreland during the first millennium AD:

. continuity and change', ni Edwards and Lane, The early Church, 130-7 (132); H Mytum, Theorigins ofearly Christian Ireland (1992), 30-5.

Figure 17 Aerialphotograph of the hill-fort at Coygan Camp, prior t o excavation. Cambridge University Collection of Air Photographs: copyright

reserved.

been peacefully achieved in the late fourth ore a r l y fifth centuries rather than later, with ar a p i d integration of the immigrant Irish and local British élites. Perhaps this is why Gildas, who is generally hostile to the Irish, does not mention the 'Irishness' oft h e Demetian King Vortipor. Despite the use of the term protictoris on a royal tombstone, p e r h a p s that of Vortipor himself, the kings of D y e d seem to have retained an 'Irish' identityf o r centuries.5?

The kingdom of Brycheiniog did not occupy the territory of a single Roman tribe or civitas, so far as it is known, but seems to have been founded within the sub-Romanperiod. Itsorigins seem closely related to those of Dyed, and it too maintained an Irish identity.

The foundation of Brycheiniog, judging from the date of its earliest

53. L. Alcock, Economy, Societya n d Warfare among the Britons and Saxons (1987), 53.

54. Thomas,CIRB, 254. 55. Nash Williams, ECMW. 56.

I b i d . .s t o n e no.

138.

57. D.N . Dumville, 'Gildas and Maelgwn: problems of dating', in Gildas: n e w approaches, eds M. Lapidge and D. Dumville (1984), 51-9 (57).

82

Civitast o Kingdom

The Charactera n d Context of British Dynastic Foundation

83

had been, orw a s ,t h e Ordovician and Siluran areas. The evidence provided byinscribed s t o n e sa n d Brycheiniog's relationship to D y e d suggests that it

may perhaps have been founded later than the other kingdoms, arguably

not before the sixth century. CEREDIGION

A n o t h e r k i n g d o m closely r e l a t e d to D y e d , a n d p r o b a b l y f o u n d e d a f t e r the fifth c e n t u r y,w a s C e r e d i g i o n . T h e r e is no e v i d e n c e that the d y n a s t y

of Ceredigion claimed to be Irish, but the kingdom, like Brycheiniog, did not occupy all of a single civitas, nor did it have a Romano- British name. Although it contains the Penbryn Class-I inscription recording an Ordous,60 a n d may p e r h a p s have b e l o n g e d to the O r d o v i c e s in the Pre-

Roman Iron-Age, the south of Cardiganshire, at least, may have been

Demetian in the fourth century.61 By the late sixth to seventh centuries inscribed stones of the 'Dyfed' cluster 'spill over' into its area, arguably

attesting its incorporation into Dyed. In the eighth century, however, a distinct kingdom of Ceredigion mayhave already been in existence, as it certainly was by the early ninth century.62T h e origins of Ceredigion may, therefore, lie in a breakaway part of Dyed, or a 'puppet' dynasty estab-

lished by the kings of Dyed in an outlying district of the over-kingdom.

The creation of such a kingdom in a border area may parallel that of

Brycheiniog, although Ceredig is a British name. But as the territorial

suffixes of the Demetian cantrefi (for example, Peibidiog) also include British names - and we have seen that Britons retained high-status in

Dyfed - this may not, in itself, be an objection to the suggested parallel

with Bryc hein iog.

The only relevant archaeological sources are the Class-I stones, already discussed, and the Plas Gogerddan excavations.63 The possible Venedotian associations of the Plas Gogerddan mausolea, and the

Figure 18 The Vortipor stone (Nash-Williams, ECMW, stone no. 138). Copyright RCAHMW.

Penbryn inscription may, as we have seen when discussing Gwynedd,

suggest that Ceredigion was under Venedotian/Ordovician rule during

part, or all, of the fifth and/or sixth centuries. If so, this need have

inscribeds t o n e s , mayl i e in, o r prior to, the sixth century; it may perhaps have been an offshoot from D y e d itself which was, as we have seen, probably established in the late fourth or fifth century. The strongest evidence fort h i s is that Brycheiniog was part of the late medieval diocese of St David's and lies within the distribution of St David dedications.® Brychan is an Irish name, the area was not that of a known Pre- Roman

Iron-Age British tribe, and its other, perhaps pre-ninth-century, dedica-

tions to Demetian saints are further indications which may also mark its

links to the west.59 If this was so, the kingdom may have been formedb y an Irish sub-group from D y e d in a weak borderland area between what 58. E. G. Bowen,The St. David of history. Dewi Saint: ourfounder saint (1982), 14; and The Settlementso fthe Celtic Saints in Wales (1956),4 9 and 52. 59. D a v i e s . Wa l e s in t h e E a r l y M i d d l e A g e s . 163.

involved no i n d e p e n d e n t dynastic development, and the area was, as we have seen, probably Demetian by the time such development occurred. It does, however, clarify the relations between D y e d and Gwynedd at this period.

T H E S I L U R E S / G W E N T A N D G LY W Y S I N G

The origins of Gwent and Glywysing may be considered together as the kingdoms had acommon Roman-period political past as the civitaso f the 60. Nash Williams, ECMW, no. 126. 61. M. L. Jones, Society and settlement in Wales and the Marches 500 BC to AD 1100, (2 vols, 1984), II, 411. 62. Davies, Wales in the EarlyMiddleAges, 94. . Murphy, 'Plas Gogerddan', Archaeology in Wales, 26 (1986), 29-31. 63. K

84

Civitas to Kingdom

Silures, and showed a somewhat similar history after AD 800.61 The

place-name of each kingdom may indicate a sub-Roman origin. Gwent si

derived from Gwlad (country of) and the Roman name of Caerwent: Venta Silurum. This evidence is supported by the continued use of

Romano-British sites in Glywysing and at Caerwent as ecclesiastical foci, and perhaps also as secular settlements, seen at Cold Knap, Llandough and Llantwit Major65 No Late Roman military sites in the Siluran area

have evidence of fifth- to seventh-century secular use; for instance the maior fort at Cardiff was disused.66 The villas, although some were per-

haps ecclesiastical foci at this date, were clearly not high-status secular sites.67 The only two larger settlements - the large fort at Caerleon and

Caerwent itself - were probably also used as ecclesiastical foci.68 But the

use of the name ' w e n t ' may imply the relocation of this town to a

nearby hill-fort, the continued significance of the walled area as a 'highstatus place', or a phase of sub-Roman urban occupation (as a stage 3 settlement? prior to its ecclesiastical use. The Romano-British group involved in dynastic establishment might either have been an urban one,

The Character and Context of British Dynastic Foundation

85

of Irish tribesmen in a military role in the late fourth or fifth centuries, as suggested above in the case of Dyed. Whereas in Dyed the later dynasty identified itself as Irish, in the Siluran area the ruling dynasty was, or saw itself as, British. Although an Irish origin for the sub- Roman kingdoms can probably be ruled out, the main c o n c e n t r a t i o no f all possible fifth-

to seventh-century

secular l i t e sites in this area is in Gower, and it may be that the secular

foci of Glywysing, at least, lay in the west of the kingdom.73 This raises the other main possibility - the re-emergence of local tribal leadership.

Outside the environs o f the civitas-capital of Caerwent, tribal origins

might be more plausible. South-east Wales is an area where we might, perhaps, expect such a re-emergent dynasty, given the strong Pre-

Roman Iron-Age kingship of the Silures.

The survival of Caratacus (Caradog) as a dynastic name into the later

middle ages? may suggest that the Pre-Roman Caratacus,who opposed the Roman Conquest, had passed into story as a hero, as did the Macsen Gwledig, or Emrys.? Koch's work would suggest a fifth- to seventh-

a rural low-status one, a re-emergent tribaldynasty, or an intrusive group

century interest in preserving stories glorifying the pre-Roman British. 76

British group, would seem evidenced by the, perhaps, Durotrigan character of some of the Dinas Powys finds, and by the Caerwent and Lydney type-G penannular brooches, otherwise found mainly in the Durotrigan

urban origins, as implied by its name, the kingdom of Glywysing may have originated in the re-establishment of the t r i b a ldynasty, in the west of the Siluran area, perhaps by Glywys. Such a re-establishment might indeed exclude the area under the control of the S i l u r a ncivitas-capital,

from the West Country or Dumnonia. The latter option, of an intrusive

and Dobunnic area.69 There are also spiral-headed pins at Caerwent. 70 These finds perhaps attest cross-Brist ol Channel contact in the sixth

to seventh centuries, if not before, but they need not show Durotriganor Dobunnic dynastic origins in this area. There seems a strong case for interpreting Dinas Powys as an Irish site, albeit one within a British kingdom." It might be supposed that the evidence from Dinas Powys would suggest an Irish origin for the dynasty, but the kingdom names

make this unlikely. Nevertheless, the multivallate inlandpromontory forts i n Glywysing may h a v e Demetian analogies in form. 7?T h i s may suggest an Irish aristocratic element within this kingdom, yet not the politically

dominant group. Perhaps again this may be the result of the employment . Webster, T'he Roman Period', in Glamorgan CountyHistory (1982), 277-314 (19 64. P. V and 129); Knight, 'Glamorgan A.D. 400-1100, 312-53; J. K. Knight, 'Sources for the Early History of Morgannwg, Glamorgan County History (1984), 365-409 (365-8 and

402-4): J. Percival, The Roman Villa (1976). 65. Dark, Discovery; Edwards and Lane, Early Medieval Settlements, 35-8 and 76-8; H.

James, 'Early medieval cemeteries in Wales', in Edwardsand Lane, The early Church,

. Hogg, 'The Llantwit Major villa: a reconsideration of the . A . H 90-103 (98); A

evidence', Brit, 5 (1974), 225-50.

66. Dark, Discovery.

67. On British villas in the fifth century see, Dark, 'St. Patrick's villula'; Dark, Discovery. . M. . R. Evans and V 68. Edwards and Lane, Early MedievalSettlements, 34-8. See also: D Metcalf, Roman Gates, Caerleon (1992).

69. T. M. Dickinson, 'Fowler's Type G Penannular Brooches Reconsidered', Med Arch, 26 (1982), 41-68. 70. Edwards and Lane, Early MedievalSettlements, 38. 71.

Dark, Discovery.

Consequently, while the kingdom of Gwent may have had sub-Roman

ruled b y the s u b - R o m a n u r b a n a u t h o r i t i e s we have p o s t u l a t e d b a s e d on C a e r w e n t . T h e s e l a t t e r a u t h o r i t i e s m a y have r e t a i n e d c o n t r o lof only the

immediate surroundingsof the city. Caerwent itself was, perhaps, dis-

used as a political capital during the fifth- to sixth-centuries, as we have seen in the case of Wroxeter, the political focus being relocated to a hill-fort. The episcopal function of the Roman town might explain the surviving ecclesiastical focus at Caerwent, although this was represented in later hagiography as an Irish foundation.77 This interpretation, although tentative, might explain the ecclesiastical use of sites associated with the Roman-period l i t e in Glywysing, the names of Gwent and Glywysing themselves, the sub-Roman character of the élites in both areas, and the subdivision of the Siluran area. It might be supported by the evidence from Caerwent where, on the basis of Alan Lane's and Jeremy Knight's recent work, two post-Roman but pre-

Viking phases might be discerned. One involved sub-Roman use of the

town, and an extramural cemetery of fifth- to sixth-century date, perhaps

implying both a resident communityand the survival of Roman law for73. Ibid. It is interesting that fifth- to seventh-century inscriptionscluster in this part of Glywysing; M . Redknap, The Christian Celts (1991), 49 and 56. 14. Lloyd, A History of Wales, I, 89-90. 75. Ibid., 99-100, n. 1.

' Welsh window on the Iron Age: Manawydan Mandubracios', CMCS, 14 76. J. T. Koch, A (1987), 17-52.

77. Edwards and Lane, Early Medieval Settlements, 38. . Knight 'Post-Roman evi78. Edwards and Lane, Early Medieval Settlements, 33-8; J. K ' d e n c e from C a e r w e n t ' . ( f o r t h c o m i n g )

86

Civitas to Kingdom

The C h a r a c t

bidding intramural burial.79 The next involved a substantial intramural

cemetery, perhaps beginning in the sixth century and continuing to form the origin of the possible, later, monastic site.8 Although not the only interpretation of the excavated evidence permissible, this would at least explain the presence of two, apparently distinct, burial foci: one con-

forming to Late Roman burial law, which prohibited burial within towns,

and to Roman urban cemetery location;81 the other centred on the later medieval church within the town.82 It may be that the spiralheaded pins and type-G brooches at Caerwent and Ly d n e y can be used as evidence i n support of this view because they may attest contact with the West Country, where (as we shall see) similar processes of urban survival may

have been taking place. If so, given what we will see in Chapter 6 of the evidence for the royal control of such exchange, these pins and brooches may be seen in terms of dynastic contacts between these areas.

The evidence supports an interpretation of the urban origins of the Siluran dynasty of later w e n t an d possibly of t r i b a l origins for the dynasty

of Glywysing. It is unclear, however, whether fifth-century Gwent and

Glywysing were a single post-Roman political unit ruled by the dynasty

based at Caerwent, the kingdom only later being split between tribal and

urban leadership. T H E C AT U V E L L A U N I A N D T R I N O VA N T E S

There is only one area in the east of Britain where British rule seems to have survived into the sixth century: the civitates of the Catuvellauni and

Trinovantes, and the hinterland of London (fig.

19).

Although the

remainder o f the p r o v i n c e o f M a x i m a C a e s a r i e n s i s was p r o b a b l y u n d e r

Anglo-Saxon political control by AD 500, this area has been seen by several distinguished scholars as a British kingdom, although, if so, ti encompassed more than one civitas. The possibility that this was a sub-Roman enclave

was adduced by Wheeler, and has been supported by Biddle and Thomas.83 T h e most d e t a i l e d s t u d y o f any p a r t of the a r e a was by

Kenneth Rutherford Davis, whose book Britons and Saxons summarizes the e v i d e n c e for t h e C h i l t e r n s as known in 1982.84

The hypothesis of a sub-Roman kingdom in this area is based on the

enduring importance of its two biggest towns - London and St Albans -

30 km

and the absence of fifth- or sixth-century Anglo-Saxon cemeteries, other-

15 m i l e s

79. Ibid.

80. Davies, Wales in the Early Middle Ages, 142; Edwards and Lane, Early Medieval Settlements, 37. 81. For burial customs in Roman Britain see, R. Philpott, Burial Practices in Roman Britain (1991).

82. Edwards and Lane, Early Medieval Settlements, 33-8; Knight, 'Post-Roman evidence from Caerwent' (forthcoming).

. Biddle, D. Hudson, and C. 83. R. E. M. Wheeler, London and the Saxons (1935); M g

Heighway, The Future of London's Past(1973); Thomas, CIRB, 260-1. K R D a v i s Britons a n d S a r o n s T h e Chiltery r e g i o n 4 0 0 _ 7 0 0 ( 1 9 8 2 )

Figure 19 A Catuvellaunian/Tr inovantian kingdom? Broken line indicates

large gap in distribution of early Anglo-Saxon cemeteries. Filled squares Filled c i r c l e s

= Major fourth-century towns with s u b -Roman evidence = Other fourth-century settlements with s u b -Roman evidence

Open circles

= Place-names containing the element wic, perhaps indicating sub-Roman communities. (Basedon Cameron, 1977.)

88

Civitas to Kingdom

The Character and Context of British Dynastic Foundation

89

wise densely spread across eastern England.8 This view is supported by place-name evidence and sub-Roman occupation at sites including St Albans, Latimer, Staines, and the Fulham/Putney settlement.86 Recent discoveries of sunken-featured buildings and organicallytempered pottery at sites in Greater London do not refute this view, for one might expect some Germanic settlement within an eastern British

behind the possible sub-Roman rulers of this area, and the enduring importance of London and St Albans into the seventh century might strengthen the case for the urban origins of any sub-Roman dynasty here. 93 If the kingdom were based at London, t h i swould also explain why

groups elsewhere.87 There does, therefore, remain a case for a sub-

located around the southern hinterland of the city.9 This ring of cemeteries has been seen by several scholars (Böhme and Hawkes especially), as representing mercenary settlements under sub-Roman

polity, and organically-tempered pottery was certainly used by British Roman kingdom encompassing the Lower Thames Valley and centred on

London or St Albans, although there is little evidence to assist in recognizing whether there were distinct Catuvellaunia n and Trinovantian

kingdoms, or a single kingdom encompassing both civitates. It seems unlikely, however, that all Catuvellaunian territory fell inside this zone. Little can be said about the origin of the dynasty ruling this kingdom,

assuming it to be a single political unit, given that even the evidence of its e x i s t e n c e is t e n u o u s . A G e r m a n i c origin s e e m s i m p l a u s i b l e even in

this easterly area, and ti did not transform into a recognizable seventhcentury Anglo-Saxon kingdom 8 There are no Anglo-Saxon high-status

artefacts or structures. Nor is a military origin evidenced, as there is no major fourth-century military site in either civitas, except possibly in London itself, other than the forts of the Saxon Shore on the coast.89 But

S o it would s e e m t h a t e i t h e r u r b a n or v i l l a - b a s e d origins could lie

a series of late fifth-century Anglo-Saxon cemeteries were apparently

government.° If this was the case, considerable expense was being

afforded to protect London, and the most reasonable context for this would be that it remained the administrative centre of the area. Extremely tentative evidence, then, suggests that the sub-Roman rulers

of this area emerged in an urban context, probably London itself. The

importance of the city as a Late Roman diocesan capital might explain the anomaly of the survival of a sub-Roman polity in such an easterly location, and possibly the combination of more than one civitas into a single sub-Roman kingdom. The resources available to defend this area

may have far exceeded those for any other civitas, at least at the start of the fifth century.

there is no fifth - to sixth-century evidence suggesting British high-status

occupation at these forts and none is known from the Cripplegate fort in London, although its archaeology is poorly understood.°

There are fifth-century amphora sherds at London and St Albans, and

evidence of the sub-Roman use of buildings in both towns.91 At Latimer, major timber-framed buildings replaced the masonry villa, and an enigmatic enclosure has been identified at the Fulham/Putney settlement.92 85. For the distributionof Anglo-Saxon cemeteries see, J . Hines, 'Philology, archaeology, and t h e Adventus S a x o n u m v e lAnglorum, in Britain 4 0 0 - 6 0 0 : Language a n d History,

eds A. Bammesburger and A . Wollmann (Heidelburg, 1990), 17-36 (34-6). 86. The well-known insula XXVII sequence from Verulamium is presented in: S .S. Free, Verulamium Excavations: Volume II (1983), 214-6. B-ware from the town is published in, .A Selkirk, 'Verulamium', Current Archaeology, 120 (1990), 410-17 (416-17). For

. . Branigan, Latimer (1971). For Staines see, K . R . Crouch and S. A Latimer see, K Shanks, Excavations in Staines 1975-76 (1984), 3, 21, and 77. A useful summary of . Branigan, The Catuellauni (1985), 175-92. Thereleother supporting evidence is: K

vant evidence from Putney is not yet published, but the Felsham Road site produced an Anglo-Saxon brooch seen b y the writer. For a possible sub-Roman enclosure at the Bishop's Palace, Fulham see K . Whitehouse, A ' section across Fulham Palace Moat',

. Whitehouse, 'Report on London Archaeologist, 2:6 (1974), 142-7; P. Arthur and K

excavations at Fulham Palace moat, 1972-1973', in Transactions of the London and Middlesex Archaeological Society, 29 (1978), 45-72. 87.

See Chapter 5.

. Dumville, 'Essex, Middle Anglia, and 88. K. Bailey, 'The Middle Saxons', 108-22, and D the expansion of Mercia in the South-East Midlands, 123-40, both in Bassett OAK.

89. See C h a p t e r 1.

90. Marsden has suggested that the Cripplegate fort was perhaps a'n unused shell' by the

fourth century: P. Marsden, Roman London (1980), 132. 91. See Chapter ,1 and n. 86 above, this Chapter.

THE DOBUNNI

In AD 577, the Dobunnic area may still have been based on three towns which were pre-eminent in western Britain in the fourth century:96 the

provincial capital of Britannia Prima, Corinium; the small town depen-

dent on the temple complex at Aquae Sulis; and the colonia of Gleuum.°? These all show some evidence of sub-Roman use, and occupation of

them could have continued, albeit on a small scale, into the sixth century. There is no fifth- to sixth-century 'high-status' secularevidence from the Dobunnic villas, and the area had no fourth-century military sites. There is unlikely to have been a residual' monarchy in this area during

the Roman period, given its political dismemberment at the Conquest

and subsequent intensive romanization. No convincing evidence of intrusive groups may be adduced. This leaves no alternative to an urban origin, presumably at either Cirencester or Gloucester.

' he Middle Saxons'; Dumville, 'Essex'. 93. Bailey, T

94. S. C. Hawkes, "The South-east after the Romans: t h eSaxon settlement', in The Saxon

Shore, ed. V . A . Maxfield (1989), 78-95 (83 and 86). . W . Böhme, 'Das ende der Römerherrschaft in Britannien und die 95. Ibid.; H angelsächsische Besiedlung Englands im 5. Jahrhundert',Jahrbuch des Römisch-

Germanischen Zentralmuseums, 33 (1986), 469-574.

96. C . Heighway, Anglo-Saxon Gloucestershire (1987), 18-19

97. A. McWhirr, 'The cities and large rural setuements of Roman Gloucestershire, in Archaeology in Gloucestershire, ed. A . McWhirr (1984), 212-22 (213-16, fig. 1 on

p. 217); K.R. Dark, 'Town or Temenos? A Reinterpretation of the Walled Area of Gulie›

Dait

( f o r t h e o m i n e )

90

Civitas to Kingdom T H E DUROTRIGES

The Character a n d Context of British Dynastic Foundation

91

century. 105 The local explanation of this must perhaps remain unclear, but one possibility is that D u r o t r i g a n towns h a d b e c o m e d e p o p u l a t e d to

In the civitas of the Durotriges, like that of the Dobuni, there were no

such a degree (by migration from the south coast to Armorica?106) that by

late f o u r t h - c e n t u r y military sites a n d there is n o evidence of h i g h - s t a t u s secular activity at the villas into the fifth a n d sixth centuries.98 An intru-

the fifth or sixth c e n t u r y they were no longer defensible.

sive element - despite the sunken-featured buildings at Poundbury 9seems unlikely as early as the fifth century and is unevidenced. Another

sunken-featured building has been found in a categorically Late Roman context nearby,10 and this is not the only sunken-featured structure known from Roman Britain. 101 Indeed, it is possible that some as yet

undated buildings of this type, at present claimed as Anglo-Saxon, may belong to the Roman rather than the Anglo-Saxon period. This raises an

important question about the origin of Anglo-Saxon sunken-featured buildings but, whatever their origin, the presence of a sunken-featured structure on a sub-Roman site clearly cannot be taken, by itself, to imply G e r m a n i c contact.

That Durotrigan sub-Roman kingship may have originated in a Romano-British urban context, as perhaps did the Dobunnic dynasty, is implied by the proximity of the sub-Roman hill-fort at South Cadbury

and Late Roman town of Ilchester. 103 A similar sequence is also observed at Cadbury Congresbury, where there may be a relationship between the fifth- and sixth-century hill-fort site and the enigmatic stone-walled

A possible

cause of this migration would, of course, have been the establishment of

Anglo-Saxon Wessex to the immediate east of the kingdom, probably from the mid- or later-fifth century onwards. 10? If migration had been a major event of the fifth century in the Durotrigan area, then this might explain the inclusion of a passage relating the flight overseas in De Excidio, which Gildas may have written in the West Country, probably within Durotrigan territory (see Appendix I).

DUMNONIA

Dumnonia had no towns west of Exeter and few villas, none of which seem to have been functioning in the fifth century;108 no fourth-century military sites are known from the area. It is hard to see what social group could have f o r m e d the fi f t h - c e n t u r y British d y n a s t y other than t h e extant

native tribal leadership, if an internal origin is sought. An alternative

would be to adduce Irish colonization, but the evidence for this is much weaker than is often assumed. 109 T h e most reliable source for AD 400-

s e t t l e m e n t at G a t c o m b e - a p o s s i b l e Late R o m a n small-town.103 A t Late

600 post-Roman Irish contact is that of the ogom stones and stones con-

Roman Gatcombe, there was probably a substantial population; the site may have had an administrative role within a defended enclosure, but

a n e a s t C o r n i s h to s o u t h Devon d i s t r i b u t i o n for Irish s e t t l e m e n t . 110 T h i s

taining Irish names in their Latin text, which mightbe taken to indicate

t h e r e w a s a p p a r e n t l y no h i g h - s t a t u s sub- R o m a n d o m e s t i c o c c u p a t i o n . 104 T h e Late R o m a n c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s of G a t c o m b e m a y all b e r e p r o d u c e d at

is to some extent neutralized by the pre-eminence o fTintagel - with its

Cadbury Congresbury, in a sub-Roman form, in the fifth to seventh

presence of larger numbers of Latin-inscribed stones attesting a British élite in the fifth and sixth centuries.11

centuries.

Consequently, one might see some evidence to support an association, in Durotrigan territory, between the latest Romano British urban centres

a n d s u b - R o m a n hill-forts. Unlike the D o b u n n i c a r e a we s e e m to see a

s t r i d e n t l y s u b - R o m a n c h a r a c t e r - within their d i s t r i b u t i o n area, a n d the

As it is hard to see Tintagel as other than a court, perhaps of the king of all Dumnonia, 12 then it is reasonable to take the character of the site as indicative of something of the character of the dynasty. This would

shift from urban nuclei to hilltop fortifications, perhaps in the late fifth

98. Dark, Discovery. 99. C. S. Green, Excavation at Poundbury. Volume 1: The Settlements (1987), 79, 80 fig.57, 81 fig. 58, and 82.

100. S . M . Davies, L . C . Stacey, and P . J. Woodward, 'Excavations at Alington Avenue,

Fordington, Dorchester, 1984-5: Interim Report', Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society, 107 (1985), 101-10 (especially 107, 109, and 110,

fig. ,3 phase 3, structures 1 and 12, plate 6 of structure 12).

101. Excluding 'hut-platforms' and cellars one might note, for example: R . W . Mackey, 'Welton, North Humberside', CBA Calendar: Excavation Summaries (1976), where a sunken-featured building may date from the third century AD at the Romano-British farm site.

102. Alcock, Economy, 212. . S. Gardner, and P. A . Rahtz, Cadbury Congresbury, Somerset, 1968 103. P. J. Fowler, K (1970), 11.

104. For Gatcombe see: K. Branigan, Gatcombe (1977); M. Todd, The South-West to AD 1000 (New York, 1987), 262.

105. Dark, Discovery. 106. L. Fleuriot, Les Origines de la Bretagne (1982), 50 and 134-62; against the idea that . N . Dumville, 'The Age of Breton derives from necessarily south-west British see: D the Saints in the Insular Church', forthcoming.Depopulation was a characteristicof European demography during the fourth to seventhcenturies,see: R. Hodges and D. M . Whitehouse, Mohammed, Charlemagne and the Origins of Europe (1983). 107. S. C. Hawkes, "The Early Saxon Period Evidence', in The Archaeology of the Oxford

Region, eds G . Briggs et al. (1986), 64-108. 108. Todd, The South-West, 213, and 219-22; Wacher, TRB, 23 fig. 1.

109. C. Thomas, 'The Irish Settlements in Post-Roman Western Britain. A Surveyof the

Evidence', Journal of the Royal Institution of Cornwall, 6 (1972), 251-74. 110. A . Preston-Jones, "The Excavation of a Long-Cist Cemetery at Carnanton, St Mawgan, 1943', Cornish Archaeology, 23 (1984), 157-78 (173 fig. 9).

111. K . R . Dark, "The Plan and Interpretation of Tintagel', CMCS, 9 (1985), 1-17 (16); Todd, The South-West, 242 and 250.

112. Dark, "The Plan and Interpretation of Tintagel', 17. I would now t a k e the size and range of the assemblage and structural evidence to be indicative of the especially high-status of the site among excavated South-Western hill-forts (17); Dark, Discovery.

92 • Civitas to Kingdom

The Character and Context of British Dynastic Foundation

93

suggest that the dynasty was romanized, and that it originated in the late fifth century. This is, of course, consistent with the 'Late Roman' names both of Gildas' Constantine, and Aldhelm's Gerontius.113 A native origin

might also be implied by the continuity of t h e tribal name 'Dumnonii'. 14 The Irish contacts could even be seen in the light of Dumnonian colonization in Ireland (in the area of the Fir Domnann), although this supposed colonization is itself u n d a t e d . ' It is also possible to explain these inscribed stones bearing Irish names in other terms (fig. 20). They run in an arc from the hinterland of Tintagel around the south-western perimeter of Dartmoor into south

Devon, reaching the coast near the sub-Roman site of Bantham. 16 Both

Tintagel and Bantham were probably fifth- to sixth-century port sites,

and imported material is present at both sites. Elsewhere inscribed stones are often associated with roads, as at Maen Madoc, and interest-

ingly there is a Roman milestone, now at Tintagel Church. ' Might this

distribution of inscribed stones r e p r e s e n ta t r a n s - p e n i n s u l a route - p e r h a p s

even a Roman road - connecting Tintagel and Bantham, or Romanperiod sites close to them?118

If so, then this corridor of long-range contact might explain the Irish inscriptions. Two further pieces of evidencesupport this view. First,

there are two other inscriptions between Dyed and Cornwall continuing this line: on Lundy and Caldey Islands. Both show evidence of Mediter-

ranean contacts, and Lundy is inter-visible from Tintagel and Caldey

Island." Obviously, the latter factorwould facilitate a crossing between

Dyfed and Dumnonia beginning at Caldey.

The second piece of evidence is that such a crossing seems to be attested by the Vita (Prima) Sancti Samsonis. Although there are chronological problems with this work, it is securely of the ninth century or earlier, and shows local knowledge of south-west Britain. 120 In it St Samson

travelled from Dyed to Brittany; setting out from Caldey Insula Piro),

he sailed to the Tintagel area (Pagus Tricurius) and from there travelled across Cornwall to t h e South Coast. So St Samson is described as having made a similar journey to that suggested above, involving travel from Caldey to the Tintagel area.

113. Interestingly, Gerontius was Constantine IIl's Magister Militum; Frere, Britannia, 357. 114.

Rivet and Smith, PNRB, 342-3.

115. Ibid., 343. 116. Mytum, The Origins, 33; Dark, Discovery. 117. A. Fox, 'The siting of some inscribed stones of the Dark Ages in Glamorgan and

100km 6

0m i l e s

Breconshire, Arch Camb, 94 (1939), 30-41. For Maen Madoc see, C. Fox, The re-erection

of the Maen Madoc, Ystradfellte, Breconshire', Arch Camb, 95 (1940), 210-16. For Tintagel see, Todd, The South-West, 218.

118. For Roman-period aspects of these sites see, Dark, Discovery.

119. E. Campbell, 'New Finds of Post-Roman Imported Pottery and Glass from South

Wales', Arch Camb, 138 (1989), 59-66; K . Gardner, 'Lundy, Current Archaeology, 8

(1968), 129-202.

120. Davies, Wales in the Early Middle Ages, 215; P. Sims-Williams, Religion and Literature . N . Dumville for discussing in Western England 600-800 (1990), 80. I am grateful to D the dating of this work with me.

Figure 20 South Wales and south-western peninsula of England, showing ogom stones and Class-I inscriptions containing Irish names, and subRoman sites mentioned in the text. 1= Tenby, 2 = Caldy Island, 3 = Tintagel, 4 = Bantham. (Based on Mytum, 1992.)

94

Civitas to Kingdom

The Character and Context of British Dynastic Foundation

95

Consequently, it would be possible to interpret the Irish inscriptions

of D u m n o n i a as t h e t e s t i m o n y o f travel from D y e d to the S o u t h C o a s t

across this kingdom. Interestingly, the forts at Tenby and Tintagel would be able to control 'either end' of this route, and Ann Preston-Jones and Lynette Olson have made a strong case for connections between the

Churches of Dyed and Dumnonia.121 It is interesting, too, that the

Temby area has a concentration of imported Mediterranean pottery

unparalleled in Wales, apart from around Dinas Powys.122 A route connecting north Cornwall and the Tenby area might also account for this,

giving access to Mediterranean trade o r its products to the Demetian

kings.

Whether or not this interpretation is correct, ti is clearly

unnecessary to adduce an Irish dynasty to account for the sub-Roman

kings of Dumnonia.

This leaves a native tribal origin for the sub-Roman Dumnonian dyn-

asty. Continuity of occupation at fourth-century, high-status native sites into the sixth century, at Chun, and perhaps Trevelgue, may support the interpretation of a native tribal origin.123 This suggests that local Romano-British élites retained their position into the sub-Roman period. Without evidence to the contrary it would seem reasonable to

lady

support this interpretation; and military, urban and villa-based options s e e m to b e ruled out.

C

OVERALL S Y N T H E S I S OF DYNASTIC ORIGINS

So, we can recognize two types of sub- Roman dynastic origin in Britain

(fig. 21). In the lowland zone sub-Roman dynasties emerged in a civilian, urban context, perhaps in every case at civitas-capitals where low-status groups might most easily take political control. Such towns probably still

A

c o n t a i n e d large l o w - s t a t u s p o p u l a t i o n s a n d b i s h o p s , so that they f o r m e d

the largest concentrations of poor, disaffected Christians in the early

60 miles

fifth-century landscape. We have seen that the wider trends of Martinian militancy and low-status rebellion found in Gaul may have played a part in bringing about first rebellion, in or before 406, and then the emergence of lowland British kingship. It would seem that the change from bureau-

Figure 21 Approximate zones of dynastic origins in fifth- and sixth-century Britain. A = British tribal origin, B = Irish tribal origin, C = sub-Roman urban origin. Area C originally also included area D, where Anglo-Saxon

the d e m a n d s of the rebels. If s u c h a view s e e m s overly s p e c i fi c , it must be s t r e s s e d that every c o m p o n e n t o f this i n t e r p r e t a t i o n can be supp o r t e d b y c o n t e m p o r a r y evidence.

end of that century they transferred their political centres from the towns

The resulting lowland dynasties employed Anglo-Saxon and Irish

to neighbouring hill-forts. The towns remained, however, episcopal centres

cratic government to kingly rule occurred while Constantine III was in Gaul in AD 409, perhaps as a result of the failure of his attempt to secure

121. A . Preston-Jones, 'Decoding Cornish Churchyards', in Edwards and Lane, The early

Church, 104-24 (119-20, and 122); L. Olson, Early Monasteries in Cornwall (1989), 48-50. 122. E. Campbell, 'Imported Goods in the Early Medieval CelticWest: with special refer-

ence to Dinas Powys' (2 vols, Univ. College Cardiff Ph.D. thesis 1991). . Quinnell, 'Cornwall during the Iron Age and Roman period', Cornish Archaeology, 123. H . Preston-Jones and P. Rose, 'Medieval Cornwall',Cornish 25 (1986), 111-34 (126-9); A A r c h a e o l o s y. 25 (1986).

135-85 (138).

dynasties replaced sub-Roman rule in the fifth century.

forces to defend their kingdoms during the fifth century, and towards the

through the fifth and sixth centuries, perhaps even in areas where the Anglo-Saxons were in political control after the middle of the fifth century. In the highland zone, native dynasties were restored following t h eend

of Roman rule. This, again, probably occurred in the early fifth century. In Dyed and Glywysing these two forms of dynastic origin overlapped, withtribal dynasties replacing urban-based administrations, although this did not necessarily occur at the same time in both kingdoms. In Dufed the e m e r g e n c eof this Irish kingship was probably within a context

96

Civitas to Kingdom

making ti acceptable to the sub-Roman British population, and

Demetian kings adopted aspects of Romano-British culture. In conclusion, it is worth asking if there is any evidence conflicting with such an interpretation. The only aspect of fourth century political history which, at first sight, does not fit this hypothesis is the elevation in Britain of Christian candidates for the Imperial throne during the fourth century.

4

Civitates and Kingdoms

Magnetius, in the mid-fourth century, was a Christian who issued coins

proclaiming his religion. 124 He was tolerant of paganism, however, and w a s not a Briton. E v e n a p a g a n a r i s t o c r a t a t this p e r i o d m a y have felt

that a Christian candidate was more likely to succeed in obtaining the Imperial throne, and so have been able to support a tolerant Christian, such as Magnentius. Magnus Maximus was a staunch Christian army officer, of Spanish

descent, who rebelled in AD 383 and sought Imperial rank, supported by

the army in Britain. 125 Again, Magnus Maximus was a non-Briton and a

INTRODUCTION

soldier, so cannot be taken to reflect upon the religious divide among

The emergence of kingship within the political structure o fLate Roman Britain immediately raises the question of how that structure relates to the kingdoms of the fifth and later centuries. This chapter will examine

Britain. 126 During the fourth century it may have become increasingly

struct the territorial extent of the major kingdoms of sub-Roman Britain

Rather than conflicting with the interpretation proposed here, this

mid-fifth century. The area surveyed in this chapter will, therefore, be

civilians in Late Roman Britain. All that the evidence concerning these two would-be emperors need show is that Christianity was strongly represented in the Late Roman army, and may have been in the army in clear that a credible candidate for Emperor would need to be a Christian.

aspect of fourth-century history may help us to explain the initial patriotism shown toward central government by the British rebels in the appointment of Constantine III. If the Roman army and central government were seen to be Christian, then rebellion against the diocesan administration need not have involved disloyalty to the Empire. A partial analogy might be with the medieval English rebels of low-rank who resented the rule of local landlords, but who were loyal to the king. 127

this question, using both archaeologicaland historical sources t orecon-

as it survived after the Anglo-Saxon takeover of eastern England in the

t h e s a m e a s t h a t c o v e r e d in detail in C h a p t e r 3. First, it is n e c e s s a r y to

review what we know of Romano-British political geography as it relates to this question. T H E P O L I T I C A L G E O G R A P H Y O F ROMAN B R I TA I N

In the late Pre-Roman Iron-Age, political geography can be ascertained from Classical sources, pottery distributions, coinage and, possibly, from p l a c e - n a m e s . A l lof t h e s e e n a b l e us t op r e s e n t a c o h e r e n ta n d convincing

picture of late pre-Roman political organization, at least concerning the

main tribes that are known in the area later to become the sub-Roman

We s t a n d N o r t h .

T h e O r d o v i c e s mav have e x t e n d e d from Rhyd O r d d w y in Flintshire to

Cantref Orddwy in Merionethshire, if we may use these place-names as evidence for the Roman period.' In what was later to be Caernarvonshire, the hill-fort of Dinas Dinorwig was, to judge from its name (the fort of the Ordovices'), probably also in Ordovician territory.? Ptolemy's geography seems to place the Ordovices in this area also, but there are problems in 124. Frere, Britannia, 338-9; A . Birley, The people of Roman Britain (1979),31. The character of Magnentius's connection with Britain is, however,uncertain 125. P. J. Casey, 'Magnus Maximus and Britain: A Reappraisal', in Casey The end, 66-79; Birley, The people, 31-2. 126.

identifying Mediolanum and Branogenium, the two centres which he

places in Ordovician territory.3 The only other tribe mentioned by Ptolemy

in north-west Wales is the Gangani, and this does not seem to have been

This may be the implication of t h edistribution of artefacts associated with Christianity

close to Hadrian's Wall and, perhaps, at York: Jones and Mattingly, Atlas, 296; Thomas, CIRB, 138 and 140-1.

127. E.g. B. Wilkinson, The Later Middle Ages ni England, 1216-1485 (1969), 158-64, notes that even in the 'peasants revolt' the rebels were 'profoundly loyal' to the king (160).

1. Rivet and Smith, PNRB, 434, 121, (107) and 416, 275; J. E. Lloyd,A History of Wales

from the Earliest Times to the Edwardian Conquest 3rd e d (2 vols, 1939). 2. Rivet and Smith, PNRB, 434. Rivet a n d S m i t h P N R B 1 9 1 275 a n d 415

Civitates and Kingdoms

Civitas to Kingdom

98

a large unit, being perhaps no more than a subdivision of t h e Ordovices.1 Despite the problems with using these sources,° we may tentatively reconstruct Ordovician territory as comprising north-west Wales, per-

•

haps including Anglesey, which is not ascribed to any tribe by Classical sources. No help is to be had from widespread distinctive pottery or

•

99

о

from coinage, since the Ordovices did not produce them.? To the east, modern scholars have placed the Deceangli. Although

they may be referred to b yTacitus, the Deceangli need not have constituted

more than a small group, perhaps not larger than Tegeingl, one of the

• .

cantrefi (hundreds) of later medieval Wales,& In the Roman period the

name Deceangli(icum) occurs on lead-pigs. Despite recent suggestions, based on the use of the term civitas on these pigs, that the Deceangli

were a larger tribel of the same magnitude as the Ordovices or Demetae,

00

they need, on this evidence, have been no larger than a minor sub-group of the Ordovices. Evidence for their extent is restricted to the modern Clwyd valley, where a hill-fort cluster, on hills once the heartland of later medieval Tegeingl, perhaps constituted their h o m e . The survival and prominence of the name in modern scholarship might simply be due to its frequent use on the lead pigs, while many other areas produced no s u c h d u r a b l e an d d i s t i n c t i v e items.

On the Welsh borders, the Cornovii were referred to by Ptolemy, who locates Wr o x e t e r a n d C h e s t e r in their territory. 12 T h e C o r n o v i a n location of the f o r m e r is c o n fi r m e d b y e p i g r a p h i c evidence. 13 T h e S i l u r e s h a d

within their territory Caerwent (where epigraphic evidence, again, confirms this location) and possibly Usk. 41 In south-west Wales the tribal

area of the Demetae, according to Ptolemy, included Carmarthen and p e r h a p s D o l a u c o t h i . 15 R o m a n forts s e e m to have b e e n p o s i t i o n e d on the

borders of this territory,16 usefully demarcating them for us today, at

least in outline. Consequently, this tribe, too, is well evidenced.

Figure 22 The Romano-British extent of the territories of the Brigantes and t h eCarveti, showing civitas capitals of the Brigantes and Carveti and Romano-British dedications to possible 'tribaldeities'.The distributionof dedications to Bregans and Brigantia (open c i r c l e c o u l d r e p r e s e n t Brigantian territory; those to Belacudatrus (filled circle) could represent the Carvetian area. (Based on Jones and Mattingly, 1990.) Filled square = Carvetian civitas capital at Carlisle; open square = Brigantian c i t a scapital at A l d b o r o u g h .

.4 Ibid., 365. . Jarrett and J. C. Mann,'The Tribes of Wales', Welsh History Review, 4 (1968-69), 5. M. G 161-74.

6. Rivet and Smith, PNRB, passim, especially 419-20. 7. For Pre-Roman Iron-Age pottery in Wales see: M. L. Jones, Societya n dSettlement in Wales and the Marches 500 BC to AD 1100 (2 vols, 1984), I1, 221-5; Jones and

Mattingly,Atlas, 50-5.

8. Rivet and Smith, PNRB, 331; Jones, Society and Settlement, 31. 9. Rivet and Smith, PNRB, 231 and 331; G. Webster, "The Lead-Mining Industry in North Wales in Roman Times', Flintshire Historical Society, 1 3 (1952-3), 5-33 (22-4); . Whittick and G . Clement, 'Roman Lead-Mining on Mendip and in North see also G

Wales: A Reappraisal', Brit, 13 (1982), 113-23; S.S. Free, M. Roxan, and R. S. O .

Tomlin (eds), The Roman Inscriptions of Britain Vol. II. Instrumentum Domesticum (1990), 53-6. 10. Jarrett and Mann, 'The Tribes of Wales'. 11. Webster, "The Lead-Mining Industry', 22-4; see also Whittick and Clement,'Roman Lead-Mining'; F. Gale, 'The Iron Age', in The Archaeology of Clwyd (1991), 82-96;

Ordnance Survey, Map of Southern Britain in the Iron Age, 2nd edn. (1975). 12. Rivet and Smith, PNRB, 324-5, and 107.

13. 14. 15. 16.

G. Webster, The Cornovi 2nd ed. (1991), 19 and 22. Rivet and Smith, PNRB, 459-60 and 493. Ibid., 332, 422 and 107.

Jones, Society and Settlement, II, maps 13 (415) and 14 (416).

The extent of the lands of the Durotriges and Dobunni are probably shown by the existence of coins, and by Ptolemy's account.17 To their west were the Dumnoni, who are negatively defined by Durotrigan territory; the testimony of Ptolemy shows them to have occupied the whole o f the s o u t h - w e s t e r n p e n i n s u l a .8

In the north, dedications to local deities in the Eden valley may suggest that the Carveti had a pre-Roman existence, probably as a sub-group of

the Brigantes (fig. 22).19 The Brigantes are referred to in Ptolomyand ni 17. L . Sellwood, "Tribal Boundaries from numismaticevidence', i n Aspectsof the IronAge . Cunliffe and D. Miles (1980), 191-204 (figs 13.11 in Central Southern Britain, eds B and 13.17); Rivet and Smith, PNRB, 339-40, 352-3 and 107; Jones and Mattingly, Atlas, 54-5.

avie, nad Snit. H ghiam and Band nes. ehT Carveli (1383), 9-13; Dedications ot 15. B Brigantian deities overlap with the postulated Carvetian tribal area: Jones and Mattingly, Atlas, 279 map 8:16.

100

Civitas to Kingdom

Civitates and Kingdoms

101

Roman conquest-period texts.20 We have already seen that the Roman town of Aldborough later held their tribal name (Isurium Brigantum). In addition, the worship of a pair of deities - Bregans and Brigantia - seems to have been distinctly Brigantian, so the distribution of dedications to

them may show us the extent of the Brigantes' territory (see fig. 22).21

Located to the south-east of the Brigantes by Ptolemy lay the Parisi, who had a distinctive material culture in the Pre-Roman Iron Age.?? To the

0?

Brigantes

south of both of these tribes, the same textual sources enable us to locate the Corietalaui (once called by modern scholars, the Coritani), Iceni,

P a r i s

Trinovantes, Catuvellauni, Atrebates, Cantiaci and Regni; and the latter

six tribes produced pre-Roman coins, also helping us to define their late pre-Iron Age territories.23

So, for thelate Pre-Roman Iron-Age we can, with some confidence, draw a map locating the major tribes and defining their extent in the

G

r

a

n

n

i

c

e

C o r t et a u v i

C o r n o v i

most general of terms. Mapping this tribal background is, as we shall see, important for understanding later developments. In the Roman period most existing pre- Roman tribal divisions were

40

I C e n t

50

6 S

m a i n t a i n e d as civitates (tribal a d m i n i s t r a t i v e districts) t h r o u g h o u t the

lowland zone (fig. 23).24 Only the Ordovices do not seem to have become a civitas, and had no Roman towns: they may have had a different, tribal,

Catuvellauni

Trinovantes

17°

Dobunni

status.

100

Silures3 ,

It is occasionally claimed that other civitates existed by the end of the fourth century, but the evidence for this is very w e a k . In the fourth cen-

@16

tury, although still used in the sense of 'administrative district', civitas

C a n t i a c i

took on a secondary meaning in the terminology of Late R o m a npolitical

Belgae a

geography, indicating 'an administrative centre'26 Almost any town

1

Regni Durotriges

could be called a civitas in the fourth century, so it is unwise to place sig-

Dumnonti 120,

nificance on fourth-century inscriptions purporting to identify 'new'

913 g

Shere?

civitates. T h e s e m a y be evidence for no more t h a n the administrative role of the place r e f e r r e d to.

On this basis we might, then, be sceptical of the existence as civitates of textually unattested instances evidenced only by a single fourth-century inscription. On these grounds we must omit from our map the civitas of

Figure 23 Romano-Britishcivitates. The Ordovices, although probably not

the Durotriges Lindinienses, although it is referred to on two inscriptions.27

a civitas, are also shown, as are the Deceangli. Civitas capitals are num bered: 1 Carlisle, 2 Aldborough, 3 Brough-on-Humber, 4 Wroxeter, 5 Leicester, 6 Caistor-by-Norwich, 7 C a r m a r t h e n ,8 C a e r w e n t , 9 Cirencester, 10 St Albans, 11 Silchester, 12 Exeter, 13 Dorchester, 14 Winchester, 15

T h e l a t t e r n e e d a t t e s t no more t h a n an e n h a n c e d a d m i n i s t r a t i v e role for 20. Rivet and Smith, PNRB, 278-80. 21. Ibid., 379-80; Jones and Mattingly, Atlas, 279 map 8:16. . Ramm, 22. Rivet and Smith, PNRB, 435-6; Jones and Mattingly, Atlas, 56 map 3:14; H

Chichester, 16 Canterbury. Chelmsford was probably no longer the civitas

capital o f the Trinovantes by the fourth century: I have shown Colchester (17), its likely successor, as an open circle.

The Parisi (1978), 12-25.

23. Jones and Mattingly, Atlas, 50-3 and 55; Rivet and Smith, PNRB, 259-60, 299-300,

304-5, 324, 373-5, 445-6 and 475-6; R. S. O. Tomlin, 'Non Coritani sed Corieltauvi' Ant J, 63 (1983), 352-5.

the

Late

Roman town of Lindinis (Ichester) in its surrounding

24. Frere, Britannia, 192. Contrary to Frere's view, there is no reason to assume that the

Durotrigan civitas, not a separate polity.

25. E.g. K . Branigan, The Roman Villa in south-west England (1977), 17.

evidenced in Roman textual sources is the civitas of the Belgae, centred

Cantiaci were a new formation of the R o m a n period.

26. S. Bassett, 'Churches in Worcester before and after the conversion of the Anglo-Saxons', Ant J, 69 (1989), 225-56 (228 and refs cited in n. 12, p. 248). For a discussion of the

meaning of 'civitas in Roman and sub-Roman Gaul see, E . James, The Origins of France (1982), 45-6 and 48, who notes its increasing use for 'city'.

27. Rivet and Smith, PNRB, 352-3.

The one polity newly formed in the Roman period, which is well-

on Venta Belgarum (Winchester).28 This lay between what had been 28. Rivet and Smith, PNRB, 267and 492; M. Millett, TheRomanisation o fBritain (1990), 68.

102

Civitates and Kingdoms

Civitas to Kingdom

Dobunnic and Durotrigan lands, and was probably a product of the political management of the new province of Britannia in the Roman Conquest p e r i o d . 29

Another Roman innovation in the political geography of Britain was the allotment of territoria. These were areas governed from the urban

centre appertaining to the coloniae (veterans' settlements) at York,

Gloucester, Lincoln and Colchester.30 Other towns, too, probably had territories dependent on them - it is certainly difficult to believe that London controlled none of its hinterland - but none well-evidenced in R o m a n Britain.31

On a still smaller scale, the widespread adaptation of the villa-economy

probably led to the equally widespread adoption of a formalized estate

structure, with well-defined legal and, perhaps, written boundaries.32 In contrast, the pagi of Roman Britain - local administrative units, probably larger than estates, and smaller than civitates - may well have derived from pre-Roman groupings, or have been based on pre-existing local identities.33 Apart from the mere fact of their existence, however, little si

103

and Vo r t i p o rof Dyed.36 Another polity, ruled by Aurelius Caninus, may have lain between Dyfed and Gwynedd (for most scholars agree that Gildas's Maglocunus was Maelgwn of Gwynedd).37

Working from the textually reconstructable ninth-century political

geography of Wales, we might think that fi Gildas listed the kings geo-

graphically, his Cuneglasus could have been ruling in either Ceredigion or Powys,38 while Aurelius Caninus perhaps ruled in Glywysing or Brycheiniog.39 In a sixth-century setting, as we have seen, there would have been other polities further to the east of Glywysing and Brycheiniog, and it is doubtful whether Ceredigion was even in existence at this date. Although Gildas makes it clear that there were at least six

kingdoms in sub-Roman Britain, and that these included Dumnonia and Dyfed, his De Excidio does not give us information enabling us to locate the other kingdoms. O t h e r t e x t u a l s o u r c e s and e p i g r a p h i c evidence

k n o w n of t h e m .

Having outlined, albeit briefly, the Pre-Roman Iron-Age and RomanoBritish background, ti is now possible to consider the political geography of sub-Roman Britin. This will be done using twoapproaches. First, the textual and epigraphic evidence will be considered: this provides us with a framework political structure. Second, the archaeological evidence will

political geography of sub-Roman Britain. The Welsh genealogies, 01 while purporting to relate to this period, are fraughtwithmany problems, as DavidDumville and MollyMiller have shown. 11 It is hard to know, at least without modern analysis as yet unavailable, what relates to the

T H E TEXTUAL AND E P I G R A P H I C S O UR C E S

sixth century, for example,and what to the ninth century (or even later), and results from political or scholarly manipulation. Even if we were to accept that all the genealogies purporting to relate to the fifth, sixth and seventh centuries were those of dynasties which

Gildas's De Excidio a n d the sub-Roman politics o f B r i t a i n

could we determine the seat or seats from which those dynasties ruled, in

be evaluated, confirming and clarifying it.

The most extensive text to survive from sub-Roman Britain containing a description of contemporary politics is Gildas's De Excidio Britanniae. In this text Gildas mentions only two kingdoms by name, despite the fact that he refers to five kings and implies the existence of a sixth. He directly names Dumnonia,34 or as he calls it - presumably making a pun Damnonia, and the Demetae.3 Many attempts have been made to locate the territories ruled by the

other kings he mentioned in his text, between Constantine of Dumnonia 29. Millett, The Romanisation, 65-8.

30. Rivet and Smith, PNRB, 294-5, 355-7, 368-9, and 393; Millett, The Romanisation, 55-87. For territoria and the structure of provincial government see, G. Burton, 'Government and the Provinces', in Wacher, TRB, I, 423-39.

31. Burton, 'Government', 426. . Turner, A ' writing tablet from Somerset', Journal of Roman 32. See Chapter 1. E. G Studies, 46 (1956), 115-18.

33.

There are very few other textual sources for the reconstruction of the

Millett, The Romanisation,

34. Gildas, DE, II.28. 3 5 .b i d … .1 3 1 .

150.

actually existed in those centuries, how could we possibly tell in what way kingdoms coincided with the dynasties?? fI this were possible, how order to locate their kingdoms?

Nor are Annales Cambrice a usable source for this period of Welsh history. They may be retrospective prior to the late eighth century, according to Kathleen Hughes, and so need contain no relevant sixth- and seventh-

36. E.g. Thomas, CIRB, 251-2 and 269.

. N . Dumville, 'Gildas and Maelgwn: problems of dating', ni Gildas: 37. For example: D

New Approaches, eds M. Lapidge and D. Dumville (1984), 51-9 (52). 38. Ibid., 57-9. 39. That is, between Constantine in Dumnonia and Vortipor in Dyed. 40. P. C. Bartrum (ed.), Early Welsh Genealogical Tracts (1966); P. C. Bartrum, Welsh Genealogies AD . . 300-1400 (8 vols, 1974-1980). 41. D. N. Dumville, 'Kingship, genealogies and regnal lists', in Early Medieval Kingship,

. Miller, 'Date-guessing and pedigrees', eds P. H. Sawyer and I. N. Wood (1977), 72-104; M

SC, 10/11 (1975/6), 96-109; 'Date-guessing and Dyfed', SC, 12/13 (1977/8), 33-61; and 'Forms and uses of pedigrees', Transactions of the Honourable Society o fCymmrodorion (1978), 195-206.

42. W. Davies, Wales in the Early Middle Ages (1982), 102-3 for t h edifficulties in relating even k n o w n rivers to territories.

104

Civitates and Kingdoms

Civitas to Kingdom

century information. 4 3 The Irish annals seldom refer to British events, and when they do mention Britons the references are usually to those of Strathclyde and so outside our area of interest here; Continental sources are, of course, devoid of relevant material. 11 Nor are Welsh poetic sources useful for reconstructing sub-Roman political history. 1 The poetry concerning Cynddylan has sometimes been taken as a source for the seventh century. 61 But the poetry itself n e e d d a t e from a period n o e a r l i e r t h a n the n i n t h c e n t u r y - a n d could

even be later.47 Wendy Davies, taking an optimistic view, has argued that t h e s e p o e m s d o s h o w the activities of the p r i n c e s of Powys in t h e s e v e n t h

century, even suggesting a bipartite sixth-century Powys.18 Until this poetry has been satisfactorily dated we have no evidence to suggest that

such divisions did indeed exist at that early date.

Place-names may, however, shed some light on political geography.

Glywysing, Ceredigion and Brycheiniog belong to a group of Welsh names having territorial suffixes which (Melville Richards has argued)

are pre-ninth-century. 9 This combination of personal names and suffixes indicates the involvement of individuals - Glywys, Ceredig and Brychan - in these kingdoms, but tells us nothing of their extent. This

involvement was at an early date, to judge from the first attestations of

these names in the early ninth century, and it is possible that these are the names of dynastic founders, as has been generally assumed. There

is an attested example of this in the instance of Morgannwg in the later tenth century.5 This does not, however, assist us in identifying the territories controlled by each kingdom. Otherwise, the names of the over-kingdoms are not usually helpful in determining their history. As we have seen, Dyed and Dumnonia are

tribal names of Pre-Roman Iron-Age origin.51 As mentioned in Chapter 3, Gwynedd may derive from the cognate of Irish *Fenni, from *Venni

(related to modern Menai) or from *Veneti. The *Veneti were a PreRoman Iron-Age tribe but are known only from Armorica, although there are often 'doubled' tribal names in Ptolemy's geography - for example, 43. K. Hughes, Celtic Britain in the Early Middle Ages. Studies in Scottish and Welsh Sources (1980); D. N. Dumville, 'Sub-Roman Britain: history and legend', History, 62 (1977), 173-92. 44. J. Bannerman, Studies in the History of Dalriada (1974), 24-5; P. Sims-Williams,

'Gildas and the Anglo-Saxons', CMCS, 6 (1983),1-30. . N . Dumville, 'Palaeographical consid45. Davies, Wales in the Early MiddleAges, 210; D . erations in the dating of early Welsh verse', BBCS, 27 (1976-8), 246-51; D. N Dumville, 'Early Welsh poetry: problems of historicity', in Early WelshPoetry: studies

in the Book of Aneirin, ed. B. F. Roberts (1988), 1-16; J .T. Koch, 'When was Welsh literature first written down?', SC, 20/21 (1985/6), 43-66.

46. Davies, Wales in the Early Middle Ages, 99-102. On this poetry in general now, see J. Rowland, Early Welsh saga poetry (1990).

47. Davies, Wales ni the Early Middle Ages, 210; Dumville, 'Palaeographical considerations'. 48. Davies, Wales in the Early Middle Ages, 99-102. 49. M . Richards, 'Early Welsh territorial suffixes', Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland, 95 (1965), 205-12

50. Davies, Wales in the Early Middle Ages, 103.

51. Rivet a n d S m i t h . P I R B . 333 a n d 3 4 2 - 3 .

105

Dumnonii.52 Powys, also discussed in the previous chapter, derives from pagenses, a common Late-Latin noun, and is equally uninformative.53 Gwent, which, we have already seen, derives from Gwlad Venta (the 'land

of Caerwent'), and perhaps indicates a kingdom dependent upon the town of Venta Silurum, is the only Roman place-name included in the name of a sub-Roman over-kingdom. It is on onomastic grounds, however, that Charles T h o m a s has

argued that Cornwall was an independent fifth- to sixth-century king-

dom. Although the name Cornovi does occur elsewhere in the PreRoman Iron-Age,$6 Cornwall (Cornovia) is not evidenced as a territorial unit prior to the ninth century.56 Ptolemy lists Land's End as Dumnonium Promontorium 57 and no Roman period textual source gives any indication of Cornwall being a separate area from the rest of Dumnonia, which certainly extended to Exeter (Isca Dumnoniorum).58

Consequently, although the name Cornovi could have been used for Cornwall prior to the ninth century, no textual source indicates that the

western part of Dumnonia had a separate political identity at this time.

The only supporting argument on archaeological grounds would be fi one were to assign a political significance to the distribution of the small

(usuallv univallate) hill-slope e n c l o s u r e s called 'rounds'.59 S o poorly

understood is the character of Roman-Period settlement in Devon that it

is probable, but not yet certain, that such sites were common there.60 In any case, their absence from the moorlands of inland Devon is perhaps of little significance, as they are largely absent even from intensivelysurveyed Bodmin Moor.61 Even if Cornwall was a distinct kingdom in the fifth to seventh centuries, this need only have been as an interme-

diate grade of sub-kingdom, between the small hundred-sizesub-kingdoms

(to be discussed in the next chapter) and the larger over kingdom of Dumnonia.62

Another textually-based approach, introduced by Wendy Davies, is to

map places associated with the Welsh dynasties from the sixth to twelfth

centuries, as a possible source for the location of major sub-Roman

kingdoms (fig. 24.63 These include the seven bishop-houses of 52. L. Alcock, 'The Irish Sea Zone in the Pre-Roman Iron Age', in The Iron Age in the Irish Sea Province, ed. C . Thomas (1972), 99-112 (102 and fig. 21).

53. C. Thomas, Celtic Britain(1986), 116.

54. C. Thomas, 'The character and origins of Roman Dumnonia', in Rural Settlement in

55. 56. 57. 58.

Roman Britain, ed. C. Thomas (1966), 74-98 (86-7). Rivet and Smith, PNRB, 324-5. Thomas, "The characterand origins', 86. Rivet and Smith, PNRB, 344. Ibid., 342-4, especially 325.

59. .N Johnson and P. Rose, 'DefendedSettlement in Cornwall - an illustrated discussion', ni . Miles (2 vols, 1982), I, 151-207. The Romano-British Countryside, ed. D

60. M. Todd, The South-West to A.D. 1000 (1987), 227-8.

61. A . Preston-Jones and P . Ros., 'Medieval Cornwall', Cornish Archaeology, 52 (1986), . Quinnell, 'Cornwall during the Iron Age and Roman 135-85 (140 fig. 3, and 142); H Period', Cornish Archaeology, 25 (1986), 111-34 (115 and 122).

62. See Chapter 5.

63. Davies, Wales in the Early Middle Ages, 97.

106

Civitas to Kingdom

C i v i t a t e sa n d K i n g d o m s

107

Dyfed,& Dinefwr, Aberffraw, the inscribed stones mentioning Vortipor and Catamanus, Chester, Bangor, Degannwy, and the Pillar of Elise in Powys.6 More tentatively we might add Mathrafal, although the textual

evidence for the site is post-Norman in date. 6 Narrative history is almost non-existent for the fifth to seventh

centuries, but Anglo-Saxon texts may give some hope (in their emphasis on warfare with the British kingdoms) of reconstructing something of sub-Roman political geography.67 The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle's entry for AD 577 states that Gloucester, Bath and Cirencester were taken after the battle of Dyrham (fig. 25). It would initially seem a straightforward notice

of a political event, however approximate its dating, but Hawkes has suggested that the presence of distinctively Anglo-Saxon artefacts from

Cirencester disproves this.68 The sixth-century artefacts from within

Cirencester do not necessarily have Germanic affinities, and, although

some artefacts with stronger Germanic affinities are known from the sur-

rounding area,69 alternative explanations - the employment of mercenaries

or piecemeal low-status Anglo-Saxon settlement - might fit this evidence as well as political conquest. 7 In any case, evidence from South Cadbury and Dinas Powys, for example, shows that 'Anglo-Saxon' artefacts were used on British settlements in this period, in contexts where AngloSaxon political control is improbable." This textual evidence might, therefore, lead us to consider the possibility of a British kingdom in this area.

Ecclesiastical dioceses might also preserve the outlines of British

polities.The Anglo-Saxon diocese of Worcester, containing the three

towns (Gloucester, Bath and Cirencester), almost certainly reflects the

bounds of the late seventh-century kingdom of Hwicce (see fig. 25).72 This in turn may, as Della Hooke has argued, continue the limits of a British kingdom which it succeeded.73 As this area was also that of the Pre-Roman Iron-Age Dobunnic coinage, it may be that this was the same kingdom? re-emerged in a post-Roman context, although the presence 20 km 15 m i l e s

64. T. M . Charles-Edwards, 'The Seven Bishop-houses of Dyfed', BBCS, 24 (1970-72), 247-62.

65. Davies, Wales in the EarlyMiddle Ages, 98; Nash-Williams,ECMW, st. nos. 138 and 13.

Figure 24 Dynastic indicators in Wales: places associated with the Welsh dynasties. (Based on Davies, 1982. Filled square = Gwynedd, and the Ordous inscription; open circle = Gwent; filled circle = Dyed; filled triangle = Pows.

66. N. Edwards and A . Lane, Early Medieval Settlements in Wales AD 400-1100 (1988), 92. 67. This si especially the case regarding the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. However, note the critique of this evidence in: P. Sims-Williams, ' T h eSettlementof England in Bede

. Whitelock et al. (eds), and the Chronicle', Anglo-Saxon England, 12 (1983), 1-41; D

The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. A Revised Translation (1961, revised 1965).

68. S. C .Hawkes, "The Early Saxon Period Evidence', in The Archaeologyof the Oxford . Briggs et al. (1986), 64-108 (82). Region, eds G . Brown, 'Archaeological Evidence for the Anglo-Saxon Period', in Archaeologyand 69. D History of Cirencester, ed. A . McWhirr(1976), 19-45.

70. Gildas denounced his contemporary kings for making treaties with the (Anglo-Saxon) enemy: Gildas, DE, III.92. 71. Dark, Discovery. For the area under Anglo-Saxon control see, J. Hines, 'Philology, archaeology, and the Adventus Saxonum vel Anglorum', in Britain 400-600:Language and History, eds A . Bammesberger and A. Wollmann (Heidelburg, 1990), 17-36 (34-6). 72. D. Hooke, The Anglo-Saxon Landscape (1985), 12-17, and figs 1 and 2.

73. Ibid., fig. 74. Sellwood, 'Tribal Boundaries', figs. 13.11 and 13.17; Wacher. TRB. 155.

108

Civitates and Kingdoms

Civitas to Kingdom

109

of the three cyningas (kings) at the battle of Dyrham could suggest that this area was not a single sub-Roman polity.? This need not be the case; these cyningas may have had the status of sub-kings, or co-rulers, or their s t a t u s m a y have b e e n i n c o r r e c t l y reported.76 T h e s u b t l e t i e s o f sub-

Roman politics may have been unintelligible to a ninth-century AngloSaxon, and we do not know what were the seventh-century (or later) sources upon which such an entry was based. The possibility that the cyningas were allies, not all from the same kingdom, must also be considered. Despite these reservations, the textual evidence suggests the possibility that the Dobunnic c i t a s may have become a kingdom in the fifth c e n t u r y.

The Irish Annals form another possible source. Both Bede and Irish annalistic evidence suggest that a king of Powys died fighting in t h ebattle of Chester in the early seventh century.?? This evidence may perhaps suggest that Powys extended to Chester, unless Northumbria extended across

the Pennines at this time. Bede, himself, does not give us evidence of

British kingdoms by name, although he refers to Cadwallon (usually taken to be the king of Gwynedd), active in the early seventh century and

clearly a powerful ruler. Bede's reference to Aldhelm's letter to King

Gerontius of Dumnonia (circa AD 700) presumably relates to the kingdom which Gildas, in his De Excidio, had referred to in the sixth century;

similarly, the Demetae, also mentioned by Aldhelm, presumably relates to the group of this name in Gildas's De Excidio.78 But neither of these

Wansdyke

references define the extent of the kingdoms concerned. T h e s o u r c e s for the British N o r t h are even fewer. I n s c r i b e d s t o n e s are

rare, 79 and textual sources referring to the sub-Roman Brigantes and Pa rr

C a r v e t i i by n a m e are n o n - e x i s t e n t . T h e s a m e c a n be said a b o u t the C a t u v e l l a u n i ; t h e r e are n o w r i t t e n s o u r c e s e v e n to i n d i c a t e that t h e y

et t

existed, unless the enigmatic Calchuynynydd is a reference to this kingdom preserved in poetry.8 There are no inscribed stones from their territory. The reason for this lack of evidence may be found in the rapid, and

'early' conquest of these areas.81 Although ti seems that those areas o c c u p i e d by A n g l o - S a x o n s e t t l e r s b e f o r e the e n d o f the fifth c e n t u r y

20km

show some evidence of continuity between sub-Roman and Anglo-Saxon occupation,82 both the Catuvellaunianand Brigantian polities lie in areas conquered in the later sixth to seventh centuries, probably by violent

10 m i l e s

Figure 25 A possible Dobunnic kingdom in the fifth/sixth centuries AD.

75. Davies, Wales in the Early Middle Ages, 95 and 232 n. 34. Davies, Wales in the Early Middle Ages, 9 8and 112.

Broken line indicates the boundary of the Anglo-Saxond i o c e s eof Worcester.

76.

in the Dark Ages.) Open squares = Places associated with Anglo-Saxon Chronicle entry for

Mynors (1969), 202-3 and 212-13. 78. M . Lapidge and M . Herren, Aldhelm:the Prose Works (1979), 140-3, and 155-8. 79. R. A. S. Macalister,Corpus InscriptorumInsularum Celticarum (2 vols, Dublin, 1945/9), I.

(Based on Hooke, 1985. Wansdyke based on Ordnance Survey Map of Britain

AD 577, 1 = Gloucester, 2 = Cirencester, 3 = Dyrham, 4 = Bath. Iron Age Dobunnic coinage: filled circles = Coins of Corio. Other Dobunnic coinage

concentrates in the area of the later Anglo-Saxon diocese.

77. Bede's Ecclesiastical History of the English People, eds B. Colgrave and R . A . B .

80. K . R . Davis, Britons and Saxons. The Chiltern region 400-700 (1982), 43and 46. 81.

Hines, 'Philology', 34-6; K . R . Dark, 'A sub-Roman re-defence of Hadrian's Wall?', Brit, 23 (1992), 111-20.

82. E.g., although even it is not compelling, the clearest case ofcontinuity o foccupation in

eastern England seems to be at Canterbury; P. Bennett, 'Canterbury', in The Saxon Shore, ed. V . A . Maxfield(1989), 118-29 (128); D . A . Brooks, "Thecase f o rcontinuity i n

E f t hc

o

n

t

,

C o n t o r h a w s

r e - e v o w i n e d '

O . I A

7 (1099)

1 5 0

110

Civitates a n d K i n g d o m s

Civitas to Kingdom

111

invasions. It i s likely,b a s e d on Tom Williamson's work on the continuity of field systems,83 that these territories saw more disruption in tenurial terms than those occupied earlier by the Anglo-Saxons. Historical evidence seems to suggest that the conquest of the British North was both rapid a n d violent.84

Epigraphic evidence is of use in other areas. A Class- I inscription from

Penmachno (Caernarvo nshire) refers to a Venedos cives (*citizen of

Gwynedd'), while one from Penbryn (Cardiganshire)mention s an Ordous

(Ordovician); both inscriptions are apparently of mid-sixth-ce ntury to

early seventh-century date (fig. 26).85 Vortipor, either the king of Dyfed mentioned by Gildas or, perhaps, a member of the same dynasty, was commemorated by an inscription, presumably within his own kingdom at Castell Dwyran (Carmarthenshire).& An inscription at St Dogmaels (Pembrokeshire) contains a previously unrecognized patronymic: Demeti, presumably 'ofa Demetian'87 Also unrecognized has been the significance of what isprobably the tribal name 'Dobunni', inscribed on the stone from Buckland Monachorum (Devon), perhaps attesting the existence of the Dobunnic polity at, or near, the time ofmanufac ture.88 These are the only relevant Class-I stones unless one takes the Elmetiaco, referred to on astone from North Wales, to be a reference to CantrefElfed in Dyed rather than to Elmet in the Leeds area, and includes Brigomaglos on the Vindolanda Class-I inscription.89 The latter name could be claimed to

relate to the tribal name 'Brigantes'. Nevertheless, although these inscriptions were, almost certainly, not all erected within the kingdoms and to which they refer, they may enable us to infer that the Ordovices Dobunni were still inexistence (or had recently been so), at or close to the date of the inscriptio ns mentionin g them.

On the basis of this textual and epigraphic evidence alone one might

postulate nine majorkingdoms seven of which probably had RomanoBritish predecessors (fig. 27).

Figure 26 TheOrdous inscription (Nash-Williams, ECMW, stone no. 126).

Copyright RCAHMW.

83. .T Williamson, 'Parish boundaries and early fields: continuity and discontinuity', Journalo fHistorical Geography, 12 (1986), 241-8.

. Dumville, "The origins ofNorthumbria: someaspects of the British background', . N 84. D in Bassett, OAK,213-22.

. R . Dark, "Towards a Post-numerate 85. Nash-Williams, ECMW,st. nos. 103 and 126; K

'Taxonomy', Nicolay (Oslo,1987), 41-9;see also Appendix 2.

86. Davies, Wales int h e Early MiddleAges, 97 fig. 136; Nash-Williams, ECMW, st. no. 138; P. Sims-Williams, 'Dating the Transition to Neo-Brittonic: Phonology and History, . . Bammesburger and A 400-600', in Britain 400-600:Language and History, eds A Wollmann (Heidelberg, 1990), 217-61 (236). 87. Nash Williams, ECMW, st. no. 390. 88. Macalister, CorpusInscriptorum, I, s.t no. 428, Buckland Monachorum, 467-8; NashWilliams, ECMW, s.t no. 390. 89. Rivet and Smith,PNRB, 339, accept that the Dobunni ofMacalisterstone number 428 derived from the tribal name, without observing upon the chronological or historical importance of this. The Elmetiaco stone is Nash-Williams, ECMW,s t . no. 87. For the . Jackson, 'Brigomaglos and St Briog', Archaeologia . H Vindolanda stone see, K

1. a kingdom of G w y n e d d in north-west Wa l e s 2. a k i n g d o m of Powys o n the We l s h b o r d e r s

3. a kingdom of Ceredigion in west-central Wales 4. a k i n g d o m of Brycheiniog in the B r e c o n a r e a

5. a kingdom of D y e d in south-west Wales 6. ak i n g d o m of Dumnonia in south-west England a n d possibly:

7. a Dobunnic kingdom in the Bath-Gloucester-Cirencester area 8. a kingdom of Gwent in south-east Wales

9. a kingdom of Glywysing, between Gwent and Dyfed.

This picture is confirmed, expanded, and clarified by archaeological sources, which also help t o define the kingdoms of the British North and East.

112

Civitates and Kingdoms

Civitas to Kingdom

113

Many archaeologists and historians will, however, be aware that 'New

Archaeologists' of t h e 1960s were extremelyoptimistic about their ability to d e l i n e a t e political units.

In the 1960s, methods (now discredited, but then acclaimed) for defining

territories dependent upon locational analysis were introduced into archaeology from geography.91 An example is the use of Thiessen polygons, which were employed in an extremely simplistic fashion and often poorly understood, taking no account of landscape or the dominance of

one site over another.92 Others drew on the anthropological evidence of burial at territorial boundaries to provide information about the location

and nature of prehistoric boundaries. By the early 1980s, this method h a d sometimes s eemed t obe successful (notably in Don Spr at t's analysis

of the Yorkshire Moors' Bronze-Age barrows).93 Colin Renfrew improved

g w v n e d d

upon the simplistic use of Thiessen polygons in his provocative paper on

s wy Po

(C orn ou ll)

XTENT, a computer program combining size-rank rule (where sites are

ranked according to their area) and Thiessen polygons.* Others had already tried making the size of the Thiessen polygons dependent on

Glywysing

(silures)

Do bu nn i

~

. H. A . Hogg did this in his that of the sites at their centres, for example, A analysis of southern British hill-fort territories, and S. C. Stanford applied a similar method to Hogg's, using the sizes of the central sites to suggest the size of their territories.9 So, by the early 1980s, there was a

Gw en t

Dyfed

a nont ii Duum on mn

wide range of methods for discerning political territory from archaeological evidence but, as we shall see, none of them seem reliable.

verr

(D

The simplistic use of Thiessen polygonsin reconstructing sub- Roman British political geography is invalidated by the broken landscape, the difficulty in recognizing sites of the fifth to seventh centuries, and the possibility that political centres were located on boundaries.9 The latter w o u l dbe particularly problematical fi it was not mirrored on both sides

of the frontier, because polities might apparently 'shift' upon analysis to accommodate peripheral foci. Territories might also have had frontiers

based upon natural features, which were not equidistant from their centres,

and they might have been based upon centres not yet recognized. MoreFigure 27 The textually attested polities of sixth-century sub-Roman Britain and their Romano-British predecessors.

over, the polyfocal character of textually known kingdoms in seventhcentury Scotland and Northumbria, which had many 'capitals' not only one, invalidates this approach.97

ARCHAEOLOGICAL SOURCES

91. As exemplified by, .I Hodder and C .Orton, Spatialanalysis ni archaeology (1976),

Approaches to recognizing t e r r i t o r i e s

92. C. Renfrew (ed.), Approaches to Social Archaeology (1984), 57. 93. D. A. Spratt, 'Prehistoric boundaries on the North Yorkshire Moors', in Prehistoric CommunitiesIn Northern England, ed. G. Barker (1981),87-104.

although not itself a work of the 1960s.

Prior to employing archaeological evidence in reconstructing the kingdoms

of sub-Roman Britain, it is necessary to examine how archaeologicaldata can be u s e d to provide i n f o r m a t i o n on t h e e x t e n t o f political territories.

Archaeological material has long been recognized as bearing a relationship,i n part, to political identity and geography - a correlation made long before the theoretical revolution of the 1960s.90

94. C . Renfrew and E. V . Level, 'Exploring Dominance: Predicting Polities From Centres', ni Approaches to Social Archaeology, C. Renfrew (1984), 54-79. 95. S.C. Stanford, 'The Function and Population of Hill-forts ni thecentral Marches, ni Prehistoric Man in Wales and the West,eds F . LynchandC . Burgess (1972), 307-20; A . H. A . Hogg 'Some applications of surface fieldwork', in The Iron Age and its Hill-Forts, eds M. Jesson a n dD. Hill (1971), 105-25. 96. For the peripheral location of politicalcentress e e ,P .O'Rain, 'Boundary Association in Early Irish Society', SC, 7 (1972), 12-29. 97. L. Alcock, "The activities of potentates in Celtic Britain, AD 500-800: a positivist approach', in Power and Politics in EarlyMedievalBritain and Ireland,eds S .T. Driscoll

114

Civitates and Kingdoms

Civitas to Kingdom

This obviously raises the possibility of using polygons that incorporate the concept of natural boundaries (as proposed by Eric Grant) or accommodating the concept of the dominance of one centre over another (as in Colin Renfrew's X T E N T method).98 Renfrew suggested that this may be achieved by considering the relative population sizes of centres,

with the larger centres taken as dominant overthe smaller ones.We may

discount the possibility of ranking settlements by size alone because - on the basis of Leslie Alcock's work, and by analogy with sixth- and seventhcentury Ireland - some l i t e centres would seem to have been very small

places and lesser sites far larger.99 At Coygan Camp and Dinas Powys

the population living within the hill-forts, although clearly not large, was probably exercising 'dominance', over their local area at least. 100

The population-estimates upon which the Renfrew method depends

115

(as also evidenced by 'Eddius' Stephanus and Bede106), methods which take no account of dominance and the movement of 'important' people

are rendered invalid; and the population-density of these sites may have been seasonally dependent, as occurred, for example, in early Christian Ireland.107

More useful, perhaps, is the relationship between specific forms of material culture and political identity. Again, this is an approach employed in prehistoric archaeology, for example, Colin Burgess has attempted to reconstruct Bronze-Age tribal identity by relating preR o m a n Iron-Age t e r r i t o r i e s to B r o n z e - A g e a r t e f a c t d i s t r i b u t i o n s . 1 8 T h e

ethno-archaeological work of Ian Hodder may be important for assessing

these methods. 109 Hodder's case-studies may enable us to evaluate, to

some extent, the range of possible relationships between political identity

cannot yet reliably be made on the basis of excavated evidence for hillforts in general, as Graeme Guilbert has shown, 101 and this is especially so for sub-Roman sites. Even when considering enclosed settlements, such as hill-forts and monasteries, these did not necessarily contain a

and material-culture, but the problem here is that we have to be able to establish the political significance of the material evidence comprising the distribution prior to the analysis.

uniform p o p u l a t i o n d i s t r i b u t i o n within their enclosures.

restatement of the political significance of Pre-Roman Iron-Age coin-

The size, or even existence, of extramural settlements at these sites is

An interesting attempt to do this has been Lynn Sellwood's forceful

d i s t r i b u t i o n s . 10 T h e s e c o i n s were a l m o s t c e r t a i n l y p r o d u c e d a n d dis-

unknown. 102 No more than 10 per cent of the interior has been sampled at

tributed under élite (probably royal) control, and her approach takes into

Powys, Dinorben, Coygan Camp and Brawdy. At sites with well-preserved surface features, such as Gateholm or Tintagel, the difficulty in assessing structural contemporaneity makes population estimates based on surface

their distribution. Both Sellwood and Burgess used a datable class of

any enclosed hilltop site of the period, 13 with the exception of Dinas

e v i d e n c e u n c e r t a i n . 104

If site-size was not necessarily proportional to political importance, then establishing territorial size from hill-fort size is unlikely to be success-

ful, especially as there may also have been other, non-hill-fort forms of

political centre, such as palisaded settlements.105 Moreover, we must recognize that to reconstruct political units from settlement-patternswe

would n e e d t o be able to e s t a b l i s h the c o n t e m p o r a n e i t y of the sites

involved. As contemporary polities demonstrably had multiple centres

98. E. Grant, 'Hill-fort, Central Places, and Territories', ni Central Places, Archaeology

and History (1986), 13-26 (esp. 26); Renfrew, Approaches to Social Archaeology, 44-77. 99. L. Alcock, 'Early Historic Fortifications in Scotland', in Hill-fortStudies, ed. G. Guilbert

(1981), 150-80, (163 fig. 38, 178); R . B . Warner, "The archaeology of Early Historic Irish kingship' in, Power and Politics in Early Medieval Britain and Ireland, eds

100.

account potential natural boundaries, such as rivers, when analysing

material evidence and relate its geographically distinct distribution to the textually known, pre-Roman political structure of the areas under

study. In each case they show a high degree of correlation between the

archaeological distributions and the Iron-Age political units, seemingly confirming the validity of employing material culture to the recognition of territorial extent, in conjunction with topographical and textual data.

In historical archaeology Hayo Vierck has similarly attempted to use the distributionof pagan Anglo-Saxoncemeteries to recognizea fifth- to seventh-century existence of political groups among the early Anglo-

Saxons, known textually in the late seventh-century Tribal-Hidage.111 The related assumption that political identity is recognizable in shared attributes and/or in the non-random ordering of settlement or cemetery patterns is common to many historicalarchaeologists.112 P a t t e r n sof sites

Driscoll and Nieke (1988), 47-68 (54-5).

106. Alcock, Economy, 162-3; L. Alcock, Bede, Eddius and t h e Fortsof the North Britons

L. Alcock, Economy. Society and Warfare among the Britons and Saxons (1987), 82; Dark, Discovery.

. Edwards, The Archaeology of Early Medieval Ireland (1990), 46, 53, and 97. 107. N

(1988).

. Guilbert (1981), 104-21. Studies, ed. G

108. C. B .Burgess, 'The Bronze Age in Wales', in Culture and Environment i nPrehistoric Wales, ed. J. A. Taylor (1980), 243-86 (248).

ments on High Peak, Sidmouth, Devon', Proceedings of the Devon Archaeological Soci-

Antiquity, 44 (1979), 446-54. 110. Sellwood, "TribalBoundaries'.

. Guilbert, 101. G

'Hill-fort functions and populations: a sceptical viewpoint', in Hill-fort

102. The evidence from High Peak may hint at the existence of extramural settlements at sub-Roman western British hill-forts: S. H . M . Pollard, 'Neolithic and Dark Age Settleety, 23 (1966), 35-59 (35, 36 fig.1, 44). 103. Dark, Discovery. 104. Ibid.

105. This method was proposed in: Stanford, "The Function and Populationof Hill-forts

The point that non-hill-fort political centres, represented by palisaded sites, may have existed is made in: Alcock, 'Early historic fortifications in Scotland', 180.

109. .I Hodder; 'Social and economic stress and material culture patterning', American

111. W . Davies and H. Vierck, 'The Contexts of Tribal Hidage: Social Aggregates and . Dumville, Settlement Patterns', Frühmittelalterliche Studien, 8 (1974), 223-93; D. N "The Tribal Hidage: an introduction to its texts and their history', in Bassett, OAK, 225-30.

112. E.g. M. O. H. Carver, 'Kingship and material culture in early Anglo-Saxon East Anglia', in Bassett OAK, 141-58 (157 a n d n. 56 on p. 274).

116

Civitas to Kingdom

or artefacts which can be closely related to political identity may be more

valuable as a source in situations where boundary-zones, or physical

boundaries, separate polities. Here the broken landscape of the highland zone may prove beneficial to the recognition of borderlands between s u c h d i s t r i b u t i o n s . D u e a l l o w a n c e m u s t , h o w e v e r, be m a d e for t h e

possibility that differences in terrain may, in themselves, play a role in constraining the spatial disposition of these artefacts and sites.

Civitates and Kingdoms

alone. It may also be useful to seek distributions of other politically. related artefacts and sites. In sub-Roman western and northern Britain

these may be seen as barrows, linear earthworks and imported exotica, introduced to Britain and distributed under secular élite, perhaps royal, control.

Although the royal control of the trade may have meant that political boundaries were a constraining influence on its distribution, we do not have s u f fi c i e n t

Burial and pottery as sources for political identity

A related approach to that of Spratt and Vierck, and more closely linked to prehistoric archaeology, is the analysis of Anglo-Saxon barrow-burials in relation to later boundaries. These might be taken as the political

products of lites, asserting the legitimacy of their land-tenure; and this

has been recently supported (in its most statistical form) by Ann Goodier. 113 Nevertheless, even if there does seem to be a correlation between seventh-century estates-boundaries and Anglo-Saxon barrows themselves mainly sixth- and seventh-century in date - one wonders which came first, the boundary or the barrow(s). There is also no certainty that barrows in the Anglo-Saxon areas represented political

identity rather than religious affiliation. 14

Despite the controversy that surrounds the use of burials or burialmounds as boundary markers or as assertions of territoriality in Anglo-

Saxon archaeology, no such problem need present itself in western and northern Britain.This is, at least, true in relation to the ogom inscriptions, because there are strong textual grounds which enable ust o recognize that ogom inscriptions could be used in this way.115 Bilingual inscriptions attest contact between groups using ogom and those producing Class-I

Latin-inscribed stones. 116 There is, therefore, an obvious avenue for such concepts to enter the sub-Roman conceptual world, even outside that producing bilingual inscriptions. 17 It may, then, be a reasonable a p p r o a c h to examine the possible coincidence between Class-I inscriptions andkingdom o rcantref-boundaries. The cantrefi (Welsh hundreds) are, as we shall see in the next chapter,

themselves demonstrably of pre-ninth century date on textual grounds

117

evidence a t present

to u s e t h i s to r e c o n s t r u c t

the

boundaries themselves. We shall see that it may be used as supporting evidence, however, in the definition of territories in the West Country. The linear earthworks that have been claimed as belonging to the fifth to seventh centuries, except for Bokerley Dyke and Wansdyke, are undated, as at Clawdd Mawr in Dyfed. 18 Bokerley Dyke is simply a heightened, earlier boundary bank of, potentially, only local and temporary significance. 119 It was not necessarily refurbished in order to define a

political unit rather than for military or religious reasons.12 Only at

Wansdyke is there a more substantial and reasonably well-dated earthwork relevant to this study. This dyke would seem to pre-date the seventh century but post-date the Late Roman period or later, 121 but the e a r t h w o r k is dissimilar to known Late R o m a n fortifications. Ian B u r r o w ' s

identification of hill-forts incorporated into its line perhaps suggests a native rather than Anglo-Saxon origin, although hill-forts may have been incorporated into Offa's Dyke - probably an eighth-century Mercian work. 122

Nevertheless, Wansdyke would perhaps most readily be seen as a major native earthwork boundary of the fifth- to seventh-century and probably, for historical reasons, the fifth- to late sixth-century. 123 If so, it constitutes an important archaeological source for political reconstruction. Also crucial for political analysis is the d i s t r i b u t i o no f Class-I i n s c r i b e d

stones. The dating of these has recently been reconsidered, reaffirming a late fifth- to seventh-century date for the main series, with a few late

outliers perhaps into the eighth- to ninth-centuries, and a brief (anachro-

nistic?) revival of the tradition in the twelfth century in north Wales. 124 It has not previously been recognized that the overall distribution of fifth- to seventh-century Class-I inscribed stones falls into four spatial

118. Davies, Wales in the Early Middle Ages, 95. 119. P. A . Rahtz A ' n excavation on Bokerley Dyke, 1958, Arch J, 118 (1961), 65-99; H . .C

. Goodier. "The Formation of Boundaries in Anglo-Saxon England: A Statistical 113. A

Study', Med Arch, 28 (1984), 1-21; but now see the extensive study by P. Reilly, Com-

puter analysis o fan archaeological landscape (1988).

114. W . Filmer-Sankey, 'Snape', Current Archaeology, 118 (1990), 348-52 (352); and 'Anew boat burial from the Snape Anglo-Saxon cemetery, Suffolk', in Maritime Celts, Frisians and Saxons, ed. S. McGrail (1990), 126-34 (133). For the cemetery at Snape, see W. Filmer-Sankey, 'Snape Anglo-Saxon cemetery: the current state of knowledge', in Carver, ASH, 39-51.

. Charles-Edwards, 'Boundaries in Irish Law', in Medieval Settlement: Continuity 115. .T M and Change, ed.P.H .Sawyer(1976), 83-7.

116. C. A. R. Radford The Early Christian Inscriptions of Dumnonia (1975), 7-8. 117. Radford, The Early Christian Inscriptions, 8.

Bowen, The archaeology of Bokerley Dyke (1990). That Bowenhas shown this to be, in origin, a prehistoric boundary does n o t necessitate enduring maintenance. 120. Bowen, The archaeology of Bokerley Dyke, 39-41, concludes t h a tthe dyke was located to follow a line established in prehistory; this should dissuade us from necessarily assigning a post-Roman political significance to it.

121. Alcock, Economy, 310. 122. .I Burrow, Hillfort and hill-top settlement in Somerset in the first to eighth Centuries AD

(1981), 80-4; D. Hill, 'Offa's and Wat's Dykes', in The Archaeology of Cluyd, eds J. Manley, S. Grenter and F . Gale (1991), 142-56 (155). 123. N . .J Higham, 'Gildas, the Roman Walls, and British Dykes', CMCS, 32 (1991), 1-14.

124. K. R. Dark, 'Epigraphic, arthistorical, and historical approaches to t h e chronology of

class I inscribed stones', in Edwards and Lane, The early Church (1992), 51-61; and "Towards a Post-Numerate Taxonomy

118

Civitas to Kingdom

Civitates and Kingdoms

119

'Glywysing' group stops conveniently at the River Usk, where Gwent might be expected to begin on the basis of the cantref-boundaries.126

It is interesting that Ceredigion does not show up as a separate unit in

this pattern, since Wendy Davies has suggested that the kingdom of

Ceredigion may have been a foundation of the seventh or eighth

centuries. 127 A terminus ante quem for its foundation is perhaps given by its mention in Annales Cambriae, sub anno 807.128 Although, as already noted, clearly not all the inscriptions mentioning tribal groups were erected within the territories of those groups, it could be significant that in the distribution of such inscriptions the Ordous and Demeti stones o c c u rclose to each other. The Ordous stone is in what

was, or was later to become, Ceredigion.129 I f t h e Ordous stone

commemorates an Ordovican in his own kingdom, then the area later to

be Ceredigion was presumably either in Gwynedd or in the Ordovican

.

kingdom (as it may still have been at this date). We have seen that this area had seemingly been Demetian in the Romano-British period and before. The inclusion of the area in Ordovican territory might represent post-Roman Ordovican dynastic expansion, but the later loss of the area to Dyfed by t h e s e v e n t h c e n t u r y.

Taken on its own, the evidence of these inscriptions is, of course,

weak, but it is perhaps supported by a consideration of the distribution

of burials within rectangular surrounds (fig. 29). These are known from Llandegai, Capel Eithin, and Plas Gogerddan. 130 These enclosed burials

have been seen as church sites at Capel Eithin and Llandegai, as they are orientated and contain a single primary burial.131 At Plas Gogerddan, however, Ken Murphy's interpretat ion of the structures h a s been as

mortuary chapels, i n view of the number of them in close proximity and the presenceof an apparently non-structural box-like feature - arguably, perhaps for libations.132 Romano-British parallels for these structures as mausolea are not found locally but occur, in what is probably a fourth-

century Christian cemetery context, at Poundbury. 13 What is most significant here is that these burial-forms, at least possibly 50km 30miles

Figure 28 Class-I inscriptions in Wales in relation both to the later medieval boundaries of Gwynedd and Brycheiniog, and to three major rivers. (Based on Nash-Williams 1950, Lloyd 1939.) groups in Wales, analogous to the later textually attested extent of the

Welsh kingdoms, and to the Pre-Roman Iron-Age tribal areas as recon-

structed earlier in this chapter (fig. 28).

Each group of stones also

e n c o m p a s s e s only one of the t h r e e g r o u p s of p l a c e s with ' d y n a s t i c associ-

ations'125 It is striking that the two Irish kingdoms - Dyfed and Brycheiniog - contain almost all of the ogom stones, while the 125. Davies, Wales in the Early Middle Ages, 97-9, fig. 36.

126. 127. 128. 129.

Lloyd, A History of Wales, II, map. Davies, Wales in the Early Middle Ages, 94 and 102. Ibid., 94. Ibid., 101.

. S. Brassil, W . G . Owen and W . J. Britnell, 'Prehistoric and early medieval 130. K . cemeteries at Tandderwen, near Denbigh, Clwyd', Arch J, 148 (1991), 46-97; C . White, . B Houlder, "The Henge Monuments at Llandegai', Ant, 40 (1968), 216-21; R 'Excavations at Arfryn, Bodedern, long-cist cemeteriesand the origins ofChristianity in Britain', Anglesey Antiquarian Society and Field Club Transactions (1971-2), 15-27; . Murphy, 'Plas Gogerddan, Dyed: A Multi-period Burial and Ritual Site', Arch J, K 149 (1992), 1-38. For a recent examination of these sites in the context o fcontemporary

Welsh burial customs see,

H. James, 'Early medieval cemeteries in Wales', ni

Edwards and Lane, The early Church, 90-103.

131. Davies, Wales ni the Early Middle Ages, 181, who recognizes that these are not necessarily 'chapels' 132. Murphy, 'Plas Gogerddan', fig. on8 and 17-22, showing structure 373. 133. .C S. Green The Cemeteryof a Romano-British Christian Community at Poundbury,

Dorchester, Dorset', in The Early Church in Western Britain and Ireland, ed. S. M.

Pearce (1982), 61-76 (72-4. fi g .on 63, and 74 fig. 6.2).

120

Civitas to Kingdom

Civitates and Kingdoms

121

high-status mausolea,131 are inside the distribution-zon e of the Venedotian

inscribed stone group but do not extend beyond it. As these structures occur at Plas Gogerddan, well into Ceredigion, they may strengthen the view that Ceredigion was part of Gwynedd at the date of the Plas Gogerddan structures - perhaps the sixth century (fig. 30).

Similarly, we might take the rare evidence of 'round' cairns in Welsh churchyards as a further indication of the extent of Powys (see fig. 29). A search of the county lists prepared by Leslie Grinsell and others, as well as subsequen t journals,135 for examples of cairn or barrow burial in churchyard s throughout the West of Britain has shown that, although

•

•

these m o n u m e n t s are u n d a t e d by excavation, they only occur in three Welsh churchyar ds. All of these churchyar ds were dedicated in the later middle ages to St Garmon (Germanus), whose links with the kings of Powys were promoted as early as the ninth century by dynastic propa-

gandists.136 All the relevant cairn sites lie within Powys's later borders. The only remaining, possibly primary, cairn burials in Wales which may

be of fifth- to seventh-century date, have also been found in this area These are at the Pillarof Elise - where a ninth-century dynastic monument of the kings of Powys stands on what may be an earlier burial cairn; at

Trevor - where a Class-G penannular brooch may most plausibly have either come from a cairn, or a later cemetery on its site; and at Tandderwen. 731 The only other example in Wales is the cairn mentioned

Son

on one of the Penmachno inscriptions.138 . N . Clarke, The Roman cemeteryat Lankhills 134. For similar Late Roman mausolea see, G (1979), features no. F2, and F.40. 135. .L V . Grinsell, 'Somerset Barrows, Part ,1 West and South', Proceedingsof the Somerset Archaeologicaland Natural HistorySociety, 113 (1969), 1-34; 'Somerset Barrows, Part 2: North and East', Proceedings ofthe SomersetArchaeological and Natural History Society, 115 (1971), 44-132; 'Somerset Barrows: Revisions 1971-87',Proceedings ofthe Somerset Archaeologicaland Natural HistorySociety, 131 (1987), 13-26;Dorset Barrows(1959); . O'Neil and L. Grinsell, and Dorset Barrows, Supplement, 1982 (1982). H 'Gloucestershire Barrows', Transactions oftheBristol and Gloucestershire Archaeological Society, 79 (1960), 4-149; L . V . Grinsell, 'Dartmoor Barrows', Proceedings of the Devon . Grinsell, 'The Barrows of North Archaeological Society, 36 (1978), 85-180; .L V Devon', Proceedings of the Devon Archaeological Society, 28 (1970), 95-129. For Wales I have used the RCAHMW Volumes, E. G. Bowen and C. H. Gresham, History of

Merioneth Volume (1967), and those prepared by E . Davies, Prehistorica n d Roman

Remains in Flintshire (1949) and Prehistoric and Roman Remains in Denbighshire

(1929); and for Cornwall: The Cornish Parochial Check Lists in Cornish Archaeology, combined with V . Russell, West Penwith Survey (1971), and P. M. Christie with F. Healy et al.. 'Barrows on the North Cornish Coast, Wartime Excavations by C. K . Croft Andrew, 1939-44°, Cornish Archaeology, 24 (1985), 23-121. The West Midlands were excluded from this survey of the evidence. Also note the observation by Morris 100km

Figure

29 Cairns and ecclesiastical enclosures reusing earlier sites,

inscribed stones with tribal names, and horizontal incised Class-I inscriptions, in Wales and the South-west.

Filled squares = Rectilinear enclosed burials, open square Squareditched barrow, filled circles = Churchyard and other possible fifth- to s e v e n t h - c e n t u r y cairns. o n e n circles =

P o s s i b l e i n s t a n c e s o f t h e occlocioo.

on the rarity of barrows in churchyards in England: R . Morris, Churches in the Landscape (1989), 256.

136. M. Miller, The Saints of Gwynedd (1979), 98; Davies, Prehistoricand Roman Remains of Denbighshire, 172, 161, sites at Castle Caereinion, Lanarmon (Dyffryn Ceiriog), Llanfechain, churchyards, and possibly at Tyn-y-llan Farm (Llanarmon yn Ial), approximately 75 metres from the parish church.

137. Davies, The Prehistoricand Roman Remainsof Denbighshire,172, 264,and 274-75,

fig. 87. For the brooch see .T M . Dickinson, 'Fowler'sTypeG Penannular Brooches Reconsidered', Med Arch, 26 (1982), 41-68 (47, 56, and table 1, figs. 1, 2, and 3). The

brooch falls into Dickinson's type G1.1. ForTandderwen, see note 130 o fthis chapter.

122

Civitas to Kingdom

Civitates andKingdo ms

123

to associate Bryn Euryn with Gildas's*Dinarth, and Degannwy with the

kingdom of Gwynedd or, as Davies suggests, associate Degannwy with Powys,141 then we might see the Conway valley as a (potentially disputed) borderland between Powys and Gwynedd, perhaps periodically changing hands. This is possibly, therefore, alocation where characteristics

associated both with Gwynedd and P o w s might be expected. It may be that the Tandderwen square-ditched barrow cemetery fits into this Powysian cairn distribution, as a variant of the burial mound, or, if we allow its chronology to remain undecided by the two available radiocarbon dates, it may be that it is a relic of Gwynedd's earlier domination of the area ifi t is seen as a variant of the rectangular surrounds used for Venedotian burials. 142 It is striking that it lies within the only major

group of possibly fifth- to seventh-century burial mounds to have been produced by searching the published evidence. This cairn distribution

might be seen to contrast with the distribution of horizontally incised Class-I inscribed stones, perhaps belonging to the mid-fifth tolater-sixth

century, wherein these stones are found to the east of the Conway seem-

ingly as part ofthe Venedotian distribution. Perhaps here we may see an expansion of Powys in the fifth or sixth century, leading to the establishment of a border on the Conway in the (?mid-) sixth century, the period of Gildas, Maglocunus and Cuneglasus. With so few Class-I monuments or other burial forms to assist us, it is more difficult to evaluate the territory of the British kingdoms outside

Walesusing the evidence of burial sites. We have seen how Anglo-Saxon

pagan-period cemeteries may define the eastern border of Powys, but otherwise we must turn to the evidence of pottery and of the Wansdyke for information about the West Country. As we shall see, there are also a few archaeological sources for the North. The distribution of organically tempered pottery in western Britain is limited, with almost all of the known findspots lying within Gloucestershire

and Somerset, with the 'outliers' in the Dorchester area of Dorset and in

Figure 30 The Plas Gogerddan excavation, showing rectangular structure surrounding grave (special grave 373). Copyright Dyed Archaeological

Hampshire (fig. 31). It is not known f r o m Wales, the South West, or from Wroxeter to the North, and is absent from the hill-fort at High Peak in Devon. 13 So many of the findspots occur within Gloucestershire, and the

Trus t Ltd.

It is at least possible that these barrows represent Powysian dynastic burials o f the fifth to s e v e n t h c e n t u r i e s . T h e P e n m a c h n o a n d Trevor

examples may, however, represent the post-Roman use ofa pre-Roman burial place, asp e r h a p s at Penbryn (Cardiganshire). 139 In the later Middle Ages Penmachno lay on the boundary of the dioceses of Bangor and St Asaph, and, as we have already seen, there is a Class-I stone from the churchyardr e c o r d i n g a Venedotis cives.10 If, as Alcock suggests, we are 139. Ibid., st. nos. 101 and 126; James, 'Early medieval cemeteries', 93-4.

. R . Davies, Conquest, Coexistence, andChange. Wales 1063-1415 (1987), 198. This 140. R diocesan boundary could be representing an earlier secular frontier. Nash-Williams, E C M W .s t .

no.

103.

. H . Jackson, 'Varia 141. Alcock, Economy, 153 and 170 following Jackson's suggestion; K II: Gildasa n d the names of the British princes', CMCS, 3 (1982), 30-40; Davies, Wales in the Early Middle Ages,98, fig. 36. 142. Brassil et a l . , 'Tandderwen'. . Heighway, 'Anglo-Saxon 143. A.G . Vince, 'Appendix :1 Grass-Tempered Pottery', ni C . Saville (1984), 226-47 (240-1); Gloucestershire', in Archaeology in Gloucestershire, ed. A P. Rahtz, 'Pottery inSomerset A.D. 400-1066', inMedieval Pottery from Excavations, . .I Evison, H . Hodges and J. G. Hurst (1974), 95-126 (96 fig. ,1 98-9, 107 fig 2and eds V

108-9). To which must now be added t h e materialfrom Dorchester (town). Poundbury, Alington Avenue, Bath, and Crickley Hill - seeDark, Discovery. It is, how. ever, impossible to accept Vince's 1988 suggestion that the ware is culturally Germanic:A. Vince, 'Did They Use Pottery ni the Welsh Marches and the West Midlands Betweenthe 5th and 12thCenturies A.D.?', in From Roman Town To Norman Castle, ed. .A Burl (1988), 40-55 (47-51). Organic-tempered pottery associated with imported mediterranean wares (e.g. at Cadbury Congresbury and Glastonbury Tor) precludes

124

Civitates and Kingdoms

Civitas to Kingdom

125

Cannington in Somerset. 144 This does not necessarily mean that the first distribution was politically constrained, but does suggest that the absence of imports is genuine, and not a product of archaeological fieldwork, or the distribution of pottery-usage. We might, then, use the limits of the distribution of imported pottery to recognize a political boundary b e t w e e n the two areas.

These two distributions compare well with that of the Pre-Roman Iron-Age coins of the Dobunni, being approximately divided into two by the River Avon as are the coins o f Corio a n d B o d u o c .145 I m m e d i a t e l y to

the south of the Avon is West Wansdyke which, as we have seen, is probably to be interpreted as a fifth- or sixth-century British construction.

This bank and ditch earthwork clearly 'faces' north, and was almost certainly designed by a major central authority to protect the Somerset

area.116 O n the b a s i s of the t e x t u a l e v i d e n c e a l r e a d y c o n s i d e r e d , it was

.

presumably the northern boundary of the sub-Roman Durotriges prior to the capture of Somerset by the Anglo-Saxon kings, perhaps in the seventh

century. 17 A plausible, but not the only context for it might be (if we are

to c r e d i t the a n n a l for AD 577) the loss of the D o b u n n i c k i n g d o m a f t e r

the battle of Dyrham, but other undocumented events might equally well

The

re

Figure 31 Organically-tempered pottery in the South West and the West Country. (Wansdyke based on Ordnance Survey M a po fBritain in t h eDark Ages.)

Filled circles = organically-tempered pottery, open circles = Imported pottery. When combined to form a single symbol, this indicates that both types of pottery were present. Broken lines indicate limit of area for which t h i s i n f o r m a t i o n is s h o w n .

explain it.148 It does constitute, however, a solid boundary line on the map of sub-Roman Britain. If we can assign political significance to the distributions of organicallytempered and imported Mediterranean ceramics, it is interesting to note that they are divided by the Wansdyke, which was perhaps positioned to defend an Avon boundary of a political significance inherited from the Pre-Roman Iron-Age. The survival or re-emergence of the Durotriges may plausibly explain the distribution of the imported wares, and the construction of the Wansdyke. We may note that the closest nearcontemporary analogy for this work is the sub-Roman refortificationof

South Cadbury, itself in Durotrigan territory. 149

This may help to show the utility of using topographical evidence in conjunction with archaeological material to assist in the recognition of political boundaries as the River Avon separates the pottery distributions and seems to be defended as a boundary line by the Wansdyke.150 The most obvious topographical boundaries are provided by natural features such as rivers and mountains. f o o t n o t econt.

contrast in size between large assemblages from Frocester and Crickley Hill and the Somerset sites (which each have under ten sherds), is so striking that we may tentatively associate this ware with the historically r e c o n s t r u c t a b l e D o b u n n i c area.

Although there is no prior reason to suppose that it was politically determined, the overall West Country distribution of organically-tempered pottery contrasts with that of the i m p o r t e dMediterranean wares, which was itself probably politically controlled, as we s h a l lsee in Chapter 6 (see fig. 31). Imported Mediterranean wares have been found i nSomerset

and Dorset but are absent from Gloucestershire, being found once again in Wales, the South West, for example at High Peak in Devon, and

this interpretation. Vince has himself (47) stressed the independent inventionof organic tempering across a wide geographicaland chronological range.S o ,each regional and chronological group bears individual evaluation. 144. Ibid; E. Campbell, 'Imported Goods in the Early Medieval Celtic West: withspecial reference to Dinas Powys' 2 ( vols, Ph.D. thesis, University o f Wales, 1991), I I , esp. 398-409.

145. Sellwood,

146. 147. 148. 149. 150.

'Tribal Boundaries'.

Burrow, Hillfort and Hill-top settlement, 154.

B. Yorke, Kings and Kingdoms of EarlyAnglo-Saxon England (1990), 135-7. Burrow, Hillfort and Hill-top settlement, 154. Alcock, Economy, 191-7.

The West Wansdykeruns immediately to the south of the Avon, although not exactly parallel to it.

126

Civitates and Kingdoms

Civitas to Kingdom

Topographic al evidence for territorial boundaries Textual evidence from 'Celtic' and Anglo-Saxon areas indicates the use of natural features and Roman roads as boundaries in the period AD 400-800.151 To give examples of the use of hills and roads as boundaries: the Mounth divided the Picts (as it now does Class-I Pictish symbol-

stones) according to Bede, 152 and Dinefwr and Degannwy were, at least

in the later Middle Ages, on rivers forming the boundaries of their

kingdoms. 153 The Hundreds of Cornwall also used rivers (for example, the River Camel) as boundaries.154 For Ireland, Padraig O'Rain has emphasized the boundary associations of high-status sites, and this too may be evidence for the same association in Britain, especially in D y e d and Brycheiniog.155

127

and north is unclear, but much of central Wales and of the Pennines is so barren and mountainous as, perhaps, to preclude permanent settlement

at this period, or even use as upland pasture, and so could have functioned in this way. 161 Obviously, economically unprofitable land with a low pop-

ulation could form a useful boundary area or 'buffer-zone' between kingdoms. The inclusion of mountainous areas in Gwynedd does not weaken this argument. These are not only bounded by a fertile coastal strip but broken by broad river valleys, in contrast to the narrow valleys and bleak inland uplands of the Cambrian range. 162 A r c h a e o l o g i c a l and t e x t u a l s o u r c e s for the s u b - R o m a n K i n g d o m s o f the North a n d E a s t

In the West and North of Britain we may recognize a number of 'natural' boundaries possibly employed by the fifth- to seventh-century British. We have seen that the River Avon'56 divides the proposed Durotrigan

area from that of the Dobunni, running partly parallel with the Wansdyke. The Dorset River Avon delineates the approximate western

limit of pagan Anglo-Saxon burials, as did woodland at Selwood (Old Welsh Coit Maur). 157 If we accept these two apparent boundary lines, the northern and eastern frontiers of the sixth-century Durotriges may be

established. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle may help us to recognize part of the western Durotrigan border when it, perhaps, hints that the River Parret in west Somerset may have been a boundary in the seventh century. 158 The River Parret has been considered the Romano-British boundary of

Dumnonia, on Roman-period and Pre-Roman Iron-Age evidence, and this analystic reference may be suggestive of its continuing post-Roman use as a boundary of this kingdom. 15 Likewise, we may note that the Rivers Dee, Towy and Dyfi, all later boundaries of Gwynedd and Powys, 160 delineate the groups of Class-I stones already mentioned, found in these areas; while the later political significance of the River Usk has also already been noted. It is possible that the northern boundary of

Glywysing was formed by the valley-heads of the south Welsh valleys, separating it physically from the uplands of Brycheiniog. Likewise the River Tamar might, if we consider Cornwall to have been a sub-kingdom, have been a political boundary above that of the hundredal level.

W h e t h e r m o u n t a i n s were u s e d a s b o u n d a r i e s in t h e s u b - R o m a n west

151. Hooke, The Anglo-Saxon Landscape, 57-8, fig. 13. 152. Bede's Ecclesiastical History, eds Colgrave and Mynors, III. 4 ,222-3. 153. Lloyd, A Historyof Wales, 707.

154. C . Thomas, 'Settlement History ni Early Cornwall: the Hundreds', Cornish Archaeology, 3

155. 156. 157. 158.

(1964), 70-9; and Celtic Britain, fig. 31. O Rain, 'Boundary Association'. The river name 'Avon' derives from the Brittonic word for river'. Hawkes, 'The Early Saxon Period', 64-108, and fig. 6. Whitelock et al., The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, subanno 658.

159. Branigan, The Roman Villa, 109-114. 160. Lloyd, A History of Wales, map

Archaeological sources are especially important for the political geography of the British North and of the s u b - R o m a n kingdom identified in the Lower

Thames Valley, as there are no useful textual sources for these.

The sub-Roman boundaries of the Catuvellaunian/Trinovantian king-

dom are surprisingly easily ascertained using archaeological evidence. The kingdom was first suspected because it was a blank-area in the distribution of pagan Anglo-Saxon cemeteries, 163 and so this provides an

initial starting

point

for its delineation.

The early

Anglo-Saxon

cemeteries of the Chiltern scarp form a linear group suggesting the

northern boundary of the kingdom, while the River Orwell may form the

eastern limit o fthe blank-area. 164 To the south, the River Thames forms another similar boundary, except for a smallish area, ringed by a semicircle of fifth-century and probably mercenary, Anglo-Saxon settlements. These - Croydon, Mitcham, Orpington and Darenth - are closely related to the Romano-British settlement- and road-system, and contain

s u b - R o m a n belt-sets. 165 T h e s e c e m e t e r i e s m a y be taken as an i n d i c a t i o n

of the southern limit of the kingdom in this area.

This gives us an approximate outline, but nothing more can be

adduced in support, save, as mentioned above, the middle Welsh name

Calchuynydd ('the chalk hills') for a southern British kingdom. If this

name relates to sub-Roman Britain and does not refer to the Durotrigan area, it may be that of the Catuvellaunianarea, the only other British polity which incorporated chalk hills. This seems to me, however, to be only the m o s t t e n u o u s of evidence.

161. For the pre-Norman Welsh landscape see, Davies, Wales in the Early Middle Ages, 9-13, and 32-5. Much later, but clear, evidence for patterns o fupland land use is given in, E.

Davies, 'Hendre and Hafod in Caernarvonshire', Transactions of the Caernarvonshire

Historical Society, 40 (1979), 17-46; and 'Hafod and Lluest: the summering of upland cattle and upland settlement in Wales', Folklife, 23 (1984/5), 76-96. 162. Davies, Wales in the EarlyMiddle Ages, 32. 163. See Chapter 3.

164. The river Giping, a tributary of the Orwell, separates a clusterof Anglo-Saxon cemeteries surrounding modern Ipswich from the area around Colchester and from the Chilterns.

165. Hawkes, 'The Early Saxon Period', 97.

128

Civitas to K i n g d o m

Civitates and Kingdoms

129

Archaeological evidence also helps us to reconstruct the approximate boundaries of the Brigantian polity. The possible maintenance of the command of the Dux Britanniarum into the sixth century may suggest that the Brigantian area retained a political, as well as a military unity, to that date.166 The eastern borders of the British North and, therefore, perhaps of this polity, seem to be represented by the eastern Yorkshire seaboard, and western limit of Anglo-Saxon Deiran cemeteries. As this border, along the Humber, would separate the Late Roman civitas of the Parisi

of the Brigantes, so whether or not the Rheged of poetry represents the sub-Roman Carveti, a Carvetian kingdom might be sought in the Carlisle

from Late Roman Brigantian territory, it seems a plausible boundary for

area.

the sub-Roman kingdom.

Assuming that the geographical extent of refortified sites belonging to

even existed. 173 If there was a kingdom of Rheged it need not have repre-

sented a sub-Roman form of the Carveti, however, as we have seen Carlisle was probably a location in which a localdynasty emerged, while the same is true of York - a more likely Brigantian capital on Pre- Roman Iron-Age

and historical grounds. It seems possible to argue that kingship emerged at the m o s t i m p o r t a n t t o w n s in both the civitas o f t h e C a r v e t i a n d in that

The existence of a place called Dunragit (the fort of Rheged') to the north-west of the Wall i s of uncertain relevance to the historical exist-

t h e Late R o m a n c o m m a n d of the Dux r e p r e s e n t s a u n i fi e d political

ence and location of Rheged. It could have been named anachronistically

territory, to the West, the limit of thispolity was probably also the

on the basis of the fame of the kingdom of Rheged in poetry, and one

seaboard, while Hadrian's Wall may well have formed its northern frontier. Evidence for the south-western border is uncertain, although Manchester and Ribchester were, on this basis, probably in the subRoman Brigantian kingdom, 167 but textual evidence already discussed suggests that Chester w a s probably i n Powys. So t h e River Mersey may have

recalls that Dinas Powys is not in what was Powys, but probably in what was Glywysing. 174

f o r m e d the s o u t h - w e s t e r n b o r d e r of the s u b - R o m a n B r i g a n t e s , a n d this

any other) part of their m a p s of s u b - R o m a n B r i t a i n .76 T h e r e c o u l d have

is supported by the location of a possible fifth-t oseventh-century sub-

been such a kingdom, and the poetry could contain sufficient material to establish a few locations within it, but we cannot, at present, ascertain whether this is the case. Equally, Rheged may never have existed except in literature. It may be, however, that the evidence from Carlisle shows that the Carveti did survive as a sub-Roman political unit, independently of the Brigantes, at least for a while. Neither archaeological nor t e x t u a l sources

Roman trading site at Mels on the Wirrall, which would then be in a

peripheral location of the sort often favoured for trading posts - at the b o u n d a r y b e t w e e n the kingdoms.168

The Brigantian kingdom, containing the Pennines, and by far the

largest Insular kingdom, may be the basis of Gildas's remark that Maglocunus was'. . . . higher than almost all the generals of Britain, in. ..169 The prominence in political and military kingdom as in physique . terms of a large Brigantian kingdom may explain the use of the term

This is to suppose that there was a kingdom of Rheged, but as the evidence consistsentirelyof poetry of uncertain date and character,175

I do not share the optimism of scholars who write 'Rheged' across this (or

e n a b l e us to e s t a b l i s h any of its b o r d e r s .

brenhin in Middle Welsh to mean a major king, 170 and the sparse Anglo-

Saxon settlement north of the Humber in the sixth century. The later

prestige of northern heroes in Welsh poetry, if this was not wholly a result of ninth-century, and later, Venedotian dynastic propaganda,

might also derive from the existence of such a kingdom.171

Yet, the poetry concerning Urien of Rheged, whatever its date, con-

tains a series of references suggesting that Rheged was a distinct king-

dom in the Lake District,172 but we have only the poems to say that it

Conclusion

As a result of this analysis we may attempt to reconstruct all the b o u n d a r i e s of all the textually a t t e s t e d w e s t e r n British k i n g d o m s with

some confidence, with the exception of those of Gwent, Powys and the Carvetii. It may be that we can employ a further source, often neglected by scholars of early British political geography, or used only piecemeal: the e v i d e n c e o f c h u r c h d e d i c a t i o n s .

166. Dark, A ' sub-Roman re-defence'. 167. Ibid. 168. Dark, Discovery.

169. Gildas, DE, I.33. The possibility that this refers to a north British kingdom is noted in N . J. Higham, 'Medieval "overkingship" in Wales: the earliest evidence', Welsh History

Review, 17 (1992), 145-78 (45-59),although Higham considers this less credible than an Anglo-Saxon kingdom. 170. T. M. Charles-Edwards,'Native political organisation i n Roman Britain and the origin

. Mayrhofer (Innsbruck, 1974), of MW Brenhin', ni Antiquitates Indogermanicae, ed. M

35-45.

171. H. M. Chadwick, The Heroic Age (1912). . Higham, The Northern Counties to AD 1000 (1986), 252-3. 172. N

173. Another interpretation has beensuggested by J. MacQueen, St Nynia.A study of literary and linguistic evidence (1961). 174. There was, for example, a 'Ballyraggett in Ireland, H. Maxwell, The place names of Galloway (1930).

175. For alternative views on the historicity o f this poetry, see, Dumville, 'Early Welshpoetry', and J .T. Koch, 'The Cynfeirdd Poetry and the language of the sixth century', i n Early Welsh Poetry: studies in the Book of Aneirin, ed. B. F. Roberts (1988), 17-41

176. E.g. Thomas, CIRB, 269.

130

Civitates and Kingdoms

Civitas to Kingdom

131

T H E EVIDENCE OF CHURCH DEDICATIONS

Although notoriously difficult to date with precision, churchdedications

form another possible method for defining the territorial extent of these kingdoms (fig. 32). The association of a specific saint and a particular dynasty had already been made by the ninth century as Historia Brittonum and the Pillar of Elise show.17? Both sources depict St Germanus as closely connected with the foundation of the Powysian dynasty. This association, therefore, may have been made in the period circa AD 400-800. It m a y p r o v i d e s o m e e v i d e n c e to h e l p c o n fi r m the political

groupings attested by

other sources, if we can assume that the

concentration of such dedications approximates, in probability, to the

territories of kingdoms and their coterminous dioceses - each dynasty

having a preference for a specific saint.

322. shows dedications to Cadog (open circle), David (filled circle), Petroc (open square).

(Based on Bowen 1956, 1972, 1977, and Rees, 1951.)

By the ninth century, St Brychan was associated with Brycheiniog. 178

It would be u n r e a s o n a b l e to deny a n a s s o c i a t i o n b e t w e e n S t David a n d

Dyfed given the evidence of St David's itself and Llandewi Brefi, in that

kingdom. 179 In other kingdoms the evidence is less certain, with notex-

tual associations of early ninth-century or earlier date, but the dedications form geographical groups suggestive of the territories discernable on other textual and archaeological grounds.

There are several such groups: St Cadog, St Illtud and St Dochau in Glywysing/Gwent; Petroc in Dumnonia; Cynog in Brycheiniog; and Beuno in Gwynedd.Is If we take these, on the basis of the David, Brychan and Garmon associations, to be pre-ninth century dynastic

patron saints, the following pattern is produced: Figure 32 Dedications to dynastic saints, in Wales (32.1), and in south

Wales and south-west England (32.2). Dedications to saints represented on

one map are not shown on the other, although outlying examples occur in

e a c h area.

Gwynedd: Dyfed: Powys:

Brychan, Cynog

Beuno David, Teilo

Brycheiniog: Glywysing/Gwent:

Cadog/Ilitud

Garmon

Dumnonia:

Petroc

32.1 shows dedications to Beuno (open circle), Brychan (open triangle),

Cynog (filled square), Garmon (filled circle), Illtud (filled triangle), Teilo (open square).

. G . Bowen, The settlements of the CelticSaints in Wales (1956), 27-8. 178. Ibid.; E

179. E. G. Bowen, The St. David of h i s t o r y.Dewi Sant: o u rfounder saint (1982), 7-9; Davies,

Wales in the Early Middle Ages, 142; Charles-Edwards,"The seven bishop-houses";

177. Dumville, 'Sub-Roman Britain', 177 and 186, on this and its context. Nash-Williams, ECMW, st. no. 182.

Lloyd, A Historyof Wales, ,I 152-9;Nash-Williams, ECMW, st. no. 116.

. Bowen, Saints, seaways a n dsettlements in the Celtic lands,2nd edn. (1977), 70,93 180. E. G and 108; and The settlements, 42, 82 and 85.

132

Civitates and Kingdoms

Civitas to Kingdom

It is striking that dedications to St David and St Teilo spill over into 'Irish' Brycheiniog, and that those to St Beuno concentrate in the area of Gwynedd as shown by the evidence of inscribed stones. If we take these distributions as politically constrained, this could only have come about

to bear no relation to dynasties, often having a more localized distribution. Interestingly, however, there may also have been other saints favoured by the dynasties of smaller sub-kingdoms, as we shall see in the next c h a p t e r.

prior to the foundation of Brycheiniog as a separate kingdom in the sixth

Despite the difficulties of using church dedications as evidence at all,

or seventh centuries, and after the Demetian reconquest of Ceredigion,

a n d especially o f using t h e m a s s o u r c e s for p o l i t i c a l r e c o n s t r u c t i o n in the

study of sub-Roman Britain, we see that the distributionsexamined here

prior to the independence of Ceredigion in the seventh or eighth centuries. The Siluran area appears as a single distribution of dedications to

may support, and perhaps clarify, the territories recognizable on other grounds. The close relationship of episcopal dioceses to kingdoms in

Cadog, 18 suggesting that this spread occurred while ti was united and

not separated into Glywysing and Gwent, although a group of St David dedications seem to suggest the distinctiveness of Gwent. The division of the Silures into Glywysing and Gwent, as we have seen, probably occurred in the sixth century. This means that, although dedications to specific saints were not restricted to specific kingdoms, the broad pattern of distributions c a nbe

taken to reflect political groupings, but only if these are the political

133

sub-Roman Britain has already been observed, and there seem to have been bishops at the courts of British kings by the sixth century, at latest. 181 The closenessof connection between episcopal and royal government may explain the r e l a t i o n s h i p b e t w e e n c h u r c h d e d i c a t i o n s to s a i n t s f a v o u r e d

.

by specific dynasties and the territorial grouping of such dedications. That such foundations might be burial places of kings is also suggested by the evidence of the cairns at churches with St Garmon dedica-

centuries. These distributions might, then, be taken to be of fifth- to

tions in Powys, but, as excavated evidence from Tintagel may show, 185 not all kings need have been buried at ecclesiastical sites dedicated to

s e v e n t h - c e n t u r y date182 a n d , if so, t h e y a p p r o x i m a t e to the k i n g d o m s

the d y n a s t i c saint.

u n i t s of

the sixth to s e v e n t h c e n t u r i e s , not of the eigh th to ninth

ascertained on textual, epigraphic and archaeological grounds.

In areas conquered by the Anglo-Saxons during the fifth to seventh centuries dedications to 'Celtic' saints are rare, presumably because of

the circumstances of the conquest and later ecclesiastical history, as in

the Dobunnic and Durotrigian areas. The remaining dedications do not form patterns enabling us to recognize British dynastic saints, fi they

GENERAL CONCLUSIONS

Textual, epigraphic, archaeological and onomastic evidence may be used

does apparently confirm the approximate extent of the kingdoms so far identified of Gwynedd, Powys, Glywysing, Dyfed, Brycheiniog and, possibly,

together to map the political geography of sub-Roman Britain (fig. 33). The evidence is not plentiful or conclusive, but there are as many, if not more grounds for identifying the extent, and often borders, of the subRoman kingdoms as there are for the same characteristics of the Romano-British civitates, which are generally undisputed by modern

Dumnonia. But we should show caution in using this evidence; we cannot

scholars.186

is interesting that in these three kingdoms there seem to have been Irish

nize and name sub-Roman kingdoms, and to define their areas in

existed in these territories. 183

Although of little use outside Wales and Dumnonia, this patterning

be sure that the dynastic preferences for specific saints never waivered. This shift of allegiance from one saint to another may account for the doubling of saints within Glywysing, Brycheiniog and Dyfed. However, it aristocrats as well as settlers: perhaps the doubling of saints favoured by their dynasties (if that is what these groups of dedications represent) was to link each dynasty with both a British and an Irish patron saint in order

t o s u i t t h e British a n d Irish c o m m u n i t i e s .

Nor should we assume that all distributions of s a i n t s 'dedications can be interpreted in this fashion, or are of this date. Most dedications seem

The use of linear barriers and natural features may have helped the stability of these boundaries over time, as may the literacy of the subRoman kings.18? In the fifth to seventh centuries it is possible to recog-

approximate - and sometimes more precise - terms. A geographical framework for the political developments outlined in Chapter 3 can, t h e r e f o r e , be r e c o n s t r u c t e d .

The sub-Roman kingdoms are, in so far as can now be ascertained,

identical in territory to, and in several instances have the same names as,

184. Gildas, DE, II.32; Dark, Discovery; K . Hughes, 'The Celtic Church: is this a valid con181. Bowen, The settlements, 38, fig. 88. 182. Dumville has recently reached a similar conclusion on other grounds, D. N. Dumville,

'The Insular Churches in the Age of the Saints', O'Donnell Lecture, 1983, forthcoming.

. Bowen, Britain and the Western Seaways 183. For the relevant distribution see, E. G (1972); The settlements; and Saints, seaways.

cept?', CMCS, 1 (1981), 1-20

185. J. Nowakowski and C. Thomas, TintagelChurchyard (1990). For the status of the burials

see,K. R.Dark,"The Plan and Interpretation ofTintage!', CMCS, 9(1985), 1-17 (17).

186. Almost all the contemporary evidence is presented in, Rivet and Smith, PNRB. 187. Gildas, DE, attests the literacy of sub-Roman British kings; for their interest in linear boundaries, see Higham, 'Gildas, the Roman Walls; 'Dark,A ' sub-Romanre-defence'.

Civitates a n d K i n g d o m s

Civitas to Kingdom

135

Romano-British civitates and pre-Roman tribes. The obvious interpretation of this reconstructed political geography is, consequently, that these tribes were transformed first into Roman civitates, and then those civitates were transformed into the sub-Roman British kingdoms (with the possible exception of the Ordovices, which may never have become a

civitas). That this process occurred prior to the Anglo-Saxon conquest of e a s t e r n E n g l a n d m a y be c o n fi r m e d by the close similarity b e t w e e n the

territories of the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms, as attested in the seventh cen-

tury, and the pattern of Roman civitates in the east of Britain. 188 If this interpretation of events is accepted, it suggests that the sub-Roman British kingdoms of what were, by AD 500, Anglo-Saxon areas, were taken over separately as distinct polities, and that they too were derived from the Late R o m a n political s t r u c t u r e . On the b a s i s of all o f t h e s e s o u r c e s it s e e m s t h a t t h e r e may h a v e b e e n

13 over-kingdoms in sub-Roman Britain during the period from the midfifth to seventh centuries, after the Anglo-Saxon settlement of the eastern lowlands. T h e s e m a y be i d e n t i fi e d as: a C a t u v e l l a u n i a n / Tr i n o v a n t i a n

kingdom, a Brigantian kingdom, a Carvetian kingdom, a Dobunnic kingdom, a Durotrigan kingdom, Dumnonia, Dyed, Glywysing, Gwynedd,

o

8234

134

100 km

Figure 33 Reconstruction of b o r d e r s of the sub-Roman British kingdoms in

the sixth century. Boundaries between Powys and the Brigantes, and between the Brigantes and the Carveti are unable to be, even approximately, defined. It is also uncertain whether there were areasoutside any kingdom, such as the uplands of central Wales and the Peak District. A = Carvetii, B= Brigantes, C = Gwynedd, D = area disputed between Gwynedd and Powys (Deceangli?), E = Powys, F = disputed area between

Gwynedd and Dyfed, later Ceredigion, G= Dyfed, H = Brycheiniog, J =

Dobunni, K = Glywysing, L= Gwent (northern boundary unevidenced), M = Dumnonii, N = Durotriges, 0 = Catuvelaunian/Trinovantian kingdom,

P = area under Anglo-Saxon rule.

Powys, Brycheiniog, Ceredigion and Gwent. In the later fifth century the first ten of these may have covered the

whole sub-Roman area, prior to the foundation of Brycheiniog and Ceredigion, Gwent being a single kingdom with Glywysing at this date. In the sixth century Gwent and Glywysing may have separated into two kingdoms, and Brycheiniog was, perhaps, founded. Later in the century

the Catuvellauni/Trinovantes and Dobunni were conquered by the Anglo-Saxons, and in the seventh century the Durotriges are likely to have come under Anglo-Saxon rule. In the seventh or eighth century Ceredigion was perhaps formed, and Dyed reduced in size. The northern kingdoms were also probably lost to the Anglo-Saxons during the seventh century, and later in the century eastern Powys was incorporated into (Anglo-Saxon) Mercia. Dumnonia was also invaded by the Anglo-Saxons during the same century, and all but the west of the kingdom was lost by the eighth century. If this interpretation of territorial and tribal continuity is correct, the polities of fifth- and sixth-century Britain may have been derived from R o m a n civitates (with the exception of G w y n e d d based o n Pre- Roman

Iron-Age kingdoms. It may be significant polities of the fifth to seventh centuries extent, those of the pre-Roman period than kingdom of Gwynedd, as the sub-Roman

that, in the West Country, more closely resembled, in those of R o m a n Britain. The successor to the Ordovices,

m a y even r e p r e s e n t u n b r o k e n territorial c o n t i n u i t y from the p r e -R o m a n

period if, in Roman Britain, it alone remained a tribal area, albeit under

Roman rule. Of the civitates of Roman Britain only the Belgae, the lone Roman foundation, disappeared. This, perhaps, suggests a re-emergence, or

continuation, of tribal identities maintained throughout the Roman 188. S. Bassett, 'In search of the origins of Anglo-Saxon kingdoms', in Bassett, OAK, 3-27 (24).

136

Civitas to Kingdom

period. Such a reconstruction is, of course, consistent with both a local

civilian and a low-status origin for the sub-Roman lowland kingdoms, as the civilian poor may well have been the most strongly tribal element in the

late Romano-British lowlands. Interestingly, the tribalism visible in the political geography of Britain in the fifth and sixth centuries may suggest that the groups taking political control in the early fifth century derived

5 Sub-kingdoms, Estates and T o w n s in s u b - R o m a n B r i t a i n

from the British c o m p o n e n t o f the Late R o m a n p o p u l a t i o n , r a t h e r t h a n

from communities based on non-British military units. It is of interest,

too, that the area of changing political control recognized to the east of Gwynedd (D on fig. 33) is the same as that usually attributed to the Deceangli by modern scholars of the geography of Roman Britain. This

may indicate that the Deceangli were a part of the Ordovices, or that they were a neighbouring, but weaker group with a distinct political identity.

The emergence of kingly government took place, and expressed itself,

within the framework of a pre-existing territorial structure. That this

development may have occurred on a small enough scale to retain the sub-units comprising these polities intact - and even, perhaps, for estatestructure to survive social change - may be eloquent of its character and origins. In the next chapter we shall see that this may, in fact, have been

the case.

INTRODUCTION The archaeological, historical and geographical study of the landscape of

the British kingdomsof the fifth toseventhcenturies has often sought ot

find political units smaller in size than the large kingdoms considered in Chapter .4 This has produced two major hypotheses:the apparent evidence

for an estate-structure basedon written charters provided by the 'Llandaff charters' and on the 'multiple estate model'. If either, or both, of these are correct, then we can discern the detail of the political landscape of sub-Roman Britain on the level of individual estates, in Wales at least. Major hypotheses have been proposed by Susan Pearce, and Charles Thomas also, who would see the minster-estates of middle Saxon England

and the Cornish hundreds respectively, as of sub-Roman British origin,

while Thomas Charles-Edwards has considered the cantrefi of D y e d to date from this period.! Many scholars have tended to see the fifth century as a period of political

fragmentation. The small units, 'evidenced' by the Llandaff charters or multiple-estate model, or the cantref of Dyfed, have seemed, therefore,

to fit in well with this view, while supporting the preconceptions of the

'continuity' lobby.? This viewpoint sees local institutions and tenurial

frameworks lasting from prehistory into the seventh and later centuries

in Anglo-Saxon England, as well as western and northern Britain.3 It assumes small polities to be inherently more stable than large kingdoms. The work of these scholars provides a backdrop to the matters examined in this chapter. It is also interesting to note the interpretation proposed

.1 S . M . Pearce, 'The early church in the landscape: the evidence from North Devon',

Arch ,J 142 (1985), 255-75;'Estates and Church sites in Dorset and Gloucestershire:

the emergence of a Christian society', in The Early Church in Western Britainand Ireland, ed. S. M . Pearce (1982), 117-38; and 'Church and society in South Devon', Proceedings

of the Devonshire Archaeological Society, 40 (1982), 1-18; C. Thomas,'Settlement History

. Charlesni Early Cornwall: the Hundreds', Cornish Archaeology, 3 (1964), 70-9; T. M Edwards, 'The Seven Bishop-housesof Dyed', BBCS, 24 (1970-2), 247-62.

.2 E.g. N . Higham, Rome, Britain a n d the Anglo-Saxons (1992), 9, 92, and 136-52, for a recent v i e wof estate continuity.

3. The most well-known example of this extreme view is, C. Pythian-Adams, 'Rutland r e c o n s i d e r e d ' . in M e r c i a n S t u d i e s . ed.

A. D o r n i e r (1977). 6 3 - 8 4 .

138

Civitas to Kingdom

Sub-kingdoms, Estates and Towns in sub-Roman Britain

139

for Silchester and Gloucester: t h a t the urban territories of these towns survived into the fifth century, or later.^ The prospect of urban territories surviving into the sub-Roman period is, therefore, another relevant issue

circumstances, they are best preserved in the historically-attested later

to be considered in any study of the local political geography of the British

a matter of interest to landscape historians and topographical archaeologists, although others have contributed important studies.* But the evidence for these smaller units is essentially textual, although archaeolog y does assist the use of textual evidence in this task. Theoretically-minded archaeologists have not generally approached

kingdoms.

It is noteworthy that little theoretical work has examined the relative

stability of small- and large-scale political units. As already mentioned,

there has been a general assumption that the smaller the political unit,

the more stable ti is through time, but the grounds for this (especially

where there are no solid barriers) are unclear. T h e analysis here will also

attempt to address this theoretical question, and to integrate the examination of large and small-scale polities, including urban territories, into a

single i n t e r p r e t a t i o n .

This problem can be approached on many levels. I have mentioned urban territories, and the possibility of reconstructing sub-Roman estates. Estates were certainly present in late Roman Britain, sub- Roman Gaul,

medieval political geography. T h e r e c o n s t r u c t i o n of t h e s e polities a n d t e n u r i a l u n i t s has m o s t l y b e e n

this question; the only 'New Archaeological' approach being by Ian Burrow,

who employed anthropological theory in an attempt to identify the area dependent upon the sub-Roman hill-fort at Cadbury Congresbury, and suggested that a seven km radius might represent a day's walking dis-

tance from the site. 01 This may be a useful generalization, but terrain,

transport, and the fitness, load, and company of the traveller, may cause

some variation in the distance travelled in a day, as may weather and

situations - this time in early Christian Ireland, seventh-century Scotland

security. The usual, retrospective approach has been to identify small polities or estates in historical sources and to project them into earlier periods, by using arguments resting on the relationship between their boundaries and datable features, or their occurrence in part, in earlier sources. 11

sub-Roman Britain.' There may, of course, have been other small-scale political territories. It is possible, for instance, that monastic lands might

Although this is an approach requiring the utmost care and critical assessment, it has formed the basis of most recent attempts to reconstruct sub-Roman political geography on the scale under discussion here. 21

and seventh-century England, so might be expected in sub- Roman Britain.6

Larger in scale, but smaller than the kingdoms such as Gwynedd or

Dumnonia, are sub-kingdoms. These are also well-evidenced in comparable

and Anglo-Saxon England - so again, these units may be expected in

have been held autonomousl y of royal, or aristocratic rule, as may be suggested by the place-name meneage ('monastic land') in Cornwall.& We shall see t h a t there are strong grounds for supposing that we can recognize British sub-kingdoms, and that estates and urban territories may be discerned.

First, we may consider the evidence for the two dominant interpretations of the character of small political units in fifth- to seventh-century Britain: the 'multiple estate model' and the argument for an estate-structure based on the Llandaff charters. Then we shall examine the other evidence for sub-kingdoms and estates. In this examination, my intention is not to attempt to identify every small territory in sub-Roman Britain, but to demonstrate that sub-kingdoms and estates were to be found in sub. Roman kingdoms. It will, moreover, be possible to reconstruct them in detail in those areas (Wales and Cornwall) where, due to later political

. Hurst, 'Gloucester (Gleveum)', ni Fortress into City. The .4 Wacher, TRB, 276 and 419; H

consolidation of Roman Britain, fi r s tcentury AD, ed. G. Webster (1988), 48-74. 5. For the approach, see, e.g., M. Aston, Interpreting the Landscape: landscape archaeology in local studies (1985).

Both Wendy Davies and Glanville Jones have used a retrospective

a p p r o a c h .T h i s a p p r o a c h is c o m b i n e d by Davies with a belief that

direct contemporary textual evidence survives from s o u t h e a s t e r n Wales for estate-organization and kingdoms of the fifth, sixth and seventh

centuries." Although not widely accepted by historians, who generally

see later origins for this material, Davies's interpretation has played a major part in archaeologica l reconstruction s of Welsh political organ-

ization in the period before AD 800.15 Glanville Jones's 'multiple-estate model' has also been used in this way, but it is not, as we shall see, sup

ported by any evidence prior to the ninth century.

9. Notably ni the study of placenames, e.g., O. J. Padel, Cornish place-name elements (1985).

10. I. C. G. Burrow, Hillfort and hill-topsettlement in Somerset ni the first to eighth

Centuries AD (1981), 173-5. 11. E.g., Higham, Rome, 135-43.

6. St Melania inherited estates in Britain: VitaMelaniae 10, see, A. R. Birley, The People

12. E.g., S. Bassett, 'In search of the origins of Anglo-Saxon kingdoms', in Bassett, OAK,

indicating estates in seventh-century England see, P. H. Sawyer, Anglo-Saxon Charters (1968), numbers 69-76, 83-4, 87-91, and 127-31.

13. Using the retrogressive approach pioneered by .F W. Maitland, Domesday Book And Beyond. Three essays inthe early history of England (1897).

of Roman Britain (1979), 155; J. Percival, The Roman Villa (1976), 171. For charters

.7 On Irish and Scottish sub-kingdoms see: D. Ó. Corrain, Ireland before the Normans

(Dublin, 1972), 1-27. 8. L. Olson, Early monasteries in Cornwall (1989), 108-9.

3-27.

14. W. Davies, The Llandaff Charters (1979).

15. E.g., M. L. Jones, Society and Settlement in Wales and the Marches, 2( vols, 1984), 1467, 161-2, 186-8, 203-5.

140

Sub-kingdoms, Estates and Towns in sub-Roman Britain

Civitas to K i n g d o m T H E L L A N D A F F C H A RT E R S 1 6

An as yet unpublished but a much more thoroughgoing reinterpetation of

the Llandaff material than that attempted here was undertaken by Molly Miller, w h o did not a c c e p t this m a t e r i a l as a s o u r c e for fifth- to seventhcentury history. I This conclusion has been s u p p o r t e d by David

141

existing charter-tradition in Wales prior to the Norman Conquest,26 perhaps from the ninth century onwards (when anglicization occurred in Gwynedd

and elsewhere"), then the form of the Llandaff Charters could be imitating

that. Moreover, and more devastatingly to Davies' view, the charters do

contain a lot of detail - many have narrative elements, boundary clauses,

numerous witnesses, and royal and episcopal associations - as might be

Dumville18 and. in the main at least, by the workof Patrick Sims-Williams.19

e x p e c t e d in a work i n t e n d e d to provide a m a j o rc a r t u l a r y for L l a n d a ff to s u p p o r t its, t h e n r ecen t, claims.28

can be used as a basis for sixth- to seventh-century political geography or

Davies herself has accepted that the Llandaff material was designed to

My comments aim merely to show why I do not think t h a t the material

history; they do not aim to be a compreh ensive reconsid eration of it.

Davies's material consists of a, certainly Anglo-Norman, collection of textual sources of alleged pre-Norman date, made in order to support

the claims of the Anglo-No rman bishopric and monastery of Llandaff.20

It is the 'charter' material that concerns us here, although there are other

texts attached to this in the Liber Landaensis .21

Davies believes that the 'charters' date from the sixth to the eleventh centuries, show important evidence of social, political, economic and religious changes, and demonstrate that Romano-British estates and charter traditions survived in sub-Roman Britain.2? If true, this would be

very attractive evidence, but there are somany major problems withthe

support the Anglo-Norman claims of the bishop of Llandaff, and also

that Llandaff may well have been founded, as an episcopate at least, by Joseph (bishop circa 1022-45).29 The eleventh-century Llandaff charters

then, not themselves necessarily suspicious on these grounds, could rep-

resent grants to Joseph either upon foundation of the monastery of Llandaff itself, or later during the eleventh century.30 Davies adduces two other general grounds for supportinga pre-Norman

dating for the material: the formulae and, to a lesser extent, the language.

Obviously both of these could be derived from genuine pre-Norman charters, not necessarily from south-east Wales, or, in the case of the lan-

guage, from other Latin texts. For example, the frequently used word

texts as a source of the pre-circa-AD 700 period (at the very least) to

podum occurs in the L a t i ncolloquy De Raris Fabulis.32 On these grounds

c h a p t e r.

represents south-eastern Welsh charter evidence of pre-ninth-century date.

necessitate their rejection as evidence for the period covered by this

First, even accepting Davies's classification and reconstruction of the

texts, there is the issue of chronology. This may be established on internal or external grounds.23 There is then the issue of textual corruption,

duplication and the inclusion of long narrative charters, perhaps using

(possibly genuine) pre-Norman charters as a model, in the Anglo-Norman period. It is possible to construct a critique of Davies's views based solely upon her published work.24 The assertion that the charters must not be a forgery because they a r e .. unlike standar d twelfth -centur y forgeries for they are very imprecise, and do not attempt to simulate past charter forms' 35 can easily be countered by observing that if there was a pre16. I am grateful for discussion on this matter with Diane Brook, David Dumville, Susan Kelly and Richard Sharpe.

. .N Dumville, personal communication (1986),publication forthcoming. 17. D

. Dumville, personal communication (1982-7), and Lectures at the University of 18. D. N Cambridge (1984)

19. P. Sims-Williams, personal communication, (1986). P. Sims-Williams,Review of W. Davies, The Llandaff Charters, Journal of Ecclesiastical History, 33 (1982), 124-9. 20. Davies, The Llandaff Charters, 2.

21. Ibid., .1 22. W. Davies, 'The Latin charter-tradition in Western Britain, Brittany and Ireland in the

earlymedieval period', ni Ireland and Early Mediaeval Europe, eds D. Whitelock, R.

McKitterick, and D . Dumville (1982), 258-80.

23. Davies, The Llandaff Charters, 73-9. 24. As expressed in Davies, The Llandaff Charters; and An Early Welsh Microcosm: Studies in the Llandaff Charters (1978). Dovie‹

Tho L a n d a f f Charters

alone there is no need to suppose that any element of the Landaff material One might, therefore, turn to the 'charters' themselves f o rfurther evidence. D a v i e s h a s a d d u c e d the w i t n e s s lists a n d d y n a s t i c a s s o c i a t i o n s a s

dating evidence 3 while recognizing that the 'charters' contain many i n t e r p o l a t e d e l e m e n t s , a n d show the s y n c h r o n i z a t i o n of e p i s c o p a l lists

and genealogies.34 First, one must be clear about how severe the 'suspicious'

elements in this material are. In order to show this, the most widespread

of t h e s e are t a b u l a t e d in t a b l e 2

The analysis undertaken here, is shown in table 2, and is in two stages:

the first settingout suspicious elements in the Llandaff material, the second stage showing which charters have names occurring in the Glamorgan and Gwent genealogies and in the eleventh-century Llandaff material.

26. Ibid., 26-7, collections of such charters appended to Saints vitae are seemingly an eleventh century characteristic, 27; Davies, 'The Latin charter-tradition'. Also note, .C Brett, 'John Leland, Wales and Early British History', Welsh History Review, 15 27. 28. 29. 30. 31.

(1990), 169-81 (179-81). W. Davies, Wales in the Early Middle Ages (1982), 116, 128. Davies, The Llandaff Charters, 2. Ibid., 78, for dating: 23 and 29-30. Ibid., 3-4. Ibid., 7-9.

32. Ibid. 3. For De Raris Fabulis see: M. Lapidge, 'Latin Learning In Dark Age Wales: Some Prolegomena', ni Proceedings of the Seventh InternationalCongress of Celtic

Studies, eds D. E. Evans, .J G . Griffith and E. M . Jope (1986), 91-107 (94-7). 33. Davies, The Llandaff Charters, 73-89. 34. Ibid.. 21.

142

Sub-kingdoms, Estates and Towns in sub-Roman Britain

Civitas to Kingdom

Stage 1. T h i s lists the intrinsically suspicious elements. These are: doublets

and regrants, which could clearly be copies of earlier 'charters' with earlier 'dating evidence' attached to them so as to claim legitimacy for

the later grants, or to legitimize Anglo-Norman land-, or office-holding. T h e r e a r e also c h a r t e r s with m a j o r corrupt elements. T h e s e are ' c h a r t e r s ' which would be intrinsically d u b i o u s in any critical analysis a n d are rec-

ognized as such by Davies. Equally dubious are charters with narrative or eponvmous elements. These 'charters', 'tell a story' about how the

Table 2

Stage 1 Davies's

A

events which they purport t orelate, and often anachronistic, so they

B

+

73a 736 74

+

+

121

+ ?

122 123

125a

south Wales in the fifth to seventh century,37 but the addition of his

†

C

140 141

cent c o r r e l a t i o n b e t w e e n t h e use o f Te i l o ' s n a m e in c h a r t e r s a n d their

ナ ナ

127a 127b

+

1256

+ + +

'the Age of the Saints' 36 Teilo may well have existed, and been active, in

+

143

having an eponymous or narrative element. There are other suspicious elements in this material, such as unique lay-witness lists, witness lists similar to (and possibly copied from) those

14 4

of other charters, and endorsements of other 'charters'. Some charters

145

+

146

+

147

are brought into doubt by syntactical peculiarities, interpolations or a

close relationship to other certainly dubious 'charters' among this material. All such charters must be considered doubtful. It is also interesting that an eleventh-century 'charter' (269) is similar to tenth-century AngloSaxon charters. This is crucial for its significance to the formal arguments

+

148

+

149 150a

+?

150b unique l a ywitnesses 151a

proposed by Davies concerning dating. Lastly, where Davies has expressed

+

1516

doubts about the historicity of a 'charter, this is noted also.

152 154

Stage 2. In this stage the remaining 'charters' are analysed to show which

+

155

have names which may be derived from texts probably known at

156

Llandaff in the eleventh century, or associated with a 'charter' dismissed

157

in Stage .1 They could, therefore, have been composed in the Anglo-

-

158

N o r m a n period.

159a 159b r e l a t e d to 151a

D

Thid

726

77

Llandaff, St Teilo, who is claimed by hagiography to have been active in

37

Teilo

elements

766

names. This is another obviously suspicious feature. It is found, for

(181-2). 36. E. G. Bowen, The Settlements of the Celtic Saints in Wales (1956), 51, 56-8.

Narrative eponymous

76a

Eponvmous evidence is provided by 'charters' which explain place-

. N . Dumville, 'Sub-Roman Britain: history and legend', History, 62 (1977), 173-92 35. D

Major corrupt

75

m u s t be c o n s i d e r e d intrinsically s u s p e c t .

name to the 'charters' could (but need not) suggest that these were being associated with him to legitimize their claims. This addition is far more suspicious in the case of the Llandaff material because there is an 80 per

Doublet regrants

Group

grant was made, and may relate to, or derive from, hagiography in their

early as the early ninth century.35 There are also 'charters' which mention the supposed founder of

No.

Charter

composition and content. These stories are clearly much later than the

example, as a form of political legitimization, in the Historia Brittonum as

Analysis of t h e L l a n d a ff c h a r t e r s

160 161

+

162a

+

162b

+

163a 1636

+

+?

143

144

Sub-kingdoms, Estates and Towns in sub-Roman Britain

Civitas to Kingdom

Table 2

Ta b l e 2

cont.

Stage 1

Stage 1 Davies's Charter Group

No.

Doublet regrants

Maior

corrupt

Narrative

Te i l o

e p o n y m o u s

Davies 's

167 168

203a 2036 204a

+

169a

204b

1696 171a 171b 173 1746 175

+ +

1766 178 ⼗

214

+

1806

＋

183a

+?

216a 216b G

184

223

185 186a

224

H

186b

225 226

187

227a 227b

188 +

1906 191

217

218 221 222

1836 similar witnesses to 176b

189 190a

+

⼗ ⼗

205 206 207 208 e n d o r s e m e n t ? 209a ＋ 210a 210b 211a 211b 212

170

179a 179b 179c 180a

Narrative eponymous

202

166

176a

Major corrupt elements

201

165

F

Doublet regrants

200

+?

†

No.

Charter

Group

elements 164

E

cont.

+

192

193 not likely original charter 196 not likely original c h a r t e r 197

198a all lay witnesses but one appear as clerics in other 'charters' 1986 199a

1996 shares possible anachronistic element with 198b

-

228 229a 229b 230a

230b 231

232a 232b 233

234 c u r i o u s s y n t a x 235a 235b

+

Te i l o

145

146

Sub-kingdoms, Estates and Towns in sub-Roman Britain

Civitas to Kingdom

Table 2

This tabulated analysis (see table 2) leaves only few charters without major internal evidence of later manipulation or compilation. Nor do the

cont.

dynastic associations a n d witness lists stand critical examination. A geneal-

Stage 1 Davies's Charter Group

No.

Doublet regrants

Major

Narrative

corrupt

eponymous

Te i l o

elements

ogy of the Glamorgan and w e n t dynasties was presumably available in eleventh-century Llandaff. In any case, if one takes the names of the Welsh kings mentioned in the eleventh-century Llandaff 'charters' there

are only four

'charters' citing kings with other names in the whole

Llandaff corpus.38 It would, therefore, probably have been possible to have constructed the royal associations o fall the 'charters' in the elev. enth century by using a single genealogy. Obviously, using texts such as

236b 236 237a

237b 239

Asser's Life of King Alfred, Annales Cambriae, or the Anglo-Saxon

+

240

J

147

＋

+

243

†

( p o o r syntax, also similar to mid-tenth-

century Anglo-Saxon charters) ⼗

244

Chronicle, if available, would have facilitated this.39 Clearly, this need only be an extension of the already attested synchronizing activity evidenced in the text, so must be admitted credible.10 Lastly we come to the witness lists and bounds. Davies notes that the witness lists have a high-degree of overlap, a point now disputed by

Richard Sharpe.# If true, this is unsurprising fi an eleventh-century

245

synchronizer, or inventor, used a standard list of lay and ecclesiastical people - derived perhaps from (a few?) genuine (ninth- to eleventhcentury?) pre-Norman charters, and from texts such as the list of Dyfrig's followers in Liber Landaviensis4? - to construct each witness list, choosing some names from each list, perhaps, in a systematic way. If this seems very complicated for a forger, we must recall Davies's argument that the Llandaff materialdoes not show the attention to detail

246

249a 2496

251

253 255 257

general in twelfth-century forgery. Likewise, the bounds could either

258

259

reflect twelfth-century tenurial patterns or, at least, be compiled with reference to the twelfth-century landscape. As a consequence of the foregoing critique, it is difficult to accept that

+

260 not charter, derived from 259 261

+

Davies has published evidence which necessitates the dating of any of the Llandaff 'charters' to the period under study. It is possible that pre-

262 263

269 preamble similar to tenth-century Anglo-Saxon charters

eleventh-century charters were collected together at Llandaff from other centres in the eleventh and twelfth centuries, and that such material is displayed in the Llandaff corpus; but, if so, we do not yet have the published evidence to disentangle this from the mass of later manipulation

274

the possible manipulation of the dynastic and episcopal lists, it is probably

264a 264b

267

+

271 272

a n d possible fabrication, in a historically useful way.

If such material does exist it is in any case of little value, as, in view of +?

Stage 2 Charters not excluded in Stage 1, but with eleventh-century names: 169

170

17la

1716

180a

1866

200

202

203a

209a

2116

226

228

229a

232

236

237a

239

now undatable. Even fi this has not occurred, so frequent is the duplication of names in the relevant genealogies that even such dynastic associations

203b

38. Charters: 267, 264a, 271, 272, 262, 259, 258, 251, 249a, 246 dated by Davies 1005-1075,

Charters with names probably known in the eleventh century or associated

with charter dismissed in Stage 1: (176b) - 183b, 185.

39.

Remainder: 230, 168, 184, 187 (The above lists are based on: Wendy Davies, The Llandaff Charters (1979), 92-130.)

40. 41. 42.

mentioning kings Gruffydd, Gwrgan, Rhyddech, Meurig, Arthwys, Ithel, Rhodri, Eli, Rhuys. Asser mentions south-east Welsh kings Brochfael, Ffernfael, Maurig, Hywel; while Annales Cambriae refers to, for example, Morant and Ffernfael. Davies, The Llandaff Charters, 87-8. Davies, The Llandaff Charters, 21. Ibid., 38; R. Sharpe, personal communication(1989). Davies, The Llandaff Charters, 38.

148

Civitas to Kingdom

Sub-kingdoms, Estates and Towns in sub-Roman Britain

as 'in the time of King Meurig' might date an event to any of a variety of times from the s e v e n t h - until the e l e v e n t h - c e n t u r y. 13

Therefore, regrettably, it is not possible to use the Landaff 'charters' for writing the political history of AD 400-800, at least at present, how. ever attractive this might seem. Although pre-Norman information may

well occur in the Llandaff corpus, its date, provenance and reliability

r e m a i n o b s c u r e . With the e v i d e n c e of the Llandaff m a t e r i a l r e m o v e d , we

may see, too, that there is no extant material earlier than the ninth century which might be used to support the hypothesis of an i n d e p e n d e n t

charter-tradition in the Celtic-speaking lands. Such 'Celtic' charters as still exist may derive ultimately from middle-

to late-Anglo-Saxon, or

earlier Continental models, rather than from Late Roman Britain. 1 T H E M U LT I P L E E S TAT E M O D E L

G. R. J. Jones's 'multiple-estate model' was based on the thirteenth-century We l s h laws a n d extents.45 T h e s e late s o u r c e s tell u s m u c h o f thirteenth-

century Wales, but do not necessarily inform us about pre-Norman, let alone pre-ninth-century Wales. A ninth-century marginal note in the

Lichfield Gospels shows that a form of law, similar to some of that recorded in the thirteenth century, was prevailing in south-western Wales in the ninth c e n t u r y. 46 but t h e r e is no earlier e v i d e n c e . While s o m e archaic

features of the Welsh laws may conceivably be pre-seventh century, i t is not enough to observe that food-rents may have been collected in ninth-century Wales, and compare this with rents from Durham in the

twelfth century, because we do not know the relationship between these systems, or between them and the thirteenth-century Welsh laws.18

Moreover, the potentially more relevant early Breton laws, Excerpta de Libris Romanorum et Francorum, tell us nothing of kings and their dues.91 43. Note, for example, the duplication of Ffernfael and Meurig: Davies, The Llandaff Charters, 87-8. Morgan (Morcant) is hardly an uncommon Welsh name.

44. For the suggestion that the 'Celtic' charters derive from Anglo-Saxon originals: S.

Kelly, personal communication (1983). 45. G. R. J. Jones, "The Pattern of Settlement on the Welsh Border', Agricultural History

Review,8 (1960), 66-81; 'Settlement Patterns in Anglo-Saxon England, Ant, 35 (1961),

221-32; 'Post-Roman Wales', in The Agrarian History of England and Wales, ed. H. P. R. Finberg (1972), II, 279-382; 'Multiple Estates and Early Settlement', in Medieval

Settlement: Continuity and Change, ed. P. H . Sawyer (1976), 15-40; and "The Multiple

Estates as a Model Framework for Tracing Early Stages in the Evolution of Rural

Settlement', in L'habitat et les paysages ruraux d'Europe, ed. F. Dussart (Liège, 1971),

251-67.

46. D. Jenkins and M. E. Owen, 'The Welsh Marginalia in the Lichfield Gospels, part 1', CMCS, 5 (1983), 37-66 (64); and 'The Welsh Marginalia in the LichfieldGospels, part 2 The Surrexit Memorandum', CMCS, 7 (1984), 91-120. 47. T. M. Charles-Edwards, 'Kinship, Status and the Origins of the Hide', Past and Present, 56 (1972), 3-33.

149

While ninth- or tenth-century law may, in principle, be recognizable from thirteenth-century sources, little work has yet been done to isolate earlier strata in the law-texts.50 Fifth- to seventh-century Welsh law, if it was not Late Roman law,§ cannot (except in the most fragmentary details) be recovered from these sources. Arguments concerning the nature of pre-ninth-century British law might, as Léon Fleuriot has suggested, perhaps be made by comparing the non-Roman, non-Frankish elements of Excerpta de Libris Romanorum et Francorum with the seventhc e n t u r y Irish laws.52 Until such work h a s b e e n u n d e r t a k e n , it will be u n c l e a r w h e t h e r the

detailed legal framework to support Jones's model was in existence in the fifth to seventh centuries. Evidence of a settlement-shift in Cornwall after the sixth century, as adduced by Thomas,53 and also possibly seen in Wales,51 makes one sceptical about retrospectively projecting thirteenthc e n t u r y s e t t l e m e n t patterns.55 T h e small a m o u n t o f e x c a v a t i o n so far

undertaken at Welsh late medieval villages has failed to produce any pre-Norman evidence at all $ This may also be reflected in the observation t h a t t h e few l o w e r- s t a t u s sites o f p r e - N o r m a n d a t e known to u s in Wa l e s

do not underlie later medieval settlements but seem to represent continuing occupation at Late Roman sites.5 That such food or duty renders to a peripatetic court may have occurred in seventh-century Northumbria (or for t h a t m a t t e r in fifth-to-seventh-century West and North Britain) n e i t h e r

necessitates the detailed arrangements of the thirteenth-century Welsh

texts, nor that these arrangements in Northumbria were derived from the sub-Roman past. The system might have been independently innovated

- it is surely not impossible to invent a duty to give the king food and

build his fortress or habitation - or it might have been borrowed from another non-British area, for example, Frankia, Pictland or Ireland.58 50. For an up-to-date account of the study of medieval Welsh law see, D .Jenkins (transl. & ed.), The Law ofHywel Dda (1986), xi-xxxvii. 51. That it may have been Late Roman law is, perhaps, impliedby Gildas's DE, see, M. Lapidge, 'Gildas's education and the Latin culture of sub-Roman Britain, in Gildas: . Lapidge and D. Dumville (1984), 27-50 (esp. 46-7 a n d49). New Approaches, eds M 52. L. Fleuriot, 'Un fragment en Latin de très anciennes lois bretonnes armoricainesdu VI° siècle', Annalesde Bretagne, 78 (1971), 601-60. On the Breton laws see also, Dumville, "On the dating of the Early Breton Lawcodes'.

53. A. Preston-Jones and P. Rose, 'Medieval Cornwall', Cornish Archaeology, 25 (1986), 135-85 (145-6); Thomas,'Settlement History in Early Cornwall'. 54. C. A . R . Radford, The Early Christian Inscriptionsof Dumnonia (1975), 9.

55. E.g., the evidence summarized by Preston-Jones and Rose, 'Medieval Cornwall', 146-

51, shows no conclusive evidence for pre-eleventh-century settlement on excavated later medieval s e t t l e m e n t s in Cornwall.

56. RCAHMW, Glamorgan vol. III: Medieval Secular Monuments Part II, Non-defensive (1976), 57, 59, 216, 228, 231, 234, figs 132, 133, 27, 24, 131, 128; L. .A S. Butler, 'The Study of Deserted Medieval Settlements in Wales (to 1968)', in DesertedMedieval Villages, Studies, eds M . Beresford and J. G . Hurst (1971), 249-76.

48. W . Rees, 'Survivals of Ancient Celtic Custom in Medieval England', ni Angles And

. Lane, Early Medieval Settlements ni Wales A D 400-1100 (1988), 57. N. Edwards and A

. Binchy, (eds and transl.), 'Canones Wallici' (Al, The Irish Penitentials 49. L. Bieler and D. A . N . Dumville, 'On the Dating o f the Early Breton Lawcodes', (Dublin, 1963), 136-49; D

58. E.g. note, H-J. Nitz, 'Settlement structures and settlement systems of the Frankish

Britons, ed. H . Lewis (1963), 148-68.

Études Celtiques, 21 (1984), 207-21.

5-6.

Central state in Carolingian and Ottonian Times', Anglo-SaxonSettlements, ed. D. H o o k e (1988). 2 4 9 - 7 3 .

150

Civitas to Kingdom

Sub-kingdoms, Estates and Towns in sub-Roman Britain

151

Alternatively, fi we are to accept a relationship between the Northumbrian and Welsh systems, the Anglo-Saxon system might have

u r b a n - b a s e d t e r r i t o r i e s in the fifth to s e v e n t h centuries. T h e p r o p o s a l that Silchester or Great Chesterford maintained such units into this

been brought to Wales after the seventh century, or arrived in Wales via

period seems credible, but the direct evidence is not strong. The

a 'third party' such as Ireland or with the second dynasty of Gwynedd, from the British north.5 There is nothing in the thirteenth-century Welsh laws to require a pre-ninth-century origin for these territorial

S i l c h e s t e re n t r e n c h m e n t s are, for e x a m p l e , not d a t e d a n d might equally

represent a territory around the Pre-Roman Iron-Age site found beneath the Roman town.6? So, it may be unwise to place too much importance on

arrangements.

these t w o cases.

Therefore, we should not assume that sub-Roman political geography, seen even in its broadest outlines, is recognizable from the thirteenthcentury extents and/or Welsh laws nor, of course, from a marginal note in

Another small polity often discussed in historical and archaeological literature is Elmet, usually supposed to be a small British kingdom in the Leeds a r e a . The evidence for this, too, is not straightforward to interpret.

the Book of Lichfield! Consequently, we must discount the work of Jones as illuminating the fifth-to-seventh-century landscape organization of Britain, rather than that of later medieval Wales - a conclusion now sup-

E L M E T

ported by Bassett and Gregson.60

If we can discount the Llandaff Charters and 'multiple estate model,

we are left with the q u e s t i o n o f how to c o n s t r u c t a more reliable political

geography for sub-Roman Britain on a local level. As for larger kingdoms,

linear e a r t h w o r k s have o b v i o u s potential as a s o u r c e for boundaries. In

the areas where the British retained political control into the later fifth to

seventh centuries, however, there are few, fi any, surviving linear

earthworks which might delineate small-scale territories of this sort.61

It has been suggested that the dykes of Cornwall are of this date, but

Much has been written by modern scholars about the kingdom of Elmet.6 Place-names, the testimony of Bede, and of the Tribal Hidage,

leave us in little doubt that a British kingdom of Elmet existed in the

seventh century, when it was taken over by the Anglo-Saxons.69 Modern writers have tended to assume that Elmet was a small b u t 'major' kingdom, as important as Dyfed or Powys.? This is not implied by our sources. Elmet was classified as a small political unit in the Tribal Hidage.? The place-names support this, and if, as is often claimed, the undated dyke systems around Leeds delineate the lands of Elmet, the kingdom

these are strictly undated: they might as easily belong to the pre- Roman as to the post-Roman period.6? T h e Silchester entrenchments are a more convincing example, which several scholars (including John Wacher and Simon Esmonde Cleary) have suggested represent boundaries of a subRoman territory based on the town, as Bassett claimed for Great

was small enough to be comparable to a Cornish hundred or Welsh cantref.ir It may, therefore, be sensible to interpret Elmet not as an inde-

Chesterford.63

and sixth centuries.

Both towns lie in what could have b e e n s u b - R o m a n

enclaves in Anglo-Saxon England in the fifth to sixth century,64 and both towns show artefactual o rother evidence suggestive of sub- Roman use.65

We must, however, discard the Silchester 'ogom stone' as a fake.66 We shall see that there is other evidence to suggest the survival of

pendent over-kingdom, but as a sub-kingdom of the Brigantes, who, as we have seen in the previous chapter, probably ruled this area in the fifth

The late survival of the kingdom of Elmet, if this is what Bede's testi-

mony indicates, may only be a product of its military or economic insignificance, or its relations with the Northumbrian kings. Interestingly, Dyfed had a cantref called Elfed (the equivalent of Elmet), so, at least, the use of this name for a small political group has a parallel. 3 T h e e x i s t e n c e o f a N o r t h Welsh i n s c r i b e d s t o n e of sixth-

59. J. E. Lloyd, A History of Wales from the Earliest Times t ot h e Edwardian Conquest (2 vols. 3rd edn. 1939), I, 323; Dumville, 'Sub-Roman Britain', 182.

or seventh-

century date containing the name 'Elmetiacos' (native of Elmet') has

. Gregson, 'The multiple estate model: 60. Bassett, I'n search', 20 and n. 52 on 242-3; N

some critical questions', Journal of Historical Geography, 11 (1985), 339-51, but on the . R. Jones's answer in the same journal: 'Multiple estates perceived', latter note G Journal of Historical Geography, 1 (1985), 352-63. 61. Higham, Rome, 93-4, presents a few of the most credible possibilities.Seealso, PrestonJones and Rose, 'Medieval Cornwall', 139-40. 62. Preston-Jones and Rose, 'Medieval Cornwall', 139-40. 63.

Wacher, TRB, 276 and 419; Cleary, EOB,

198; Bassett, 'In search', 25-6.

67. They might be compared with the pre-Roman earthworks close to Chichester; R. J. Bradley, A' field survey of the Chichester entrenchments', in The Roman Palace at Fishbourne, Excavations 1961-9, ed. B. W. Cunliffe (2 vols, 1971), ,1 17-36

68. Most recently R . G . Gruffydd, In' Search of Elmet, O'Donnell Lecture, 1992.

69. Ibid. For place-names incorporating the name 'Elmet' in West Yorkshire: M . L. Faull,

'The post-Roman period', in West Yorkshire:an archaeologicalsurveyto AD 1500, eds M.L. Faull and S. .A Moorhouse (3 vols, 1981), 171-8 (171-4).

64. I.e, to judge from the distributionof early Anglo-Saxon cemeteries. J. Hines, 'Philology,

Archaeology and the Adventus Saxonum velAnglorum', in Britain 400-600: Language

and History, eds A . Bammesburger and A . Wollmann (1990), 17-36 (34-6).

. C . Boon, "The latest objects from Silchester, Hampshire, Med Arch, 3 (1959), 7965. G 88; B. C. Burnham and J. Wacher, The 'Small Towns' ofRomanBritain (1990), 136-42. 66. M. Fulford and B. Sellwood, "The Silchester Ogham Stone: A Reconsideration', Antiquity, 54 (1980), 95-9; however see G . C. Boon, "The Silchester Ogham', Antiquity, 54 (1980, 122-3.

70. E.g., Alcock, AB, map 1, 138.

71. It is classified as comprising six hides, that is, the sameas the Isle of Wight and less

than a tenth o f the hidage of Essex (seventy hides). 72. R . G.Collingwood and J. N . .L Myres, Roman Britain and the English Settlements (2nd edn., 1937), 412 and 419; Ordnance Survey, Britain in the Dark Ages (2nd edn. 1974), 73.

19 and map; Faull, 'The post-Roman period.

Llovd. A H i s t o r yof Wa l e s . IL. m a n

152

Civitas to Kingdom

153

Sub-kingdoms, Estates and Towns in sub-Roman Britain

Elmetsaete

Pecsaete

Figure 34 The Elmetiacos inscription ( N a s h - W i l l i a m s E C M W no. 87). Copyright The National Museum of Wales.

stone

already been mentioned (fig. 34). It may, if it refers to the Elmet of the

Leeds region, attest contact between this southern part of the Brigantes

Wr e o c e n s a e t e

and North Wales, and may be the only reference on any British inscription of the fifth t o s e v e n t h c e n t u r i e s to s u c h a small polity.

To m s a e t e

Interpreted in this way, the existence ofE l m e t seems t o show that the post-Roman Brigantesw e r e divided intosub-kingdoms. It may also show

Arosaete

that British politicalcontrol in the North survived until the seventh century,

Magonsaete

if only in a sub-kingdom. The question ofE l m e t raises the topic of sub-kingdoms. That British sub-kingdoms existed is furtherevidenced by the personal names 'Tudri' and 'Tudor' (from *tudrhi), which enable us to determine that, just as t h e

Hwicce

Cilternsaete

early Christian Irish had tuatha ruled by ri, so, too, the British had subkingdoms (tudoedd)r u l e d by rhi also.74

SUB-KINGDOMS Sumorsaete

Two Anglo-Saxon textual sources assist us in identifying British subkingdoms of the fifth to seventh centuries: the Tribal Hidage, and King Alfred'swill. There is also the evidence of early church dedications, and Dorsaete

the r e l a t i o n s h i p b e t w e e n c a n t r e f - b o u n d a r i e s a n d the Class-I i n s c r i b e d stone-distribution.

T h e Tr i b a l H i d a g e Figure 35 Anglo-Saxon tribal names, possibly indicating preceding British

The tribal-names preserved in the Old English Tribal-Hidage™ are of

polities: -ste names and the Hwicce. (Based on Hill, 1984, and Hook,

some help in recognizing British polities (fig. 35). The mention of Elmet

1985.)

74. Jones, Society and Settlement, I, 184-5. . Davies and H . Vierck, 'The Contexts o f Tribal Hidage:Social Aggregates and Settle75. W

. Dumville, 'Essex, ment Patterns', Frühmittelalterliche Studien, 8 (1974), 223-93; D Middle Anglia, and the expansion of Mercia in the South-East Midlands', in Basset,

OAK, 123-40 (129-33); and 'The Tribal Hidage: anintroduction toi t s texts and their history', inBassett,OAK, 225-30. Dumville's views are supported by B. Yorke, Kings andKingdomso f Early Anglo-Saxon England (1990), 9-15. An alternative,Northumbrian, . Brooks, 'The formation ofthe Merciankingdom', in origin has been suggestedb y N B a s s e t t .O A K . 159 _70 (159).

in this text has already been discussed. M o s t other territories named in this docúment do not have such obviously British origins, although the

names Pencersctan, Wreocensctan, Magonsctan, and Arosctan incorporate British elements.76

Evidently, as the history of the E l m e t s t a n shows, there may have been some kind of relationship between the territories distinguished by L

Gwichmore

R o m a n o . R r i t i c h

Ti r b o r

S e t t l e m e n t s in

the

West

M i d l a n d s 1984).

hg.

I.

154

Sub-kingdoms, Estates and Towns in sub-Roman Britain

Civitas to Kingdom

the - s t a n place-name, and areas not a part of the pre-seventh-century political extent of the Anglo-Saxon lands." Perhaps we should see the Wreocensctan, Pencersctan and Magonsctan as the survival of territories around Romano-British communities. The name D o r n s t a n could be d e r i v e d from D u r n o u a r i a ( D o r c h e s t e r ) , a n d m a y be a n o t h e r

case of a Romano-British town forming the focus for a later tribal unit. Areas with - s t a n n a m e s d o not have fifth- a n d s i x t h - c e n t u r y AngloS a x o n c e m e t e r i e s in s u c h n u m b e r s a s the o t h e r t e r r i t o r i e s m e n t i o n e d in

the Tribal Hidage.78 There are few, fi any, pre-seventh-century AngloSaxon cemeteries in the area of the Wreocenscetan, Dornsctan, S o m o r s c t a n and Pencersœtan.19

It is, therefore, unclear whether all the Tribal-Hidage groups derived

from Anglo-Saxon 'aggregates' (as Vierck has called them)8 or from pre-

Anglo-Saxon political entities, as we might suspect from some of their names. In eastern England we should probably see an Anglo-Saxon formation for these units, but, fi the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle is to be credited, Somerset was taken over by the Anglo-Saxons during the course of the later sixth century and the seventh century, and Dorset presumably was

lost to the Britons at much the same time.81 Arguably the same would be true for Wroxeter and its surrounding area, occupied by the Mercians.82 The areas with -stan suffixes to their names may, on this evidence,

represent seventh-century expansion of the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms. In this connection it is particularly interesting to observe that in the Chilterns there is a -sctan name which might thus tie in with the possible sub-Roman enclave in the Chilterns and London region. It is not immediately clear, however, whether what we observe in the Tribal Hidage are British political units which have been taken over as

'working wholes' by the Anglo-Saxons, or whether we are seeing Anglo-

Saxon colonization of territories defined by them and named by them, but which included British centres and British people. It would not be

unreasonable to suggest that territories surrounding and dependent on

towns - such as Wroxeter, Dorchester, and even perhaps Pennocrucium did survive into the fifth and sixth centuries, although there is no indisputable evidence for this. One other possible example may be found in 77. Yorke, Kings, 84, notes that t h edate of 616 for the Anglo-Saxon conquest of Elmet

155

the work of Davies, and others, who have argued for the existence of a small kingdom of Erging in Herefordshire.$3 This has been identified on

the basis of the Llandaff charter material and dedications to Dyfrig (Dubricius) in conjunction with the later Anglo-Saxon a r e aof Archenfield.81 While the charter evidence is inadmissible, the dedications may indicate the existence of a territorial bishopric, and so possible political unit, and this may have formed the predecessor of Anglo-Saxon Archenfield.85

tI is doubtful whether the small area of Erging was ever an independent kingdom, and it may be explained as a surviving territory dependent u p o n Ariconium, or a small s u b - R o m a n political unit b a s e d on this town.

As such, it is unlikely to have maintained independence from the large

neighbouring civitates, and later kingdoms, in the fifth century or later.

Reconstructed on the basis of these dedications, it is no larger than the later We l s h c a n t r e fi a n d may most readily be s e e n as an e x a m p l e of a

sub-kingdom. King Alfred's will The Cornish hundreds are first recorded in Alfred's will, but their names are comprised of, or include, 'Celtic' elements and are therefore, at least in part, presumably pre-Anglo-Saxon in origin (fig. 36).86 Oliver Padel has noted that, as reconstructable today, each contains approximately 100 treft - settlements, perhaps of pre-eighth-century origin.87 The subRoman fortresses of Tintagel and Trevelgue lie centrally on the coasts of two hundreds, and the contemporary sites of Killibury, Padstow, and St E n o d o c close to o n e of their borders.88 A p r e - n i n t h - c e n t u r y d a t e for

these divisions seems probable, although their origin could be earlier

still.89

Such evidence is not available for other areas. The location of perhaps two of the five possible 'sand-dune' sites on hundredal borders in Cornwall, and another on the mouth of the Dee, itself a border line by the early ninth century,9 suggests the possibility that all these sites were trading places on the border between territories.9T h i s might indicate that the site of Bantham at the mouth of the River Avon, in central southern

Devon, implies that the Avon was a boundary, roughly dividing south

derives from the pseudo-historical Historia Brittonum, and that archaeological evidence

for early Anglo-Saxons in this area is slight (86). For the absence of Anglo-Saxon graves, see, Hines, 'Philology', 34-6.

78. Davies and Vierck, "The Contexts of Tribal Hidage*; Hines, 'Philology', 34-6. 79. For Somerset and Dorset see, S. Hawkes, 'The Early Saxon Period Evidence', in The Archaeologyof the Oxford Region, eds G. Briggs, J. Cook and T. Rowley (1986), 64-108 (fig. 6); Hines, 'Philology', 34-6.

80. Davies and Vierck, 'The Contexts of Tribal Hidage'. 81. W. G. Hoskins, The Westward Expansion of Wessex (1960); Yorke, Kings, 136-7. 82. There are no fifth - to sixth- century Anglo-Saxon burials in the area aroundWroxeter, yet ti had been incorporated into Mercia by the time of the Tribal Hidage in the seventh

century. Brooks, "The formation of the Mercian kingdom', 161, fig. 11.1; M. Gelling.

'The early history of western Mercia', in Bassett, OAK, 164-201 (192 and 194-6).The area is more widely discussed by M . Gelling, The West Midlands in the Early Middle Ages (1992). See also, Davies, Wales in the Early Middle Ages, 94.

83. Davies,Wales in the Early MiddleAges, 91, 93 and 101; Thomas, CIRB, 252, 267, 269 and 273.

84.

Ibid.

85. Ibid.; D. Hill, An Atlas of Anglo-Saxon England (2nd edn.,

. 1984), 81. See also, K

Pretty, 'Defining the Magonsaete', in Bassett, OAK, 171-183 (182-3).

86. Thomas, 'Settlement History in Early Cornwall'; C. Thomas, Celtic Britain (1986), 65, fig. 31; Preston-Jones and Rose, 'Medieval Cornwall', 135-85 (137, fig. 2.)

87. Padel, Cornish place-name elements, 226.

88. Dark, Discovery.

89. Thomas, 'Settlement History ni Early Cornwall', 74.

90. For the sand-dune sites see Dark, Discovery. For the Dee as a boundary, see Chapter .4

91. The role of peripheral trading places has, of course, been highlighted by R. Hodges, Dark Age Economics (2nd e d . , 1989)

156

Civitas to Kingdom

Sub-kingdoms, Estates and Towns in sub-Roman Britain

157

Welsh thirteenth-century laws concerning the seven 'bishop-houses' of

Dyfed has been used by Charles-Edwards ot

suggest the sort of territorial

episcopal organization found in Ireland in the seventh and eighth centuries.' If so, this may constitute evidence for the pre-ninth-century antiquity of the Demetian cantrefi. Archaeological evidence confirms this interpretation. In the previous c h a p t e r it was n o t e d that Class-I stones may have been located at territorial

boundaries. This may encourage us to bring a new piece of evidence to bear on the question of territorial reconstruction at the scale considered

here: the correlation between these inscribed stones and cantref. boundaries (fig. 37). When the distribution of these inscriptions is compared with the textally a t t e s t e d cantref-boundaries, so close is t h e i r correlation

as to imply the contemporaneity of both features. The inscriptions, for the most part, probably date to the sixth and seventh centuries, and os

the boundaries of the cantrefi, as preserved in later medieval textual

sources, were probably in existence at this time. This new evidence,

therefore, enables us to reconstruct, in detail, the boundaries of

territories smaller than the over-kingdoms, but too large to be estates. These are probably the sub-kingdoms of sixth- and seventh-century Wa l e s .

5

ojkm

60miles Conclusion

Figure 36 The Cornish Hundreds. Penwith (A), Pydar (B), Trigg (C),

Lesnewth (D), Stratton (E), Kerrier (F), Powder (G), West Wivelshire(H), and East Wivelshire (1). (Based on Preston-Jones and Rose, 1986.) Sand-dune sites: Gwithian (1), Padstow harbour (3) and St Enodoc (5). Hill-forts: Trevelgue Head (2), Killibury (4), and Tintagel (6).

Using archaeological and textual evidence, we may thus locate many

British sub-kingdoms of the fifth to seventh centuries in Wales and

Cornwall. We may see from the Old English Tribal Hidage that possibly

pre-Anglian political units, perhaps of similar size to the Welsh cantreft, were c e n t r e d on s u b s t a n t i a l R o m a n o - B r i t i s h s e t t l e m e n t s in the West

Devon into t w o parts. It is quite possible that major subdivisions of Devonshire were delineated by the lines of the other major rivers, and, if so, such divisions would div ide Devon into u n i t s a b o u t t h e size o f t h e east

Cornish hundreds;92 but this information is too tenuous to use here, without

other supporting evidence.

Midlands, and our sources for Elmet may provide evidence for subkingdoms within the Brigantian polity. Given the sparsityof evidence for

the political organization of the fifth to seventh centuries, it is not sur-

prising that we are unable to recognize similar political units elsewhere. Their preservation in Wales and Cornwall may be due to the longer period of native rule in these areas.

Further limitations on our ability to recognize such British polities are

T h e We l s h c a n t r e fi

Similar in size to the Cornish h u n d r e d s are the Welsh cantrefi (hundreds) now only attestable in their late medieval f o r m93 but which were almost

certainly in existence prior to the ninth century. They have territorial suffixes, and those of Gwynedd are mentioned in Historia Brittonum in such a way as to suggest their non-recent origin.? The southern Welsh

that most of our sources are, themselves, geographically restricted, and

no contemporary textual evidence is directly concerned with them. It is,

then, perhaps surprising that so much evidence can be found for British

s u b - k i n g d o m s of the fifth to s e v e n t h c e n t u r i e s . T h e r e i ss u f fi c i e n t o f this

that we may formulatean overall interpretation of the political geography of the sub-Roman British kingdoms, in which each over-kingdom was comprised of a n u m b e rof sub-kingdoms of approximately hundredal size.

cantrej are not mentioned in Historia Brittonum, but the evidence of the 92. The rivers I have in mind are, the Exe, Taw and Dart. 93. Lloyd, History of Wales, I, 280-2.

. Miller, The Saints of Gwynedd (1979), 1-2 94. M

95. Charles-Edwards, "The Seven Bishop-houses

158

Civitas to Kingdom

Sub-kingdoms, Estates and Towns in sub-Roman Britain

159

E S TAT E S

We face our g r e a t e s t d i f fi c u l t i e s i f we a t t e m p t to r e c o n s t r u c t s u b - R o m a n e s t a t e s . A l t h o u g h small land-units, e a c h d e p e n d e n t u p o n a m a j o r site (or

sites), may have existed widely in western Britain, establishing the extent of these is problematical due to the sparsity of contemporary sources. Evidence for s u b - R o m a n e s t a t e s is subject to the same limitations

as those relating to the identification of sub-kingdoms, and many of our sources are even more ambiguous. For example, the location of a single, possibly contemporary, hill-fort in a separate valley in north Wales as at Dolwyddelan, Dolbadarn and Dinas Emrys,96 might suggest that these

constituted 'natural political territories, but we cannot use this evidence alone to reconstruct this arrangement. There are two obvious means of transmission of the boundaries of British estates into later periods: by British tenurial survival in a r e a s still in British h a n d s at t h e d a t e o f the

territories' earliest textual attestation, or by ecclesiastical estates preserving earlier political boundaries, representing secular estates donated to the C h u r c h .

Our best approach may, then, be to look at areas with extant AngloSaxon charter evidence, for this constitutes the earliest textually reconstructable estate-framework in any part of the area with which we are concerned.? The Anglo-Saxon charter-evidence from the seventh century onwards suggests that, in the West Midlands and the Southwest, the landscape had already been subdivided into, probably preAnglo-Saxon, estates.98 These estates were perhaps larger than their Anglo-Saxon successors, and probably existed prior to the seventh century.99 The location of the Anglo-Saxon estate-centres of such units at p o t e n t i a l l y native British hill-fort-sites a n d a t R o m a n o - B r i t i s h sites, has

been demonstrated, in a few cases, by Della Hooke. It is most convincingly shown at Hanbury (Heanburh) - high or chief f o r t- where the seventhcentury estate seems to have centred on an inland promontory-fort. 100 Large sub-Roman estates may be attested outside the area covered by

Anglo-Saxon charter material also, for example, at Brawdy, in West

Wales, where the fifth- to seventh-century hill-fort sits close to the southern border of an exceptionally large parish (fig. 38).101 The parish church is, today, a small chapel - successor to what may be an early Christian burial ground, and perhaps church site, probably associated with the hill-fort. 102 Figure 37 Class-I inscribed stones and cantref boundaries in Wales.(Based on Nash-Williams, 1950 and Lloyd, 1939.)

96.

For these sites see, Dark, Discovery.

97. For a survey, N. Brooks, 'Anglo-Saxon Charters, the work of the last twentyyears', Anglo-Saxon England, 3 (1974), 211-32. For this material see, Sawyer,

Anglo-Saxon

Charters.

98. As suggested by the work of Hooke: D. Hooke, The Landscape of Anglo-Saxon

Staffordshire: the Charter Evidence (1983); andThe Anglo-Saxon Landscape (1985).

For the South-west, see the work of S. M . Pearce, discussed later in this chapter. . Hooke, Anglo-Saxon Landscapes of the West Midlands: the CharterEvidence 99. E.g., D (2 vols, 1981), 54, 55, table .1 100. Ibid., 91. 101. Dark, Discovery.

160

Civitas to Kingdom

Sub-kingdoms, Estates and Towns in sub-Roman Britain

161

into that of the charter-evidence. The Anglo-Saxons conquered the West Country in the seventh century and sites might have been redistributed by rulers to Anglo-Saxon churchmen. There is some coincidence between thec e n t r e s of these estates and Romano-British villas, some of which were used for sub-Roman cemeteries. 107 The case for the West Country may be supported by Burrow's analysis, which demonstrated

the similarity between a hill-fort territory argued to exist, on locational

grounds, for Cadbury-Congresbury and the parish of later medieval Congresbury, which was such an ecclesiastical (minster) estate in the

seventh century.108 But all these hints do not constitute hard evidence.

The possibility that seventh-century Anglo-Saxon minsters occupied

British ecclesiastical sites is strengthened by two factors. First, as

Richard Morris has recently pointed out, the evidence suggests that 'Roman materials were far more commonly taken tot h e site ofa church'

than were c h u r c h e sf o u n d e d so as to be close to sources o f stone.109 Morris

has also noted that most churches before the tenth century were made of wood. 1° At Rivenhall, Essex, for example, the church which stands on

the villa's site was, in the seventh century, of wood.111 The sites of seventh-

Figure 38 The excavation at Brawdy hill-fort. Copyright K. R. Dark.

century minsters were, then, not chosen for raw materials.112 As Morris also points out, churches on villa sitesare, in general, rare in Britain, sug-

gesting a significance when they do occur; they occur commonly only at the very sites d i s c u s s e d here.113

Another piece of evidence further supports this view. The place-name

The parish was alreadysubdivided into a number of distinct manors by

'mynster' clusters in the West Country, with outlying examples in the

twelfth-century dedication of the chapel to St Bridget. 103 These factors

Only a few instances (for example, Lyminster in Sussex) are within what were certainly Anglo-Saxon areas during the later fifth to sixth cen-

the thirteenth century, when it was named 'Brawdy' after the pre-

alone would suggest that in, or before, the twelfth century, the parish was

already in existence. Textual sources do not enable us tod i s c e r n an earlier parish or estate

retrospectively, but the evidence provided by archaeology may assist us. Inscribed stoness t a n d adiacent to the three hill-forts closest to Brawdy, each on the borders of the parish, and adjacent to stream valleys which might have served as borders through the period from the inscriptions to the twelfth century.101 Given the Irishtextual evidence for such inscriptions

being located at boundaries, and with two of the sites involved employing

Irish names on the stones, to it is reasonable to suggest that the twelfthcentury p a r i s h was the continuation ofa n earlier estate/parish based on

the juxtaposed secular andreligious sites at Brawdy.

In the West Country, a similar case, but using Anglo-Saxon charter material, has been outlined by Susan Pearce, although on less a d e q u a t e

data. 106I n this analysis Pearce has suggested that ecclesiastical (Anglo-

Saxon minster) estates may have survived from the sub-Roman period 103. Ibid.; F. Jones, 'Trefgarn Owen', Arch Camb, 110 (1961), 102-28 (103 and 116-17). 104. Nash-Williams, ECMW, st. nos. 296-8and 395.Thehill-forts are, Brawdy itself (SM

862239),Gribin Head (SM 802239), and Cas Wilia (SM 881276). 105. T. M. Charles-Edwards, 'Boundaries in Irish Law', in Medieval Settlement: Continuity andChange, ed. Sawyer, 83-7;F. Kelly, A Guide t o Early Irish Law' (Dublin, 1988), 204. 106. Pearce, 'The Early Church'; 'Estates and Church Sites in Dorset'; and 'Church and Society in South Devon'

West Midlands and in the possible sub-Roman enclave around London. 14

tury.115 While this place-name was clearly applied to sites outside British areas, the majority of cases are in British territory as it existed in the

sixth century. This could suggest a relationship between the use of the

107. Ibid. On the cemeteries see, P. A. Rahtz, 'Sub-Roman Cemeteries in Somerset', in Christianityi n Roman Britain 3 0 0 - 7 0 0 , e d sM . W. B a r l e ya n d R. P. C. H a n s o n (1977),

195-7; and 'Late Roman Cemeteries and Beyond', in Burial in the Roman World, ed. R . Reece (1977), 53-64. 108. Burrow, Hillfort and Hill-top, 173-5. . Morris, The Church in British Archaeology (1983), 41-5. 109. R 110.

R. Morris, Churches in the Landscape (1989), 102.

111. W. .J andK . A.Rodwell, Rivenhall: investigations ofa villa, church and village 1950. Millet, "The question of continuity: Rivenhall reviewed', Arch J, 144 1977 (1985); M (1987), 434-8.

112. This conclusion is reached by Morris, Churches in the Landscape, 102. . Morris and J. Roxan, 'Churches on Roman Buildings',i n 113. Morris,The Church, 43-5; R Temples, Churches and Religion in Roman Britain, ed. W. Rodwell (2 vols, 1980), ,I

175-209. In my opinion, J. Blair, 'Anglo-Saxon minsters: atopographical review', in

Pastoral care before the p a r i s h , eds J . Blair andR . S h a r p e (1992), 226-66 (240-1), too

readily dismisses t h e significance of these. 114. Morris, Churches in the Landscape, 155 and 158.

115. Ibid. See also, N. Brooks,"The creation and early structure of the kingdom of Kent', 55-74 and M. Welch, 'The kingdom of t h e South Saxons: the origins', Bassett, OAK.

75-83, both in

Sub-kingdoms, Estates and Towns in sub-Roman Britain

Civitas to Kingdom

162

163

place-name 'mynster' and ecclesiastical sites with a British background, perhaps British monasteri es. It is, however, the case that no seventh-century minster site overlying av i l l a has been excavated and shown to be a fifth- to sixth-century monastery, or ac e m e t e r y site continuously in use until the foundation of the

minster. This is very poor negative evidence, however, given the size of

the sites andquality of the available data. The f a c t that sub-Roman burials do occur at some of these sites seems to suggest that such sequences exist, as they probably did (on the basis of one excavated cemetery at

Llandough) in South Wales.116 South Wales was a closely related area to the West Country in the fifth to seventh century, as we have already

seen.

Pearce's hypothesis is not proven, but has greater strength than si

often credited (so far as we can assess it on the available evidence) with regard to thesub-Roma n continuity ofvilla-estates. Certainly the objections sofar raised to this aspect of her hypothesis are unsupportable. There is,

then, a possibility that ecclesiastical estates derived from Late Roman

villa-estates existed in the sub-Roman West Country, but there is no strong evidence that these were identical to l a t e r minster estates. Whatever the case in the West Country, in Cornwall and Wales there is no adequate pre-eighth-century charter-evidence for a system of estates.17 Outside t h e zone in which Roman villas are found we cannot even be confident that such a framework existed in the Late Roman period, giving us little ability for either prospective, or retrospective, reasoning. A different sort of archaeological approach to that used in identifying

the Brawdy estate provides interesting results in the West Country. If the distribution of hill-forts with fifth- and sixth-century finds (Cadbury Congresbury, Ham Hill, South Cadbury and Worlebury) and those recently considered as possible sub-Roman settlements (Brent Knoll, Bury Hill, Cadbury Tickenham, Cannington, Clifton Camp, Dolebury, Stantonbury and Stokeleigh) i s mapped,w e find that theses i t e s are situated at approximately five-mile (seven-kilometre) intervals.18 As already mentioned when discussing Ian Burrows's work, seven kilometres is the distance suggestedb y anthropologists as a day'swalk to and from centres of activity.119 This settlement-pattern may, therefore, indicate the size of areas easily accessible from, and therefore potentially dependent upon, each of t h e s e sites. It is possible that the territories discernable in this way may be correlated with textually attested Anglo-Saxon estates, as

Burrow suggested for Cadbury Congresbury. 120 Small territories of this

sort dependent on major settlements, and perhaps reflected in the later, . Dark, . R 116. K

'Celtic Monastic Archaeology: Fifth to Eighth Centuries', Monastic

Studies, 14 (1983), 17-29 (20).

117. Davies, 'The Latin Charter tradition'. Note discussion of Llandaff Charters ni this

chapter. 118. Dark, Discovery.

119. Burrow, Hillfort and Hill-top, 173-5. 120.

Ibid.

. R. Dark. Figure 39 Gateholm island. Copyright K

Anglo-Saxon estate structure, might be interpreted as estates centred on t h e s e sites.

It may be either that, as Burrow has suggested, the larger hill-forts were refuges for communities farming these estates, but living in other settlements, or that the estates were farmed directly from the hillforts.121 It may be possible to resolve this question, as the evidence

amassed by Roger Leech and Burrow seems to suggest that, in the West

Country, small non-hill-fort settlements of Late Roman date continued as communities into the fifth to seventh centuries.122 It is, therefore, i m p r o b a b l e that the land a r o u n d a hill-fort was farmed only by the occu-

pants of the hill-fort. 123I f so, then it seems probable that hill-fort populations were supported by, rather than directly involved in, the agriculture

of their surrounding estates, and this is also the impression gained from the

excavated evidence from the hill-forts themselves. 124 This raises the question of the relationship between the populations of the estates and the hill-forts. 121.

Ibid.,

156-8 and 174-6.

122. Ibid.,69,fig. 31,and p. 175; R. Leech, 'The RomanInterlude ni the South-West: The Dynamics of Economic and Social Change in Romano British South Somerset and North Dorset', in The Romano-British Countryside, ed. D. Miles (1982), 209-67 (23651, and figs 10, 11, 12, 13A, 13B, and 14).

123. Burrow, Hillfort and Hill-top Settlement; M . Aston, 'The Anglo-Saxons 700-1066 AD ,' 124.

in TheArchaeology of Somerset, edsM. Aston and I. Burrow (1982), 109-117 (fig. 11.2). L. Alcock, Economy, Society and Warfare among the Britons and Saxons (1987), 67-82, summarizes the evidence from Dinas Powys, the site providing the most useful data for assessing this question. The most informative evidence from within the West

Country is from Cadbury Congresbury: P. .J Fowler,K. S. Gardner

Cadbury Congresbury, Somerset, 1968 (1970), 37-40.

and P. .A Rahtz,

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Civitas to Kingdom

Sub-kingdoms, Estates and Towns in sub-Roman Britain

SUB-ROMAN SMALL TOWNS

Therea r e stronggrounds for seeing western British hill-forts asélite res-

idences with administrative functions.125 Tintagel, Dinas Emrys and

Gateholm, although not within the area in which a sub-Roman estate framework can be demonstrated, may elucidate the character of the larger hill-forts still further.126 Each of these sites has defences, and at Tintagel and Gateholm (fig. 39) both what may be roads, and hints of planning, can be seen. Each site,i f we are to take surface indications as an index of contemporary sub-Roman use, may be seen as a population concentration, of whatever duration and of whatever absolute size.

Accepting these criteria as demonstrated by the sites, we might view them in terms of the list of urban characteristics proposed by Burrow: defences, evidence of planning, streets, public buildings, high-density population, specialized production, trade, communications, and 'central place' role.127

Figure 40 Comparative plans of areas enclosed by walls of Romano-British small towns and sub-Roman hill-forts (above). Sub-Roman occupation in w e s t e r nB r i t i s h t o w n s (below).

(Plans of small towns based on Burnham and Wacher, 1990.) Key to upperillustration: \= Romano-British town ofRochester B= h =

Romano-British town of Chelmsford South Cadbury hill-fort (after Alcock, 1987) Romano-British Ancaster

Tintagel (outline ofsummit area only)

T h e c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s of each of t h e s e sites would fit B u r r o w ' s list as

readily as would most Romano-British 'small towns', sites with which they are comparable in size (fig. 40).128 Leslie Alcock has noted that hillforts in Scotland include sites comparable in size (if not necessarily in

sub-Roman site at Gateholm (after Edwards and Lane, 1988)

R o m a n o -B r i t i s hC a i s t o r

d =

Cadbury Congresbury (based o n Fowler et al 1970)

density of occupation) to prehistoric Mediterranean 'towns',129 and South

Cadbury i s aslarge as the largest ofthese Scottish sites. 130 Perhaps, if we are to call Romano-British small towns and these Mediterranean sites

'urban', this term must also encompass some of o u r larger sub-Roman

hill-forts; fi so, they were the first post-Roman towns in Britain. 131

Using this interpretation to look again at the West Country sites we might see them as 'local centres', to use Richard Hingley's term for Romano-British 'small towns', for arural estate population. Such centres might serve rural populations as market or refuge places, or both - much

as did the later burh.132 Here the relationship between Cadbury Congresbury and Gatcombe, and South Cadbury (fig. 41) and Ilchester may be of relevance. If sub-Roman hill-forts w e r e the successors to these Late R o m a n 'small towns', this m i g h t suggest that they r e p r e s e n t e d a c o n t i n u a t i o n o ft h e i r f u n c t i o n s i n t o t h e p o s t - R o m a n p e r i o d . ' T h e l a r g e r

hill-forts ofsub-Roman Britain may, then, have been far more deserving of the Latin term urbs, sometimes used by Bede when referring to hill-

fort sites, than has hitherto beensupposed.133 As they occur outside the 125. Dark, Discovery. 126. Ibid.

127. Burrow's list is published in, P. Rahtz, The New Medieval Archaeology (1981), fig. 6. 128. Burnham and Wacher, The 'Small Towns'.

129. .L Alcock, 'Pictish Studies: Present and Future', in The Picts. A New Look At Old . Small (1987), 80-92 (85 and 87). Problems, ed, A 130. Ibid., 87; Alcock, Economy, 210.

. Hodges, 131. For theearliest Anglo-Saxon towns beginning in the lateseventh century, R

The Anglo-Saxon Achievement (1989), 80-90 and 92-104. 132. Hingley, RSRB, 86-94.

133. J. Campbell,'Bede's words for Places', ni Names, Words and Graves: Early Medieval . Sawyer (1979), 34-54. Settlement, ed. P. H

6 0m i l o s

Keyt ol o w e rillustration: 1 Wroxeter, 2 Carmarthen, 3 Ariconum, 4 Gloucester, 5 Bourton-on-the-

Water, 6 Caerwent, 7 Kingscote, 8 Cirencester, 9 Bath, 10 Camerton, 1 Dorchester. Circledl e t t e r s identify hill-fort sites shown above.

165

166

Civitas to Kingdom

Sub-kingdoms, Estates and Towns in sub-Roman Britain

167

100m

Figure 41 Aerial photograph of South Cadbury hill-fort. (Cambridge University Collection of A i r Photographs: copyright reserved.) a

zone in which Roman period 'small towns' are found, in Cornwall, for example, they may represent a sub-Roman expansion of small scale urbanism into the South West and Wales after its decline in the fifthc e n t u r y in e a s t e r n Britain. 134

We might find further evidence for this interpretation in analogy with

late Romano-Gallic hill-forts, the fluchtburh of the Rhineland, and the

hilltopt o w n s of Italy, such as the e x c a v a t e d site at S a n t a Maria in Civitá

(fig. 42).135 These fortresses had the role of protecting local populations

and providing administrative functions forthe surrounding areas. Unlike the British examples, they were often stone-walled, univallate, and con-

tained ecclesiastical centres as well as secular administration. It is

For the chronologyo f urban decline in Britain, see Dark, Discovery, and Chapter 1of this book. For the distribution of u r b a n centres in Roman Britain, see Jones and Mattingley, Atlas, 156. . . Barker and K . Hodges, G 135. S. Johnson, Late Roman Fortifications (1983), 226-34; R Wade, Excavations at D85 (Santa Maria in Cività): an early medieval hilltop settle134.

ment in Molise', Papers of the British School atRome, 48 (1980), 70-124.

Figure 42 Late and sub-Roman hill-forts from Britain and the Continental Roman Empire. (Continental sites based on Johnson, 1983. Multivallate promontory forts at Grünwald (A) and Brawdy (a). Hill-forts with outer

baileys Buzenol (B) and Dinas Emrys (basedo n Edwards and Lane, 1988) (b). Similar entrance defences at Mont (C) and Chun (based on Alcock, 1987) (c). Small bivallate promontory forts at Furfooz (D) and Coygan (based on Edwards and Lane, 1988) (d).

168

Civitas to Kingd om

unsurprising that many of these sites are defended by single mortared stone walls, asR o m a n construction methods survived through the period

in Gaul, Italy and theRhineland, but did not in Britain. In Britain, either the need to build in earth andtimber, or the symbolism of kingship, may

have l e d to the use ofm u l t i v a l l a t e d e f e n c e s . 86 T h e a b s e n c e of ecclesias-

tical aspects may be explained by the strict separation made between

religious and secular sites ni sub-Roman Britain, a characteristic found

in early Christian Ireland also. 137

So, the characteristics ofthese hilltop sites not found in Britain, can

be explained entirely by otherwise evidenced regional variations, and needi m p l y no functional difference. Inf a c t , we find ecclesiastical centres not at, but adjacent to, hill-fort sites in Britain. 138

Interestingly, the Continentalhill-forts of the fifth to seventh century

also remained estate centres as, for instance, the writing of Sidonius shows.139 It is alsoi n t e r e s t i n g that in the Byzantine East similar hilltop fortresses, the successors to Roman-period towns,r e u s e d acropoli - citadellike political c e n t r e so f the fifth to sixth century BC - in a similar way to that in which the British sites sometimes re-used Pre-Roman Iron-Age hill-forts of the s a m e date.140

Sub-kingdoms, Estates and Towns in sub-Roman Britain

169

That this network did not consist of large, or highly romanized, towns should n o t surprise us; it is common to sub-Roman communities in many

parts of Europe. If, as we have seen, large towns were still surviving in the British kingdoms, ti was probably as (stage 2) administrative and

episcopal centres. This is, again, what we find elsewhere in Europe. 145 If this overall interpretation is correct, then sub-Roman Britain in the

sixth century was a more extensively, if not intensively, urbanized society than Anglo-Saxon England was in the seventh and eighth centuries. 16 Given their association with the British l i t e it is hardly surprising that these hill-forts did not, for the most part, later become urban centres, because throughout the English lowlands that élite was replaced by an

Anglo-Saxon aristocracy, and, as we shall see in Chapter 7, major

changes in organization occurred within the surviving British kingdoms in the s e v e n t h c e n t u r y a n d later.

CONCLUSION

There is, then, evidence that British kingdoms were divided into sub-

It is clear, then, that Continental analogy supports the interpretation of the British hill-forts as political, administrative, and estate centres. The urban interpretation of the larger sites is also supported by this

kingdoms, and probably that sub-kingdoms were divided into estates. It is notable, of course, that British boundaries employed rivers, hills and linear earthworks which, as landscape features, prevented major fluctu-

smaller hill-forts of Wales and the South West (fig. 43), such as Dinas Powys or Chun.141 These sites are probably best seen as defended secular élite homesteads. 12 This interpretation might, however, elucidate the relationship between major hill-forts, Late Roman 'small towns', and estates. This view has the advantage of bringing sub-Roman British hill-

The division of large kingdoms into smaller units need not imply a 'Celtic' political structure. 147 It can be seen as a practical solution to the problem of administering a large territory by a single over-king. This

comparison. Obviously, such an interpretation cannot be extended to the

forts more in line with Continental sites. The evidence for the urban character of the larger British hill-forts may sit conveniently alongside the evidence for the survival of 'small towns' into the sub-Roman period, as at Camerton.143T h i s suggests that whereas some 'small towns' were relocated to nearby hill-forts, as at Ilchester, others remained at their Roman-period sites. Large monasteries may also have had 'small-town' characteristics.14 Such a network of

'small towns' at monasteries, on hilltops and at Roman 'small town' sites could h a v e a ff o r d e d ecclesiastical a n d a d m i n i s t r a t i v e s e r v i c e s to the

rural community, and provided centres of economic activity.

ations from occurring except with the deliberate redelineation of boundaries, or political discontinuity.

required delegation of administrative duties to more local, and perma-

nently resident, rulers. In this way, decisions made by the great kings of, for example, Gwynedd or Dumnonia could be turned into local action, and, conversely, they could draw on local resources.

The stability of large-scale political unitsshown ni the previouschapter is to a lesser extent matched by that of the sub-kingdoms. At the subkingdom level little change seems to have occurred in political boundaries ni

Wales from the sixth to the sixteenth centuries. At the estate level the pattern is less consistent, with some estates having a longer post-Roman history than others. The overall trend is, then,o f stabilityincreasing proportional to the size of the political unit: quite the opposite to the usual assumption.

136. Forthe British sites, see Dark, Discovery.

137. Ibid. 138. Ibid.

139. 140. 141. 142.

Percival,The Roman villa, 171. E.g. at Kavala, P. Hetherington, Byzantine andMedieval Greece (1991), 115. Dark, Discovery. Ibid.

143. Ibid.

. 144. Perhaps implied by Bede,H E , II.2. The credibility ofthis passage is discussed by: H

Pryce,'Ecclesiastical wealthi n early medieval Wales', ni Edwardsand Lane, The early

Church, 22-32 (23 and 31 n.2).

145. E.g. A.Poulter,'Theuse andabuseof urbanism ni the Danubian provincesduring the

Later Roman Empire', in The city in Late Antiquity, ed. .J Rich (1992), 99-135; 'Nicopolis', Current Archaeology, 121 (1990), 37-42; and 'Nicopolis ad Istrum, Bulgaria. An interim report on the excavations 1985-7', Ant J, 68.1 (1988), 69-89.

146. For urbanism i n seventh- and eighth-century Anglo-Saxon England, see, Hodges, The Anglo-Saxon Achievement, 80-90 and92-104. 147. T. M. Charles-Edwards, 'Early medieval kingships in the British Isles', in Bassett, Oak, 28-39.

Civitas to Kingdom

Sub-kingdoms, Estates and Towns in sub-Roman Britain

171

Figure 43 Reconstruction of a small Dark Age hill-fort, based on evidence from Carew. By Chris Powell, reproduced

The recognition of sub-Roman 'small towns', including new, post-

with the kind permission of Pembrokeshire National Parks, D y e d County Council.

170

Roman sites, and of the survival of urban territories around what had been Romano-Briti sh towns, are also of special interest. The interpretation proposedh e r e must, fi correct, change our perceptio n of the post-Roman history of urbanism in Britain.

The Culture of sub-Roman Britain

173

persisting into the sixthand seventh centuries, has been ignored. Yet, as

6

T h e Culture o f sub-Roman Britain

I hope to show in this chapter, a strong case can be made that much of

sub-Roman Britain was as culturally romanized in the sixth century, if

not the seventh, as it was in the fourth century, and that it was at least as romanized as parts of the fifth- to sixth-century European provinces of

the Byzantine (Eastern Roman) Empire, such as the Balkans.8

It has to be stressed that it is secular élite culture which is discussed

INTRODUCTION

At present there are two principal interpretations of the culture of subRoman Britain.' In the first, exemplified in the work of Leslie Alcock, the Britons are seen as having a 'Celtic-heroic' culture, in which élites consisted of thoroughly de-romanized aristocraticwarbands.' Apart from

Christianity, the culture of these groups was as 'barbarian' as that of the

Anglo-Saxons.3 This view is sometimes combined with the interpretation

that Iron-Age culture re-emerged after the end of Roman rule, which is

seen as catastrophic.

The second view sees the end of Roman Britain as equally catastrophic

but supposes that non-mate rial aspects of Roman culture survived alongside Christianity. This interpretatio n has most recently been

defended by Simon Esmonde Clear and Nicholas Higham.®

Scholars vary on the chronology which they favour for the emergence of this culture. Richard Reece would see 'de-romanization ' as a charac-

here, not low-status or ecclesiastical romanization. There is a strong argument that thesub-Roman British Church was romanized in theology and organization into the seventh century, even to the extent of considering 'papal' rulings irrelevant.° In religious beliefs, the Britons were remarkably orthodox Late Antique Christians, in practice they were receptive to changes until no later than the early- to mid-fifth century.I° The Church may, then, have been an organization derived from the Late Roman world that was romanized until the seventh century, but this is unsurprising. In the Western Empire (as it had been in AD 410) as a

whole, the Church was the strongest bastion of romanized literacy and

culture in the sixth to seventh centuries. I The most romanized buildings

in Frankia or Spain were churches, the Roman epigraphic tradition was preserved by the Church in tombstone carving, and when literacy spread across Europe in the seventh to eighth centuries, it was mostlybrought by the Church.12

The lower-status groups in the sub-Roman kingdoms of Britain had never been intensively romanized, except in the West Country and in the" *Catuvellaunian/Trinovantian area. 31 Elsewhere, it would be surprising to

find romanized sub- Romans w h e n we cannot find romanized Roman provincials. So little is known of sub-Roman low-status settlements that any cultural evaluation of the few excavated examples would seem pointless, and only in the sub-Roman cemeteries do we see this part of t h e population

teristic of the Late Roman period from the third century onwards, whereas Esmonde Clear and Higham assign it to the late-fourth and early-fi fth centuri es.6

All these scholars agree that the end of town life, coinage, RomanoBritish pottery manufacture, and villas was in the first half of the fifth

century. All of them agree that by AD 500 it was 'all over' for Roman Brit-

ain.? The alternative, extensive and intensive sub-Roman romanization, .1 Not all scholars would describe the culture of the west and north of Britainduring AD . Dark, 'Back to . R 400-600 a s 'sub-Roman'. For a discussion of the terminology, see, K the Dark Ages? Terminology and Preconception in the Archaeology of the Period AD 400-800 in Celtic Britain', forthcoming. 2. Alcock, AB, 197-252. 3. Ibid., 357. .4 P. Rahtz, The New Medieval Archaeology (1981), 26-8.

. Higham, Rome, Britain and the Anglo-Saxons (1992), 69-107, 5. Cleary, ERB, 131-87; N and 216.

6. Ibid.; R. Reece, 'Town and country and the end of Roman Britain', World Archaeology, 12 (1980), 77-92.

7. Aview also shared by Frere, Britannia, 375, and J.Wacher, Roman Britain (1978), 267.

P. Salway, Roman Britain (1981), 501, favours a date close to 500 for the 'end of

. Browning, Byzantium and Bulgaria 8. R. F. Hoddinott, Bulgaria in Antiquity (1975); R

(1975). 9. J. K. Knight,

'In Tempore Iustini Consularis: contacts between the British and

Gaulish church before Augustine', ni Collectanea historica: essays ni memory of Stuart Rigold, ed. A. Detsicas (1981), 54-62; W. Davies, 'The Myth of the Celtic Church', in Edwards and Lane, The early Church, 12-21.

10. Ibid.

11. Although literacy was widely found ni secular contexts also., .I Wood, Law and Culture ni Merovingian Gaul', in The Uses of Literacy in Early Mediaeval Europe,

ed.

R .

McKitterick (1990), 63-81. For anexample of the role of the Church ni preserving literacy,

see, T. F. X. Noble, 'Literacy and the papal government in Late Antiquityand the early middle ages', n i the same volume, 82-108.

12. E. James,

'Archaeology and the Merovingian monastery', ni Columbanus and

Merovingian Monasticism, eds H. B. Clarke and M . Brennan (1981), 33-55; S. J. Keay,

Roman Spain (1988), 212-13; D . J. Vives, Inscriptiones cristianas de la Espana Romana

y Visigoda (2nd edn. 1969); J. Knight, "The Early Christian Latin Inscriptions of Britain and Gaul: Chronology and Context, in Edwards and Lane, The early Church, 45-50 (48-9).

13. Hingley, RSRB demonstrates the variable romanization of the British countryside h o f e r o

~ i r r r

AM)

174

The Culture of sub-Roman Britain

Civitas to Kingdom

in a useful archaeological context. 41 In burial, however, ideology probably necessitated uniformity, or at least the appearance of poverty. This evidence is, therefore, of little use in deciding whether the lower classes of s u b - R o m a n Britain were romanized in the p o s t - R o m a n period. Probability

suggests that, although Christian, thiswas the limit of their participation

in romanized culture, except, as we shall see, possibly using coinage to pay their taxes to kings. To assess romanization, I shall consider the culture of the sub-Roman secular élite thematically. As archaeological material forms the bulk of

the evidence to be considered here, it si first necessary to address a question of method. HOW DO WE ASSESS CULTURE ON ARCHAEOLOGICAL GROUNDS?

It was Francis Haverfield who first tried to answer the question of how to

recognize romanization on the basis of archaeological material.15 Haverfield and subsequent writers have consistently taken the presence of masonry buildings, coinage, mass-produced pottery and glass, Roman

hydraulic systems (piping, aqueducts, etc.), and baths as indices of romanization. 16 Recently, Esmonde Cleary has pointed out that subRomans living in materially impoverished conditions might maintain a flourishing non-material culture, and obviously, this could encompass romanized aspects. 71 Nor need the lack of material remains betoken material impoverishment.

Many types of material - cloth, wood, leather, bone, and metal - might either fail to survive, or be recycled, on a British site.

This argument can be extended to the representation of architecture

in excavated evidence. Philip Barker has drawn attention to the impor-

175

Let us take two examples: the Norman castle of Hen Domen and the Anglo-Saxon palace site at Yeavering. 91 At both sites, t e x t u a ldata affirm secular l i t e occupation, and this is supported by e v i d e n c eof large and

complex structures. Yet both sites are artefactually impoverished. As Barker (directing the excavation of the site) has pointed out, the eleventh-

century aristocrat Roger de Montgomery, whose castle Hen Domen was,

enjoyed a lower artefactual standard of living, as it is represented in the archaeological r e c o r d , t h a n the C o r n o v i a n p e a s a n t s of t h e late Pre-

Roman Iron-Age who once lived in the same area.20 It is hard to believe

that the sophistication of these sites, as reflected by the excavated a r t e f a c t s , a c c u r a t e l y r e p r e s e n t s the c u l t u r a l s o p h i s t i c a t i o n of their aristocratic inhabitants.

Yet at both of these sites architectural evidence does point to cultural complexity. So it is impossible to assert simply that there is a lack of correlation between material and non-material culture. These examples may suggest that status can be displayed in ways other than artefactual wealth, or in terms of artefacts which do not survive today. This can be extended to many aspects of culture and to many periods, and so we must ask whether, without historical evidence to guide us, we can discern what in each specific case accurately represents the culture of the inhabitants of an excavated site. Different interpretations of that culture might

derive from using different aspectsof the excavated evidence. As mentioned above, the establishment of relative wealth from material culture is also a complex matter. It is easy to suppose, for example, that the cessation of mosaic production represents cultural or economic

decline, but 'what if' the fashion in fifth-century Britain switched from

mosaic floors to elaborate carpets? The carpets would no longer survive

in

the archaeological

r e c o r d ( o t h e r t h a n u n d e r e x c e p t i o n a l circum-

stances) but might have been just as sophisticated as artefacts, and of an equivalent artistic level to mosaics. As ti happens, carpets did come to

tance of Norwegian stave churches to this question: as he observes *... if

replace mosaics in the Byzantine East from the sixth century onward, and a characteristic British product of the later third century, the Tapete

cross-shaped plan alone, to erect a great pagoda-like structure bristling with dragons at every corner?'18 Such examples, and they might be multiplied many times over, should warn us against too simplistic arch-

Brittannum, may have been a rug.21 fI woven floor coverings were in use

no stave churches survived in Norway who would dare, on the basis of a

tectural interpretations of excavated evidence. It is important, therefore,

to reconsider the question of the representation in the archaeological r e c o r d o f b o t h m a t e r i a l and n o n - m a t e r i a l culture.

It might be supposed that material culture always stands broadly equivalent to non-material culture in its sophistication and profusion. This is not s u p p o r t e d by archaeolo gical evidence from sites where this can be 'calibrated' by historical data.

14. A general study of these cemeteries is being prepared by P. A. Rahtz as part of the forthcoming final report on his excavation at Cannington. 15. F. Haverfield. The Romanization o fRoman Britain (1912).

16. E.g. Frere, Britannia, 296-9and305-6. 187. 17. Cleary, ERB, 172-3, 175 and • o f Aschoolocical

F e c o r a t i o n (1027\

954

at this early date, then, even if mosaic production ceased, we cannot assume that the British of the fifth and sixth centuries necessarily did not have carpets. We need not assume technological collapse or economic decline, merely changes in fashion. These examples may help us to see the folly of a simple correlation between material culture as represented in the archaeological record, and material wealth or cultural sophistication. This is not to say either that such correlations never exist, nor that the British West of the fifth or

sixth centuries was necessarily, on theoretical grounds alone, as

19. B. Hope-Taylor, Yeavering: An Anglo-British Centre of Early Northumbria (1979); P. . Higham, Hen Domen Montgomery (1982). Barker and R 20. P. Barker, Understanding ArchaeologicalExcavation (1986), 148-9 and 164 21. J. P. Wild, 'Wool production in Roman Britain', in The Romano-British Countryside, ed. D . Miles 2 ( vols, 1982), I, 109-22

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The Culture ofsub-Roman Britain

Civitas to Kingdom

177

culturally sophisticated as the British diocese of AD 300. We must not, however, confuse change with decline. In a sub-Roman situation a further problem confronts us. As we have

seen when considering Hen Domen and Yeavering, structural evidence can be our clearest indication of élite status. But this is b o t h dependent upon cultural factors and invalidated i n s i t u a t i o n s where structures are not freshly built but reused. Reused buildings reflect the values and functions of those who built them, rather than those who adapted them.

Theadaptations m a y inform us of t h ea i m s and aspirations of t h e people reusingi t , asm a y t h e fact of reuseitself. The complicating factors of cul-

tural difference andindividual choice have, however, to be carefully eval-

uated before any such conclusion canb e arrived at.

Nevertheless, the surprisingly neglected work of Simon Ellis is of relevance here in helping us to evaluate cultural, individual, and functional aspects of sub-Roman structural reuse, and to recognize and evaluate the social significance of such reuse. Ellis wrote a D.Phil dissertation on Byzantine d o m e s t i c architecture, which, although largely unpublished, is thef u l l e s t available account of the archaeology of domestic structures in the fi f t h - to seventh-centuryE a s t e r n Roman Empire.2? Other, much more partial work byJohn Percivalh a s considered aspects ofsuch architecture in

Gaul.23 T h e evidence from these areas enable us to see the relevance of

Ellis's arguments tot h e West.

Ellis has shown that sub-Roman architecture has a consistency

throughout Europea n d the Mediterranean.T h efollowing characteristics can be observed in the reuse of earlier buildings in the fifth to seventh centuries:

Figure 44 T h e excavation at Birdoswald: a Romano- British granary reused in the sub-Roman period, showing paved and filled-in floors. Photograph: Greg McDonnell. Reproduced with the kind permission of English Heritage.

.1 blocking - of doorways and column interstices in porticos, etc. 2. s u b d i v i s i o n o f r o o m s

3. construction of simpler, usually smaller, structures - on or adjacentt o Roman-period buildings

4. reuse of 'old' foundations: for new walls.

Britain, too, has ample, usually undated evidence of such modifications. But, as Ellis points out, the consistency in detail of these attributes entitles us to see such developments not as a series of localized responsesi n differing parts of what was, or had been, the Empire, but as a distinct

'architecture'. He goes further to show that, in areas where coins and

potterypermit dating, it is typical of the fifth to sixth centuries.

Britain can provide many examples of these characteristics. For example, subdivision is attested at Dorchester (Dorset) and an earlier granary was reused as a domestic structure at Birdoswald (fig. 44), but

unsurprisin gly, as masonry constructio n ceased earlier in Britain than elsewhere, blocking is not found. Ellis has also pointed out that such simple, impoverished-looking

architecture was not only used by low status people - inscriptions in the Eastern Empire enable us to recognize the, otherwise deceptive, simplicity of sub-Roman officials' homes, for example, in Syria. Clearly, this is an example where architecture would be a poor guide to the social position of the inhabitants. Building plan is no sure guide to the elaboration of superstructure, élite houses need not be architecturally sophisticated to

be impressive and comfortable, and 'squatter-occupation' might represent

refurbishment of an outwardly romanized dwelling. These conclusions can be employed alongside our observations on material culture. The discussion has hopefully shown that the conventional view, correlating material and non-material complexity, is incorrect.

The implication of this for sub-Roman Britain is, in part, that the archi-

tecture ofapparently structurally simple sites such as SouthC a d b u r y or

Cadbury Congresbury may have been underestimated, that artefactual

scarcity must not be taken as an absence of either material, or non-material,

culture, and that over-concentration on the superficial contrast between Roman andsub-Roman buildingsa n d objects mayhave been misguided.

Before embarking upon thematic discussion of the evidence from

22. S. P. Ellis, An Archaeological Studyo f Urban Domestic Housing in the Mediterranean A.D.

400-700 (1984).

1 Dorcivol

T h o

R o m a n

Villa

(1996)

160

1 9 6 _8

a n d

183_00

western and northern Britain, a specific point must also be made. The Celtic culture of the post-Roman West and North is often contrasted with the classical culture of Roman Britain. We have seen in Chapter 1

178

The Culture of s u b - R o m a n Britain

Civitas to Kingdom

179

that much of Romano-British culture was romanized, but the most seemingly Celtic aspects of sub-Roma n material culture - penannula r brooches, Celtic art, and the Celtic nomenclatu re and language of aristocrats - were all found in Roman B r i t a i n . T h e r e are Celtic names even on mosaics, and a penannula r brooch from Bath, for example, is probably

fourth-century, but could, on artistic or typological grounds, be fifth- to seventh-century.25 Many of the most 'Celtic' aspects of sub-Roman culture were the most 'Celtic' aspects of Roman Britain. As we shall see, the

0 00

others may not have been Celtic at all. Among the most allegedly Celtic aspects of sub-Rom an culture are

kings, feasting, halls, warbands, and poetic panegyric. It is with these that we may begin.

KINGS, HALLS, HILL- FORTS AND WARBANDS It might be supposed by non-romanists, or even those with the Principate in mind, that Romans and kings were incompatable. To a specialist in Late Antique and Byzantine studies, however, the juxtaposition

of the terms 'Roman' and 'king' immediately recalls the Rex Romanorum or the basileus, the Roman king' 2 This wasused for the Emperor from

the fifth century onwards and was even the official Imperial title after the

or the time of Heraclius, in the seventh century.27 Nor was the Emper

only 'Roman king'. There was a r'ex romanorum' inAfrica, and perhaps in

fifth-century Gaul.28 So kings and Romans are not necessarily contradictory. Patriotic Romans, of course, might be expected to have no kings, due to their loyalty

to the Empire, but we have seen in Chapter 1 that the sub-Roman Britons

cannot be expected to have been patriotic Romans after AD 409. So kingship and Roman cultural identity cannot be seen as either polarized,

or incompatible with the early fifth-century British situation. It is more curious that fifth- to sixth-century Britons should cling to romanization, not a British cultural identity.

Nor are the other supposedly Celtic characteristics under discussion here un-Roman. Hall-villas are common in Late Roman Britain, and the

post-Roman hall is also paralleled by timber aisled buildings, having

domestic functions and barn-like plans (fig. 45).29 It may be no coinci-

Figure 45 Romano-British and sub-Roman structures (above). A= 'Hall'

. G.Collingwood and I. Richmond, The Archaeologyof Roman Britain (2nd ed., 1969), 24. R 300; Frere, Britannia, 306-8; A . Birley, The People of Roman Britain (1979), 138-42. . Henig, D . Brown, D . Baatz, N. Sunde andL. Allison-Jones, 25. Birley, The People, 138; M 'Obiects from the Sacred Spring', ni The Temple ofSulis Minerva at Bath. The Finds from hte Sacred Spring, ed. B . W . Cunliffe (1988), 5-53 (23).

26. E. James, 'The origins of barbarian kingdoms: the continental evidence', in Bassett,

OAK, 40-52; S. Fanning, 'Emperors and Empires ni fifth-century Gaul', in Fifth-century Gaul: ACrisis of Identity?, eds J. Drinkwater and H. Elton (1992), 288-97.

27. Ibid.

28. James, 'The origins', 46-7.

29. Hingley. RSRB. 39-45 a n d 48-50.

at South Cadbury (after Alcock, 1987) compared to C, aisled building at

Holcombe (Based on Hingley, 1989). B = Site A complex at Tintagel (based on unpublished 1930s field drawings) compared to D, timber- built

villa building at Boxmoor. Note that, although dissimilar in ground-plan, the Tintagel building was of a similar scale and had an equivalent number of rooms to the building at Boxmoor, but comprised only part of a much

larger élite site. (Romano- British buildingsafter Hingley, 1989.) Internal

planningof sub-Roman Gateholm E (after Edwards and Lane, 1988) and

the Romano-British small town at Irchester F (after Burnham a n dWacher, 1990).

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The Culture of sub-Roman Britain

Civitas to Kingdom

dence that stafell ('hall') is probably a loan-word from Latin stabellum ('barn').3 The onomastic link seems to support the archaeological rela-

tionship between halls and aisled buildings,which archaeologists have

181

brings them closer in size to Late Antique bodyguards, although there is

p r o b a b l y not a link b e t w e e n t h e s e a n d early C h r i s t i a n Ireland or later

medievalWales. It shows, however, that what we might otherwise picture

interpreted as barns and houses combined. The term stabellum may well

as m o u n t e d b a n d s o f r e t a i n e r s m a y h a v e s i m p l y b e e n a h a n d f u l of warriors, at least in p e a c e t i m e .

a difference in our classification. This is not apparent in the archaeological

kings, halls, hill-forts or warbands, to suggest that they were unromanized.

be equivalent to our term 'aisled building'. So, it is by calling large recmake tangular sub-Roman buildings 'halls', not 'aisled buildings', that we

record.

Martin Henig has shown that feasts occurred as a regular part of Late

Roman life in Britain.31 It is credible to imagine feasting, even with poetic or musical recitation in a Late Antique context, and Romano-Britis h

There is, then, no reason to take the evidence, that the British had

This evidence is consistent with the information available from romanized Gaul, Italy and North Africa.

mosaics make reference to poetry in reception rooms of the fourth cen-

CHRISTIANITY, ROMANIZATION AND HEROIC

SOCIETY

tury.32

The next 'Celtic' characteristic is the hill-fort. We have already seen

that Late Roman Britain contained lites usinghill-forts and temples

within them. There is no doubt, therefore, that hill-forts were used in Late Roman Britain as élite sites. Nor is redefence unparalleled in more

romanized contexts, as we saw when discussing Continental hilltop sites in Chapter 5.

This discussion shows that there is nothing non-Roman about kings, halls, feasting and hill-forts. But what about warbands?These are also

well-attested. Texts make ti certain that in NorthAfrica, Italy, Spain and

Gaul, Late and sub-Roman aristocrats were accompanied by bands of

retainers.33 The origin of these warbands may be inthe need to defend estates or provinces against usurpers, barbarian raiders, or, in Gaul, bacaudic insurgents.34

British kingship, surviving in the north-west of Wales during the

Roman period, may have preserved its own type of warrior entourage,

and royal Irishmen in Late or sub- Roman Dyfed may, from the first, have had Irish-style royal military companions.35 Analogy with both the Irish and Welsh laws, the latter albeit much later, demonstrate the small size of warbands: a few men were sufficient to accompany the king.36 This

If the Latin Class-I inscriptions were to be effective as memorials, or

Gildas's work understood,Latin literacy was needed; and Gildas' work

provides evidence that Latin was employed in secular as well as religious contexts.37 Graffiti at Cadbury Congresbury, Dinas Powys and Tintagel, and the possible styli found at Dinas Powys and Cadbury Congresbury,

may be evidence of literacy at these places in the period AD 400-600.38

Gildas's sophisticated Latin and the Latin poetry inscribed on two Class-

stones, suggest that beyond mere literacy, a high standard of latinity could still be found intothe sixth century (fig. 46).39 B-ware amphorae, I

and used and worn D-ware mortaria, may imply the survival of Roman

culinary traditions.10 There may be hints of the royal associations of Roman symbolism, such as gold ornament and purple robes.41 Roman law, and weights and measures, apparently prevailed over some (perhaps the lowland zone) or all of the area, until at least the sixth century; secular schools may also have existed in the lowland zone in the fifth, if not

the sixth century.* The survival - locationally, physically, functionally

and, perhaps, culturally - of some Late Roman high-status settlements (as at Dinas Emrys, Coygan, Chun) and the creation of new sub-Roman

ones (for example, Tintagel and High Peak), provided a context for such a 30. For ystafell see, S . Zimmer, Dating the loanwords: Latinsuffixesi nWelsh (and their Celtic congemners)', ni Britain 400-600: Language and History, eds A. Bammesburger and A . Wollman (1990), 263-281 (269). 31. M . Henig, 'Seasonal Feasts in Roman Britain', OJA, 3 (1984), 213-23. Henig notes that Romano-British Christians also had feasts (220).

32. A. Burnett, 'The Literary Classics ni Roman Britain', Brit, 9 (1978), 307-13; P. Sims-

Williams, 'Gildas and vernacular poetry', ni Gildas: New Approaches, eds M. Lapidge

37. M. Lapidge, 'Gildas's education and the Latin culture of sub-Roman Britain', in

Gildas: New Approaches, eds Lapidge and Dumville, 27-50(50). 38. C. Thomas, 'East and West: Tintagel, Mediterranean imports and the early Insular Church', in T h eearly Church in Western Britain and Ireland, ed. S .M. Pearce (1982), 17-34 (26);and A Provisional List of Imported Potteryin Post-Roman WesternBritain and Ireland (1981), 13. Thomas's ascription of the graffiti t othe area of production or transhipment is not demonstrable from the available evidence which simply shows

and D . N . Dumville (1984), 169-92, may serve to counter the objection t h a tthe poetry referred to in the decoration of Romano- British reception rooms is Latin.

that the graffiti post-date the manufactureof the pottery. For Cadbury Congresbury: 'Cadrex' (P. Rahtz et al.) CadburyCongresbury 1968-73. Alate/post-Roman hilltop settle-

33. R. S. O. Tomlin, 'Meanwhile ni north Italy and Cyrenaica . .',in Casey, The end, 253-70; .J .F Drinkwater, T ' he Bacaudae of Fifth-century Gaul', 208-17, and G.Halsall, 'The origins of the Reihengräberzivilisition: Forty Years On', 196-207 (206); both ni Fifthcentury Gaul, eds Drinkwater and Elton.

34. Or, alternatively, they may have been organized by the Britons according to Roman military styles, leading to the transfer of loan-wordsrelating tot h eRomanarmy into . H . Jackson, Language and History in Early Britain (1953), 122-93. Old Irish: K 35. P. H. Sawyer, From Roman Britain to Norman England (1978), 72.

36

hid

shows that in Ireland only threp during 'the month of sowing'.

n Iron Age, Dark ment in Somerset (1992). For Dinas Powys: .L Alcock, Dinas Powys - A Age and Early Medieval Settlement in Glamorgan (1963), 119; and Economy, society

and warfare among the Britons and Saxons (1987), 108.

39. Lapidge, 'Gildas's Education';Sims-Williams, 'Gildas and Vernacular Poetry'. 40.

Alcock, Dinas Powys, 42; and Economy, 39.

41.

Dark, Discovery.

. Lapidge, 'Gildas's Education, 47-50; L. Bieler, 'Praefatio Gildae De Poenitentia', 42. M The Irish Penitentials, eds .L Bieler and D. A . Binchy (Dublin, 1963), 60-5.

182

Civitas to Kingdom

The Culture of sub-Roman Britain

183

the south-east) and Cornwall48 - unless one is willing to count the negative

evidence from Segontium oft h e destruction of the Mithraeum. 91 It is in the Ordovician area that, in perhaps the fifth century, Class-I

inscribed stones originated.5 These monuments attest Christians in their texts, and most probably belong to a Christian context. They suggest

that evangelization of this area had begun by the time of their manufacture, possibly due to the Gaulish contacts of that area, given the sub-

SR

PA I AT TR V IF O

Figure 46 A Class-I stone with a metrical Latin inscription (Nash-Williams, . R . Dark. ECMW stone no. 139). Copyright K

Romano Gallic elements in the epigraphy of these monuments and the reference to a Gaul in one of the inscriptions.51 This, too, could relate to the post-Martinian vigour of the late and sub-Romano Gallic church, and

the events of the early fifth century might have assisted contacts

b e t w e e n t h e British a n d Gallic churches.52

In Dumnonia the evidence for Christianity is strong by the sixth century:

Lvnette Olson has s h o w n that Landocco and other monasteries may have

been functioning by this date, and Ann Preston-Jones has given us good

reason to assign at least some lans to this period.53 There are inscribed stones of probably the sixth century.54 Establishing the extent of Christianitv infifth-century Dumnonia is more of a problem, as we do not have the sources to know to what extent the population of Dumnonia was Christian in the late fourth century.∞

In Dyed, however, the situation is complicated by the possibility of

British rule being supplanted by an Irish dynasty, but again we do not

know thee x t e n t ofChristianity and ofromanizationa c h i e v e d in southern sub-Roman culture.13 From the first, the most important element of this

culturewas Christianity. Gildas's kings were all nominally, Christian, and some of thems e e m to have hadm o r e deep-seated adherence. Apparently, paganism, to the highly critical and arguably well-informed Gildas, was unthinkable.5 T h e juxtaposition of church- or burial-sites and high-status s e c u l a r sites has a l r e a d y b e e n m e n t i o n e d . O n t h e basis of textual a n d

archaeological evidence, the British kings may, therefore, h a v e had close

links with the Christian Church. It seems likely that bishops were, as

Ireland in the Late Roman period.56 A Christian, semi-romanized, (semi-?)

Irish dynasty may have been acceptable to even the most romanized of the inhabitants of a never veryr o m a n i z e d area.5? If, however, monasticism

spread from Wales to Cornwall - perhaps specifically from the 'Irish' 48. See Chapters 1 and2 . For t h e distributiono fL a t e Romano-British Christianity see: C.

. Watts, Thomas, Celtic Britain (1986), 55 fig. 22; Jonesand Mattingley, Atlas, 296; D

Christians and Pagans in Roman Britain (1991), 219.

elsewhere , part of the royal court. 61

49. T h o m a s , CIRB, 135.

Christianity seems strong byt h e sixth century, and presumably results

Also see Appendix II. 51. Nash-Williams, ECMW, st. no. 33. See also Knight, I'n Tempore lustini Consulis', in

Even in north-west Wales, the evidence for widespread adherence to

from the c o n v e r s i o n of the a r e a in the fourth o r fifth c e n t u r y. 7 T h e only

areas in which Christianity has not been archaeologically or historically recorded in Late Roman western Britain, are modern Wales (other than

50. K. R. Dark, 'Towards a Post-Numerate Taxonomy', Nicolay, 47 (Oslo, 1987), 41-9.

Collectanea Historica, ed. Detsicas (1981), 54-62; and 'The Early Christian Latin

inscriptions of Britain and Gaul', in Edwards and Lane, The early Church, 45-50. 52. E. James, The Origins of France. From Clovis to the Capetians, 500-1000 (1982), 98. See C h a p t e r 2.

53. L. Olson, Early Monasteriesi n Cornwall (1989); S. Pearce, The Kingdomo f Dumnonia. Studies in History a n d Tradition in South Western Britain AD3 5 0 - 11 5 0 (1978), 66-7 43. Dark, Discovery. 44. Gildas, DE, II.28-36.

45. Ibid., I.4, is the onlymentiono f Britishpaganismi nhis text. ToGildas, there had been

substantialn u m b e r s of British Christians since the Late Roman period (I.12). 46. This certainlyseems to be implied by Gildas, DE, II.32; see Chapter 2. 47. As evidenced by thelarge number of religious sites and monuments: Nash-Williams, ECMW; Heather James, 'Early Medieval Cemeteriesi nWales', 90-103, and .A Preston-

Jones, 'Decoding Cornish Churchyards, 104-24, in Edwards and Lane, The early

Church.

. Preston-Jones, "The Excavation of a Long-Cist Cemetery at Carnanton, and 70-1; A St Mawgan, 1943', Cornish Archaeology, 32 (1984), 157-78, and Preston-Jones, 'Decoding'.

54. See Appendix 2.

55. Preston-Jones,' 'Decoding. 56. R. B. Warner,'Some Observations on the context and importation of exotic material . D.', Proceedings of the in Ireland, from thefirst century B. C. to the second century A Royal Irish Academy, 76 (1976), 267-92; Thomas, CIRB, 304, and 300, fig. 57; N. Edwards, The Archaeology of EarlyMedieval Ireland, (1990), 99.

. Williams, 'Rural Settlement inRoman 57. Ontheromanizationof Dyfed: H. James and G Dyfed', in The Romano-BritishCountryside. Studiesi n Rural SettlementandEconomy, e d .D . M i l e s (2 v o l s . 1982).I I .2 8 9 - 3 1 2 .

184

Civitas to Kingdom

The Culture of s u b - R o m a n Britain

areas of Wales - by the mid-sixth century, as Olson and Preston-Jones

have argued, then this may attest the establishmen t of Christian

commanities in these Welsh areas at, or before, that time.58 Obviously, Christian subjects could make religious demands of a king.

Christian kings might also make grants to, and in other ways assist, the Church. The kings certainly gained many advantages from the Church. Christian churches, apart from their spiritual benefits, had contact with the Mediterranean cultural world, bringing romanitas, literacy, and possibly knowledge of medicine,59 Bishops may have been part of royal ceremonials and possibly inaugurati ons. Aristocrats obviously attended church, as

is s h o w n by G i l d a s ' s De Excidio.61

185

It is usually said that there are no surviving sub-Roman British manu-

scripts, but there is, perhaps, one manuscript attributable to fifth- or

sixth-century Britain: the illuminated Rustic-Capital manuscript known as Vergilius Romans, comprising 309 folios 333 X 332 mm. in size.6? It is written in an elegant hand, with a tendency to calligraphic flourishes,68 and contains 19 striking colour illuminations in Late Antique style. These depict Vergil seated, and scenes from the texts that the manuscript contains: the Eclogues, Georgics and Aeneid.69 The manuscript was at the

m o n a s t e r y o f S t Denis until t h e fi f t e e n t h c e n t u r y w h e n it w a s sent to

Rome, prior to the papacy of Sixtus IV (1471-84), and it was probably

seen at St Denis, or elsewhere in northern France, by Heiric in the Caro-

lingian period.? Before the ninth century its history is unknown, but on

M A N U S C R I P T P R O D U C T I O N IN S U B - R O M A N B R I TA I N

the basis of textual irregularities shared with Irish Vergilian commentaries, . Hofman (in separate studies) have suggested that it was L. Holtz and R in Ireland before the ninth century." If so, it was probably brought to Ire-

Patrick's writings, Gildas's De Excidio and the British penitentialsassure us,

by their existence, that manuscripts were produced in sub- Roman Britain 62 Patrick Sims-Williams has recently pointed out that the British also had

land from elsewhere, or produced by refugees from the Roman Empire.

Despite this Frankish provenance, the most recent extensive study

considered this manuscript to be an Eastern work, but as Martin Henig

liturgical manuscripts which also probably indicates book production.63

and Kurt Weizmann have shown, this is very unlikely.72 Others have favoured an Italian origin on palaeographical grounds, but this too is not

Wales in the seventh or eighth century, so the British undoubtedly prod-

sustainable, with compelling art-historical grounds to counter any palaeographical argument.3 Other alternatives, more plausible on art-

David Dumville has drawn attention to a copy of aPelagian text, made in

uced manuscripts from the fifth to the seventh centuries. M a n u s c r i p tilluminati on is also attested in Late Roman Britannia

Prima, as a pair of compasses found at Dorchester (Dorset) and inscribed with a chi rho symbol was probably used for this purpose. 56 Gildas's letter to Uinniau, probably St Finnian, and the evidence of the Class-I inscriptions containing Latin poetry in their texts, make it certain that sub-Roman literacy included both letters and poems.66

58. Olson, Early Monasteries, 50; Preston-Jones and Rose,

. Bischoff, Latin Palaeography: Antiquity and (Rome, 1902); Lowe, CLA, I, 1 No. 19; B . O . Crónin and D. Ganz (1990), 42 and 67. For further the Middle Ages, trans. by D

Ages, 168-70; Thomas, CIRB, 137 and 140 and fig. 15. For evidence of sub-Roman ecclesiastical doctors see, Nash-Williams, ECMW, st. no. 92; Gildas, DE, I11.108.

60. Gildas, DE, 1.21. 61. Ibid., II.27 and I1.28.

62. The existence of these works is in itself evidence that fifth- and sixth-century Britons

produced manuscripts. Gildas had also read widely, including Vergil and Orosius, so, perhaps, implying the existence of other manuscripts, potentially produced in Britain.

Lapidge, 'Gildas's Education'; Neil Wright, 'Did Gildas read Orosius?', CMCS, 9 (1985), 31-42.

63. P. Sims-Williams, 'The Early Welsh Arthurian Poems', ni The Arthur of the Welsh.

The Arthurian Legend in Medieval Welsh Literature, eds R . Bromwich, A . O . H . Jarman and B. F. Roberts, (1991), 33-7 (36).

64. D. N.Dumville, 'Late-seventh-o reighth-century evidence for the British transmission of Pelagius', CMCS, 10 (1985), 39-52 . Henig, A' Probable Chi-Rho Stamp on a pair of Compasses', Proceedings of the 65. M DorsetNatural History and Archaeological Society, 105 (1983). 159.

66. Sims-Williams, 'Gildas and Vernacular Poetry'; D. N. Dumville, 'Gildas and Uinniau', Gildas: New Approaches, eds Lapidge and Dumville, 207-214; Nash-Williams, ECMW st. 139

commentary on this manuscript see, E. A . Lowe, 'Some facts about our oldest Latin manuscripts', 187-92 (188-9), and 'More facts about our oldest Latin manuscripts',

'Medieval Cornwall', 155;

Preston-Jones, 'Decoding', 122. 59. This is demonstrated by, Gildas, DE, itself. See also, Davies, Wales in the EarlyMiddle

no.

67. F. Ehrle, Picturae Ornamenta Complura Scripturae Specimina Codicis Vaticani 3867

251-74 (252-3), both in Palaeographical Papers, ed. L. Bieler (1972) 68. M. P. Brown, A Guide to Western HistoricalScripts from Antiquity to 1600 (1990), 18. . Weitzmann, Late Antique and EarlyChristian BookIllumination (New York, 1977), 69. K 52-9. The manuscript falls within a seriesof early illuminated codices of Vergil: L. D. . Reynolds (1983), R. (= L. D. Reynolds) 'Virgil', in Texts and Transmission, e d .by L. D 433-6 (433).

70.

Reynolds, 'Virgil', 434-5; Brown, A Guide, 18; L. Traube, Vorlesungen und Abhandlungen III (Munich, 1920), 220. . Hofman, 'Some new factsconcerning t h eknowledge of Vergil in early medieval Ire71. R land', Etudes Celtique, 25 (1988), 189-212 (203and 212); L. Holtz,'La redécouverte de Virgile auxVIII et IX° siècles', Lectures médiévales de Virgile (Rome, 1985), 9-30 (25); and 'Les Mss.à commentaires de l'Antiquité tardive à l'époque carolingienne', Attidel

convegno internazionale 'Il libro il testo,eds C . Questa and R . Raffaelli (Rome, 1984)

139-67. . Henig, 'Late Antique Book Illustration and t h e Gal72. Weitzmann, Late Antique, 22; M . W . C. Hassall and R . .I Ireland (2 vols, lic Prefecture', in De Rebus Bellicis, eds M 1979), 17-37(19).

73. E.g. Brown, AGuide, 18. For example, the art of folio 100v is far less naturalistic than

ivory diptychs from fifth- and sixth-century Rome and Ravenna: J. Natanson, Early

C h r i s t i a n luories (1953).

186

The Culture of s u b - R o m a n Britain

Civitas to Kingdom

alternatively, this could be a reflection of Late Roman cursive.83 Both

historical grounds, are Gaul, as proposed by Weitzmann and Toynbee, or

scripts are found in both Britain and Gaul; so this, again, is of little

Britain as suggested by Henig.?4

assistance in assigning an origin to the manuscript. The only possibly distinctive palaeographical feature, for which close

Doubt also surrounds the exact dating of this manuscript. While the fourth-century date proposed by Henig is too early and palaeographically untenable, 67 E. A . Lowe, Bernhard Bischoff, and Weizmann have proposed a wide range of fifth- to early sixth-century dates for the manuscript.76 On palaeographical grounds, a later fifth- or sixth-century date

analogy can be found, is t h echaracteristic upward flourish of the letters. This is a t t e s t e d in Romano-British inscriptions a n d in our earliest Insular

manuscript, the Cathach of St Columba.84 Despite this last point, the need to refer to epigraphy serves to remind us that, for the sub-Roman period, so little comparative material is available, even in Gaul, which is not of an epigraphic character, that any

might be preferred, and recent art-historical argument has favoured a

similar dating.? So the date of the manuscript seems to lie within the fifth or early sixth centuries, with its date probably lying closer to AD 500

palaeographical similarities are unlikely to be found which may assign the work with any certainty to either Gaul or Britain. The argument that the script might localize this manuscript to Italy fails, even on the

t h a n AD 400.

Such consensus on the approximate dating of the manuscript and the

doubt cast on a n Italian o r B a s t e r n a t t r i b u t i o n may, however,

serve to

excite new interest in the origin of this work. The manuscript might be located on palaeographical or art-historical grounds, although, as we

shall see, the latter offers the most promising line of enquiry. Let us

examine each of these approaches in turn, before reaching a conclusion a b o u t the origin a n d s i g n i fi c a n c e o f the m a n u s c r i p t .

187

.

grounds of this lack of comparative material from Britain and Gaul by which to eliminate a North-western origin. In fact, one of the few substantial non-epigraphic bodies of late Romano-British handwriting - the

12,000 'curse tablets' deposited at Bath - contains a script similar

(although much more carelessly executed) to that of the Vergilius Romanus.85

Consequently, palaeography is of little help when we attempt to locate

Palaeography

the production of this book, but certainly does not necessitate a Mediterranean origin. This brings us to the more fruitful ground of art history.

Although excellent, the script offers few distinctive features. It contains

the earliest known example of the rubrication of initial letters, but the

significance of this is unclear. The second minim of the H tends to be curved downward, and the ascenders have an upward flourish.18 The horizontal strokes of letters are sometimes extended across the vertical s t r o k e s a n d the G t e n d s to be r o u n d e d . P u n c t u a t i o n u s e s t h e medial

(epigraphic) punctus. 79

T h e s e features may be widely paralleled in Roman epigraphy, or, in

the case of the down-curved H, could simply be scribal. so Late and sub-

Roman inscriptions in both Britain and Gaul employ the medial punctus,

and the horizontal extension of strokes is widely attested by the same

sources.81 Likewise, the tendency for the L to slant downwards is found in both Gallic and British inscriptions of the Late Roman and sub-

Roman period.8? The rounded G could be related to Uncial script, but,

T h e illuminations

Opinions on the origin of the manuscript have centred on the distinctive illuminations (see cover and fig. 47). As mentioned above, Weizmann has

proposed an Eastern origin, but while Eastern elements may be present, this

attribution

has

been

conclusively

countered

by

To v n b e e

and

Henig.86 Palaeographical and artistic evidence has been used to support

an origin in Rome, but this seems implausible, as Henig has pointed out,

when the art is compared with that of what would be earlier, later, and broadly contemporary Roman, or even Italian products.87 These arguments have led Toynbee to propose a Gallic origin, and Henig to suggest southern Britain, within the fourth century AD. Cer-

tainly, the art seems provincial Roman and there are a few specific

details arguably supporting a generally northwestern European origin, 74. Weitzmann, Late Antique, 22; Henig, 'Late Antique Book Illustration', 19, 23 and 38.

75.

R. Reece, 'Art in Late Antiquity', ni A Handbook ofRoman Art (1983), 234-48 and 270.

Reece notes that 'all illuminated manuscripts that survive today date from after the

year 350',(246). For the range of palaeographical dates, see n. 76. 76. E. Rosenthal, The Illuminations of the Vergilius Romanus Cod. Vat. Lat. 3867. A stylistic

and iconographic analysis (Zurich, 1972), summarizes all the relevant studies. 77. This is, for example, Rosenthal's own view; Ibid.

78. Brown, A Guide, 18.

79. Ibid. 80. Ibid.

as H e n i g h a s shown.88 B u t only d e t a i l e d art-historical analysis can solve the q u e s t i o n of this

manuscript's origin, and the illuminations contain much detail with

83. Bischoff, Latin Palaeography, 64 and 67. 84. Lowe, CLA, 2, no. 266.

. S. O . Tomlin, 'The curse tablets', in The temple ofSulis Minervaat Bath:Volume 2: 85. R . W . Cunliffe (1988), 59-277. The finds from the sacred spring, ed. B

81. Nash-Williams, ECMW, medial stop (e.g., 11), and (e.g., 225) the tendency of L to A

86. Rosenthal, The Illuminations; Henig,'Late Antique Book Illustration', 23 and 38. 87. Ibid., 23.

82.

88.

and for bars of E to extend.

Ibid..

esp. 226.

Ibid.

188

The Culture ofs u b - R o m a n Britain

Civitas to Kingdom

189

n o t e d , and it is well paralleled on the Late Roman wall paintings at Poundbury (Dorset), probably visible in the sub-Roman period.91 Second, there is the characteristic way in which the feet of the seated figures arepositioned, repeated several times in the illuminations.92 This is not paralleled in Romano-Gallic art, or indeed sub-Romano-Gallic art, but is found in Insular manuscripts such as the Lindisfarne Gospels.93 George Henderson has noted the similarity of the Roman sculpture at Murrell Hill (Cumberland) to the seated figures depicted in the

Lindisfarne Gospels, and Henig has drawn attention to the close analogies between that sculpture and both the Lindisfarne Gospels and

Vergilius Romanus.9 Henig suggested that this permits a direct comparison

between Vergilius Romanus and the Lindisfarne Gospels.95 Third, characteristic elongated faces with almond eyes and slit-like mouthsa r e depicted in the manuscript.9 This characteristic is found in Insular art of the sixth century, as is shown by the Glastonbury Tor bronze head, and possibly also paralleled in the Lindisfarne Gospels.97 Fourth, Dido'ss h i e l d in folio 108r is a characteristic pelta shape. So far as I am aware, in the fifth to sixth centuries, this is a north western

'Celtic' designn o t foundi n Mediterraneanmanuscripts.98 It may suggest production in an area where 'Celtic' and Roman art could be combined in

an l i t e context, and this is most likely to be Gaul or Britain because at

this period these are the only areas in which a Romano-Celtic élite survived.

Figure 47 An illumination from the Vergilius Romanus (folio 108r). This shows Aeneas and Dido i n a cave, but thenaturalistic stylem i g h t preserve

aspects of sub-Roman dress and equipment. (Vatican Library photograph.)

which to work. Most is shared generally by provincial Roman art, but

Fifth, the figures shown in the illuminations are uniformly 'chinless' no upturned semi-circle indicates the chin.99 This is unlike Late Roman

or sub-Romano-Gallic art, but found in Britain, at, for example, Lullingstone in fourth-centuryw a l l paintings.100

90. Henig, 'Late Antique Book Illustration', 23 and 31. As Henig notes therei s a clear-cut

relationship between Romano-British painting and mosaic (21). M. Henig, 'GraecoRoman Art and Romano-British Imagination', Journal of the British Archaeological Association, 88 (1985), 1-22 (18-19). Note also the parallel suggested by, J. M. C. Toynbee,Art in Roman Britain (1962), 15, with t h e mosaic depicting a Vergilian theme

there are significant peculiarities, specific in Late Antique manuscript

art to Vergilius Romanus and, in the Late Roman Empire, toBritain.

Before considering these, it is perhaps worth noting that two distinct

artistic styles can be identified in this manuscript, one more naturalistic than the other.89 There is noindication , however, that thel e s s naturalis-

tic pictures were added after this book had been produced, suggesting that it derived from acontext inwhich classical naturalistic painting and more a b s t r a c t art coexisted .

Turning to thespecificswhich may suggest a British origin, the first of

these is the strongly linear drapery. This is best paralleled, in southern Britain, on Durotrigan mosaics oft h e fourth century AD, as Henig has

at Lowtham.

91. C. S. Green, 'The Cemetery of a Romano-British Christian Community at Poundbury, Dorchester, Dorset', ni The Early Church ni Western Britain and Ireland, ed. S. M . Pearce (1982), 61-76 (73-4); N . Davey and R . Ling, Wall Painting ni Roman Britain (1981),no. 13, 106-111.

92. E.g. folio 3v, folio 108г; Henig, 'Late Antique Book Illustration', 23. 93. Ibid.

94. Ibid. and 37. Henderson suggested comparisonbetween MurrelHill and folio 209v of the Lindisfarne Gospels.

95. Ibid., 23.

96. E.g. on folio 100v.

. Rahtz, 'Excavations at Glastonbury Tor, Somerset, 1964-6', Archaeological 97. P. A

89. E.g. Folios Ir and 44v contrast ni their depiction of bucolic scenes stylistically in their

naturalisma n d layout on the page. After the second miniature to the Eclogues they become full-page illuminations and lose the naturalism of the earlier illustrations. Weitzmann. Late Antique, 55.

Journal, 127 (1971), 1-81 (54-5). For a possible manuscript parallel one might compare the elongated faces oft h e servants on folio 100v of Vergilius Romanus with the elongated face of the angel depicted on folio 25v oft h e Lindisfarne Gospels. 98. For the use of the pelta incontempora ry British art, see S. Youngs, 'Fine metalwork to

.c AD 650°, ni The Work of Angels, ed. S. Youngs (1989), 71.

99. E.g. folio 100v and 108г. 100.

Davey and Ling, Wall Painting, 138-45.

190

Civitas to Kingdom

These factors taken together suggest a British origin. There is contextual evidence to support an Insular attribution and to negate counter argument. The first piece of evidence is the special tendency to depict the works

of Vergil in the art of Late Roman Britain. As Henig has pointed out, this is unusual, not only for north western provinces, but even for Italy, 101

The depictions include a painting at Otford (Kent) and a mosaic at Low

Ham (Somerset) in the Durotrigan mosaic school mentioned above. 102 A

special Insular interest in Vergil's Aeneid seems to have been maintained

into the early middle ages, and the work was well known to Gildas. 103 Second, we can note the existence in Britain of literate lay-patrons with access to large resources and specialist craftsmen - the kings of the British West. 104 O n e c a n n o t d o u b t the abilities of p a t r o n a g e of t h e rulers

who could commission works such as South Cadbury phase 11 or the Wansdyke.lo5 N o r can one d o u b t the c r a f t s m a n s h i p a n d artistic ability

shown by fifth- and sixth-century jewellery surviving from the British West.106

The manuscript could, therefore, have been produced in Britain,

where the resources were available and especial interest in the works of Vergil may be detected. Insofar as the illuminations show stylistic contacts with early medieval manuscript art at all, these are with Insular

products of the seventh century, especially with the Lindisfarne Gospels. The closest parallels for its art are in fourth-century southern Britain, where we can show that manuscripts were probably produced. Given the evidence mentioned earlier for s u b - R o m a n m a n u s c r i p t produc-

tion, it would, therefore, seem reasonable, in the absence of convincing evidence to locate it elsewhere, to take these indications of a British origin at face value. A possible opposing argument is that the latest fully classical

art known from Britain is represented by the Hone and Thetford

Hoards, belonging to the early fifth century.107 Given thatthe classical stvle of the manuscript naturalistic and more sufficient, in itself, to If the manuscript is

shows moves toward abstraction,and both classical abstract art are combined in it, I doubt if this is counter a British attribution. a British product it at once raises many questions.

Among these are what was the mechanism which took it to St Denis, (perhaps via Ireland) and what was its relationship to later Insular manuscripts? There are many ways whereby a British manuscript of the late

The Culture of s u b - R o m a nBritain

191

fifth- or early sixth-century might have been taken or sent directly to the

Paris area. It might have been a diplomatic gift from a sub-Roman king

or churchman, and evidence suggests that the latter might transport

books b e t w e e n Britain a n d Gaul in the fifth c e n t u r y. 108 It might have

travelled with migrants to north Gaul or Brittany, and then further east. Alternatively, one might note the sixth- and seventh-century trade between Frankia and western Britain as a possible explanation. 109 Whichever of t h e s e o p t i o n s is p r e f e r r e d , it is clear that the m e c h a n i s m s

of secular élite and ecclesiastical politics, and long-rangecontacts, could

have resulted in British manuscripts travelling overseas prior to the

eighth c e n t u r y. T h e relationship of the manuscript to later Insular book illumination is

raised by the stylistic affinities between it and the Lindisfarne Gospels. Might not this manuscript form a connection between the art of Roman Britain and that of seventh-century Northumbria? Reece has suggested

that continuity in art styles might helpto explain the seventh-century

'renaissance' in Northumbria. 110 Although with only one surviving manu-

script, and that probably southern, the case cannot be conclusive, it

seems plausible that the British king(s) of north Britain might have owned similar manuscripts. Given the probable adoption of aspects of

British culture by the Northumbrians, artistic interchange, perhaps through travelling craftsmen working in other media, might be expected.

Consequently, seventh-century British manuscript art, if it existed in the North, might have played a part in the formation of Northumbrian art styles.

Irish book illumination of the seventh century may be, at least in part, a reflection of the fifth-century and later 'romanization' of Ireland found in many aspects of m a t e r i a land non-materialculture. I So we might ask, on the b a s i s o f stylistic links b e t w e e n m a n u s c r i p t s in s e v e n t h - c e n t u r y

Ireland and Northumbria, whether the manuscript art of each area might not

represent,

rather

than

(or

as

well

a s

an

Irish

element

in

Northumbrian art, a common heritage drawn from the sub-Roman culture

of w e s t e r n a n d n o r t h e r n Britain.

Whether or not this interpretation of the origins of Insular manuscript illumination is accepted, the case for a sub-Roman British origin for the

Vergilius Romanus seems the best that can be made for this manuscript. If this dating and origin is accepted, it would be the earliest British book

known to us today.

. A . Barrett, 'The Literary Classics ni 101. Henig, 'Late Antique Book Illustration', 21; A Roman Britain', Brit, 9, (1978), 307-13.

THE CELTIC HEROIC AGE

102. Ibid.

103. Lapidge, 'Gildas's Education', 40.

104. Ibid., 50, notes the literacy of Maglocunus.

105. See Chapter 4, and Alcock, Economy,194-5.

106. For examples see: M. Redknap, The Christian Celts (1991), 30-33, and for the skill

involved ni producing this metalwork see, P. T. Craddock, 'Metalworking Techniques',

in The Work of Angels, ed. Youngs, 170-213.

107. The Hone hoard is, as yet, unpublished, but is noted in J. Plouviez,'Late Roman hoard excavated in Suffolk', Rescue News, 57 (1992), 2; C . Johns and T. Potter, The

Thetford Treasure: Roman Jewellery and Silver (1983).This argument was suggested

t o m e by M. Henig.

Although far more romanized than is usually supposed, the sub-Roman

Christian élite was presumably (however well-versed in Latin) Celtic108. Knight, 'In Tempore lustini Consulis', 57.

109. .J Wooding, 'Cargoes in Trade Along the Western Seaboard', ni Dark, ExternalContacts. 110. R. Reece, 'Mosaics and Carpets', in Roman Life and Art ni Britain, eds J. Munby and M. Henig(2 vols, 1977), II, 407-13.

111.

L. Laing.

'The r o m a n i s a t i o no f I r e l a n d in the fifth c e n t u r y ' . Peritio. 4 ( 1 9 8 5 ) 9 6 1 _ 7 8

The Culture of sub-Roman Britain

Civitas to Kingdom

speaking, and the 'Celtic heroic' aspects of its culture must not be overlooked - even if they have, in the past, been overestimated. 12 Gildas and

a Continental source mayattest bards, 31 and fi we take Gildas literally,

Cuneglasus may have ridden in a ('Celtic') chariot, as probably did his

Irish contemporaries. 14 De Excidio also attests the games and stories of

secular society, which may have been rehearsed in Celtic. 16 It is perhaps

relevant that many of the (Celtic) names on Class-I inscribed stones allude to strength, courage and war:116 attributes which may be considered appropriate to a 'Celtic Heroic Age' Presumably contact with Ireland increased this 'Celtic' element in Dyfed and Brycheiniog, and contact with the far north may also have had

this effect in Gwynedd. Elsewhere, although through the period AD 400700 'Celticization' may have increased among the British aristocracy, partly as a result of the loss of the lowlands, the flight of romanized refugees could have had the opposite effect.

suggests the reverse - the acculturation of the Irish dynasty and aristocracy

in Dyfed.!? If this is so, the hibernicization evidenced by ogom inscriptions

might have been, merely on a linguistic level, needed for the 'Irish' of

Dyfed to foster links with Ireland. In relation to this question, it may be relevant that the languages used in the inscriptions were both Irish and Latin. 118 O b v i o u s l y the Latin was i n t e n d e d for the British (and literate

'Trish'), but for whom was the Irish intended? Was it intended for visitors or local Irish-speakers, or may it, at some point, have come to be used as a ceremonial language,as Latin became in some post-medieval contexts?119 One can, however, d e t e c ta cultural difference between what might be

considered 'Irish' and British sites throughceramic evidence.120 Identifying

'Irish' hill-forts as those with adjacent inscribed stones bearing Irish per-

sonal names or ogom, and/or having concentrations of E-ware pottery, we arrive at an interesting pattern (see table 3)

In D y e d , w h e r e t h e r e is little e v i d e n c e of rural r o m a n i z a t i o n in t h e

Table 3

fourth century, the role of the Brittonnic, Gaelic and Latin languages in

Local Pottery and 'Irishness'

the p e r i o d AD 4 0 0 - 7 0 0 m a y n e e d closer e x a m i n a t i o n . Wa s the role of

L o c a lp o t t e r y

Irish analogous with that of Norman French and Old English in late eleventh- and twelfth-century England, for example? If so, to what extent would 'Irish' kings and aristocrats in Dyfed have attempted to adopt Irish, rather than British, ways? It may be that the epigraphic evidence

Brawd y

Cadbury Congresbury Chun

Coygan Camp

112. The concepts of the Heroic Age in general and specifically t h eCeltic Heroic Age are

. M . Chadwick, The Heroic Age (1912, reprint 1967); Alcock, AB, 319-27; outlined in, H

Crickley Hill Dinas E m r y s

＃

Dinas Powys

not, on the whole, stand modern critical examination.

113. L. Alcock, 'Cadbury-Camelot, A Fifteen-Year Perspective', Proceedings of the British Academy, 68 (1982), 355-88 (374-6); and Economy, 202-7, fig. 13.10 and table .2

?

＃

Tintagel 'Trethurgy

114. Gildas, DE, II.32, for depictions of such vehicles in Irelandsee, E. H . L . Sexton, A Descriptive and Bibliographical List of Irish Figure Sculpture of the Early Christian Period (1946), 49-50; F. Henry, Irish Art in the Early Christian Period (rev. ed. 1965),

Key:

Trish

＃

High Peak Penllystyn

and Economy, 285-311. However, some of the evidence given n i these works would

#

* indicates adiacent inscribed stone

# indicates pottery present

253, plate 79; H.Roe,TheHigh Crosses of WesternOssory (2nd edn.,Kilkenny, 1962),

- i n d i c a t e s none ? indicates uncertain

16-17, 45, and fig. on p. 48; P. Harbison, 'On some possible sources of Irish high cross

decoration', Festschrift zum 50 jährigen Bestehen des Vorgeschichtlichen Seminars

Marburg(Marburg, 1977), 283-97 (291).For the linguistic and textual evidence: D . Greene, "The Chariot as Described in Irish Literature, ni The Iron Age in the Irish Sea . Thomas (1972), 59-73. An overall review of the Irish evidence is Province, ed. C

193

# ！林

192

evidence for early medieval chariots is cited in: L . and .J Laing, 'Archaeological notes

This pattern is supported if we consider sub-Roman occupation found at Roman town sites and possible early monasteries; all probably British (see table 4).

other documents (1978), 81 and 144. On the d a t e and a u t h o r s h i p of these fragments

117. ECMW, st. no. 138.

attempted in, P. Harbison, "The Old Irish Chariot', Ant, 45 (1971), 171-7. The Scottish

on some Scottish early Christian sculptures', Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, 114, 277-88, 279 illus. .1 Linguistic and textual evidence for chariots brings into question Roe and Harbison's arguments that artistic models (from AngloSaxon and Byzantine sources) lay behind the sculptural representationsof these vehicles. In a British context it is noteworthy that, presumably wheeled, uhicula are attested in the Fragmenta Gildae: M. Winterbottom (ed. and transl.), Gildas: The Ruinof Britain, and

see: R . . Sharpe, 'Gildas as a Father of the Church', in Gildas: Neu Approaches, eds M Lapidge and D. N. Dumville (1984), 193-205. 115. Gildas, DE, III.66. On Celtic and Latin n i early medieval western Britain, see: SimsWilliams, 'Gildas and vernacular poetry'. 116. E.g. Catomaglus attested on Nash-Williams,ECMW, st. no. 297. For further examples see. N a s h - Wi l l i a m s . E C M W . 2 5 6 - 8 .

. Harvey, 'Early literacy in Ireland: theevidence from ogam', CMCS, 14 (1987), 118. See, A 1-15 (13); Nash-Williams, ECMW, gives many examples.

119. D. S. Evans, 'Irish and the Languages of Post-Roman Wales', Studies, 68 (1979), 19-32,

observes that the inscriptions seem to indicate a living language, but this does not mean that the intended audience was the local population.

120.

H e r e I n s e t h e l i s t o f e x c a v a t e d s i t e s g i v e n i n D a r k .D i s c o v e r y

194

The Culture o f s u b - R o m a n Britain

Civitas to Kingdom

Table 4 Local Pottery and 'Britishness'

195

general.123 Especially relevant here is a Christian ideal of kingship, in view of the origins of s u b - R o m a n kingship, a s reconstructed in Chapter 2.

Local p o t t e r y

Cirencester Dorchester

Glastonbury Tor Gloucester Poundbury Uley Whithorn

Wroxeter

Trish

＃

This was not necessarily similar to that of e i t h e rContinentalChristian Germanic kingdoms or of later centuries.24 Presumably it was in the

＃ ＃ ＃ ＃

ideals of kingship, and in the requirements of royal office, that the Church had most effect on the king's official behaviour, although spiritual aspects of beliefs and morality, literate education, and sense of identity,

＃

its e x p r e s s i o n in military, e c o n o m i c a n d a d m i n i s t r a t i v e t e r m s that we can

＃ ＃

Key as for table 3. The patterns discerned in tables 3 and 4 are also consistent with evidence from Ireland, where the ogom-using areas were ceramic (except for imported wares) during the fifth to seventh centuries.121 It seems,

therefore, that Irish sites did not use local pottery, whereas British sites did - but in very small q u a n t i t i e s .

Consequently, we can see hints both of the romanization of Irish set-

tlers and, perhaps, the survival of Irish cultural traditions differentiating

Irish a n d British c o m m u n i t i e s within a c o m m o n s u b - R o m a n c u l t u r e

derived from that of Roman Britain. Although there were, therefore, a

few 'Celtic', or even specifically Irish aspects to sub-Roman élite culture,

the list of these is not impressive. It is well known among archaeologists and historians that, even in the most romanized areas of Roman Britain, aspects of local Celtic culture survived through the Roman period and that the extent of these aspects differed from one area to another. The

'Celtic Heroic Age' did, perhaps, exist ni fifth- to seventh-century Britain, but it did so only within an essentially Romano-British framework.

KINGSHIP, ADMINISTRATION AND WARFARE

may all additionally have guided the actions of rulers. Whatever ideologies of kingship operated in sub-Roman Britain, it is most readily reconstruct today. These aspects are here considered separately, but clearly must have interlocked and interacted within British

society.

Administration

Although military, political and economic centres, British hill-forts and

palisaded sites probably fulfilled an administrative role, as did the royal centres of Northumbria. 125 Such a role might be necessitated by royal residence within them, or the residence of royal families or administrators. Alternatively, some places may, themselves, have had royal associations and attracted the attention of kings. Sites, potentially coastal harbour-side fortresses of the fifth to seventh

centuries, cluster in promontory cantrefi in Wales, 126 and in Cornwall, the

e x c a v a t e d e x a m p l e s of such sites lie a l m o s t centrally on the c o a s t l i n e s of the h u n d r e d s within which they are situated.127 T h e a s s o c i a t i o n of s u c h

sites at Tintagel and Aberffraw, with evidence suggestive of overkingship, may suggest that this pattern should be interpreted as an expression of over-kingly authority and administration. 128 It may be that they were administered as ports under over-kingly control, as already mentioned in Chapter 3 in connection with Tintagel. The distribution of inland promontory forts contrasts with this, per-

haps an expression of the more localized, small-scale character of 'Irish' kingship, with sites distributed among the cantrefi of Dyed and

Kings hip

The ideology of fifth- to sixth-century British kingship is difficult to reconstruct. Although Gildas, at least, could expect the kings of his day to exhibit i d e a l sof piety, justice, legitimacy and generosity, we cannot be sure that he was typical in these expectations.122 It is hard to consider

123. Uortipor's memorial, Nash-Williams, ECMW,st. no. 138, suggests that Roman office

was being claimed for this king: Evans,Irish', 23-4. The Penmachnostone, NashWilliams, ECMW, s.t no. 103, may be read as another example of this type of

legitimation, but we know nothing else of the individual referred to as magistratus upon it.

that kings had within their own minds no ideal of kingship, even fi they

. Wallace-Hadrill, Early Germanic Kingship in England and on the Con124. E.g., see, J. M

'Celtic' ideal, the idea of king as Roman governor, emperor, official or

125. Alcock, Economy, 161-3, and 211-12; a n d"The activities of potentates in Celtic Britain,

chose to ignore it. A number of s u c h ideals could have been current - a

tinent (1971).

AD 500-800: a positivist approach, ni Powerand Politics ni Early Medieval Britain andIreland, edsS. T. Driscoll andM. R. Nieke (1988), 22-39 (33-35); L . Alcock, Bede, Eddius and the forts of the North Britons (1988).

121. Edwards, The Archaeology, 68-75 and 102.

126. Dark, Discovery.

. A . Brooks,'Gildas's De Excidio, its revolutionary 122. Gildas, DE, 1.26, and I.27. See also D meaning and purpose' SC, 18/19 (1983/4), 1-10.

128. Dark, Discovery.

127. Ibid. For the Cornish hundredssee, Thomas, Celtic Britain,65

196

Civitas to Kingdom

The Culture of sub-Roman Britain

Brycheiniog. 129 These sites may, fi they belong to this period, be seen

overall in terms of the homesteads of local sub-kings, serving as administrative c e n t r e s on a cantref-level.

In Dyfed, Brycheiniog and Gower, these small sites contrast with the large contour forts which lie within the same areas. In Anglesey, Lleyn,

'missing' palisaded sites represent their courts. 136 Clearly sub-kings cannot be seen as conducting circuits of hill-forts within their territories, as they had few, fi any, such sites within them. Theirs was a more local, and more lowly, world.

Arfon, Pembroke, Dewisland and Laugharne, as well as Gower, these

larger sites occur in areas which also have coastal harbour-side forts, but they are rare elsewhere in Gwynedd and Dyed. Perhaps the greater scale of these sites and their spatial association with the coastal forts might suggest that they too were seats of overkingly authority. Another hint that over-kings may have favoured these areas may be provided by the presence of some of the great m o n a s t e r i e s of Wales and CornwallI30 in cantrefi and h u n d r e d s containing both

coastal harbour-side sites and large contour hill-forts. These monasteries attest the presence of substantial local patronage to donate land and

resources for their construction and maintenance. The use of possible fifth- to seventh-century fortresses for late medieval castles in Gwynedd, and excavated evidence from Degannwy, may also serve to associate such sites with the over-kings.131 If Gildas's *Dineirth is indeed the hill-fort at Bryn Euryn, this may suggest that the same is true of the citadel (and related) forts found in Gwynedd and Powys, and, perhaps, of this date. 132 In the West Country, the association between hill-fort reuse and Romano-British town sites has already been noted. Alcock has suggested that South Cadbury may have adopted the administrative role of Ilchester, 133 which would conform to the interpretation suggested in Chapter 5. Michael Lapidge and Higham have argued separately that evidence provided by the writings of Gildas shows that a Late Romanstyle bureaucracy was operating up until, or until shortly before, the time at which he wrote.134 As such a b u r e a u c r a c y w a s p r o b a b l y b a s e d in the

towns during the Roman period,

197

Wa r f a r e

One almost certain aspect of kingship, shared by over- and sub-kings alike, was warfare. Warfare in Celtic Britain is generally seen as heroic, tribal and limited. 137 In Ireland élite warriors may have fought in a ritualized combat, although the 'rules' were frequently broken, as in

tribal societies elsewhere. 138 In Britain a picture of 'heroic warfare' may be derived from the supposedly late sixth-to seventh-centur y poetic

sourcesand by analogy with Pre-Roman Iron-Age, contemporary Irish,

and perhaps later Welsh, societies.139 As argued by Alcock, this would

involve small warbands of lightlyequipped cavalry, with little organ-

ization beyond leadership and loyalty. 140 Such warbands might, Thomas has argued, include mercenaries; and Alcock has noted also the possibility of the presence of warriors from distant tribes in search of glory.141

A critique of this interpretation may be based on two grounds. First, none of the 'early' poetryis demonstrably pre-ninth century, while some

(for example, Y Gododdin) would seem anachronistic or incorrect in its

details.12 Even fi the 'early' poetry was originally orally composed in the late sixth- to seventh-century- since no one is, presumably, claiming

that these are the ipsissima verba of the poet Aneirin (or anvone else) 143 -

we are still faced with later, potentially anachronistic, almost certainly

glamourized, verse. This was written down in a different world' with its own p r e c o n c e p t i o n s a n d m i s c o n c e p t i o n s a b o u t the sixth- to s e v e n t h -

century past. 14 If historical, this material refers to peoples north of the

when centres of government were

relocated to hill-forts in sub-Roman Britain, the bureaucracy may have c o n t i n u e d to o p e r a t e from these n e w sites.

If hill-fort sites were the fortified administrative centres of over-

136. That we might expect palisaded sites si suggested in Dark, Discovery. The construction of militarily weak enclosures by local landowners finds analogy in later medieval Wales where the building of masonry castles was restricted to greater magnates, and local aristocrats built only militarily outdated earthwork castles, see: D. J. C. King, The

kingship, this raises the question of where, outside 'Irish' areas with small inland promontory forts, the local sub-kings were based. These may have resided in hill-forts as guardians, when they were not occupied by the overlord, as perhaps in Northumbria;135 or it may be that the

Castle in England and Wales. An Interpretative History (1988), 130-46,(especially 1425 on Welshmen of this class and castle building in the late Middle Ages). For the class itself see: J. E . Lloyd, AHistory of Wales from theearliest times to the Edwardian Conquest (3rdedn., 2 vols, 1939), ,1 298-300, 302-3, (especially 298 on the breyr).

137. See, Alcock, Economy, 289-95and 304-6.

138. D. A. Binchy, "ThePassing of the Old Order', Proceedings of the International Congress of Celtic Studies, Dublin, 1959 (1962), 119-32 (128); A . T. Lucas, 'The Plundering and 129.

130.

For distributions of major pre-Norman monasteries, see, Olson, Early Monasteries,

xiv; Davies, Wales in the Early Middle Ages, 142.

131. Dark, Discovery. 132. Ibid. 133.

Burning of Churches in Ireland, 7th to 16th century', i n North Munster Studies, ed. E. Rynne (Limerick, 1967), 172-229.

Ibid.

Alcock, Economy, 161-3.

134. Lapidge, 'Gildas's Education', 49-50; Higham, Rome, Britain, 84, 164 and 219.

135. Alcock. E c o n o m v. 1 6 2

139. Alcock, Economy,289-95 and 304-6. 140. Ibid.

141. Ibid., 295-302; Thomas, Britain and Ireland in Early Christian Times AD 400-800

(1971), 134-5. 142. Alcock, Economy, 246, 248 and 250-4. 143. K. Jackson, The Gododdin (1969), 90.

144.

Alcock. E c o n o m y. 248 a n d 2 5 3

198

The Culture of sub-Roman Britain

Civitas to Kingdom

River Humber, and mainly to those beyond Hadrian's Wall. It is not

demonstrab ly of r e l e v a n c e to areas further south. 145 Obviously this is not a d e q u a t e for its historical use in the study of s u b - R o m a n Britain.

al. 146 despit e the linguistic and literary merit of the materi n Second, given the lack o f romanization in Ireland a d Pre- Roman Iron-

Age Britain and Gaul, and the twelfth-century date of our earliest useful

descriptions of Welsh medieval warfare, we are in no position to claim

these as valid analogies without other supporting evidence. 147 We may accept that the fifth- to seventh-centur y British were far more romanized than the peoples of fifth- to seventh-centu ry Ireland or Pre- Roman Iron-

Age Britain or Gaul, and, in Chapter 7, we shall see that change during

the period AD 600-1100 seems probable. We must t u r n to contemporary witnesses for stronger evidence. These include Gildas, Bede and the archaeological sources, as well as, perhaps,

the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle entries, if these are considered reliable rec-

ords for the mid-sixth to late-seventh centuries.148

Gildas's kings had military companions, and fought civil and external wars; their soldiers used swords, spears and shields, and probably wore

helmets. 19 This in itself would not contradic t the picture of 'heroic' warbands forming the basis of fifth- to seventh-centu ry British forces.

But Gildas also tells us that armies might fight in formation - with a main body and wings - employing tactics, and that Roman military manuals

were believed by him to have been left behind at the departure of the

199

design of t h eChun entrance-way, 153 Artefactually, we have only a single

spear, derived possibly from a pilum-design. 154

Higham has recently suggested that the British did not use cavalry in the sub-Roman period. Is His grounds for this argument are first that Y

Gododdin is not an a d e q u a t e source to demonstrate British cavalry

usage, and second, that the British used hill-forts, which he sees as related to infantry warfare. These arguments can be countered in two ways. Although the Picts used cavalry and so d i d the Iron-Age Britons,

both used hill-forts. 156 Pictish inscriptions and classical texts both clearly depict mounted warriors contemporary with hill-forts. So, using hill-forts does not preclude cavalry usage. Cavalry was present both in fourthcentury Britain and in twelfth-century Wales. 157 As we have seen, in the fifth to seventh centuries the Picts probably used cavalry and it seems likely that so too did the British, as did Continental sub- Romans. 158 We may, therefore, form an alternative picture of British warfare. In this alternative interpretat ion, warfare might be seen as sub-Roman in tactics and possibly organization, but based on the warriors of the king's court either wholly, for leadership, or as its vanguard. British kings

waged both civil and external wars independently, and probably in alliance. 159 Defended places may have played a major role in such wars, perhaps as strongholds, as in Scotland,16 and their tactical features may imply the expectation of attack upon t h e m

If we accept this alternative picture, based on all the available contem-

porary sources, then British warfare would fit well with the overall culture of

Imperial forces, 150 It may be supposed that Gildas either knew of Roman tactics in use, or of, at least, the existence of such manuals. That he had access to such a manual might be supported by his knowledge of, and references to, siege warfare - unlikely to have been parto fcontemporary

but still recognizably not 'barbarian'. This might perhaps be contrasted with the more disorganized 'tribal' warfare of the Britons' Anglo-Saxon

British tactics. 151 If Gildas's kings actually fought, as Gildas may imply they did, in formation and employing Roman tactics, this is hardly simply

opponents,161 and perhaps it was this contrast that enabled British kings

'heroic warfare. Such sub-Roman warfare need not be surprising to us

153. Dark, Discovery. The tactical significance of the Chun entrance-way was observed by

have existed in sixth-century north-west Gaul.152 Archaeologically, such a picture might be reflected in the seemingly

154. Dark, Discovery; P . M . Barford, W . G. Owen, and W. J. Britnell, 'Iron Spearhead and

today, for it is not as romanized asthat of groupsalleged by Procopius to romanized bastion at Cadbury Congresbury, possibly the gate-structure

at South Cadbury, and ni the tactical understanding implied by the

the period as we have recognized it -sub-Roman rather than Late-Roman,

Alcock, AB, 209.

Javelin from Four Crosses, Llandysilio, Powys', Med Arch, 3 0 (1986), 103-6.

. J. Higham, 'Cavalry in Early Bernicia?, Northern History, 27 (1991), 236-41. 155. N

156. Alcock, "The activities of potentates', 30-32; Frere, Britannia, 22-3.

. R . Dixon and P. Southern, TheRoman Cavalry. From the 157. On Roman cavalry see, K first to the third centuryAD(1992).For fourth-century Britain see, Frere, Britannia, 225-6. Thorpe, Gerald, The Description, I.8, although in the twelfth century, according to Gerald, most Welshman fought on foot.

158. E.g. R. S. O. Tomlin, 'Meanwhile ni North Italy, 264. Also note the Frankish use of 145. Alcock has discussed the relationship of this poem to the archaeology of north Britain: Alcock, Economy, 241, 243 and 245-54.

146. Ibid., 253.

147. The earliest description si in Giraldus Cambrensis: L. Thorpe (transl.), Gerald of

Wales. The Journey through Wales and The Description of Wales (1978), The Description,

I.8, I.10 and II.3. 148. The most d e t a i l e d published consideration of fifth- t oseventh-century British warfare

is, Alcock, Economy, 223-33, and 295-311.

151. Ibid., 1.24. 152. H . B . Dewing, (transl.), Procopius III. Procopius: History of the Wars(5 vols, 1914-28), 100-3 V 19 T h e

1972), 135.

159. Gildas, DE, 1.25-6, and II.27; B. Colgrave and R. A. B. Mynors, (eds and transl.) Bede's Ecclesiastical History of the English People (1969), II.20.

160. Alcock, "The activities of potentates', 28. 161. The character of Anglo-Saxon warfare is, however, open to debate. Contrast for example:P. Bartholomew, 'Fourth-Century Saxons', Brit, 15 (1984), 169-85 (especially 171-73); E. A. Thompson, St Germanus of Auxerre and the End of RomanBritain (1984), 91-115. For Continental and anthropological contexts: J. Hines, 'The military

149. Dark, Discovery. 150. Gildas, DE, I.18. III

cavalry, B. S. Bachrach, Merovingian Military Organisation 481-751 (Minneapolis,

83.

context ofthe adventus Saxonum: some continentalevidence, (25-48) and G. Halsali, 'Anthropology and the study of pre-Conquest warfare and society: the ritual war in Anglo-Saxon England', (155-77), both in Weaponsand warfare in Anglo-Saxon England,

ed. S. C. Hawkes (1989).

200

The Culture of s u b - R o m a n Britain

Civitas to Kingdom

to defeat the Anglo-Saxons in the late fifth or early sixth centuries. 162 If so, it may be that the decline of this military organization - along with the overall gradual loss of romanization - facilitated the Anglo-Saxon milit a r y a d v a n c e in the late sixth to s e v e n t h c e n t u r y. 163

Alcock has raised the question of how warfare was financed and how this relates to the royal economy.164 Considering the royal economy, we will again see that romanized aspects may have predominated in subRoman Britain.

SURPLUS, TAXATION AND COINAGE Crafts-working at high-status secular sites, the employment of learned specialists, the ability to build fortifications and to grant land to the Church - all imply that British kings obtained a surplus or profit by taxing

their territories, and this could have been either by coin or in kind. 16

This itself implies that the economy was functioning above subsistence level and that the kings had the bureaucratic machinery to use the surplus. T h e c o n v e n t i o n a l p i c t u r e of the e n d of R o m a n coinage in B r i t a i n is

superficially convincing. Coinage had, almost certainly, ceased to be

minted in Britain and imported in bulk by the early fifth century. 166 Only

a few coins post-date the official Roman withdrawal in AD 410; even

201

Roman coinage in Britain was, itself, a very mixed bag.170 To me, this reopens the question of when the use of Roman coinage ceased, for if 'outdated' coins were economically acceptable in AD 400, why should such coins not be a c c e p t a b l e in A D 500? It would be p o s s i b l eo n s u c h

grounds to have a sub-Roman coinage, using only Roman coins brought to Britain prior to AD 400, with no minting taking place. This view is supported by two pieces of evidence. These I think make it more plausible than the t o t a ldisuse of coins, w h i c hcurrent scholarship

has occurring circa AD 430.171 The first is comparative evidence. In Italy, North Africa, the Balkans and Gaul, a 'hotch-potch'-coinage of out-dated i s s u e sc o n t i n u e d to c i r c u l a t e after t h e e n d o f R o m a n r u l e .172 T h e coinage

of these areas contained some new coins, but mostly, and for times entirely, it comprised Roman coinage. Nor did much Byzantine coinage reach Gaul, despite its textually attested trade with the E a s t e r nEmpire. S o we need not take t h e a b s e n c e of Byzantine or C o n t i n e n t a l coins from

Britain as an index of the absence of coinage-use. The use of a 'hotchpotch'-coinage (assessed probably by weight alone) would be typical, not unique, in the sub-Roman West. There is ample evidence that coinage of the Roman, and even preRoman, periods continued to circulate in the Mediterranea n after t h e

medieval period.173 One might think that, if anywhere, Egypt or the other Eastern provinces would be swamped by the vast early Byzantine issues

fewer post-date the visit of St Germanus in AD 429.167 When Anglo-

of low value coinage, but the evidence contradicts this view. These were

kept as trinkets. 168 In 1961 John Kent, in what is still a fundamental article, noted that Castle Dore, which he took as an archetype of fifth- to seventhcentury British settlements, had no coins. 169 But Castle Dore has been shown to belong wholly to the Pre-Roman

torical value, rare Roman coins were among the modern small change of

Saxon graves contain coins they are either in jewellery, or may have been

Iron-Age, and there has been a widespread recognition that the latest

not, so far as can be ascertained, antiquarian uses of coinage for its his-

the Mediterranean lands. 174 In any 'hotch-potch'-coinage, a coin need only be the correct shape and a given weight to be used as currency. These comparative data indicate no more than that the maintenance of Roman coin use after the end of Roman Britain is not implausible, nor need R o m a n coins have c e a s e d to circulate a f t e r t h e w i t h d r a w a l of the

Roman army, as has been claimed.175 If one adds to this the widespread royal right to own any wealth found

162. Gildas, DE, 1.25-6. 163. J. Campbell, The Lost Centuries: 400-600*, in The Anglo-Saxons, ed. J. Campbell (1982), 20-44 (38-41). 164. Alcock, Economy, 214-19 and 291. 165. See for example: Alcock, Economy, 193, for the scale of the resources exploited for one such fortification.

166. J. P. C. Kent, 'The End of Roman Britain: the literary and numismatic evidence reviewed', 15-28;and S. Archer, Late Roman gold and silver coin hoards in Britain: a gazetteer', 29-65, both in Casey, The End; A . Burnett, 'Clipped Siliquae and the end

of Roman Britain', Brit, 15 (1984), 163-8. On clipping, see also, P. J. Casey, 'Coin Evi-

dence and the end of Roman Wales', Arch ,J 146 (1989), 320-9. 167. Ibid.; M. Blackburn, 'Three Silver Coins in t h eNames of Valentinian III (425-55) and

Anthemius (467-72) from Chatham Lines, Kent', Numismatic Chronicle, 147 (1987),

169-74.

. H. White, Roman and Celtic Objects from Anglo-Saxon Graves (1988), 62-101. 168. R

169. J. P . C . Kent, 'From Roman Britain to Saxon England', in Anglo-Saxon Coins, ed. R . H. M. Dolley (1961), 1-22 (5).

170. Ibid., 18, n. 5; G . C. Boon,'Counterfeit Coins in Roman Britain', in Coins a n dthe

. Reece (2nd edn., Archaeologist, eds J. Casey and R

1988), 102-88, notes, when

supplies o fcoin ceased to reach Britain in the early fifth century,there was a tendency to use a very mixed small change indeed' (145). For Castle Dore see, H . Quinnell and D. Harris, 'Castle Dore: the Chronology Reconsidered', Cornish Archaeology, 24 (1985), 123-32.

171. Kent, 'From Roman Britain', and 'The End'. . Reece, 'The Uses of Roman Coinage', OJA, 3 (1984), 197-210 (205-6and 208); C 172. R . Morrison, "The Re-use of Obsolete Coins: the case of Roman Imperial Bronzes revived in the Late Fifth Century', in Studies in Numismatic Method Presented to

Philip Grierson, eds C . N . L . Brooke, et al. (1983), 95-111. I amgrateful to B . Pennas for information on the Balkans.

173. G . C . Boon, 'Byzantine andOtherExotic Ancient Bronze Coins from Exeter', ni Roman Finds from Exeter, eds N . Holbrook and P . T. Bidwell (1991)

174. Ibid. 175. Frere. Britannia, 363-4.

Civitas to Kingdom

The Culture of sub-Rom an Britain

203

and exchange for goods

in the ground, for example, in hoards,176 then one might adduce a workable

system of coinage circulation (see fig. 48).

This would obviate the otherwise problema tic need for British kings to

have minted coins to maintain a currency. 17 We need to ask what, if any, positive evidence there is that this took place.

The 'life' of St John the Almsgiver mentions the return of a ship from

Britain half laden with nomisma (small bronze coins), and half laden with tin (locating the incident in the South West). 178 The reference to tin is well known to scholars of the fifth to seventh centuries but the significanc e of

Loss

To traders

Redistribution

202

the coinage has been overlooked.Gildas also provides evidenceof coins,

having a low value, in his De Excidio, in contexts that do not sound as if they are simply derived from biblical reading, 179 and Patrick, too, knew of the concept of coinage. 180 Archaeological evidence also offers some support for the interpretation Output

that coinage was still used in the fifth to sixth centuries.There is very

heavy wear on Late Roman coinage from, for example, the West Midlands

and Cornwall, 181 and recent reconsiderations of Theodosian coinage have tentatively suggested that it could have remained in sub-Roman use. 182

Although this is not necessitated by the interpretation here, it would of course encompass that argument, and we might expect heavy wear on

coinage used for more than a century after the end of Roman rule.

have been found. Although, of these ten sites, seven (or perhaps eight)

were used in the Roman period, at least two were not, and were probably newly founded fifth- to sixth-century sites. Romano- British coins also

Coinage

occur in what are probably sub-Roman graves, within western British

cemeteries . Evidence of Roman coins in graves at Cannington , where

Figure 48 A workable system of coin circulation.

=

Input

←

'Stock' Romano-British

Currency Chance Discovery

Input

-

of O l d H o a r d s :

Rec over y: Ta x a t i o n Input

As can be seen from table 5, of 19 western British settlement sites with fifth- to sixth-century occupation, there are 11 at which Roman coins

there was no pre-cem etery Late Roman occupation,183 may suggest the 176. E.g. H. R. Loyn, The Governance of Anglo-Saxon England 500-1087 (1985), 127.

177. Kent, "The End', 2

178. R . D. Penhallurick, Tin in antiquity, its mining and Trade throughout the Ancient World, with particular reference to Cornwall (1986), 245.

179. Gildas, DE, III.66 obolumand denario.

. B . E. Hood (ed. and transl.), St. Patrick His Writings and Muirchu's Life (1978), 180. A Confessio, 50, mentions scriptulae.

181. J. Crickmore, Romano-British Urban Settlements in the West Midlands (1984), 86. In Cornwall for example at Trethurgy: H. and T. Miles, 'Excavations at Trethurgy, St.

Austell: Interim Report', Cornish Archaeology, 12 (1973) 25-9 (28). For the widespread

occurrence of heavy wear on late fourth-century coins, possibly suggestive of their

fifth-century (at least) use, note: C. Sutherland,'Coinage in Britainin the Fifth and Sixth Centuries', in Dark Age Britain, ed. D. B . Harden (1956), 1-10 (5), although I would not accept the other conclusions of that paper.

. C. Boon, 'Theodosian Coins from North and South Wales', BBCS, 33 (1986), 429182. G

35 (431-2 for post-Roman usage); P. J. Casey, Roman Coinage ni Britain (1980); G . C. Boon, 'Note on Late Roman Coinage in the Valeof Glamorgan', in Biglis, Caldicot, and

Llandough, ed. D. M. Robinson (1988), 52. Worn Theodosian coinage was first recog. nized as a widespread feature by O'Neill: B. O'Neill, A Hoard of Late Roman Coins

from Northamptonshire: its Parallels and Significance', Arch J, 90 (1933), 282-305.

183. S. Hirst, 'Cannington - a late/post Roman western British cemetery with cross-

cultural connections', Lecture to University College London Postgraduate Seminar (1989)

The Culture of sub-Roma n Britain

Civitas to Kingdom

204

possibility that where we see, as at Caerwent, a Roman coin (in this case

of AD 335-348) from a western British burial radiocarbon-date d to the

sixth or seventh century, it need not necessarily be in a 'residual context. 184

Table 5

Roman coins on fifth- to seventh-centu ry sites in western Britain

Roman

Roman

coin

use

Area

Fine

coin-using

Metalworking

texts are at Dinorben and Camerto n, where other 'Anglo-Saxon' objects

occur,186 and a late seventh-ce ntury example from Canningto n, 187 where

the Caerwent example.188 Another possibility is ritual use, for example,

Congresbury

as 'Charon's obol',189 but the cemetery evidence shows that this is unsupportable. 19 Although paganAnglo-Saxons may have kept Roman

+

Chun

Coygan Degannwy

coins for superstitious reasons, there is no reason to extrapolate from this interpret ation and apply it to the British areas, without supporting

Di na s Em rys

evidence, given the cultural and ideologicaldifferences betweenthem. 191 Consequently, whereas there is n oreason to suppose that coinage was reused for metalworking or ritual purposes in sub-Roman Britain, it

†

+

Dinas Powys Glastonbury To r Grambla Gwithian GMI

+

occurs perhaps too widely on sites of the period to be explained as the

+

collection of curios. Yet it was brought to at least some of these sites in the fifth to seventh centuries, and it may be that we should credit the

+ + +

High Peak Longbury May's Hill

textual sources - in the comparative context of sub-Roman societies

elsewhere in Europe - and accept that coinage was used in sub- Roman western Britain.

This does not imply that sub-Roman kings minted coin, nor that a

†

+

'monetary economy' necessarily functioned. 192 Some hints of the possible way in which coin may have been used are provided by both of our main two relevant textual sources. Gildas, whose references to coinage imply

South +

Tintagel

+

Tr e t h u r g y

+

+

11 19

† †

+ +

T v Mawr

10 19

† ＋

185. White, Roman and Celtic Objects, 101.

17 19

19

8

Key: † = present

?

land'85 - for we do not have any finished jewellery whichincludes coins. The only pierced coins in fifth- to seventh-century western British con-

or gaming counters, in view of the singletons found in graves, as perhaps

Cadbury

-

t h e r e a r e o t h e r r e a s o n s to d i s c o u n t t h e possibility t h a t coins were kept to

It is also implausible to suppose that these coins were sets of weights

-

Bantham

To t a l :

sites of this period, perhap s refuting the suggestion that coinage was brought to these sites as a raw material. Aside from this lack ofcorrela tion with evidenc e of fine metalworking,

A n g l o - S a x o n cultural c o n t a c t s are certain.

century

Cad bur y

by recovery factors, ti would seem that. there is no general correlation between fine metalworking and coinage on western British settlement

be used whole in, or as, jewellery - such as occurred in Anglo-Saxon Eng-

in t h e f o u r t h -

Meols Poundbury

205

= absent = not c e r t a i n

The evidence from table 5 shows that of the eleven sites with coins,

onlv four have evidence of metalworking. While this may be influenced 184. N. Edwards and A. Lane, Early Medieval Settlements ni Wales AD 400-1100 (1988),

. Farley, A' Six-Hundred Metre long Section through Caerwent', BBCS, 13 37; M

186. Dark, Discovery; W. .J Wedlake, Excavations at Camerton (1958), 96. 187. Hirst, 'Cannington'

188. Farley, ' ASix-Hundred Metre long Section'. For the use of coins as weights in an early Anglo-Saxon context, see, C. Scull, 'Scales and Weights in Early Anglo-Saxon England', Arch J, 147 (1990), 183-215. 189. J. M. C. Toynbee, Death and Burial in the Roman World (1971), 49. For this custom in

Roman Britain see: J. P. Alcock, 'Classical Religious Beliefs and Burial Practice in

Roman Britain', Arch J, 137 (1980), 50-85 (57, 58,and 66-8); R . Philpott, Burial practices

in Roman Britain (1991), 208-16 .

190. There is no undeniably ritual instance in the sub-Roman cemeteries from Britain,

listed in Dark, Discovery.

191. White, Roman and Celtic Objects, 101.

192. The use of coinage without implying a 'monetary economy' si discussed,for example, by C. Hazelgrove, "The Significance Of

Coinage in Pre-Conquest Britain', in Invasion and Response: The Case of Roman Britain, eds B. C. Burnham and H. B. Johnson (1979), 197-209 (202); P. Grierson, "The Origins of Money', Research in Economic A n t h r o n e l o r .

206

The Culture of sub-Roman Britain

Civitas to Kingdom

207

ic that this was of low value, shows it still to be employed in an econom the and 3), example19 for one, symbolic entirely an than fashion (rather 'life' of St John the Almsgiver may also show Britons using low value coinage for payment. This does not mean, however, that coinage had no symbolic value, for Davies has drawn attention to the fact that the Middle

renders need not be based either upon the later Welsh evidence, or that of the twelfth-century North, to be credible, nor need this be a funda-

of an 'image' upon the piece.194 This evidence may suggest that low value coinage was used in subRoman Britain. Given the close relationship between Late Roman coinage and taxation, 195 this may, at least in part, have been for taxation purposes.

stress recorded by Gildas and Patrick in the fifth century20 could easily have provided a context wherein the protection and patronage afforded

Welsh delu ('coin'), referred not to its value but perhaps to the presence

CLIENTSHIP, HUNTING AND FEASTING

and these systems can be complementary, in theory at least. It shows that evidence for the sub-Roman British exaction of food and service mentally un-romanized feature of economic life. A circuit is an obvious way to exploit agricultural surplus. If it was not

already in existence in Late Roman Britain, the conditions of social

by a c l i e n t s h i p s y s t e m m a y have b e e n a t t r a c t i v e to t h e rural poor a n d

displaced. Importantly, the clientship system may place even greater

advantage ni the hands of the overlord than obligatory food renders, while maintaining at least an illusion of greater freedom on the part of

the client.

been paid to overlords. This may seem a surprising claim as in Chapter 5

Archaeological correlates to such a system in sub-Roman Britain may now be sought. Alcock has shown how the animal bone evidence from Dinas Powys implies that it was a 'consumer site.201 It is hard to see how

thirteenth-century laws and extents in fact is, but there are alternatives

ist husbandry, or that higher percentages of cattle and sheep are present

Country'. This thirteenth-century Wales, or of the twelfth-centurya 'North system of circuit and

between this site and others.202 After all, clientship is local exchange -

Even if taxation involved coinage to recover wealth (as indeed it did in thirteenth -century Wales196), food and service renders may still have

we saw how w e a k t h e evidence for the i n f e r e n c e o f s u c h systems from the

which do not require the detailed replicatio n of the tenurial framewo rk of

is to argue from seventh-century Ireland, where clientship was in use, and where clientship gave access to land and protection from the overlord in exchange for profit (8.5 per cent in seventhcentury Ireland), labour and food renders, and 'guesting 197 This Irish system is chronologically, and perhaps culturally, closer to sub-Roman

Britain (in the IrishSeaProvince) than the later Welsh system, and itself underwent changes in the eighth to twelfth centuries. 198 In these into centuri es we might suppose the later Welsh system to have come existence, if we accept this alternative.

The utility of coinage in a render-sys tem is made clear in a late medieval

Latin text from Wales, where it was used to recover wealth when the king chose not to go on 'circuit ' 199 Food renders and clientship were also

found in the Late Roman world, and this illustrates both that coinage

Roberta Gilchrist's d e m o n s t r a t i o n that these bones are evidence of special-

than previously recognized, alters the argument in regard to the relationship

land and protection for service, 'rent', and food.203 Due to the lack of

animal bone reports from the majority of other sites of this period it is difficult to compare Dinas Powys with them, especially as no other British secular site with a published animal bone report has been so extensively excavated.204

Evidence for service renders is easier to find. As Stevens has pointed

out, Gildas may provide evidence for these operating according to Late

Roman models.25 It is hard to explain the construction of major earthworks in any other way, as at Dinas Emrys, High Peak, Cadbury Congresbury and South Cadbury206 The service resources available in

Durotrigan territory at least - including the construction of both South

Cadbury and the Wansdyke - must have been considerable, as already n o t e d above.

Using a list of 11 sites with published bone-evidence (see table 6) it is

possible, perhaps, to make some further observations upon the sub. 193. Gildas, DE, III.66. Patrick, too, knew o fcoinage as a means of payment: Confessio, 501. Interestingly, however, Patrick's Confessio, 49, suggests that Britons misunderstood

Roman royal economy. If one accepts the correlation suggested by

coins, see for the working of a reciprocal economy. For the non-economic use of

example: M. .F Ryan, Fourth-Century Coin Finds from RomanBritain (1988), 3,who notes that almost worthless, but symbolic, coins may be distributed formerit. 194. Davies, Wales in the Early Middle Ages, 54, and also note that Gildas, realized the sig-

nificance of the images stamped on bronze, silver and gold (almost certainly coin) by the Roman authorities: Gildas, DE, I.7.

195. Frere, Britannia, 363-4.

196. W. Rees, 'Survivals of Ancient Celtic Custom ni Medieval England', in Angles and Britons, ed. H. Lewis (1963), 148-68 (156).

197. M. Gerriets,'Economy and Society: Clientship according ot the Irish Laws', CMCS, 6 (1983), 43-61. 198. Ibid.; Dark, Discovery. D o n e

(Sarrivole

156

200. P. Sims-Williams, 'Gildas and the Anglo-Saxons',CMCS, 6 (1983), 1-30 (5-12). 201. Alcock, Economy, 67-82.

. Gilchrist, A ' Reappraisal of Dinas Powys: Local Exchange and Specialized Live202. R stock Production in 5th-7th century Wales', Med Arch, 32 (1988), 50-67. 203. M. Gerriets, 'Kingship and Exchange ni Pre-Viking Ireland', CMCS, 13 (1987), 39-72 (89-40).

204. Neither Alcock, Economy, 67-78, nor Gilchrist, A' Reappraisal', have found comparable evidence from Britain. 205. C. E . Stevens, 'Gildas Sapiens', English Historical Review', 56 (1941), 353-73. This sug206.

gestion has recently been developed by, Higham, Rome, 146-8. Alcock, 'The activities of potentates', 26; and Economy, 159.

208

The Culture of sub-Ro man Britain

Civitas to Kingdom

Table 6 Some possible evidence of hunting and feasting Pig

Hall

Deer -

Bantham

Cadbury Congresbury

⼗

Coygan Dinas Emrys Dinas Powvs G l a s t o n b u r y To r Gwithian GM1

High Peak M a y ' s Hill Poundbury T v Mawr

209

contemporary with the hill-fort, they may be further indications of hunting. Interestingly, it has been shown that hunting, evidenced by deer-bones, was to be found in Late Roman Britain, even in romanized, villa contexts.212

The feasting implied by this evidence suggests that a structural context for feasting might be sought. In sub-Roman Britain, halls have usually

been considered to provide such a context. A characteristic of Dinas

Powys, South Cadbury, Tintagel, and much less certainly of Dinas

Emrys, is the presenceof large rectangular timber structures associated with large quantities of imported ceramics.213 Alcock's interpretation for

these at Dinas Powys and South Cadbury as 'feasting halls' is convincing, taking that term to mean large rectilinear buildings used for feasting, 214

given the textual and comparative data, and the hill-fort context of these structures.215 A similarly large building standing in the centre of Brawdy

Key as for table 5

Richard Bradley between pigs and feasting27 (which finds easy anthro-

pological analogies in tribal societies), then one may note both the high proportion of pig-bones at Dinas Powys, 208 and the presence of pig-bones

at all the sites except Ty Mawr and Bantham. At Bantham, the sample

excavated is proportionately small in relation to the, probable, total size of the site.309 This might suggest that feasting was widespread among all but the poor (as in early Christian Ireland) but that more feasting occurred at élite sites - again, as one might expect.

Deer bones occur very widely, being absent only from High Peak

(where again the excavated sample:total size of site ratio is small), and at Gwithian GM1, Ty M a w and May's Hill. Correlating the instance of

deer-bones with hunting, then one might note the absence of deer-bones

from the sand-dune and low-status sites, whereas they are present on all the hill-fort and monastic sites. Obviously this need not necessitate

hunting by the site's occupants, as the redistribution of food and the high-status of certain foods find analogy elsewhere in the 'Celtic' and

Roman world.210 Again such occasional and 'expensive' forms of food acquisition might suggest that such food was associated with special meals (feasting) rather than everyday subsistence.

hill-fort duringphase 7, may well be something of this kind. Such 'feasting halls' would obviously give an ample opportunity for royaldisplay in their architecture and entertainments. By far the most well-known aspect of the s u b - R o m a neconomy to non-

specialists, ni archaeology at least, is the importationof pottery from the Mediterranean and France. Although this has already been mentioned in

other contexts, it is important to consider how this relates to the royal economy of fifth- to seventh-century western Britain.

LONG-RANGE TRADE, THE CONTROL OF I N F O R M AT I O N A N D B Y Z A N T I N E D I P L O M A C Y

There is much evidence for sub-Roman contact with the remainder of

what was, in AD 400, the Roman Empire. In the later fifth century we hearof Britons in Syria, in sixth-century Constantinople Procopiuscould give news of Britain, and in seventh-century Egypt there are two refer-

ences to contact with what may be Cornwall.216 This is combined with

Byzantine pottery found in metal-rich areas o f western Britain, and evi-

dence of Britons in Gaul, outside what had become, by the sixth century,

Brittany (fig. 49).217 Epigraphic evidence and imported D-ware, along-

Last, in this connection, we may note the presence of two large well-

fed dogs deliberately buried in the southern banks at Dinas Pows. 211 If

'Salvage observations at the Dark Age Site at Bantham Ham,

212. A. C. King,'Food Production and Consumption - Meat', in Roman Britain: Recent Trends, ed. R . F . J. Jones (1991), 15-20 (18). 213. Alcock, Economy, 200-206; Dark, Discovery; Campbell, 'Imported Goods', I, 127-30. 214. Ibid.; Alcock, 'The activities of potentates', 24 and 34. 215. Alcock,"The activities of potentates', 28 and 31.

57 (41 fig. 1,and 46-9). . E. Powell, The Celts (2nd edn., 1980), 210. E.g. The 'Heroes Portion' among the Celts, T. G

Britannia', Classical Quarterly, 30 (1980),498-507. Archaeological evidence si discussed ni connection with Procopius' testimony by M. G. Fulford, 'Byzantiumand

207.

R . J. Bradley, The socialfoundations of prehistoric Britain, themesand variations in the

archaeology of power (1984), 64. 208. Alcock, Economy, 80-1.

209. F. M . Griffith,

Thurlestone, in 1982°, Proceedings of the Devon Archaeological Society, 44 (1986), 39137 and refs. on 143.

11. Possibly indicative of hunting by the occupants of the hill-fort - A . Lane and E. Campbell . Campbell,'Imported Goods in the Early Medieval personal communication, 1989. See, E Celtic West; with special reference to Dinas Powys' (2 vols, Ph.D. thesis, University of Wales, 1991), I, 99-100.

216. For Procopius' view of Britain see, E. .A Thompson, 'Procopius on Brittia and

Britain: a Mediterranean perspective on Post-Roman Mediterranean Imports in

Western Britain and Ireland',Med Arch, 33 (1989), 1-6 (5); Wooding, 'Cargoes'. For

Britons in fifth-century Syria, see n. 92, Chapter 2.

217. Wooding, 'Cargoes'; L. Fleuriot, Les Origines de la Bretagne Paris, (1982), 149-55, and fig. 7.

210

The Culture of sub-Roman Britain

Civitas to Kingdom

211

tacts with Britain.219 This seems at first implausible, at least one Justinianic official held Britain in low enough regard to offer it rhetori-

cally to the Ostrogoths.220 Economic contacts may have informed the Byzantine administration of romanized, or even pro-Roman sentiments

in Britain.221 If so, the policy of reconquest of the Western Roman

Empire embarked upon by Justinian could have been considered to be advanced by enlisting the support of such parties. It is at least noteworthy that Spain had aB y z a n t i n e colonya t Merida with a diplomatic, as well as mercantile role, and another existed at Bordeaux.22? Might not the British trade have included a diplomatic element, perhaps even with a Byzantine group resident at a British court?

Interestingly, Ann Bowman has shown that it is unlikely that trading

voyages from the Eastern Mediterranean were made for economic reasons alone, as the sailing time involved made it not cost-effective to do so, but sherds of Byzantine ships' water-jars and amphora-stoppers found in Britain are suggestive of direct contact with Byzantine merchants.223 This long-range trade may, then, have combined with a diplomatic ele-

ment, at least insofar as the Byzantines were concerned. It might bring exotica, news and prestige to the court of a British king, even a claim to be in diplomatic contact with the Roman Emperor as an equal. Archaeo-

logical and textual sources also enable us to make a list of some of t h e objects traded. These included wine, pottery, foodstuffs and, perhaps, olive oil.22 Other items may well have been brought, and Procopius

claims that much coinage was sent to Britain.225 Among the Byzantine coins ofuncertain provenance i n Britain, there are many ofJustinian I, or

the immediately preceding Justin I and Anastasius.226 Theya r e not, how-

ever, usually considered to be genuine fifth- to sixth-century imports.

The absence of Byzantine metalwork from western Britain is, however,

Figure 49 Aerial photograph of Tintagel. A probable point of contact

between Justinianic Constantino ple and sub-Roman Britain, and the findspot of the largest known assemblage ofsixth-centur y Byzantine pottery outside of the Mediterrane an. Copyright Aerofilms Ltd.

side a few pieces of metalwork, alsoa t t e s t fifth- to s i x t h - c e n t u r y c o n t a c t with Gaul. 218

This long-range contact perhaps took place for several reasons: religious pilgrimage, the possibilitie s for the acquisition of wealth andexotica, and

the valuable information obtainable only through such exchange.

It

almost certainly included both Gaul and the Byzantine Empire - probably Constantinople itselfi n the sixth century.

Procopius complained ofJustinian' s attempts to make diplomatic con-

218. Knight, I'n Tempore'; C. Thomas, *"Gallici Nautae de Galliarum Provinciis" - a Giuth/Soverth Contury Trade with Gaul. Reconsidered'. Med Arch. 34 (1990), 1-26.

surprising. While, in Anglo-Saxon England, Frankish contacts brought Coptic bronze bowls, and silver plates and bowls occur in the Sutton Hoo treasure, there is only one probably genuine metalwork import known in western Britain: a bronze censer from Glastonbury.227 The trade-route for Coptic bronzes was through Frankish lands, and their

219. Procopius, Annekdota, XIX.13

. Ward, 'Procopius' Bellum Gothicum II. 6,28: the problem 220. For a sceptical view, see, J. O of contacts between Justinian I and Britain', Byzantion, 83 (1568), 460-71. For the alleged offer to the Ostrogoths: Procopius, Gothic Wars, VI, ,2 28.

221. The evidence for continuing pro-Roman sympathies ni sub-Roman Britain is given in, I. Wood, "The End of Roman Britain: Continental Evidence and Parallels', in Gildas:

New Approaches,e d s Lapidge and Dumville, 1-25; and'The fall ofthe western empire

and the end of Roman Britain', Brit, 18 (1987), 251-62. 222.. Wooding, 'Cargoes'; .L Thorpe (transl.), Gregory of Tours (1974), VII, 1 , 31, X, 26. 223. Wooding, 'Cargoes'; Thomas, 'East and West', 24.

224. Wooding,' 'Cargoes. 225. Procopius, Annekdota, XIX.13 226. Boon, 'Byzantine'. 227. P. Rahtz, 'Pagan and Christian by the Severn Sea', in The Archaeology and History of Glastonbury Abbey, eds L. Abrams and J. P. Carley (1991), 3-37 (33-4).

212

Civitas to Kingdom

absence, if real, may help differentiate the western British trade from t h a t d i r e c t e d at Frankia.228

There are Frankish objects among the finds from western Britain, possibly suggesting Frankish traders in the sixth century, and textual evidence combines with the wide distribution of E-ware pottery to make

this probable in the seventh. 229 There is, however, no evidence to suggest

diplomatic links between Frankia and Britain, and the Franks do not seem to have claimed the British areas (unlike the Anglo-Saxon East) as under their rule.230 Frankish trade must be seen in economic terms, and

included pottery, foodstuffs, and probably wine and dyes.231 Franks

brought news not only of Frankia but also of Italy, as A d o m a n mentions, and perhaps elsewhere - so, again, information may have been as valuable

to the British customers as the items exchanged. 232

The secular élite occupation of harbour-side coastal promontory forts may represent the context of this exchange. In addition, there were coastal sand-dune settlements, most likely seasonal ports and tradingplaces.233

The relative function of these types of site is uncertain, as they seem to be of the same date. The sand-dune sites might be seen as a network o f Irish S e a t r a d e a n d the c o a s t a l h a r b o u r - s i d e forts (and m o n a s t e r i e s )

might have been the primary centres of long-range exchange, as local products are more common at sand-dune settlements. The development of this network of trading centres demonstrates the importance of trading to the economy of these kingdoms, at least in relation to the royal economy.

The secular lite, therefore, controlled most long-range trade, with only the Church (by royal grant?) also participating in this trade. Royal 228. S. C. Hawkes, 'Anglo-Saxon Kent .c 425-725', in Archaeology in Kent ot A D 1500, ed. P. E. Leach (1982), 64-78 (77). Note the distributions mapped in P. Spufford, Money and its use in Medieval Europe (1988), 13. For other artefacts, possibly Mediterranean

in origin, found in early Anglo-Saxon England but absent from Western Britain,see, J. W . Huggett, 'Imported Grave Goods and the Early Anglo-Saxon Economy', Med Arch, 32 (1988), 63-96 (66-9, 72, and 75). Campbell, 'Imported Goods', has observed that

'Germanic' glass found in Western Britain is of a dissimilar type from that found in Anglo-Saxon England, I, 45-9. For the context of relations between the early Anglo-

' he Franks and Sutton Hoo', in People and Saxons and the Continent, note, I. Wood, T

Places in Northern Europe 500-1600, eds I. Wood and N. Lund (1991), 1-14; and 'Frankish hegemony in England', in Carver, ASH, 235-41.

229. Thomas, "Gallici Nautae"'; Wooding, 'Cargoes'.

230. Procopius differentiated between Brittia and Britannia, of which only Brittia was under Frankish rule. As it seems that his informants were among the Frankish Embassy to Constantinople, I take this to mean that the Franks claimed to rule only part o f Britain. Brittia was the part containing the Anglo-Saxons (Angili and Phrissones) and I take Britannia to r e p r e s e n t the British zone. See, B. A. Thompson,

'Procopius on Brittia and Britannia', Classical Quarterly, 30, 501; A. Cameron, Procopius and the Sixth Century (1985), 214-15. For a translation of the relevantpassages, Rivet and Smith, PNRB, 82-3.

231. Wooding, 'Cargoes'; Campbell, 'Imported Goods'.

232. A. O. Anderson, and M. O. Anderson (eds and transl.), Adomnan's Life of Columba (1961), 28.1.

233. Dark, Discovery.

The Culture of sub-Roman Britain

213

control of trade enabled the royal control of information entering Britain,

and of the supply of luxury artefacts. Prestigious Byzantines or Franks

could be seen at courts, and the food, clothes and outlook at courts may have been strikingly different from those of lower-status sections of the community. Importing exotica gave kings the opportunity not only to consume it but to distribute it strategically.

EXCHANGE INSIDE T H E KINGDOMS

When imported exotica had entered Britain, they were used by the secular a n d religious l i t e s , a n d b o t h p r o b a b l y t r a d e d d i r e c t l y with merchants. In

Cornwall, the occurrence of imported pottery on lower-status sites, such as Trethurgy and Grambla, seems to suggest that it was redistributed

from élite centres to lower-status groups. This may have occurred else-

where, but if pottery or other durable artefacts were not involved, and so were not there to be found, the process would be archaeologically unrecognizable. A similar pattern is f o u n d with specialist products made at sub- Roman courts. Penannular brooches and other fine-metalwork were certainly produced at British secular l i t e settlements, as the evidence from Dinas

Powys makes certain.234 These were not, so far as is known, made at spe-

cialist production-sites or on low-status settlements.235 In the same way that imported pottery occurs in small quantities on what may be low-status

sites in Cornwall, so specialist-produced fine-metalwork occurring mostly on high-status sites is occasionally found, as single items, on lowstatus settlements.236 Again, it may have been made 'centrally' and

redistributed.

The secular lite could gain prestige by distributing exotica and it could make the population indebted to it by providing luxuries. The provision of protection and the judicial functions of a king may have further increased both the prestige of the ruler, and the indebtednessof the rest of the population.

Nor need we suppose that these rulers were unpopular with the Church. Church people gained land and patronage, bishops may have

been part of the royal court, and the Church held a high social status.

Church sites received imported luxuries, and long-range trade presumably enabled long-distance pilgrimage, and the acquisition of new books from the literate East and from Frankia. To the Church, the granting of

land, supposing that at least some of this was provided by the subRoman kings, enabled the establishment of many ecclesiastical sites.

The protection provided by the king and the political importance of the

clergy may have also increased the standing of the secular administration

among the population as a whole. Gildas shows, however, that, by his 234. Ibid.; Campbell, 'Imported Goods', I, 68-9 and 72-3, II, fig. 201. 235. Dark, Discovery 236. Ibid.

214

Civitas to Kingdom

The Culture of sub-Roman Britain

215

time, not all British kings behaved in accordance with the teachings of the Church, although even he, criticizing five rulers, alludes to other

more admirable British kings.287 Given the origins of lowland British kingship, if these were as reconstructed in Chapter 2, it is possible that

the rulers of the fifth century adhered more strictly to a Christian ideal of

kingship than did the sixth-century tyrants Gildas castigated.

An a l t e r n a t i v e s o u r c e o f wealth may have b e e n British t r a d e with the

early Anglo-Saxons. While this is difficult to trace, British penannular brooches and Roman bronze coinage both occur in Anglo-Saxon graves

(fig. 50).238 It is interesting to consider how such items could have

arrived in their burial contexts, and two factors enable us to re-examine this question

First, unlike the Romano-British brooch groups found in Anglo-Saxon

graves, Class G brooches do not occur in graves in Kent or East Anglia

and they do not concentrate in the Upper Thames Valley.239 We have seen that Type G brooches were made in the West of Britain, and that they were probably produced at western British hill-fort sites. If these b r o o c h e s were m a d e at British roval sites a n d d i s t r i b u t e d u n d e r British

royal control, as already suggested, their inclusion in Anglo-Saxon

se

graves, especially those on the western periphery of the Anglo-Saxon

es

I

area, would imply directional exchange orientated at Anglo-Saxons. Presumably this was directed at Anglo-Saxon leaders or at groups on the border.

This gives us one piece of evidence for British l i t e exchange with the Anglo-Saxons. Next there is the evidence of the coins. Michael King and

Roger White have argued that Roman coins on Anglo-Saxon siteswere not in use as currency.240 This I would accept given the different social,

jer

us

economic and ideological organization of the Anglo-Saxons at this period. While some of these coins were probably derived from local Romano-

British sites, many of the graves containing coins are distributed in and around Figure 50 Distributions of Roman coins and penannular brooches. Roman

coins found in early Anglo-Saxon graves (filled circles), type G penannular brooches found in early Anglo-Saxon graves (open circles), and the borders

between British and Anglo-Saxon areas in the sixth century shown as broken lines. The inset shows a t y p e G penannular brooch from Cadbury

Congresbury. (Distribution of coins after King 1988, of brooches after White 1988, and pennanular brooch after Fowler et al. 1970).

the

periphery

of

the

possible

sub-Roman

enclave

in

the

Catuvelaunian/Trinovantian area, and this may enable us to adopt an alternative perspective on these finds. Is it possible that, in part, they

represent payments by Britons to 'friendly', or neighbouring, Anglo-Saxons?

This view has, to support it, Gildas's hesitance about British kings making treaties with barbarians, and his knowledge of payments in such treaty arrangements.241 Payments to borderland communities, who would view coinage as raw material for reprocessing or attractive trinkets, might have been made in order to stabilize the border, and this might well be an attractive strategy for a British kingdom surrounded by

Anglo-Saxon areas. The linear distributions of coin-finds stretching 237.

Gildas, DE, III.92.

. D . King, 'Roman coins from Early Anglo238. White, Roman and Celtic Objects, 357; M Saxon contexts', in Coins and the Archaeologist, eds P . J .Casey and R . Reece (2nd edn., 1988), 224-9 (226).

239.- White, Roman and Celtic Objects, 357-61. 240. Ibid., 98-101; King, 'Romancoins'. 241. Gildas, DE, 1.23 and III.92; Brooks, 'Gildas's De Excidio'.

216

Civitas to Kingdom

southeastward from the Salisbury area, and northward from the upper Thames and (what is today) north Essex, could represent subsequent

'down the-line' exchange of coins back into the Anglo-Saxon-controlled zone from the borderland communities receiving them. Such contacts

7

The British Kingdoms 6 0 0 - 8 0 0

between British kings and the Anglo-Saxons of the borderlands might well

explain

Cadwallon's

alliance

with

Penda

of Mercia

against

N o r t h u m b r i a in the s e v e n t h c e n t u r y.

CONCLUSION

It can, therefore, be shown that sub-Roman Britain was far more

romanized than previously supposed. Although 'Celtic Heroic' aspects of élite culture can be identified, these are few compared to those deriving from Roman Britain. Coinage-use, Latin literacy, manuscript production, Roman-style bureaucracy and probably law, and Latin inscriptions were all found alongside Late Antique Christianity. There was little barbarian

about the élite culture of sub-Roman Britain, although the 'Irish'

d y n a s t i e s of s o u t h - w e s t Wa l e s did m a i n t a i n distinctive c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s .

This degree of romanization may, given the origins of the sub-Roman dynasties as already reconstructed, suggests that romanization spread among the British population in the fifth and sixth centuries. This is consistent with the romanization of Ireland occurring at this time. This cultural system was supported by an economy based on that of Late Roman Britain. Although mass-production, and the aspects of Roman technology closely related to it, collapsed along with some R o m a n c o n s t r u c t i o n a l t e c h n i q u e s in the fifth c e n t u r y, the sub- R o m a n

economy was clearly capable of producing a large surplus.242

Far from being a resurgence of the pre-Roman past or representing an impoverished marginal existence, this was a wealthy, Late Antique society.

As we shall see in the next chapter, although in some respects unique, it was in others in the mainstream of European political and social development.

INTRODUCTION

This chapter will attempt to consider how sub-Roman Britain ended, a n d its r e l a t i o n s h i p t o later m e d i e v a l Wales. It will also e n d e a v o u r to

explain these changes, and in doing so, it will be necessary to place them in a m u c h b r o a d e r context.

Surprisingly, although the widespread changes throughout Europe in

the seventh century have been extensively discussedby archaeologists and historians,' the native kingdoms of the West and North of Britain have seldom been considered in this broader context. At first it might be supposed that this is due to lack of data, but compared to some widely discussed periods the data are surprisingly plentiful. In fact, the end of sub-Roman Britainhas almost always been discussed in reference to a single, entirely Insular and historically-specific process: the A n g l o - S a x o n c o n q u e s t of the B r i t i s h a r e a in the l a t e r - s i x t h to s e v e n t h

century.? We shall see that this, although important, does not in itself explain the identifiable changes of the seventh to ninth centuries. Instead, it may be a product of the same process of change found in the British areas.

By placing the British kingdoms of the seventh century in a broader E u r o p e a n c o n t e x t we m a y d i s c o v e r a m o r e s a t i s f a c t o r y e x p l a n a t i o n for

their transformation, and illuminate the specifics of the British situation. Such a re-evaluation enables us to r e a s s e s s both the relationship b e t w e e n

sub-Roman and later medieval Wales, and that between Roman and medieval Britain. We shall also see that it e n a b l e s u s to place the B r i t o n s

firmly into the mainstream of European cultural development, without failing to recognize the unique character of the British sequence. We must begin by considering the Anglo-Saxon conquest, upon which such importance has been placed. This is well attested in archaeological a n d textual sources.

. R . Dark, 'Pottery and Local Production at the end of Roman Britain', in Dark, 242. K External Contacts.

1. For example: J. Herrin, The formation of Christendom (1987), 133-44; R. Hodges and D. Whitehouse, Mohammed, Charlemagne and the origins of Europe (1983)

9R

• P

H B l a i r An i n t r o d u c t i o n to A n g l o - S a x o n E n g l a n d (1954). 3 5 - 6 a n d 4 4 - 9 .

218

Civitas to Kingdom

The British Kingdoms 600-800

T H E S E C O N D P H A S E O F T H E ANGLO-SAXON

219

2.

CONQUEST AD 600-700 (fig. 51) The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle is usually supposed to enable us to trace the

conquest of the West Country and the South West, and Bede, in his

Historia Ecclesiastica, recalls the capture of the British North in the seventh century. B y the end of that century Anglo-Saxon Cuthbert could visit a Northumbrian monastery in Carlisle, and another Anglo-Saxon churchman, Boniface, was in a West Saxon monastery in Exêter. In the West Midlands, the rise of Mercia, and the aggression of its

kings against their neighbours, resulted in the incorporation of the east of Powys and of the Dobunni into Mercia by the late seventh century.5

Even Gwynedd was not able to campaign effectively in the Anglo-Saxon East after the 630s.6

So, by AD 700 the British were in political control of only two areas south of Hadrian's Wall: the regions which we call Wales and Cornwall.

Cornwall had been recognized, as we have seen, as a single kingdom by the ninth century, and was probably a sub-kingdom in the fifth- to sixthcentury, but Wales comprised only a geographically-defined group of kingdoms.

3

4

It is, therefore, necessary, in tracing political continuity among the

Britons, to concentrate on these two areas, and, as we shall see, ultimately on Wales alone. Moreover, we will find that, after AD 800, the political, social and cultural character of these areas had greatly changed from the fifth-

to s e v e n t h - c e n t u r y f o r m .T h i s t r a n s i t i o n o c c u r r e d in t h e

period AD 600-800, but that is also a period with its own, to some extent distinct, characteristics. T H E ORIGINS O F WA L E S A D 600-800

The main characteristic of the seventh to eighth centuries in the West and North of Britain is the evidence of widespread change and

discontinuity. No sub-Roman royal settlement, town, or religious site has produced evidence of activity after AD 700, but many have shown indications of seventh-century use, albeit in changed form from that of the fifth to sixth c e n t u r i e s .

b u t i o n o f d a t e d c e m e t e r y s i t e s . ( I l l u s t r a t i o n s 1 - 3a r e b a s e d o n H i n e s 1990.)

. Yorke, Kings and Kingdoms of Early Anglo-Saxon England (1990), 83-6 and 136-7; 3. B

P. H. Sawyer, From Roman Britain ot Norman England (1978), 23-5 and 43-5. For a

sceptical view: P. Sims-Williams, 'The settlement of England in Bede

Figure 51 The extension of the Anglo-Saxon area, illustrated by the distri-

and the

Chronicle, Anglo-Saxon England, 12 (1983), 1-41. 4. Sawyer, From Roman Britain, 45; B . Colgrave, Two Lives of St Cuthbert (1940), 122-3

1 = Fifth-century sites, open circles r e p r e s e n t sites with evidence of mid-fifth century or earlier date; filled circles represent mid- and later fifth-century sites. 2 = Early sixth-century sites. 3 = All sites of pagan

Anglo-Saxon period from the fifth to the seventh centuries. 4 = Provisional

illustration of Middle Anglo-Saxon cemeteries of the seventh and eighth c e n t u r i e s a f t e r G e a k e 1992.).

and 242-4.

. Brooks, 'The formation 5. D. Hooke, The Anglo-Saxon landscape (1985), 5-8 and 9-10; N of the Mercian kingdom', n i Bassett, OAK, 159-70; Yorke, Kings and Kingdoms, 102-4 and 108-9.

6. W . Davies, Wales in the Early Middle Ages (1982), 113-5. .7 Dark, Discovery. 8. Ibid.

The characteristics of this pattern of discontinuity and change are clearly visible in the changed relationship between the Britons and Anglo-Saxons. Whereas the Britons of the fifth a n dsixth centuries had successfully resisted Anglo-Saxon invasion, in the seventh century r e s i s t e n c e failed.

220

Civitas to Kingdom

The British Kingdoms 600-800

221

Wessex, Mercia and Northumbria pursued aggressive expansion

policies under new centralized monarchies, whose culture was, from the late sixth- t o the e a r l y s e v e n t h - c e n t u r y at latest, o p e n to the latest

Frankish politicalideas.° This change in the political and organizational character of the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms, and their conversion to Chris-

tianity by Continental missionaries, affected the relationship between the Britons and Anglo-Saxons, not only in terms of British territorial loss, but by changing the political, cultural and economic relationships between them. 01 The centralization of control

Increased contact with Gaul (evidenced by E-ware) might have led to Frankish modes of kingship being introduced to western Britain too. fI so, the Frankish model of centralized kingship, dominated by a single

dynasty within a single kingdom, may explain the relegation of British

sub-kingdoms to the status of subordinate cantrefi, and their rhi to no more than the aristocracy mentioned in the Welsh laws. 11 The archaeo-

logical correlates ofa decline of sub-kingship - the reduction in number

of political centres and a reduction of small-scale patronage -

are

attested. Activity had probably ceased at many hill-forts, outside the

areas of Anglo-Saxon conquest, by the eighth century at latest, as the

Figure 52 Degannwy hill-fort. Copyright K. R. Dark.

sites of Chun, Coygan, Dinas Emrys, Dinas Powys, High Peak, Tintagel and Trevelgue all show.I? At Coygan Camp and Chun this may have occurred by the seventh century, as they are in areas where the distinctive

and relatively widespread seventh-century pottery E-ware is found.13 A

reduction in local levels of patronage may be attested by the reduction, or cessation, of the production of Class-I inscriptions and penannular brooches. 41

. Wallace-Hadrill, Early Germanic Kingship in England and on the Continent 9. J. M

(1971),e.g. 26. For the continuing importance of Frankish politicalideology in AngloSaxon England see: R. Hodges and J. Moreland, 'Power and exchange in Middle Saxon England', in Power a n d Politicsi nEarlyMedievalBritain andIreland, eds S. T.

. Nieke (1988), 79-95. See also the comments of I. N. Wood, . R Driscoll and M 'Northumbria and its Churches', Northern History, 37 (1991), 273-5 (273). 10. Although, given British military superiority and greater territorial control, it is

unlikelyt h a t Anglo-Saxon over-kingship was acknowledged by Western Britons in the sixth century. Kingship may not have emerged among the Anglo-Saxons, outside Kent, prior to the late sixth century, and even seventh-century claims by Northumbrian rulers to Hegemonyo v e r thewhole of Britain may reflect nomore than aspiration anddynastic propaganda. Yorke, Kings andKingdoms, 157-9, summarizes the evidence but seems tom e too ready to credit pre-seventh-century Anglo-Saxon

over-kingship. The emergence of Anglo-Saxon kingship isdiscussed inBassett, OAK.

11. M. L. Jones, Society a n dSettlement inWa l e s andthe Marches 500 B.C. toA.D. 1100 (2 vols, 1984), 185. 12. Dark, Discovery. 13. Ibid.; E. Campbell,'Imported Goods in the Early Medieval Celtic West: with Special Reference toDinas Powys' (Ph.D. thesis, University of Wales, 2 vols, 1991).

. R . Dark, "Towards aPost-Numerate Taxonomy', Nicolay, 47 (Oslo, 1987), 41-9. See 14. K

Appendix II. T. M. Dickinson,'Fowler's Type G PenannularBrooches Reconsidered',

Med Arch, 26 (1982), 41-68.

These changes may be contrasted with the emergence of new political centres and new large-scale patronage. These new sites may have been places such asAberffraw, Cwrt Llechryd and Mathrafal. 51 Other political centres may have included, perhaps, some of the rectilinear enclosures of pre-Norman date noted by J. M. Lewis beneath later Norman baileys

in Wales. 61 A few hill-forts may have remained in use, as perhaps at Degannwy (fig. 52), and in the seventh century (but probably not later), Dinas Pows.17 The 'sand-dune sites', sub-Roman trading places, continued to serve the same purpose as before, suggesting that internal trading networks were not completely disrupted by these changes.18 The new rectilinear sites, such as Aberffraw and w r t Llechryd, are generally less defensibly sited, presumably implying either less common or more regulated warfare, perhaps because of fewer opponents. That these were the seats of over-kings finds further support from the proximity 15. Dark, Discovery.

. Lewis, 'Field Archaeology ni Wales AD 16. J. M . . 400-1100: Some Priorities and Prospects, Archaeology ni Wales, 6 (1976), 13-16; J. M . Lewis, 'Field Archaeology in Wales A.D. 400-1100: SomePriorities and Prospects', Rescue Archaeologyi n Wales (1978), 25.

17. Dark, Discovery. I cannot find evidence in support of E. Campbell's recent suggestion that Dinas Powys was used ni the eighth century; Campbell, 'Imported Goods', ,I especially 109.

18.

D a r k . D i s c o v e r y.

222

Civitas to Kingdom

The British Kingdoms 600-800

223

Glamorganshire and the Llangollen area.21 The patronage required to make these Class-III inscriptions perhaps implies a patron greater than

the sub-king.2 A correlate of thisw a s the decline of s m a l l religious foci in

the countryside, observed by Heather James and John Lewis, and the decline of the, perhaps characteristic, conservatism of the sub-Roman Church during the eighth century.23 In so far as it may be reconstructed

at present, the character of these larger ecclesiastical sites owed little to the Roman past;21 the Church was also, from the late eighth century onwards, inaccordance with Continental observances, thus introducing a new set of external contacts and binding it with the Church in the AngloS a x o n east.25

So both secular and religious sites show similar changes - from many

smaller centres, to fewer larger sites. This transformation had been

brought about by the expansion of centralized monarchy, and similar centralizing changesi n ecclesiastical organization, with the greaterintegration of the British Church into Continental Church-organization. It was in this phase, rather than earlier, that the tribal society envisaged by Alcock and others may have prevailed; Welsh kings (more

'barbarian' than romanized) leading disorganized warbands, engaged in

warfare and granting land to the great monasteries. In my opinion, it was

these rulers, rather than the earlier sub-Roman kings, who might be seen as living by the values preserved in early Welsh poetry, and administering

'Celtic', not Roman, law.

These changes in theseventh and eighth centuriesmeant that western Britain stopped being retrospective and Mediterranean-looking and became much more integrated into the Continental European world. In

doing this it ceased to be 'Roman', or even 'British' in a fourth-century

sense, and became 'medieval': that is, by the ninth century the kings of western Britain had more in common with Continental European kings Figure 53 A Class-III inscription at a major monastic site. The Never

than with the Late Antique world.

. Dark. . R cross (Nash-Williams, ECMW stone, no. 360). Copyright K

T h e m a r g i n a l i z a t i o n o ft h e Welsh k i n g d o m s

of these sites to the great monasteries of eighth- to eleventh-century Wales.19

Ecclesiastical sites and organization apparently changed also - great monasteries such as Meifod (perhaps under royal patronage) emerged, ents providing acontex t foreighth- to elevent h-centu ry Class-III monum centring each groups, geographical e v fi into fall stones Class-III (fig. 53).2 onwhat may be considered tob e the heartland of one of the great kingdoms of eighth to ninth century Wales: Anglesey, St David's, Breconshire,

as St 19. As indicated by the concentrati on of sculptured stone monument s at sites such

David's (Nash-Williams, ECMW, st. nos. 374-83), and Llantwit Major (Nash-Williams, ECMW, .st nos. 220-6).. Davies, Wales in the EarlyMiddle Ages, fig. 49, p. 142. The site of Meifod is adjacent

Another factor must also be taken into account when discussing political change in seventh- toninth-century Wales - Offa's Dyke, and the stabilization of the frontier between the Britons and Anglo-Saxons. It was 21. Nash-Williams, ECMW, 30. 2. J. Clarke, 'Welsh Sculptured Crosses and Cross-Slabs of the Pre-Norman Period',

BBCS, 31 (1984), 324-5. ' Survey of the Early Christian Monuments of Dyed, west of t h e Taf', in 23. J. M. Lewis, A Welsh Antiquity. Essays mainly on Prehistoric Topics presented to H. N. Savory upon

. C. Boon and J. M . Lewis (1976), 177his Retirement as Keeper ofArchaeology, eds G 92 (178 fig. ,1 185-6, and 180fig. 2); H . James, 'Excavations at Caer, Bayvil, 1979', Arch Camb, 136 (1987), 51-76 (66-8).

24. D. B. Hague, 'Some WelshEvidence', ScottishArchaeological Forum, 5 (1974), 29-34; Davies, Wales nI The Early Middle Ages, 143, 150 and 155; RCAHMW, Glamorganshire III

(1976), 12-18. 25.

M . M i l l e r.T h e S a i n t s o f G w n e d d ( 1 9 7 9 ) . 85.

224

The British Kingdoms 600-800

Civitas to Kingdom

Asser, King Alfred's biographer, who ascribed the great linear earthwork, known today as Offa's Dyke, to Offa.26 Archaeological work, including over a hundred excavations, has clarified our understandin g of thismonumen t since the classic pioneering work of Cyril Fox.? Today i t would seem to run as an unbroken line along the western boundary of Mercia,n o t asa broken line sea-to-sea as Fox thought; it appears to have

225

byt h e Anglo-Saxon east, and their ecclesiastical organization was closely integrated with that of the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms. This process, begun in the seventh century, continued in Wales into the ninth-century. To understand it further, we may look in brief at the

later growth of centralized kingship in the ninth century.

been a defensible boundary, possibly incorporating hill-forts along its

T H E E X PA N S I O N O F G W Y N E D D A N D WA L E S I N T H E

route, as at Old Oswestry.28

N I N T H C E N T U RY

Despite so much archaeological study and the historical evidence,

As Steven

Offa's Dyke is not well-dated as an archaeological feature. Bassett has pointed out, simply because Asser assigned the dyke to Offa does not not m e a n Offa had it built.29 This argument is not now solvable

on historical grounds, but should serve to open archaeologists' minds

about this feature.30

Offa's Dyke must be pre-ninth century and, as it incorporates Roman-

period material, Roman or post-Roman.31 The dyke could, therefore, belong to t h e eighth century and have been built by the Mercians, or be an earlier, Anglo-Saxon, sub-Roman, or even Roman-period feature. But

the former is far more likely, as, if Roman or sub-Roman, this feature would cut through Cornovian/Powysian territory, and the only plausible earlier Anglo-Saxon context is following the Anglo-Saxon invasion of the

eastern part of that territory int h eseventh century.32 As the dyke repre-

sents a frontier facing west, this would still not alter discussion of its probable function. So, I prefer the conventional dating of the dyke, and the interpretation that it is the frontier ofMercia in the eighth-century.33 If so, the construction of a static boundary, even if n o t constantly held, would almost certainlyh a v e had an impact, not onlyo n border relations, but on the economy of Wales and the relationship between the Welsh and Anglo-Saxon kings. The relationship between the British and Anglo-Saxons altered, too, with the Britons relegated to a geographically and politically more peripheral role. 3The new, centralized kingdoms werepolitically dominated

In AD 800, the Welsh kingdoms of Brycheiniog, Dyfed, Ceredigion, Gwynedd, Powys and Glywysing all still existed.35 In Wales, the period AD 800-950 was, however, to see the rapid expansion of Gwynedd to the detriment of all the other kingdoms. The kings of Gwynedd had, it seems, long aspiredt o the kingship of all the Britons.36 Gildas, as we have seen, seems to attest this in the midsixth century.37 Wendy Davies has observed that Bede called Cadwallon rex B r i t t a n o r u m , a n d rex B r i t t o n u m was u s e d in A n n a l e s C a m b r i a e for t h e kings of G w y n e d d .38

Following a brief period of what seems to have been civil war in

Gwynedd, in the early ninth century, 93 the Venedotian kings pursued an

expansionist policy throughout the ninth to tenth centuries. eveni n the face of Viking raids.10 Powys was absorbed in the mid-ninth century, 11 Ceredigion ni the later part of that century 12 and Dyfed in the first quarter

of the tenth century.3 Asser attests that the kings oft h e South East, and

of Brycheiniog, placed themselves under Anglo-Saxon over kingship,

rather than also become sub-kings of Gwynedd in the ninth century, and he directly states that Venedotian aggression was the reason for this.11 Consequently, by the early tenth century, although the other kingdoms still existed as lesser polities,15 Gwynedd had become effectively the 'Kingdom of Wales', in terms of over-kingship at least. From that point onward it is the Venedotian rulers to whom we find references, fighting the Anglo-Saxons, Vikings and, ultimately, the Normans. Archaeological sources also attest the same pattern. Alan Lane and

26. S. Keynes and M. Lapidge(transl.), Alfred theGreat (1983), Asser's Life ofKing Alfred, XIV, 71 and 236.

27. There is a large archaeological literatureconcerning Offa'Dyke, of whicht h e following encompass the main trends in its study. .C Fox, Offa's Dyke (1955); F. Noble, Offa's Dyke Reviewed (1983): D. Hill, ' T h e Construction of Offa's Dyke', Ant J, 65 (1985),

140-2; and'Offa's and Wat's Dykes', inTheArchaeologyof Clwyd, (eds) Manley et al.

35. Ibid., 36. 36. Davies, Wales in the Early Middle Ages, 104. 37. Ibid. Although,when Gildassays Maglocunus was'higher than almost all of the generals of Britain, in your kingdom, as in your physique', he is less likely referring to political

superiority than to the inclusion of Snowdonia inMaglocunus's kingdom. Gildas, DE,

(1991), 142-56.

28. Hill, 'Offa's and Wat's Dykes'.

29. S. Bassett, personal communication, 1990.

30. Ongoing work by S. Bassett and D. Hill, promises t oadd considerably to our knowledge of thism o n u m e n t .

I1.33. 38.

Davies, Wales ni the Early Middle Ages; HE, 11.20, III.1.

39. Davies, Patterns, 45.

40. Ibid., 45-6; Davies, Wales ni the Early Middle Ages, 102-6. 41. Davies, Patterns, 35.

. I and X 31. Fox, Offa's Dyke, 40-4, 282, and plates X 32. This, in part, depends uponhowmuch one is prepared to use poetic sources ashistorical

42.

Ibid.

43.

Ibid.

33. E.g. in P. Wormald, "The Age of Offa and Alcuin', in The Anglo-Saxons, ed. J. Campbell

44. Keynes and Lapidge, Alfred, Asser's Life, 80, and262-3. The passage si discussed in

evidence; Davies, Wales in the Early MiddleAges, 100-2.

. Dumville, 'The "Six" Sons of Rhodri Maw: A Problem i n Asser's Life detail byD. N

(1982), 100-31 (120-1).

the Britons and Anglo-Saxons after the ninth century, W. 34. For relations between a D a m o s i n R a w l W a l o o ( 1 0 8 3 )7 3 _ 6

45.

of King Alfred', CMCS, 4 (1982), 5-18. D a v i e s . P a t t e r n s . 35-6.

226

The British Kingdoms 600-800

Civitas to Kingdo m

. R . Dark. Figure 54 Llangorse Crannog under excavation. Copyright K

Mark Redknaphave seen the crannog at Llangorse (fig. 54)16 a sasserting the legitimacy of the dynasty of Brycheiniog, and the Pillar of Elise (fig. 55)17 might be seen as aPowysian response to a n increased political threat from Gwynedd.18 As for textual sources, further support comes from Edmic Dynbych, which depicts the rulers of D y e d as the only

proper lords of Tenby, and shows Gwynedd as an aggressor, 91 while in

Gwynedd itself Historia Brittonum has a pan-Welsh perspective appropriate to an aspiring kingdom of all Wales.50 One must not assume that political unity in am o d e r n sense had been

achieved, regional cultures and dynasties still survived, and kingdoms

retained their separate existence within the structures of Venedotian over-kingship. Nor should the role of Anglo-Saxon England and the Vikings be underrated.

Welsh relations with the Vikings varied, but generally seem to have

fluctuated between disaster, military success and cooperation.$ The . Lane, 46. M. Redknap. The Christian Celts (1991), 16-17, 20-2; E. Campbell and A

'Llangorse: atenth-centuryroyal crannogi n Wales', Ant, 63 (1989), 675-81; E. Campbell,

. Redknap, 'Llangorse Crannog', Archaeologyi n Wales, 30 (1990), 62-3. A . Lanea n d M 47. Nash-Williams, ECMW, st. no. 182. 48. Davies, Patterns, 35.

49. I. Williams, 'TwoPoems from theBook of Taliesin', ni The Beginnings of Welsh Poetry, ed. R. Bromwich (1980), 155-80 (162-6).

50. D. N. Dumville, Histories and Pseudo-histories o fthe InsularMiddle Ages (1990), VI, 1-26.

51. Davies, Patterns, 35. 52. Ibid., 48-60.

227

Figure 55 The Pillar of Elise (Nash-Williams, ECMW, stone no. 182). Cadw:

Welsh Historic Monuments. Crown Copyright.

same might be said, on less adequate data, for Cornwall, and it is notable that by the tenth century, Armes Prydein imagines allied troops of Welsh,

Cornish and Vikings driving the Anglo-Saxons from England.53 The Anglo-Saxons, in reality, may have contributed to the rise of Gwynedd.S In the mid-eighth century, Powys, Glwysing and Gwynedd

were all attacked and devastated.55 By the ninth century, parts of Powys a n d o t h e r a r e a s were p r o b a b l y u n d e r A n g l o - S a x o n control.$6

Nor was thepolitical domination of Cornwall by Athelstan in the tenth century without parallel in the Welsh kingdoms: Gwynedd, Dyfed,

Brycheiniog and Gwent all formally 'submitted' to the Anglo-Saxon kings

in the early tenth century.5? This context places Armes Prydein in per

spective. Thereafter, Welsh kings, including the kings of Gwynedd,

appear as witnesses to Anglo-Saxon charters, and attacks in the tenth c e n t u r y c o n c e n t r a t e d on G w y n e d d a n d the s o u t h - e a s t of Wales. By the

end of the century Welsh kings were campaigning against each other

alongside the Anglo-Saxons - the process of political marginalization

was c o m p l e t e . 53. I. Williams (ed.) andR . Bromwich (transl.),Armes Prydein (Dublin, 1972). For arecent

of this text see, D. N. Dumville, Brittany and "Armes Prydein Vawr'", Etudes

Celtiques, 20 (1983), 145-59. 54. Davies,Wales in the Early Middle Ages, 113.

55. Ibid.

56. Ibid., 114. 57. Davies, Patterns, 74. 58. Ibid., 77.

228

Civitas t o Kingdom

Alongside political changes- reflected in the marginalization of Wales and in the growth of centralization - a further element must be incorporated intoo u r interpretationo f seventh- t o ninth-century Wales. That is,

The British Kingdoms 600-800

229

period 700-1000, are remarkably devoid of artefacts. At Llangorse there are pieces of metalwork on the base oft h e lake but very few even there,

the increasingl a c k ofa visiblearchaeology for the period as we move forward in time after AD 600.

and none on the crannogitself.68 At w r t Llechrhyd no diagnostic material of this date was found,n o r in t h e excavation at Degannwy.69 Again the absence of material is striking, even compared to sites of AD 400-700. This absence contrasts not only with local archaeology of AD 400-700,

THEMEANING OF ABSENCE: SOCIETY,ECONOMY AND

forthisperiod from Anglo-Saxon England, and, perhaps morerelevantly,

ENVIRONMENT AD 600-800

Thearchaeology of t h e period ofA D 400-700 in Wales and Cornwall has long been characterized as one in which settlements have been hard to detect.59Although thisi s now changing, the fact is that between 1945 and

1982 there was no predictive method for recognizing settlements of this date. 60 Yet in t h a t time theyw e r e still discovered by chance: Trethurgy

and Gwithian in Cornwall, Cogan and Drim in Wales, for example.61 There have been few, if any, chance discoveries of secular settlements

itself not plentiful as we have seen, but also with the splendid evidence from I r e l a n d a n d Scotland.70

Yet in this period British textual sources become much more plentiful." We have seen in Chapter 5 that the ninth century provides us with the first evidence oft h e late medieval Welsh tenurial system, and the first

convincing evidence of t h e use of land charters in Wales.

Weh a v e also seen, in Chapter 4, that textual sources show us a society

of major kings and large kingdoms -

Gwynedd, Powys, Dyed and

Glamorgan - and they enable us to recognize hill-fort usage and, perhaps, a

knowledge of hill-fort building still existing in the early ninth century.?? If

definitely of A D 700-1100 d a t e in Waleso rC o r n w a l l overt h e last twenty years;62 nor are many such sites already known. Subsequen t work has

Edmic Dinbych has been correctly dated by Ifor Williams, hill-fort usage

ment discovered ni a decade of fieldwork is w r t Llechrhyd, although

Walesenableu s to recognize a new type of secular élite site: the rectilinear,

failed to identify settlements analogous to Mawgan Porth, assuming that this dates t othis period and is secular, 63 In Wales, the only secular settle-

isalso attested until the end of the ninth century (fig. 56).73 In the period AD 800-900i t would seem that British kings still had bases on hilltops. Yet we have seent h a t the few secular sites assignable to this period in

occupation of this date has been confirmed or suggested at a few

univallate riverside enclosure. Later sources - the thirteenth-century

p r e v i o u s l y - k n o w n sites.64

laws and the Mabinogion - can be taken to depict sites occupied during this period (Mathrafal, Aberffraw and Segontium) as having royal associations, as they do for Deganwy, Tenby and Dinefwr, and other hill-forts

Nor does this absence affect only settlement archaeology. Stone sculpture and metalwork of eighth- to eleventh-century date are far rarer than

material of fifth- to seventh-century date.65 Such pieces that exist are, in general, rather more spectacular - such as the Carew cross or southern

Welsh cross-slabs of Nash-Willia ms's Class-III.66 Nor is there evidence that the importation ofglasso r potterycontinued after AD700, and hints of tradingc o n t a c t s are absent from texts oft h i s period.6? Even the few settlements so far discovered in Wales dating from the

of this date.74

Consequently, we may recognize tentative evidence for two types of royal centre in Wales belonging to t h e p e r i o d AD 700-1000: hill-forts and univallate lowland e n c l o s u r e s . T h e a b s e n c e of even c h a n c e d i s c o v e r i e s o f

other secular settlements of this date begs explanation. The pattern of

settlement suggested by the marginal notes in the Lichfield gospels

. Edwardsand A . Lane, Early Medieval Settlements ni Wales AD 400-1100 (1988), 59. N

implies that sites of this date were close to later settlements. While the evidence is not strong at present - due to a lack of field-work at these places - it is possible that Welsh settlements of AD 700-800 may have

. Davies, A' Historian's view of Celtic Archaeology', in 25 Years of Medieval Archae62. W

69. Musson and Spurgeon, 'wrt Llechrhyd'; Edwards and Lane, EarlyMedieval Settlements,

' Dark Age Settlement at Mawgan Porth, Cornwall', in 63. R. L. S. Bruce-Mitford, A

70. As exemplified by the catalogues of two recent exhibitions at the British Museum: S.

2-3. 60. Dark, Discovery. 61. Ibid.

ology, ed. D. A. Hinton (1983), 67-73 (72).

. .L S. Bruce-Mitford (1956), 167RecentArchaeologicalExcavations in Britain, ed. R 96. The published dating evidence suggests,b u t does not confirm, that the occupation of thes i t e was contemporary with Bar-lug pottery, but even if thiswas so, this pottery,

itself, cannot be firmly dated: G. Hutchinson,"The Bar-lug Pottery of Cornwall', Cornish

Archaeology, 18 (1979), 81-103.

. Mussonand C. J. Spurgeon, 'Cwrt Llechrhyd, Llanelwedd: an Unusual Moated 64. C. R

. Lane, personal communication, 1991. 68. A 51 and 52.

Youngs (ed.), The Work of Angels (1989); .L Webster and J. Backhouse (eds), The

making ofEngland (1991).

71. For a review ofsome of the sources, see, Davies, Wales in the Early Middle Ages, 2035, 213.

72. .L Alcock, Economy, Society and Warfare among the Britons and Saxons (1987), 195-6,

has drawn attention to a reference to an account of hill-fort construction in Historia Brittonum. This is not, ofcourse, asource forpre-ninth-century hill-fort building, but

Site in Central Pows', Med Arch, 32 (1988), 97-109.

65. Redknap, The Christian Celts, 29 and 49-58; Campbell, 'Imported Goods', II,fig. 102.

might show a knowledge of hill-fort c o n s t r u c t i o n in early ninth-century Wales. For the

66. Redknap, The Christian Celts, 48-76.

Along the Western Seaboard', in Dark, External Con67. J. Wooding, 'Cargoes in Trade G o o d s ' , C o m e b e l l

' I m n e r t e d

73.

archaeological evidence concerning this period see, Dark, Discovery.

Williams, "Two Poems', 155-72.

230

The British Kingdoms 600-8 00

Civitas to Kingdom

231

personal burial markers, the decrease in foundation ofn u m b e r s of small

ecclesiastical sites, the possible cessation of hill-fort construction, and

the cessation of long-range trade after circa AD 700, are all factors to consider. Far from greater resource-expenditure being attested in the

archaeological record, the evidence, therefore, supports a reduction in the existing claimants on resource-expenditure. Can we, therefore, identify new c l a i m a n t s ?

Theonly highly 'costly'd e novo Welsh site of this period as yet known is Llangorse crannog - an atypical site and arguably unique.76 Otherwise

new sites, such as Aberffraw and w r t Llechrhyd, absorb no more

resources than did many Pre-Roman Iron-age low-status farmsteads, or

for that matter Roman-period middle-status sites.77 Ift h e kings of Gwynedd or Powys were building new settlements no

more 'costly' than those constructed by Iron-Age peasants, this is unlikely to have been a major drain on their resources, unless these were

already few. So, neither settlements nor artefacts seem to have been

absorbing their wealth.

The possibility of the requirements of donations to, or support of, monasteries is another potential drain on resources. Evidence collected by Wendy Davies concerning the monastic economy suggests that the monasteries were themselves landholders with the capability ofsubstantial

agricultural production. 78This issupported by the analogy with monasteries

throughout the central medieval world.79 As already noted in Wales, the sculpture datable to AD 700-800 is often (but not entirely) associated with m o n a s t i c sites.80

G.ECo esE r Figure 56 Aerial photograph of Te n b y Castle. The hill-fort mentioned in Edmic Dinbych was probably beneath the modern castle on the promontory in the foreground. Copyright Aerofilms Ltd.

been on the same sites, and so be obscured by those of the later middle ages.75 If so, the medieval Welsh settlement pattern emerged in the p e r i o d 700-8 00.

This still does not explain the lack of artefactual evidence. One might suppose that the centralization of kingship and the increased patronage of large monasteries would facilitate greater resource-expenditure on status symbols or ecclesiastical objects, as in Ireland. That this did not

happen suggests two possibilities: either poverty, or, because the

resources obtained (although now under centralized control) were

expended in different ways.

It is interesting to consider some of the ways in which eighth- or ninthcentury k i n g s may no longer have expended resources. The decrease in 75. For t h e marginaln o t e s in the Lichfield Gospels see Chapter 5. Insufficient excavation ofmedievalvillages in Walesinhibits our ability toanswer thisquestion onarchaeological

So it is unlikely that donations tot h e church were a significant drain on royal resources. Nor does there seem any evidence that Welsh kings of this period were especially benevolent to the poor, or alternatively, engaged more intensively in feasting, than those of the fifth- to seventhcenturies.

With all these possibilities in doubt, it seems from our evaluation of

this question that Welsh kings of the eighth- to ninth-centuries may have had fewer resources than those of the immediately preceding period,

despite their more extensive and centralized control. This is, however, to omit one consideration from our assessment, the emergence of a royal bureaucracy. The small and localized scale of sub-

Roman kingship removed the need for a bureaucracy to administer their kingdoms. A network ofsub-kings and over-kings effectively provided an administrative heirarchy from the parochial to tribal level. With the ces. Peterson, 'Crannog Sitesi n Wales and the Marches', Archaeology 76. J. G. Roberts and R in Wales, 29 (1989), 40.

7. E.g. The small enclosures of Dyed; G. Williams, Fighting and Farming in Iron Age

West Wales. Excavations at Llawhaden 1980-1984 (1985); and 'Recent Work on Rural

Settlement in Later Prehistoric and Early Historic Dyed', AntJ , 68 (1988), 30-54.

78. Davies, Wales in the Early Middle Ages, 38-9 and 151-4. 79. Note the comments of C. Brooke, Europe in the Central MiddleAges 962-1154 (2nd

edn., 1987), 75-8. 80. Davies, Wales in the Early Middle Ages, 142; Redknap, The Christian Celts, 50-1 and 58.

232

The British Kingdoms 600-800

Civitas to Kingdom

sation of this system and the emergence of centralized government by over-kings, it might be supposed that we would see evidence for the development of a bureaucracy, and such evidence may be provided by the earliest attestation of the later Welsh maerdref-system, in the ninth century.81

After AD 700, the removal from the economic system of the products of long-range trade - usable in gift-exchange - may also have played a

role here.B? If goods were now to be exchanged, they must be locally pro

duced and these might be in the form of either agricultural and natural resources, or artefacts. By far the least 'expensive' way to maintain, and develop, the gift-exchange network was, obviously, to replace luxury goods imported from overseas with 'home-grown' products. Food may have become an attractive gift in the eighth and ninth centuries. Evidence suggests a decrease in the amount of agricultural produce available after circa 700. The evidence provided by pollen-analysis shows that Romano-British agricultural systems ceased to function in t h e period 550-850 r a t h e r t h a n earlier.83

The Irish annals record a long period of disease and environmental catastrophe during the late seventh and early eighth centuries, and notices of disease and famine from this period far exceed the plague of the mid-sixth century.8 If t h e s eannals represent historicalevents in Ireland, given the attested seventh-century contacts between Britain and Ireland, it may be that Britain was also affected.85

There does, then, seem to be a plausible argument that there was a collapse of the agricultural system in Celtic Britain in the eighth and ninth centuries. T h e sparsity of contemporary settlements and artefacts

might also be partially explained by this. Not only did kings need to give away more basic products to support both a bureaucracy and in reciprocal gift-exchange, but there was much less to give away to begin with.

The emergence of centralized

kingship may,

then, have

been

accompanied by a reduction in the 'wealth of the land' and especially in the amount of surplus available to support specialists. These changes in political, social and economic structure might have led to the emergence of a new settlement pattern, a new bureaucracy and a 'new' range of products exchanged as luxuries. A reduction in the number of special-

233

ists, and perhaps depopulation following famine, presumably had a reflex in the organization and c h a r a c t e rof an already-changing society. C O R N WA L L

By the end of the seventh century, Cornwall was the only remaining British

kingdom south of Hadrian's Wall outside Wales. It continued to be ruled by a British dynasty until the ninth century, and even to have its own

kings until the eleventh century.86 It was, therefore, independent for

about two centuries longer than the rest of Dumnonia.

It is uncertain whether Cornwall saw the same changes as did Wales in

the seventh to ninth centuries. It did not require a process of centralization to increase the control of the Dumnonian king over it, as this was already

established. T h e cessation of the use o f Class-I inscribed stones a n d disuse

of hill-forts after the seventh century (except, perhaps, at Chun) suggests,

however, that the over-kingship was able to replace sub-kings with its

own direct control, or bureaucracy,87 In a small kingdom such as Corn-

wall, the former is more probable, as no bureaucracy is evidenced and no maerdreft are known from the kingdom. The centralization of ecclesiastical organization may be attested, for

instance by the profession of Kenstec, a British bishop, whose see was at the monastery of Dinuurrin.& Large sites seem to replace smallerfoci in this period, as in Wales, perhaps suggesting similar ecclesiastical organization b e t w e e n the regions.

Lower-status settlements also seem to show evidence of a similar widespread shift as perhaps in Wales, with 'rounds' (curvilinear enclosed settlements) replaced by unenclosed trefi before the ninth century, but

after the seventh.89 Of the latter, few have been excavated, except, possibly, for the harbour-side site of Mawgan Porth - if this belongs, in any of its phases, to the centuries prior to AD 800.90

The available data suggest similar developments in Cornwall during

the period AD 600-800, but there were notable dissimilarities. We have already seen the long history of direct rule by a single dynasty, the absence of the maerdref-system, and we might note that the artefactual paucity of Wales in this period is not reflected completely in Cornwall,

where pottery was in relatively plentiful supply, even compared to con-

81.

See Chapter 5.

82. On gift-exchange n i this period see, P. Grierson, 'Commerce in the Dark Ages: a critique of the evidence', Transactions o fthe Royal Historical Society, 9 (1959), 123-40. 83. S. P. Day, 'Palacoecological evidence for landscape continuity', in Dark, External Contacts.

84. S. MacAirt and G . MacNiocaill (eds and transl.), The Annals of Ulster(Dublin 1983),

sub anno 544, 553, 683, 699, 709, 759, 761, 763, 768, 783 and 786.

85. Irish annalistic sources present the historian with many problems, leading to a very large academic literature on them. For the annals of Ulster, see, K. Hughes, Early

. N . Dumville, On editing Christian Ireland: Introduction ot the Sources (1972), 99-148; D

and translating medieval Irish chronicles: the Annals of Ulster', CMCS, 10 (1985) XVI,

67-86; and 'Latin and Irish in the Annals of Ulster, A.D. 431-1050', in Ireland in Early Medieval Europe, eds D Whitelock et al. 320-41. Contacts betweenBritain and Ireland are discussed in Dark,Discovery.

temporary Anglo-Saxon England.91

86. C. Thomas, Celtic Britain (1986), 67; D . P. Kirby, The Earliest English Kings (1991), 194.

87. Dark,Discovery; and Appendix I. Grass-marked pottery from Chun might date to after AD 600, but its date and significance at the site are uncertain.

88. L. Olson, Early Monasteries in Cornwall (1989), 51-6. For the widercontext o fCornish

ecclesiasticalarchaeology in this period, seealso: A . Preston-Jones, 'Decoding Cornish Churchyards', ni Edwards and Lane, The early Church, 105-24. 89. A.Preston-Jones and P. Rose, 'Medieval Cornwall', Cornish Archaeology, 25 (1986), 135-85 (141-6). 90. Bruce-Mitford, A ' Dark Age Settlement' 91. R . Hodges, The Hamwihpottery: the localand imported waresfrom 30 years' excavations at Middle Saxon Southampton a n dtheir European context (1981), 52-60

234

Civitas to Kingdom

That Cornwall was not impoverished to the same extent, had no defended border with Wessex, and did not develop a maerdref-type bureaucracy suggests that it was affected differently by the processes

which changed Wales in this period. But that many of the same changes are still recognizable suggests that those processes were also present in Cornwall, a n d s u p p o r t s the i d e n t i fi c a t i o n o f this p a t t e r n in Wa l e s .

C O N C L U S I O N : F R O M C O R E TO P E R I P H E R Y T h e seventh to ninth centuries saw the transformation of the British

areas of Britain from a territorially, politically, militarily and economically dominant role, to one of marginalization and relative poverty compared to the Anglo-Saxon East. The internal mechanisms of these changes can, in outline, be traced, and their immediate causes ascribed to the adoption of Continental political, and ecclesiastical, models of centralization,

alongside integration into Continental Church organization. By circa AD 800, Wales had developed many of the characteristics we commonly recognize as defining 'the State': bureaucracy, centralized political control and large population centres (monasteries in this case)

with a local administrative role.92 Cornwall had not done so.

With evidence for large monasteries and a local bureaucracy, ninthcentury and later Welsh kingship, then, also conforms to many of the characteristics seen in contemporary Anglo-Saxon England and the Car-

olingian realms. Yet there were no new towns, no monetary system was initiated and there is no evidence for international trade. In contrast to the rest of Europe, these characteristics were lost, not enhanced, after

The British Kingdoms 600- 800

235

INTRODUCTION TO REGIONAL REVIEW

These widespre ad changes were not limited to Britain; as Judith Herrin has written, 'Ever since the seminal work of Henri Pirenne . .. the seventh century has been recognize d as decisive in the developm ent of the

Middle Ages'9 In order to demonstrate a widespread, broadly simulta-

neous, transformation, I shall show that the seventh century saw extensive change i ngeographically dispersed areas throughout the Western Empire, as it had existed in AD 400. This change is measura ble in quan-

titative and qualitative terms wherever it is found, and is attested in both

textual and archaeological evidence.

It should be pointed out that, as Klavs Randsborg's quantification of archaeological evidence from the first millennium AD shows, the same

pattern isfound throughout Europe and the Near East - both within and

outside what was in AD 400, the Roman Empire , and in other areas than those to be conside red here.95 This review will show that the similari ty betwee n the areas consid ered sugges ts that a commo n explan ation is

required, especially ni view of the geographical range of these regions. As

such, it goes to confirm the impression, gained on the basis of British evi-

dence, that this forms part of a wider process of change.

In AD400, the Western Empire consisted of four areas other than

Britain: Gaul, Spain, Italy and North Africa. Each of these may now, albeit in the most summary form, be considered.While ti is hardly possible

to do justice to the eviden ce from these areas in so brief a summ ary,

hopefully this survey may demonstrate that, ni each area, continuityuntil the seventh century was followed by wide sprea d chang es in that century.

AD 600.

Consequently, even in the seventh, and later centuries, the British remained a unique instance of social development in Europe, but this uniqueness was not complete. We have seen that the period AD 600-800

REGIONAL REVIEW

Gaul/Frankia

r e p r e s e n t e d not a s u d d e n t r a n s f o r m a t i o n from s u b - R o m a n Britain to

later medieval Wales, but a phase of transition between these cultures. On this basis we may, then, define three phases in AD 400-1100 British political history: 1. S u b - R o m a n circa A D 4 0 0 - 6 0 0

2. A transitional phase circa AD 600-800 3. The 'central Middle Ages' circa AD 800-1100.

Interestingly, we can recognize these same periods from Galway to Arabia.93 To say this, immediately raises the question of whether evidence from outside Britain can help us to understand the British case in greater depth, and whether British evidence can illuminate these wider trends.

In Gaul the villa system persist ed into the fifth to seventh centuri es as

textual evidence (such as Sidonius' writings) the -acum placenames, and

the excavate d evidence at Seviac and La Pétonnie re attest.96 New villas

were also constructed within the Merovingian period, as at Larina, while

villa estates often feature in textual sources.97 Levels of romaniz ation in élite culture declined, but classical educatio n

and literacy survived until the seventh century, as shown, for examp le,

94. Herrin, The Formation of Christendom, 6.

95. Randsborg, TheFirst, e.g. 45, 18, 50-1, 65, 68, 104 fig. 56, 112 and 114-5.

96. T. Lewit, Agricultural Production in the Roman Economy AD 200-400 (1991), 131 and

92. A classic definition of 'the State' is in, E. R. Service, Primitive Social Organisation

(New York, 1971). 93. Hodges and Whitehouse. Mohammed

134; J. Percival, TheRoman Vila (1976), 171-82;and 'Fifth-century Villas: Newlifeor postponed?', ni Fifth-century Gaul: a crisis of identity?, eds J.Drinkwater and H. death Elton (1992), 156-64.

97. Percival, 'Fifth-century Villas'; R. Samson, 'The Merovingian nobleman's home: castle or villa', Journal of Medieval Historv, 13 (1987). 287-315

236

The British Kingdoms 600-800

Civitas to Kingdom

by Gregory of Tours.° It is unlikely that secular schools survived the fifth century, and

Roman law, the seventh century.99 Towns also

remained as administrative centres, as at Tours, Trier and Bordeaux, 100 In burial practice we also see romanization persisting until the seventh

century, as evidenced by the sarcophogi of Aquitaine, and sub-Roman

Gallic memorial stones, while both the Rhineland and Aquitaine provide evidence of belt-buckles, ceramics and glass of sub-Roman forms. 101

Alongside this, 'Germanicization' of burial practices may have occurred in some areas during the fourth to sixth centuries.102 During the seventh century these systems were transformed. Settlement-

shifts and declining Latin literacy are attested, and there was a cessation of Late Roman burial practices. Artefacts, including pottery, were prod-

uced ni increasingly un-Roman forms. 103 Whereas ni Britain the villa system

collapsed in the early fifth century, ni Gaul ti transformed into a Frankish tenurial system, based on aristocrati c and ecclesiasti cal estates. 101

The transformation from the 'Roman' to 'medieval world' in Gaul,

237

in Verona, the street plans were preserved so accurately as to be reflected in modern street alignments.106 Even if classical urban order was no longer maintained, Rome had a major population and facilities into the early sixth century. 107 Other towns survived in changed form, as a t Luni. 108

Villas, too, faired variably in the fifth to sixth centuries. Many villas were disused in the early fifth century but the villa-system, including major sites, survived until the sixth century, as at San Giovanni di Ruoti. 109 As in Gaul, the o w n e r s of some villas t r a n s f o r m e d t h e m into

monasteries, although more were reused as monastic sites long after

their d i s u s e a s secular élite settlements. 110

Post-Roman hill-forts were first constructed in the fifth century, and, as at Santa Maria at Cività (D85), survived until the seventh century and

even later, possibly, the origins of the incastellamento - the process of

constructing hill-fort towns, so often discussed by historians and archaeologists. I11 These sites seem to be the successors to villas, and to other

therefore, also came in the seventh century, and was character ized, as in Britain, by gradual de-romaniz ation and Germaniciz ation. In Gaul, how-

ever, Late Antique urban centres, manufacturing 'industry', and religious

Hobley (1988), 16-27; P. Arthur, 'Naples: notes on the economy o fa Dark Age city',

and tenurial structures persisted more completely than in Britain.

IV, 247-57; and P. J. and C. La Rocca Hudson, 'Lombard immigration and its effects

on North Italian rural and urban settlement', IV, 225-46 (232 and235), both in Papers

in Italian Archaeology, eds C. Malone and S . Stoddart 4( vols, 1985); N . J. Christie, 'The Archaeology of Byzantine Italy: A Synthesis of Recent Research', Journalof Mediterranean Archaeology, 2/2 (1989), 249-93 (266-9); C.La Rocca,'Public buildings

Italy

The towns survived through the fifth and early sixth centuries as administrative, military, ecclesiastical and population centres. 105 At Pavia, and

and urban change in northern Italy in the early mediaeval period', in The city in Late

Antiquity, ed. .J Rich (1992), 161-80. 106. Hudson and Hudson, 'Lombard immigration', 235. 107. For reviews of aspects o f sub-Roman Rome and recent excavations, see, D . Whitehouse, 'Rome and Naples: Survival and Revival in Central a n dSouthern Italy'. in The Rebirth of Towns in the West AD 700-1050, eds Hodges and Hobley, 28-31; and "The Schola Praeconum and the Food Supply of Rome in the Fifth Century AD', in

98. L. Thorpe (transl.), Gregory of Tours (1974). Although Gregory was not, himself, a

Archaeology and ItalianSociety. Prehistoric, Roman, and Medieval Studies,eds G . Barker

product of the classical education system, note the comments concerning Gregory's

. Lapidge, 'Gildas' Education and the Latin Culture of sub-Roman Britain* Latin by, M

and R. Hodges (1981), 191-5; D . Manacorda,'Excavations in t h eCrypta Balbi: A Survey', The Accordia Research Papers, I (1990),73-81; J .Osborne, 'Death and Burial i nSixth-

in Gildas: New Approaches, eds M . Lapidge and D. Dumville (1984), 27-50 (30-1).

99. Lapidge, 'Gildas's Education'; .I N. Wood, 'Disputes in latefifth-and sixth-century Gaul, some problems', in The settlement of disputes in early medieval Europe (1986), 7-22; E. James, The Origins of France (1982), 39-40. 100. H. Galinié, 'Reflections on early medieval Tours', in The Rebirth of Towns in the West . Sivan, 'Town and country AD 700-1050,eds R. Hodges and B. Hobley (1988), 57-62; H in late antique Gaul: the example of Bordeaux', in Fifth-century Gaul, eds Drinkwater and Elton, 132-43; E. M . Wightman, Roman Trier andthe Treveri (1970). 101. E. James, 'Merovingian Cemetery Studies and Some Implications for Anglo-Saxon England', in Anglo-Saxon Cemeteries 1979, eds P. Rahtz, T. Dickinson and L. Watts (1980), 35-55; and The Merovingian Archaeology ofSouth-West Gaul (1977); G. Halsall, 'The origins of the Reihengräberzivilisation: Forty yearson', in Fifth-century Gaul, eds Drinkwaterand Elton, 196-207; .J Knight, "The Early Christian Latin Inscriptions of

Britain and Gaul: Chronology and Context', ni Edwards and Lane, The early Church, 45-50 (48-9 provides a brief summary of the sub-Roman tombstones of Gaul).

102. L-C. Feffer and P. Périn, Les Francs (2 vols, Paris, 1987), I, 210-11; E. James, The Franks (1988), 44-64, 109-17. For an alternative view, see, Halsall 'The origins'. 103. James, The Franks, 202-3.

104. Percival, The RomanVilla, 171-82;and 'Fifth-centuryVillas':

105. C. Wickham, Early Medieval Italy (1981), 80-2; R . J. A . Wilson, Sicily under the Roman Empire (1990), 333; B. Ward-Perkins, 'The Towns of Northern Italy: D a h i u t h o fM o r n e i n t h e

Wo o t

A N 700_1050

a d s R

rebirth or

H o d g e s a n d

B.

century Rome', Classical Views, 28.3 (1984), 20-9. Ageneral view is presented in R .

108.

Krautheimer, Rome: Profile of a City 312-1308(Princeton, 1980) B . Ward-Perkins, 'Luni - the decline o fa Roman town', in Papers in Italian Archaeology,

. M . Blake, T. W . Potter and D . B . Whitehouse (1978), 313-21; and Luni: the eds H

prosperity of the town and its territory', n i Archaeology and Italian Society, eds Barker and Hodges, 179-90.

. .A Cotton, 'Research work on Roman villas in Italy, 1960-1980', in Rome and her 109. M

. Hobley and J. Wood (1983), 55-66; S. L. Dyson, The Roman Northern Provinces, eds B Villa of Buccino. Wesley University Excavations n i Buccino, Italy, 1969-72(1983),190;

. Potter, Roman Italy (1987), 213-4; R. Hodges, 'San Vincenzo al Volturno and its T. W region between the fifth and eleventh centuries' in San Vincenzo al Volturno. The

archaeology, art and territory of an early medieval monastery, eds R . Hodges and .J

Mitchell (1985), 259-73 (264); A. Small, 'San Giovanni di Ruoti: some problems n i the . Painter(1980), 91interpretation of the structures', in Roman Villas in Italy, ed. K 109; see also Lewit, Agricultural Production, 137 and 141.

110. Dyson, The Roman Villa, 144; R . Hodges, 'Excavations at San Vincenzo al Volturno: a regional and international centre from .c AD 400-1100', in San Vincenzo al Volturno,

eds Hodges and Mitchell, 1-35; T. W. Potter, The Changing Landscape of South

Etruria (1979). 150-2. 111. Potter, Roman Italy, 217; T. W. Potter, The Changing Landscape, 155-67; D. Whitehouse, 'Raiders and Invaders: Roman Campagnia in t h efirst m i l l e n n i u mA.D.'

The British Kingdoms 600-800

Civitas to Kingdom

238

low. substantial rural settlem ents, although settlem ent-con tinuity among

status rural sites is attested in the fifth to sixth centuries, only then to undergo drastic seventh century change.112

Artefacts, such as the stone bowls of central Italy, continued to be pro-

duced in late Roman forms, and a sub-Roman coinage was maintained through the period. 13 Then, in the seventh century, 'Forum ware' and the

239

and Late Roman architectural styles persisted into the fifth and sixth centuries.118 Again, change occurred in the seventh century, with artefacts and settlement-types no longer being Late Roman in form, and a decline in urban centres, although the evidence for this is far poorer than that from Gaul or Italy. 119 The villas did not outlast the seventh century as romanized settlements, although farmhouses still extant could represent

disuse of Roman-style artefacts, attest extensive 'de-romanization'. 1

a c o n t i n u o u s p a t t e r n o f r e s i d e n c e . 120

haps indicated by the distribution of 'Forum ware', and anew settlement

the ninth to tenth centuries when a new s e t t l e m e n t - p a t t e r n came into

Widespre ad disuse of rural sites of the fourth- to sixth-cen turies is per-

pattern, characteriz ed by fortifications a n d monasteries, had emerged by the n i n t h to t e n t h c e n t u r i e s . 115

Rick Jones has argued that the the next major phase of settlement is in

existence, and new urban centres emerged.121 Islamic conquest presents problems in considering the comparability of the Spanish evidence, but the overall sequence is of continuity, with a decline in the quantity and perhaps quality of romanized buildings and artefacts until the seventh

Spain

century, and a drastic change in that century. 12 A new settlement system was, as in Italy, emerging in the ninth- or tenth-centuries. 2

In Spain, towns also survived i nthe fiftht o sixth centuries, as at

Mérida. 16 The villa-system was declining but still operating, as at

Vilauba, in the fifth to sixth centuries, and, perhaps, in a restricted way,

into the seventh century - as a t the v i l l a and church of B a d a i o z . 117 Never-

theless, Spain maintained an epigraphic tradition similar to that of Gaul,

ni PapersinItalian Archaeology, eds Malone and Stoddart, 207-13 (210); R. Hodges

and C. Wickham, 'The Evolution of Hilltop Villages ni the Biferno Valley, Molise' . Andrews, 'The Archaeology of the medieval Castrum in Central Italy', 305-12, and D 313-34 both ni Archaeology and Italian Society, eds Barker and Hodges; P. Arthur, Romans in Northern Campagnia (1991), 102-3; N.Christie, 'Forum Ware, theDuchy of

Rome and incastellamento: problems in interpretation', Archeologia Medievale, 14

(1987), 451-66; Christie, 'The Archaeology of Byzantine Italy', 272.

112. Potter, The Changing Landscape; Arthur, Romans, 89-92 and 94-7; Hodges and Whitehouse, Mohammed, 33-46.

113. M.Carver, Underneath English Towns (1987), 43; Christie, 'The Archaeology of Byz-

. Baker, R . Reece and D. Reese, "The Schola antine Italy, 259-63; D. Whitehouse, G

Praeconum .1 The coins, pottery and fauna', Papers of the British School at Rome, 50

(1982), 53-9.

114. D. B. Whitehouse, 'Forum ware, Med Arch, 9 (1965), 55-63; 'Medieval painted pottery in South and Central Italy, Med Arch, 10 (1966), 30-44; "The medieval pottery of

Rome', in Papers ni Italian Archaeology, eds Blake, Potter, and Whitehouse, 475-93;

'Forum ware again', Medieval Ceramics, 4 (1980), 13-16; Helen Patterson, 'The Late Roman And Early Medieval Pottery from Molise', in San Vincenzo al Volturno, eds Hodges and Mitchell, 83-110.

. 115. Hodges and Whitehouse, Mohammed, Charlemagne, 33-48; Randsborg, The First; A . Settia, Castelli e villagi nell 'Italia padana: popolamento, potere e sicurezza fra IX e A

XIII secola (Naples, 1984); Christie, T ' he Archaeology ofByzantine Italy', 269, 272 and 278-82.

. .J H . Collins, 'Mérida and Toledo 550116. S. J. Keay, Roman Spain (1988), 211-14; R

N o r t h Africa

There is unambiguous evidence that the towns - especially, of course, Carthage - were still urban centres through the sixth century and even into the seventh century. 12 Production of African Red Slip Ware increased in the sixth century, only to decline in the seventh century.125 In the countryside, occupation at rural settlements also continued, and t h e r e is little evidence of d e - r o m a n i z a t i o n p r i o r to the t a k e o v e r of t h e

area by the Eastern Empire during the Justinianic re-conquest. 126 For example: Late Roman burial practice seems to have persisted among the native population through the fifth and sixth centuries. 127

118. For inscriptions see: D. J. Vives, Inscriptions cristianas de la Espana Romana y Visigoda (2nd edn., Barcelona, 1969). For the survival of romanizedarchitecture, see,

K a y , Roman Spain, 211-15. 119. For Spain in the seventh century see: Collins, Early MedievalSpain, 88-145 (129).

120. See also, Keay, RomanSpain, 215-16; Jones, "TheEnd'. 121. Jones, "The End'. 122. For the restricted effects of the Arab conquest: Collins, Early Medieval Spain, 163 and 166. Change in and after the late sixth century: Keay, Roman Spain, 215-17;and S. J. Keay, 'Decline or continuity? The coastal economy o f ConventusTarraconensis from the fifth until the late sixth century A.D.', i n Papers in Iberian Archaeology, eds T. F. C. Blagg, R. F. Jones and S. J. Keay (1984), 552-70.

123. Jones, 'The End'. . Wells, 'L'Afrique à al veille des invasions arabes', in L'Afrique Romaine,ed. C. 124. C. M M. Wells (Ottowa, 1982), 87-105; C. Lepelley, "The survivaland fallof the classical city in Late Roman Africa', in The city in Late Antiquity,ed. J. Rich (1992), 50-76.

585', in Visigothic Spain: New Approaches, ed. E. James (1980), 189-219; R. Collins, EarlyMedieval Spain (1983), 88-91. ' he . Nolla, and J. Tarrós, T . F. J. Jones, S. J. Keay, J. M 117. Keay, Roman Spain, 214-17; R

. Hayes, Late Roman Pottery (1972), 13-299; J. W . Hayes, Supplement to Late 125. .J W . J. Fulford, 'Carthage: overseas trade and the political Roman Pottery (1980), 482-523; M

Endof the Roman Countryside In The Iberian Peninsula, in First Millennium Papers. . . J. Jones, J. H. F. Bloemers, S. L . F Western Europe in the First Millennium AD, eds R La Villa RomanaDe La

. Humphrey (Ann Arbor, 1981), 1977 Conducted b ythe University of Michigan, ed. J. H

' he Roman villaof Vilauba andits context, Ant J ,62 (1982), 245-82; R. F. .J Jones, T Dysun and M. Biddle (1988), 159-73; J. de C. Serra Ráfols,

Dehesa de La Cocosa (Badajoz, 1952); see also Lewit, Agricultural Production, 151-2

A

M

A

TA U T

. Riley, economy, c. A.D. 400-700', ReadingMedieval Studies, 6, (1980), 68-80; .J A

'The pottery from the cisterns 1977. ,1 1977. 2and 1977. 3,' in Excavations at Carthage

85-124.

126. S. Raven, Rome in Africa (2nd edn., 1984), 211-13. 127. J. H. Humphrey (ed.), The Circus a n da Byzantine Cemetery at Carthage (Ann Arbor, 1988), esp. Chapters 7 and 11.

240

Civitas to Kingdom

The British Kingdoms 600-800

The continuing romanization, and even the continuity of Roman institutions and élites, might seem surprising given the Vandal occupation,

241

series of changes. Any explanation cannot be simply insular as it must hold true for areas from Ireland to Arabia - and be capable of produc ing

century, and the level of disruption si unlikely to have exceeded that

the series of events historically a t t e s t e d in many polities through two centuries. Several explanations f o rthis are often advanced - environmental.

barian settlement.

before suggesting an alternative.

but this need not be so. The area was intensively romanized in the fourth found in northern Gaul, even in the areas m o s tseverely affected by bar-

While the North African evidence might be considered within Mediterranean rather than alongside other western contexts, it reinforces the overall picture of population and cultural continuity found in Gaul, Spain and Italy. Certainly, it cannot form the basis ofa refutation of a pattern of widespread continuity through the fifth to sixth centuries. Disruption,

when it came, occurred in the seventh century, with the Arab invasion.

The most attractive explanation of change found over such a wide area

would, initially perhaps, be global or regional environmental change.132 There were some major environmental changes occurring at approxi-

mately the correct period: for example, the development of river valley

It can, therefore, be seen that throughout Europe similar changes

occurred in the later-sixth and seventh centuries. These changes were not simply confined to areas within the Roman frontier - they are found in Ireland, where the seventh century has been seen as a period of rapid

change in society, economy, ideology andmaterial culture, and are even found, as Randsborg has noted, in Scandinavia. 128

Clive Foss and Cvril

Mango have shown that the Byzantine town changed drastically in the seventh century, only to re-emerge afresh as a population and economic

centre in the tenth century.129 Similarly, Foss and David Winfield have demonstrated changes in fortress-building and military architecture at the same period.130 The forms, decoration and, probably, production-

centres of Byzantine pottery changed from Late Antique to more 'medieval'

forms in the seventh century, and trading patterns were also apparently transformed at the same time. 131 So the seventh-century changes in Brit-

ain can be seen alongside an extremely similar range of broadly contemporary transformations, unmatched in extent and range since the collapse of Roman political control in the West during the fifth century. Not only does this go to demonstrate that, far from being a marginal

and isolated Celtic exception, Britain remained part of European processes of change (although Britain pursued a distinctive course of development within that framework), it also raises the difficult problem

of trying to adduce an explanation for such a widespread, but similar, . Wooding, 'What Porridge had the old Irish? E-ware and Early Irish History', 128. E.g. J. M Australian Celtic Journal,I (1988), 12-17; for Scandinavia, e.g. Randsborg, The First, 124-25 and 142; see also, Hodges and Whitehouse, Mohammed, 89-91.

129. C. Foss, 'Archaeology and the "Twenty Cities" of Byzantine Asia', American Journal of Archaeology, 81 (1977), 469-86; C . Mango, Byzantium. The Empire of the NeuRome (1980), 60-87. See also: H . Kennedy, 'Antioch: from Byzantium to Islam and back again', in The city ni Late Antiquity, ed. J. Rich (1992), 181-98. 130. C. Foss and D. Winfield, Byzantine Fortifications. 131. K . R . Dark, Byzantine Pottery, forthcoming.

T H E ENVIRONMENTAL EXPLANATION

sediments (known as the Younger Fill) in Italy and the silting of Mediterranean harbours.133 The evidence adduced by Michael Baillie of volcanic

CONCLUSION TO REGIONAL REVIEW

Nor are these processes a b s e n t from the East.

economic, demographic and military; each may be considered in turn

A n Introduction (Pretoria, 1986).

activity affecting the globalclimate, and the independent evidence of the

climatic decline in this period from the evidence of ice cores and glacial

movements, provide other evidence of environmental change in the

p e r i o d A D 300-600.134

The first problem with this explanation is that these changes probably

occur either too early (in the fourth century) or too late (in the seventh century) to provide a convincing explanation. There is certainly no evidence that the fourth century was a general period of cultural collapse,

even if it might seem to be such from a Western European perspective,

and the development of the Younger Fill may well post-date the events

which we are trying to explain. Consequently, the relationship of the

environmental changes listed above, to the seventh century tranformation

is, at least, uncertain and probably inconsistent with t h ecultural events having been produced by environmental change

T h e only environmen tal event which may have had an input into these cultural processes is the volcanic eruption which may have caused the

mid-sixth-century plague. Baillie has argued convincingly that dust in the atmosphere led to a sequence of famine and then plague, at this and in other periods.135 However, many other factors may be involved in 132. E.g. C. B. Burgess, 'Population, climate and upland settlement', ni Upland Settlement

in Britain, eds D. Spratt and C. Burgess (1985), 195-231. 133. Evidence for environmental change ni the first millennium AD si summarized in Randsborg, The First, 23-30; the classic study of the Younger Fill si C. Vita-Finzi. The Mediterranean Valleys (1969), note the comments of J. M. Wagstaff, 'Buried assumptions: some problems n i the interpretation of the "Younger Fill" raised by recent data from

Greece, Journal of Archaeological Science, 8, (1981), 247-64;the classic example of

the silting of an important harbour is discussed by C. Foss, Ephesus after Antiquity:A lateantique Byzantine and Turkish City (1979), 185-187

134. M. Baillie, D ' o Irish Bog Oaks Date the Shang Dynasty?'. Current Archaeology, 117 (1989), 310-13; The evidence from ice cores and glacial movements is conveniently summarized in D. Hill, An Atlas of Anglo-Saxon England (2nd edn... 1984). 9: and Randsborg, The First, 27.

135. Baillie, 'Do Irish Bog Oaks Date?'

242

The British Kingdoms 600-800

Civitas to Kingdom

causing this plague, such as over-population, over-crowding in the cities, and over-taxation 'in kind' leading to famine and the consequent lowering of resistance to disease among the population.

It is, therefore, unlikely that environmental factors in themselves

caused the events of the seventh century. Certainly difficulties posed by

environmental problems may have aggravated processes of decline, but this is not a convincing overall explanation. It is extremely doubtful

whether each of the constituent areas would have adapted to the changing

environment similarly, given their differing social, religious and economic organization. So, environmental change was probably not the main cause o f the seventh-century transformation.

243

period c. 550-600 saw far less contact with the Continent and Mediterranean than had the period c. 450-550, or than the following century was to see. The silence of Continental sources in the late sixth century about Britain h a s also b e e n c o n t r a s t e d with the relative a b u n d a n c e o f fifth- a n d

earlier sixth-century data.141 It may, therefore, be argued that, although the periodization proposed by Pirenne may well be correct, the explanationwhich he adduces cannot

be accepted in an unqualified manner. In this, the Insular world is the

crucial case-study, for the relevant period was one of special disintegration with the Continental economy. The study of external contacts in Britain

and Ireland can, consequently, help to contribute a major critique to the Europe-wide debate:14? it shows that economic integration with the

T H E ECONOMIC EXPLANATION Recent work, particularly that by Richard Hodges, David Whitehouse and Chris Wickham, has tended to support, and to develop an economic explanation for the seventh-century transformation. 136 Economic undercurrents of European and Mediterranean life were first held responsible

European economy is irrelevant to the 'seventh century transformation', strongly suggesting that economic factors alone do not explain this event. Any explanation must, therefore, not depend upon the economic inter-relationship of the Insular and Continental worlds.

N o r can similar e c o n o m i c p r o c e s s e s within each area be a d d u c e d to

explain these changes. So far as it can be assessed today, the sub-Roman

for these developments by the great Belgian scholar, Henri Pirenne. 137

local economies of Britain, Frankia and Spain were not closely similar. Villa estates and mass-production, to some extent, survived the early

lasted until the seventh century. During the seventh century it was

high-value coinage, and the Roman-period market-functions of the major

The 'Pirenne thesis' is, in briefest outline, that the 'world' of Late Antiquity replaced by that of the middle ages, as a result of economic disruption

brought about by the Arab conquests and the consequent emergence of

fifth c e n t u r y in Gaul a n d S p a i n , b u t not Britain. S o too did the use o f

towns, both of which probably disappeared from Britain. Modes of production and exchange were, therefore, almost certainly different in Britain

and on the Continent, even among what may have been in other ways,

the Carolingian Empire. The main problem with an economic explanation is that, while the proposed chronology fits the archaeological and historical data, it is

e c o n o m i c s of local society did not fuel the similar t r a n s f o r m a t i o nof each

extremely d o u b t f u l w h e t h e r the e c o n o m i e s of B r i t a i na n d Ireland were so

area.

closely similar sub-Roman communities. This strongly suggests that the

The local economy is, consequently, unlikely to have caused the 'sev-

closelv linked to those of the Mediterranean and Frankia as to cause a "knock-on' effect when the Byzantine economy collapsed.138 As Michael Fulford has argued, it may now be more archaeologica lly and historically accurate to envisage the period of direct British-Byzantine contact as

e c o n o m y c a n n o t have d o n e so unless, a s yet u n d i s c o v e r e d , e v i d e n c e

It is also very doubtful if importation of E-ware began before the 'seventh

spread period of change.

belonging to the early- to mid-sixth century, not to the late sixth century. 139

century transformation', or should instead be considered one of its results,10 belonging to the transitional phase already identified. Epigraphic and archaeological evidence coincide to suggest that the 136. Hodges and Whitehouse, Mohammed; C. Wickham, 'The other transition: from the

Ancient World to Feudalism', Past and Present, 103, (1984), 3-36. 137. H. Pirenne, Mohammed and Charlemagne, transl. of 10th edn. (1939).

138.

For a discussion of the importanceof such affects see, C. Renfrew, Introduction: peer

enth century transformation ' throughout Europe and the inter-regional

refutes the argument proposed above. It would, therefore, seem that the economic explanation must be rejected as the only cause of this wide-

THE DEMOGRAPHIC EXPLANATION An alternative view is to suppose that the changing demography of Europe caused these alterations. This again, of course, requires a

Europe-wide demographic change. Such a change might have been prod-

uced by two factors: the c o l l a p s eof the Roman agricultural system produc-

polity interaction and socio-political change', ni Peer polity interactionand socio-political . Renfrew and J. F. Cherry (1986), 1-18;the collapse of the Byzantine change, eds C

ing famine, disease and thus demographic decline, or plague. The first view is closely linked to the economic explanations as discussed above, the second is linked to environmental explanations. The first explanation

C h a p t e r 6.

141. Fulford, 'Byzantium and Britain', 142. For a recent attempt to place the British evidence in a wider perspective see: Dark,

economy is discussed in Hodges and Whitehouse, Mohammed, 54-76. 139. M . G . Fulford, 'Byzantium and Britain: a Mediterranean perspective on Post-Roman Mediterranean Imports in Western Britain and Ireland', Med Arch, 33 (1989), 1-6; see

140. Wooding, 'What Porridge'; for the date of E-ware see: Campbell, 'Imported Goods'; see also Dark, Discovery.

External Contacts.

244

Civitas to K i n g d o m

T h e British K i n g d o m s 6 0 0 - 8 0 0

can be definitely refuted, as there is no evidence whatsoever that the agricultural economy was declining in the later-sixth century. The wide-

spread survival of towns and villas, a n dt h efoundation of monasteries,

argues against this in Italy, Spain and Frankia, while in the Byzantine

world the first half of the sixth century was a 'boom' period, with sub.

stantial rural a n d urban populations being s u p p o r t e d .143 Insofar as evidence : enables us to comment, the sixth a n d seventh centuries saw agricultural

expansion in the British areas of Britain too.141 There was, however, a phase of dramatic and destructive plague during the mid-sixth century in the Eastern Empire.145 It has often been

supposed that this was exported to the West, including Britain and Ire. land, during the course of the century. 146 The Insular data are, however,

by no means compelling. Annalistic sources may have acquired the information from Byzantine or Frankish sources, and later hagiography probably remembers the plague from the annalistic sources, not from oral tradi-

tion. 147 While there may have been a plague in mid-sixth century Britain,

245

could be used to explain the collapse of the Mediterranean, and through the adjustment of political and economic relationships, Europe. Nevertheless, the processes of settlement-shift, economic transformation and artefactual change are not attributable to these changes insofar as they occur too late or too early. Moreover, there is no obvious reason why Byzantine military s u c c e s s or defeat s h o u l d have a n impact on t h e Irish

settlement pattern, unless through economic or ideological change. Military factors are unlikely to have explained the widespread changes found across Europe. Military events might more clearly be explained as a part of the seventh-century transformation, r a t h e r than as their cause.

None of these explanations are, therefore, adequate to account for the seventh-century transformation. It is possible to suggest an alternative founded in the role of the individual in initiating change, while encom-

passing the framework within which individual choice is made, and

through which it operates. 150

this is by no m e a n s c e r t a i n a n d there is no a c c e p t a b l e British e v i d e n c e

for it. Demographic collapse seems an implausible explanation for these Europe-wide changes.

INDIVIDUALS AND EXPLANATION

It is often said that 'cultural' or 'social' change takes place but, while this is a convenient shorthand, it misrepresents the way in which change

THE MILITARY EXPLANATION

occurs. Individuals initiate change through their own actions. 'Society'

The Mediterranean area was certainly the scene of some widespread and unusually

destructive

warfare

in

the

early-mid

sixth

and

seventh

has no capacity to change in itself because it is no more than a group of individuals sharing customs and beliefs. If we are to explain 'social

change we must, therefore, explain it in terms of the changing motivations

centuries. The Justinianic re-conquest of parts of the Western Roman Empire, involving large scale troop movements and invasions, is often claimed to have dealt a crushing blow to the urban and economic life of sixth-century Italy. 148 The Arab conquests and Persian invasion in the seventh century could be claimed to have devasted the political, economic

them to act in specific ways and so to bring about specific forms of change have to be sought. Consequently, we can separate the explanation of change into how and

a n d social s t r u c t u r e of the B y z a n t i n e E a s t . 149

motivation of the individuals concerned. To explain how, we must examine

Consequently, one might adduce an interpretationof the seventh-century transformation as a product of destructive, prolonged warfare, alongside collapsing Byzantine political dominance over the Mediterranean. This

. Snodgrass, "The End of the Roman Countryside: a View from the 143. J. Bintliff and A

East', in First Millennium Papers, eds Jones, et al., 175-217; Randsborg, The First, 44-52; Mango, Byzantium, 60-5. 144. Day, 'Palaeoecological evidence'.

145. Mango, Byzantium, 68-9.

146. Wacher, TRB, 415. 147.

Even fi they genuinely recall plague in sixth-century Britain, it seems unlikely that this would have had a sufficiently catastrophiceffect as to cause widespread social and economic collapse; M. Todd, 'Famosa Pestis and Britain in the Fifth Century', Brit, 8 (1977), 319-26. Even the Black Death and plagues of the sixteenthand seventeenth centuries failed to wipe out cities or cause total collapse of t h e social andeconomic system; P. Slack, The impactofPlague in Tudor and Stuart England (1985), 15-16 and 111-43.

148. Herrin, The Formation of Christendom, 41-4 and 145-8. 149.

Ibid., 134-8.

a n d o p p o r t u n i t i e s o f those i n d i v i d u a l s i n v o l v e d .T h e f a c t o r s which c a u s e

why c h a n g e occurs, but the e x p l a n a t i o n o f why m u s t be b a s e d u p o n the

the framework within which action takes place. This context consists

both of the customs and beliefs of society as it exists for the individual

concerned, and the constraints and opportunities brought about by specific economic and ecological situations. 151 The w a ychange takes place is also structured by the mechanisms by which the individual can act: such as, the way decisions are made, or information exchanged.152 So, explanation is reducible to the recognition of process and motivation: the how and w h yof change. If we are to hope to explain similar patterns of widespread, broadly contemporary change, we must seek equally widespread motivation. The only possibility would seem to be shared beliefs, promoting and constraining action to similar effect. As we need to explain changes taking place over centuries, it is reasonable to seek 150. Such an approach would be conventional in contemporary social theory see, A. Giddens and J. Turner, Social Theory Today (1987). 151. A. Giddens, The Constitutionof Society:Outline of the Theory o f Structuration (1984). 152. These forma logic through which action must take place, t osome extent independent of the 'structures', in Giddens's sense, which constrain a n denable it.

246

Civitas to Kingdom

The British Kingdoms 600-800

247

systems of belief capable of structuring action over such a long period of time in politically and culturally diverse areas, and in differing economic

or ecological situations. So, to explain 'the seventh-century transformation' I shall a t t e m p t to recognize the beliefs a n d p r o c e s s e s involved.

POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY AND T H E LEGACY OF ROME

We can recognize two related features of political philosophy causing

changes in the seventh century, both legacies of the Roman Empire. These are closely related to the specific types of change which we have seen took place throughout Europe and the Mediterranean.

Centralization and uniformity were a standard part of the Late Roman political philosophy since Diocletian established them as principal elements of the Imperial regime. 153 After the collapse of eastern Roman intervention in the West, centralization was promoted by the Roman Church throughout w h a t h a d been t h e w e s t e r n Empire.154 T h i s was closely linked to new

ideologies of kingship and organization, and was preserved in Byzantine political philosophy in the East. The second characteristic is the collapse of eastern Roman intervention itself. This explains the chronology of the seventh-century transformation, and the de-romanization of Western culture. It marks the final eastern

Roman attempt at restoring the western Empire. In the West, Justinian's invasion, prompted by Byzantine political philosophy, resulted in economic

collapse and warfare, and led to greater independence on the part of both w e s t e r n rulers a n d C h u r c h m e n . 15 In the E a s t , this also r e s u l t e d in

changes in secular and ecclesiastical organization, and changed the

relationship between the eastern Empire and the West. The failure of Justinian's policy caused Byzantine military and economic collapse, opening the East to first Persian, and then Arab, invasion. According to this explanation, the seventh-century transformatio n was caused by the emergence of western political and ecclesiastical independence, and the assertion of the non- Roman aspects of western culture following the ultimate failure of eastern Imperial intervention. This enables us to propose an explanation based on individual choice rather than

deterministic, economic, or environmental factors - but we still need to

explain the unique survival of the British civitates as independent native polities until the s e v e n t h century.

SUB-ROMAN BRITAIN IN CONTEXT, AD 400-600 All the Gaulish and Iberian provinces and dioceses of the Empire perished as Roman or 'Romano-Celtic' polities in the course of the fifth cen-

Figure 57 Zones of collapse of the Roman Empire by the sixth century. A = Areas still in Roman or sub-Roman political control. B = Areas once Roman, now under barbarian control. C = Areas outside the Roman Empire.

tury, a n d n o w h e r e w a s r e s i s t a n c e to G e r m a n i c invasion or s e t t l e m e n t a t all successful except in Britannia. 156 In t h e fifth c e n t u r y, G a u l p a s s e d into the h a n d s o f t h e Frankish d y n a s t y. 157 a n d Africa a n d S p a i n c a m e to be

politically dominated by the Vandals and Visigoths.158 Italy was ruled by, albeit more romanized, Ostrogoths, and the last western Emperor was deposed by AD 476.159 In other words, the whole Western Empire was, by AD 500, under the rule of barbarian dynasties, even if Gallo-Romans, for example, could hold high office in church or State and rich Gallo-

Romans aspire to be Romans (fig. 57). 160

This must require explanation, but that explanation needs to show why Britain was different from all the other western dioceses. We may begin by considering the overall pattern of change found in the diocese in

the fifth to sixth centuries. Obviously, the brief summary given here is

intended to do no more than indicate some differences between the

broad zones of what was, in AD 400, the diocese of Britanniae. 156. Randsborg, The First, 13-14; D . Kidd, 'Barbarian Europe in the first millennium', ni

153. A . H . M . Jones, The later Roman Empire 284-602 (1964). 154. Herrin, The Formation of Christendom, 156-82 155. On Justinian and his political philosophy, see, R . Browning, Justinian and Theodora (1971); and The Byzantine Empire (1980), 19. For antiquarianism in sixth-century Byzantium see, M . Mass, John Lydus and the Roman Past (1991).

The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Archaeology, ed.

A . Sherratt (1980), 295-303 (296),

concisely summarize the loss of the West.

157. James, The Origins, 27-30. 158. Collins, Early Medieval Spain, 24.

. Wallace-Hadrill, The Barbarian West 400-1000 (1967), 33-7. 159. J. M 160. James, The Origins, 128-9; J. M . Wallace-Hadrill, The Long-Haired Kings (1962), 25-48

248

The British Kingdoms 600-800

Civitas to Kingdom

249

that ti was first settled in the early fifth century, and was the earliest area to pass under Germanic rule.62 Although, as John Hines has pointed out, an early fifth-century date is not necessarily preferable to one in the middle of that century, 163 the area is characterized by a

widespread Germanic culture in the sixth century. 161 By that time much of the population was using material culture more closely related to the Germanic Iron-Age than to Roman Britain, although B r i t i s h a n d C h r i s t i a n e n c l a v e s survived. 165 Zone 2: T h e Saxon Area

South of the Thames and in the Thames Valley, a different cultural 'world' existed in the sixth century. Inhumation burials are found, perhaps reflecting contact between the Germanic population and Britons

alongside structural traditions derivative, at least in part, of Roman Britain.166 British enclaves again survived, and Germanic settlement

seems to have begun later, perhaps in the later half of the fifth century. 167 . Böhme, D ' as ende der Römerherrschaft ni Britannien un die angelsächsische 162. H. W i 5. Jahrhundert', Jahrbuch des Römisch-Germanischen Besiedlung Englands m Zentralmuseums Mainz, 33 (1986), 469-574. See the modifications to Böhme's view suggested by Hawkes; S. C. Hawkes,'The South-east after the Romans: The Saxon

Settlement', in The Saxon Shore, ed. V. A. Maxfield (1989),78-95 (esp. 89-91 and 93).

163. J. Hines, 'Philology, archaeology and the Adventus Saxonum vel Anglorum' i nBritain . Bammesburger and .A Wollman (Heidelburg, 400-600: Language and History,eds A 1990), 17-36.

164. M. O. H. Carver, 'Kingship and material culture ni early Anglo-Saxon East Anglia 1, Bassett, OAK,

In

141-58 (148-9, and 152); C. Hills, 'The Archaeology of Anglo-Saxon

England ni the Pagan Period: A Review', Anglo-Saxon England, 8 (1978), 297-329

(315-17); C. Scull, 'Before Sutton Hoo: structures of power and society ni early East

fr es

1 0 0k m

60milles

Figure 58 Major cultural zones in sixth century Britain. A = Area controlled by independent sub-Roman dynasties. B = British enclave. C =

"Saxon' area. D= 'Anglian' area.

Anglia', in Carver, ASH, 3-23. The area also developed strong Scandinavian contacts: .J Hines, The Scandinavian character of Anglian England ni the pre-Viking period (1984); and 'The Scandinavian character of Anglian England: an update', in Carver, ASH, 315-29.

165. E.g. pottery styles, J. and L. Myers, A Corpus of Anglo-Saxon Pottery of the Pagan Period, 2( vols, 1977). The most convincing evidence of a British Christianenclave is at

Lincoln, see Chapter .2 See also N . Higham, Rome, Britain and the Anglo-Saxons

. Hedeager, Iron Age societies: from (1992), 111-13. For the Germanic Iron Age, see, L

tribe to state in Northern Europe 500 BC to 700 AD (1992); M. Todd, The Barbarians.

Goths, Franks and Vandals (1972).

166. Although inhumation burial si foundduring the Late Roman period i nGermania;

Archaeology enables us to differentiate six zones with distinctive material evidence, and these coincide well with our expectations from written sources. From texts we might suppose a British West and North,

with Bede's famous testimony adding Anglian, Saxon and Jutish zones, the Jutish zone principally being Kent and the Isle of Wight (fig. 58). 161 Using this evidence, and employing Bede's names for areas, we can recognize the following areas:

Zone 1: The Anglian Area This area saw intense settlement of Germanic migration from the fifth . Böhme, in an important paper, has suggested century onwards. H. W

Todd, The Barbarians, 144-51. For the relationship between Romano-Britishand Anglo-Saxon structural traditions see, P. Dixon, 'How Saxon is the Saxon house?', in Structural Reconstruction, ed. P. J. Drury(1982), 175-88;S. James, A .Marshall and M.

Millett, 'An Early Medieval Building Tradition', Arch ,J 141(1984), 182-215; Higham,

Rome, 113. 167. A date for the Anglo-Saxon settlemento f this zone in the second half of the fifth-century is supportedby Böhme, 'Das Ende'; and Hines, 'Philology'. I n a series of publications . Welch, 'Late on Sussex, Welch has examined evidence suggesting British survival; M

Romans and Saxons in Sussex', Brit, 2 (1971), 232-7; EarlyAnglo-Saxon Sussex (1983); and 'The Kingdom of the South Saxons: the origins', in Bassett, OAK,75-83

See Chapter 5 for a discussion of the possible enclave around Silchester. Another

large gap in the distribution of early Anglo-Saxon cemeteries in what is now southwest Kent, the south of Surrey and east Sussex, i soften attributed to the Weald forest, but m i g h tequally r e p r e s e n t a major British enclave in this area in the fi f t hand sixth

centuries. If this is so, however, no details of its political organization are attested by 161.

Bede, HE, 1.15.

written evidence.

250

Civitas to Kingdom

Zone 3: Kent

Kent is similar to Zone 2, but, by the sixth century, Frankish artefacts

are widespread. 168 There is textual evidence of close relationship with Frankia.169 Certainly, Kent seems the most 'continental' area of fifth. to sixth-century eastern England, and shows a distinctive material culture.

Zone 4: N o r t h u m b r i a

North of the Humberside zone, called Deira in the seventh century, 170 was a less densely settled territory, where there is evidence of greater

contact between Anglo-Saxon and British political and religious insti-

tutions in the fifth to seventh c e n t u r i e s .71 It is conventio nal to suggest

that Bernaccia, as its British name suggests, was an area of more intense British/Anglo-Saxon continuity172 and probably had a principally

British population in the fifth ot seventh centuries. However, Yeavering

may well provide less evidence of this than was once supposed and there is more evidence of agricultural discontinuity in this area than elsewhere. 173 Whether or not greater continuity is evidenced, this is an area, at least to some extent, distinct from the other zones in its material remains.

Zone 5: Border Zone

A border zone existing as a band along the periphery of the AngloSaxon area can be defined on several grounds. 'Celtic' artefacts are

more common and 'Celtic' place-name s survived in greater numbers.174 As we have already seen, Roman coins are more frequently found in Anglo-Saxon graves in this area, and warfare in this area is

recorded in the later sixth to seventh centuries in the period of Anglo-

Saxon expansion.

Zone 6: British Zone

This is the area considered in detail in Chapters 3, 4, 5 and 6, where . Hawkes, Anglo-Saxon Kent c. 425-725', in Archaeology in Kent to AD 1500. ed. 168. S. C

P. E. Leech (1982), 64-78; N . Brooks, "The creation and early structure of the kingdom of Kent', in Bassett, OAK, 55-14.

169. 1. N. Wood, The MerovingianNorthSea (Alingsaes, 1983); and 'Frankish hegemony in England', in Carver, ASH, 233-41.

170. B . Eagles, 'Lindsey', Bassett, OAK, 202-12; Yorke, Kings and kingdoms, 74-7.

171. Ibid, 83-6; R. Cramp, 'Northumbria: the archaeological evidence, in Power and Politics ni Early Medieval Britain and Ireland, eds S . T. Driscoll and M. R . Nieke (1988), 69-78; and 'Anglo-Saxon settlement', i nSettlement in Northern Britain, 1000 BC-AD 1000,

The British Kingdoms 600-800

251

there were sub-Roman British (Christian) kingdoms. There is no evi-

dence for widespread, permanent Anglo-Saxon settlement in this zone until the seventh century. While changing political relationships resulted in changes in the area which each zone occupied, this division into zones suggests two patterns. First, the zones are (with the exception of Zones 3 and 5) closely similar to the Late Roman provinces. Zone 1 would represent Flavia

Caesariensus, Zone 2 Maxima Caesariensis, Zone 4 Britannia Secunda,

and Zone 6 Britannia Prima. This does not suggest that these provinces existed during this post-Roman period, but that their post-Roman history m a y have b e e n r e l a t e d to that of the R o m a n period.175

Second, there is the similarity in the division between Zones 1 and 2, and E. A. Thompson's suggestion of a twofold division in the cultural geography of Roman Iron-Age Germania, the Germanic zone to the north

of the Roman Rhine frontier. 176 In Germania, Thompson noted an inner region, where romanization had occurred, and an outer region, where it had not.

It is hardly surprising to find a border zone between Britons and

Anglo-Saxons or that Kent, so close to northern Frankia across the Eng-

lish Channel, should be drawn into a Frankish cultural area. So, the resulting zones can be both strongly supported on archaeological

grounds, and explained in terms of their Late Roman past, geography

and types of 'barbarian' occupying the territories.

This pattern, by emphasizing the importance of the Late Roman provincial structure, also enables us to re-examine the significance of Late Roman Britain in the survival of politically independent, sub-Roman communities for over two centuries longer than they existed in Gaul, Spain or Italy. The role of Ireland in promoting sub-Roman political and cultural survival cannot have been great, it was only romanized itself as a result of that survival. 17 Nor are Gallic contacts likely to have been so intense and long-lived as to promote British continuity. So an internal explanation related to the British past is most credible, when it is this background which seems to explain the zonation just outlined Explaining the survival of the sub-Roman British kingdoms We have seen that the British diocese comprised five provinces Valentia, Britannia Prima, Britannia Secunda, Maxima Caesariensis and

. N . Dumville, "The origins of eds J. C.Chapman and H. C. Mytum (1983), 263-97; D Northumbria: some aspects of the British background', ni Bassett, OAK, 213-22. 172. E.g. L . Alcock, Economy, 255-66.

Flavia Caesariensis.178 We have also seen that, of these, only one had

Scull, 'Post-Roman Phase I at Yeavering: A Re-consideration', Med Arch, 53 (1991),

175. I see no evidence in support of the suggestion by Higham, Rome, 74, that overkingships were equivalent to Late Roman provinces, nor that over-kingship originated

173. B. Hope-Taylor, Yeavering: An Anglo-British Centre of Early Northumbria (1979); C 51-63.

174. R. H. White, Roman and Celtic Objects from Anglo-Saxon Graves (1988), esp. 357. Interesting, too, si evidence of greater continuity between British and Anglo-Saxon

burial customs, P. Sims-Williams, Religion and Literature ni western England 600-800

(1990), 21-2; Clear, ERB, 201-2. K . H . Jackson, Language and History ni Early Britain (1953), 220.

in the fifth century.

176. E. A .Thompson, The Early Germans(1968). A summary of the relations between the Empire and Germania is provided by, Todd, The Barbarians,esp. 14-22. . Laing, 'The Romanisationof Ireland in the fifth century', Peritia, 4 (1985),261-78. 177. L 178. See Chapter 1

252

Civitas to Kingdom

The British Kingdoms 600-800

253

It should, perhaps, be pointed out that no appeal to geographical fac-

ambitions in both Church and State. 187 Obviously isolation may have played a role here, but it is hard to discern whether it was the cause, or a product of these feelings. They might have resulted from the early fifth.

tors can b e m a d e to c o u n t e r this view. T h e island of Britain m a y have

century rebellion suggested in Chapter 1, and so we must be careful not

passed almost wholly into the hands of barbarians by the beginning of the sixth century.179

been cut off from the Continental barbarian invasion, but it was open to

to confuse a product of survival - the attitudes within independent sub-

raiding andmigration on all sides. The Irish, the Picts and the Germanic

R o m a n Britain - with t h e c a u s e of that survival.

d i s t a n c e marine warfare.180 S o it w a s not B r i t a i n ' s inaccessibility that

environment does not seem an important factor in Britain's political

ence between Britain and its Imperial neighbours may be found in the history of the Christian Church. 188 We have seen evidence for unusually early rural Christianity, and for a central role for religion in the fifth-century political history of Britain. Charles Thomas has pointed out that the Church could have provided

survival.

group identity and solidarity, ensuring a feeling of international commu-

This highlights the role of religion in this survival, as another differ-

peoples had all been raiding before AD 400, and all were capable of long-

preserved its sub-Roman kingdoms. Britain was environmentally similar to north Gaul, and like Gaul it was

probably affected, for example, by Late Roman climatic changes. So

Economically there is a stronger reason for this survival. We have seen that Late Roman Britain was an important and rich diocese of the Empire in the third and fourth centuries.181 Britain may have largely avoided the 'third century crisis'182 and may, despite the raids recorded in the period AD 200-400,183 have pursued a relatively secure course prior to AD 400; although the diocese, or part of it, was disrupted in the late fourth century. 184 This wealth may have been one reason why Britain developed an increasing independence from Continental economics, a pattern seen in trade and industry. 185 Given that we have grounds for seeing Britain as

disconnecting itself from the European economic system, it is perhaps worth looking at the possibility that ti was independence from the interregional linkages which bound the West together and which brought

about Britain's relative survival. If w e seek mo t iv a tio n for t h e Britons to retain t h e i r political i n d e p e n d -

ence, we can identify two key factors. The first is 'national' identity. W h e r e a s t h e d i o c e s e s of Gaul or Italy h a d failed to d e v e l o p 'national'

group-identity in the Late Empire - the cives still considered themselves Romans186 - in western Britain, by the sixth century, Gildas could see the

Romans as foreigners, and Molly Miller has suggested (on sources of mixed credibility that his contemporaries had even more separatist

nity in a nincreasingly politically isolated Britain, 189 and so kept alive its

'archaic' characteristics into the seventh century. 19 fI the British Church

maintained, or adopted (perhaps from the early- or mid-fifth century) a deliberately conservative character, this might both form a further basis for an isolationist outlook and provide a sense of community in an isol a t e d area.

There may, consequently, have been ideological reasons behind the

moves (and the economic ability) to remove Britain from the network of European contacts - a network which led, in part, to the break-up of the Imperial West. If identity and solidarity may have played a role in this survival, paradoxically the decentralization and diversity o f R o m a n Britain

may also have contributed to its long-term survival. Economy, social organization, political structure and industry, were probably regionalized in Late Roman Britain and the division into smaller provinces may have

precipitated the loss of any centralized government.191 Consequently, the collapse of the Romano- British ceramic industries in Oxfordshire in

the (?early) fifth century need not, for example, have entailed the coll a p s e of the Black B u r n i s h e d Ware-1 factories in Dorset. 192 T h i s decen-

tralization, therefore, may have enabled Britain's Late Roman wealth to

have been maintained, at least in areas where British control was secure. As a consequence ofthese factors - especially the number of small-scale,

179. Only Flavia C a e s a r i e n s i s is almost fully within the dis tributio n of early Anglo-Saxon

cemeteries of fifth- to mid-sixth-century date, as shown by Hines, Philology, 34-6. Long-distance marine warfare throughout the fourth to sixth centuries is demonstrated by J. Haywood, Dark Age Naval Power (1991). 181. See Chapter 1.

180.

182. Ibid.; and Frere, Britannia, 272-3; M .Millett, The Romanisation of Britain (1990), 131. On the 'crisis' itself see, Randsborg, The First, 169-70; Lewit, Agricultural Production, 222, graph 6 (b) i, shows less of a decline in settlements n i Britain than for Gaul or Spain.

183. Frere, Britannia, 336-7.

184. Ibid., 339-41; Cleary, ERB, 44-6. 185. M. Fulford, 'Pottery and Britain's Foreign Trade in the later Roman period', n i Pottery

Miller, The Saints of Gwynedd, 120.

67-9.

189.

Thomas, CIRB, 353-4.

. Davies, 'The Myth of the Celtic Church', ni Edwards and Lane, The early Church 190. W 12-21.

191. M. Millett, 'Central Places ni a Decentralised Roman Britain', in Central Places,

Archaeology and History, ed. E. Grant (1986), 45-7. 192. For the economy, distribution and local context of their production of these kilns see:

V. G.Swan, The Pottery Kilns of Roman Britain(1984),6-8, 19, 49-50, and maps 7, and 13-18. For evidence suggesting economic continuity in Oxfordshire see, S. P. Day,

and Early Commerce, ed. D. P. S. Peacock (1977), 35-84; and 'Britain and the Roman

'Post-glacial vegetational history oftheOxford region', New Phytologist, 119 (1991),

Trends, ed. R . F. J. Jones, (1991), 35-47 (43-6).

Oxfordshire and Black Burnished Ware- 1factories see, K . R. Dark, 'Pottery and Local

empire: the evidence for regional and long distance trade', in Roman Britain: Recent

186.

187.

188. See Chapter .2 For comparison see, Herrin, The Formationof Christendom, 57-64 and

Wallace-Hadrill, The Long-Haired Kings, 25-48.

445-70 (467-8).

For evidence of localized, small-scale production at both the

Production at the End of Roman Britain', n i Dark, External Contacts.

254

Civitas to Kingdom

widely distributed, administrative centres - it must also have been difficult to militarily 'knock out' a 'core' of the Roman diocese.

This brings us to military factors. We have seen thatthe romanization of western British weapons and tactics may have enabled the British to defeat the Anglo-Saxons, 193 Britain had been the scene of numerous wars in the Roman period, and many British tribes resisted the Roman invasions in the first century BC and the first century AD. 194 Some tribes, particu-

larly in the West and North, had been known by the Roman authorities for their warlike nature. 195 The Imperial Army had withdrawn in the very

early fifth century and the military organization, as depicted in Gildas's De Excidio19 and implied by the hill-forts, was (however romanized) probably warrior-based, not a professional Roman-style army. Some northern tribes beyond the Hadrianic frontier may have

remained militarily strong throughout the Roman period, but they are not those which (we must presume) were involved in any fifth- or sixth-

century halting of the Anglo-Saxon spread across Britain. 197 The peoples whom we might expect to have been involved in the defeat of southern Anglo-Saxon settlers in the fifth and sixth centuries would be those without attested Roman-period military traditions - the Durotriges,

Dobunni, Dumnoni and Brigantes. Consequently, fi the military defence of the province against Germanic settlers played a role in its survival, as Gildas says it did, then this may have developed in the fifth- t oseventh-centuries from necessity, or from

the rise of certain individuals or groups to political power, or even from the idea of 'heroic' kingship itself.198 We may, once again, be seeing a result of British survival rather than its cause.

Paradoxically, Late Roman Britain's lack of organizational complexity

may also have been an asset for survival. Kent Flannery and others have

argued that the more integrated an organization is, the more 'fragile' it

The British Kingdoms 600-800

255

areas of the diocese which may be considered the most romanized in these ways were among the first to pass under Anglo-Saxon control, and those which we may consider the least romanized, were among the last to do so - notably Gwynedd. It seems that integration and complexity correlated closely with collapse. This analysis suggests that Britain's unique fifth- to seventh-century history may have been due to four aspects of Late Roman and subRoman Britain. These factors can be summarized as lack of complexity,

relative independence from inter-regional linkages, decentralization and

diversity, and religion and group-identity. It was perhaps due to these unusual qualities - combined with its wealth and aided by the role of the

Church - that the British civitates, alone in the western Empire, survived into the fifth and sixth centuries as politically independent kingdoms.

The characteristics identified also relate to the framework for explanation

used when discussing 'the seventh century transformation', linking moti-

vation (here represented by religion and processes underlying change.

group-identity)

and

the

Conclusion

We have seen that the polities of Britain, tribes, civitates or kingdoms,

remained stable from the Pre-Roman Iron-Age to the sub-Roman period. Within these polities their subdivisions also retained an overall stability through the same period. Despite this, new polities were sometimes

founded, and internal changes took place; so the general picture is of

overall continuity but not of a static system.

Inside this framework, political change led to the replacementof the

becomes. 199 Britain was probably less organizationally integrated than

Late Roman élite, for the most part, by a new élite of lower-status origins, without the imposition of an outside élite group. These new dynasties,

readily in the Roman period as aspects of romanization - urbanism,

emerging in the early fifth century, survived until the seventh century, when Anglo-Saxon political takeover, or internal change, occurred. This

Gaul or Italy, despite its diversity. 'Integration' may be recognized most

bureaucratic government and monetary market-economy. It is, perhaps, significant, as Nicholas Higham has noted independently,200 that the 193. See Chapter 6.

194. G. Webster, The Roman Invasion of Britain (1980); and Rome Against Caratacus (1981). 195. D. J. Breeze, The Northern Frontiers of Roman Britain (1982), 36 quoting Herodian. 196. See C h a p t e r 6; Dark, Discovery.

197. I assume that the kingdoms bordering the Anglo-Saxon area are most likely to have taken part in the warfare mentioned in Gildas, DE, 1.25 and 26. These were presumably the Durotriges, Dobunni and Cornovii. The defence of the British North by theBrigantes, . Webster did involve a tribe militarily strong at the time of the Roman Conquest; G

. Dudley, The Roman Conquest of Britain (2nd edn., 1973), 151-8. and D. R 198. Gildas, DE, 1.25-6. The role of Gildas's Ambrosius Aurelianus, or any other specific war leader in this period is, however, unknown.

199. K. V . Flannery, 'The Cultural Evolution of Civilisations', Annual Review o fEcology and Systematics, 3 (1972), 399-426; .C Renfrew, Approaches to Social Archaeology (1984), 372-4.

200. This si a basic thesis of Higham, Rome, but Higham's explanation of this pattern is

h o c o d o n u n e u n n o r t o b l o c n o c u l a t i o n c o n c e r n i n g t h e c h a r a c t e ro f i d e o l o s y . s o c i e t va n d

brought about a transitional phase until the emergence of new political dynasties and institutions by the ninth century.

These changes areexplicable both within Britain, and in the relationship of Britain to wider processes operating throughout Europe. These two trends are interrelated: throughout the period AD 300-800 Britain can be seen, in some respects, a sconforming to wider European patterns of change, and in others as pursuing a unique development. GENERAL CONCLUSION The conventional picture of the fifth- to seventh-century ' C e l t i c West' as

a reversion to Iron-Age cultural and political organization is mistaken. But, because Roman Britain bore a continuous relationship to Iron-Age political territories, and because 'Celtic' landscape-organization and culture became part of Romano-British culture, there was a limited continuity b e t w e e n Iron-Age R o m a n a n d s u b - R o m a n politics a n d culture. N e v e r-

256

The British K i n g d o m s 6 0 0 - 8 0 0

Civitas to Kingdom

century Britain is widely found in the Roman Empire in the fourth- to fifth century in areas with a non-Celtic pre-R o m a n background. Romanizatio n in sub-Roman Britain was much more extensive than has been supposed; it included urbanism, coin-use and m a n u s c r i p t pro-

duction. Butthis must not, in turn, be overestimated. In the fifth century,

romanizationdeclined throughout the former Empire, whether in Gaul or Italy. While what were, in the fourth century, highly romanized areas began to have few villas and far less 'Roman' towns - as in Aquitaine or Italy - less romanized areas de-romanized proportionally, so these aspects almost ceasedt o exist, or did cease to exist, in the fifth century. It is in this context that Britain must be placed.

It is reasonable to claim that, in political and cultural terms, 'Roman Britain' ended in the seventh century, but Britain in the sixth century was not as romanized as Britain in AD 400, nor as romanized as fifthcentury Gaul. Sub-Roman kings were not barbarian Celtic chiefs, but nor

257

Nor was that independent identity ever completely submerged, for, although the majority of the inhabitants ofmedieval England were prob-

ably ultimately of British descent, the Welsh, Cornish, and for a while

Cumbrians, preserved a memory of British identity. To this day the Welsh call themselves Cymry. This name is attested as early as the seventh

century, and derives from the late Latin Combrogi, which means'fellow countrymen'. 202 If it is a seventh-century term, the modern Welsh name Cymry may, therefore, recall an identity as independent sub-Roman citi-

zens, ofa single British nation, whose only precedent wasRoman Britain. It is interesting that the British of, what is today, southern Scotland also used this term, as they too had been part of the early Roman province, although excluded from the Late Roman diocese. 203 IfCymry does derive from an identity as citizens o f aR o m a n province, I know of no closer parallel than the inhabitants of the other sub-Roman area of Europe, the Byzantine Empire. 201

were they fourth-century intellectuals. A sixth-century British king might be educated in theL a t e Antique fashion, read sophisticated Latin texts, converse (presumably in Latin) with merchants from Constantinople, and participate in Christian life; but these were also the leaders of warriors,

riding out from their hill-forts against their neighbouring rulers.

In material culture, too, we must neither underestimate nor overestimate

the sub-Roman British élite. They might live in refurbished Roman buildings, or sub-Classical timber-palaces (as at Wroxeter) but, equally,

many of the material trappings of Late Roman life had ceased to exist. No longer weremasonry buildings constructed, norwere mass-produced

pottery and metalwork objects readily available. In these respects subRoman Britain wasl e s sromanized thansub-Roman Gaul, Spain orItaly,

but one must recall that these areas had been far more intensely

romanized in t h e fourth century t h a n hadB r i t a i n - especially those parts

of Britain u n d e r British rule in AD 500.

What isstrikingabout Britain, therefore, is not onlythat it maintained

a higher level of romanization than we have been accustomed to suppose, but that much oft h ed i o c e s e remained politicallyi n d e p e n d e n t from bar-

barian rule. Unlike any other western province, part of Britannia Prima survived, in the form of Gwynedd, until the thirteenth century. As James Campbell has written:201

by 500 control of every part of the western Empire had passed to .. There was one exception, Britain. There, although large areaso f the island had passed under barbarian control, at least halfw a s still under British rule. And although in the end none of Britain was left under British rule, the defeat of the Britons took a veryl o n g time. When Edward I defeated Llewellyn, Prince of Gwynedd, in 1282, and subjugated his principality, this markedt h e loss to a foreign ruler of t h e last piece of the Roman barbari an rulers,

Empire in theWe s t which was still in the hands of r u l e r s of the race

which had inhabited it before the Romans came.

Figure 59 A medieval Welsh castle in a Dark Age British hill-fort? Castell Dinas Bran, built within an earlier hill-fort, the earthworks of which are visible . R. Dark. in the foreground. Copyright K

202. Thomas, Celtic Britain, 47; .J T. Koch, 'Eriu, Alba, and Letha: When was a Language y dating Ancestralt o Gaelic First Spoken in Ireland?', Emania, 9 (1991),17-27 (22). M of this term to the seventh century is based not merely on poetic evidence but on that of pre-Anglo-Saxon place-names.

. . Duncan, Scotland. The Making of the Kingdom (2nd edn., 1978), 96-7; K . .A M 203. A Jackson, 'Angles and Britons in Northumbria and Cumbria', Angles and Britons

(1963), 60-84. :

Wille‹

D a l m a t i a (1969)

437

ist h e c l o s e s t a n a l o g y k n o w n t o m e . For B y z a n t i n e

Appendix 1

259

Nor can we use Gildas's Latin as a means of dating him to the fifth cen-

Appen dix 1

Where and when

did Gildas write?

tury, as Lapidge and François Kerlouégan, in two of the most detailed s t u d i e s so far u n d e r t a k e n , have acknowledged.® A s we have already seen,

there are grounds for supposing that sub-Roman Britain was especially conservative, and so conservatism in Latin style might also be expected; a sixth-century British writer might, therefore, have written like a latefi f t h - c e n t u r y Gallo-Roman.

The argument for a sixth-century dating for Gildas is more convincing, as ti is based on the relative chronology implicit in De Excidio in relation to the few datable individuals referred to in the text. Such dating has to be vague as it relies upon assumptio ns about the length of time between

the events mentioned in the text, after the last 'absolute' date - the third

consulship of Aetius - in the mid-fifth century.9 On this basis Dumville

As the principal written source for sub- Roman Britain, Gildas's writings are of central importance to the themes discussed in this book. In order to evaluate his De Excidio as a source for the history of fifth- and sixthcentury Britain, it is necessary to ascertain when and where it was written.! A c a d e m i c views h a v e b e e n d i v i d e d o v e r the d a t e o f this work. S o m e

scholars, such as Michael Herren and Nicholas Higham, have dated it to the late fifth century, or the beginning of the sixth century.? Others, such as David Dumville and Michael Lapidge, prefer a date close to the middle

of the sixth century.3 The principal reasons for the earlier dating are

what Herren sees as the implication in De Excidio that the monastic

movement was still limited in size, and the affinities of Gildas's Latin style.These cannot, however, form reasons for dating Gildas's work to the fifth century. We know so little of the progress of monasticism in fifth - and sixth-century Britain, that it is unwise to use speculation about this as a basis for dating.A n even stronger argument, in view of the rhetorical character of De Excidio, is that Gildas might be expected to have underplayed the number of monks for literary effect; i t would hardly have suited him, in a work castigating the corruption of his time, to draw elseattentio n to the strength of the monasti c moveme nt. We know that where in his text he omitted information for rhetorical effect."

1. For a sceptical view of the possibility of locating where Gildas wrote, see P. Sims-Williams,

'Gildas and the Anglo-Saxons', CMCS, 6 (1983), 1-30 (3-5).

.2 M. W. Herren, 'Gildas and Early British Monasticism', in Britain 400-600: Language . Wollmann (Heidelberg, 1990), 65-78; N. . Bammesburger and A and History, eds A

Higham, Rome, Britain and the Anglo-Saxons (1992), 155-6.

.3 M.Lapidge, 'Gildas's education and the Latin culture of sub-Roman Britain', 27-50, D . Dumville, . Dumville, 'Gildas and Maelgwn: problems of dating', 51-60, and D. N N 'The chronology of De Excidio Britanniae, Book 1', 61-84, all in Gildas: New . Lapidge and D . N. Dumville (1984). Note that Herren's comment Approaches, eds M

(Herren, 'Gildas', 67), that Lapidge gives no dates for Gildas, is incorrect; Lapidge, 48

a n d 50.

.4 Herren, 'Gildas', 77-8; Higham, it must be noted, also bases his dating on the style of Gildas's Latin, Rome, 156.

.5 See Chapter .2 The few possible monastic sites so far excavated are discussed ni Dark, Discovery.

6. Lapidge, 'Gildas's education'. 7. N. Wright, 'Did Gildas read Orosius?', CMCS, 9 (1985), 31-42; Dumville, "The chronology',

suggests that Gildas wrote in the second quarter of the sixth century, but

acknowledges that an argument for the third quarter of the sixth century

might also be possible.'° Archaeologically, as we might suppose that the end of Late Roman urbanism, as described by Gildas, was before AD 500, and as Dumville places this .c AD 490, ti is unlikely that a later date than that envisaged by him can be maintained." An earlier chronological horizon is more difficult to discern, but the sequence of events in De

Excidio suggests that at least two generations had passed between the Anglo-Saxon settlement, dated by Hines and Böhme to the mid- to latefifth century, and the time of writing.1? It seems improbable, therefore, that Gildaswrote De Excidio before AD 500, and Irish evidence can be used to support the view that Gildas lived in the sixth c e n t u r y. 1, there-

fore, consider ti probable that Gildas wrote De Excidio during the earlyto mid-sixth century, rather than earlier. There is one passage in the text

which might indicate an early sixth-century date: Gildas's reference to the importation of exotica - Gildas tells us that luxuries used to be' 8. Lapidge, 'Gildas's education', 48 and 50; F. Kerlouégan, Le De Excidio Britanniaede Gildas: Les destinées de l aculture latine dans I'lle de Bretagne au VI siècle (Paris, 1987).

9. Dumville, "The chronology', 67-8. Arecent attemptto argue that an earlier Aetius is referred to is made by P. J. Casey and M. G. Jones, "Thedate of the letter of the Brit-

ons to Aetius', BBCS, 37 (1990).

10. Dumville, 'The chronology', 83-4.

1. Ibid., 83. Gildas's account of the destruction of 'all the major towns' sees them as con-

taining both clergy and lay-folk,churches and houses, within their walls (DE 1.24). This

sounds more like a Late Roman town of stage 2, than a sub-Roman administrative centre of stage 3 (see Chapter 1). Stage 2 towns are unlikely to have outlasted the fifth century

(Dark, Discovery), and Gildas implies that surviving towns when he wrote were different

from those described earlier in his text, noting that they are depopulated and ruinous (I.26). This might be a description of a stage 3 town, if amid the ruins small ecclesiastical and s e c u l a rcomplexes remained.

12. J. Hines, 'Philology, Archaeology andthe Adventus Saxonum vel Anglorum', ni Britain 400-600, eds Bammesburgerand Wollmann, 17-36; H. W. Böhme, 'Das Ende der

Römerherrschaft in Britannien und die angelsächsische Besiedlung Englands im 5.

Jahrhundert', Jahrbuch des Römisch-Germanischen ZentralmuseumsMainz, 3 (1986), 469-574. Dumville, 'The chronology, 78. Dumville suggests Anglo-Saxon settlement from, perhaps, the 480s on the internal chronology of the text, (83)

13. D . N. Dumville, 'Gildas and Uinniau', ni Gildas: New Approaches, eds Lapidge and Dumville, 207-14

260

Civitas to Kingdom

Appendix 1

261

brought by ship along the River Severn.** As we saw in Chapter 6, imported luxuries were brought along the Severn estuary in the sixth century but it is possible that this did not begin until the renewed inter-

est in theWest under Justinian, whose accession was in AD 527.15 So,

this c o u l d be t a k e n to d a t e G i l d a s ' s work to b e f o r e this p h a s e of

importation. Without further evidence, however, a broader dating for Gildas's work - as envisaged by Dumville - of .c AD 525 X 550 is perhaps

preferable. Clearly this dating would encompass production of the work prior to the renewed importation of exotica from overseas, and could

a c c o m m o d a t e the c o n v e n t i o n a l view that m o n a s t i c i s m did not b e c o m e a

major movement in 'Celtic' Britain or Ireland until the later sixth century. 61

It is necessary to attempt to identify the area in which Gildas wrote.

There have been two recent attempts to do this. E. A . Thompson has

argued that Gildas was writing in Chester, and Higham has suggested the West Country.' Thompson's argument is based on Gildas's knowledge o f both n o r t h e r n a n d s o u t h e r n Britain, but it is u n c l e a r w hether know.

ledge of the Roman walls and of the Picts really need constitute northern local information. Southerners were working on Hadrian's Wall in the fourth century, I and local knowledge of what must have been a memorable

monument could perhaps have been preserved during the following

Sev

I Ireland

ern

centuries. The Picts feature in Orosius's history, as also do the Roman walls, and it seems that Gildas had access to this work. 91 Other textual reasons for doubting that Gildas was writing exclusively about the North

have been discussed by Neil Wright, who has drawn attention to the inadequacy of Gildas's knowledge of northern Britain.20 It is notable that, in his account of northern Britain, Gildas makes

many factual errors which, while relevant to his rhetorical purpose, he

d o e s not

make in his account o f s o u t h e r n Britain -

he m i s d a t e s the

Roman walls and mis-locates the Picts.?' Moreover, Gildas does not mention any northern places by name, whereas he names three southern locations, a n d two s o u t h e r n k i n g d o m s (fig. 60).

Gildas, perhaps correctly, dates what may be the forts of the Saxon

S h o r e an d m a k e s incidental o b s e r v a t i o n s on the S o u t h which s e e m to

ia non Dum

14. Gildas, DE, I.3. Higham has pointed out that the Severn may only be considered a major river from a southern British perpsective: N. Higham, 'Old light on the Dark Age landscape: the description of Britain in the De Excidio Britanniae of Gildas', Journal of Historical Geography, 17.4 (1991), 363-72 (368-9). 15. J. Herrin, The Formation of Christendom (1987), 36-41.

16. The most recent review of this interpretation is, D. N. Dumville, "The Insular Churches in the Age of the Saints', O'Donnell Lecture, 1983, forthcoming. 17. E. A. Thompson, 'Gildas and the history of Britain',Brit, 10 (1979), 203-26; and 'Gildas and the history of Britain', Brit, 11 (1980), 344; Higham, Rome, 160-1; and 'Old light', 369.

18. R. G. Collingwood and R. P. Wright, The Roman Inscriptions in Britain 1 (1965), 1672 and 1673.

19. Wright, D ' id Gildas read Orosius?"; and 'Gildas Prose and Style and its Origins', in Gildas: New Approaches, eds Lapidge and Dumville, 100-2. 20. Ibid.

21. N. Wright, 'Gildas's Geographical Perspectives: Some Problems', in Gildas: Neu Approaches, eds Lapidge and Dumville, 85-105 (86).

3г

100km

Figure60 Gildas's Britain: places mentioned, or possibly mentioned, ni the

text of De Excidio. 1 Chester, 2 Caerleon, 3 Anglesey, 4 St Albans, 5 The

Antonine Wall, 6 Hadrian's Wall.

262

A p p e n d ix 1

Civitas to Kingdom

e imply up-to-date knowledge.2? The interest shown by Gildas in D Excidio, in towns, also suggests a location in the South, although a few

263

area of Anglo-Saxon control, then he probably did not write in Wales or

the WestMidlands. Likewise, Thompson's suggestion, Chester, seems

f o u r t h - c e n t u r y towns were in the North.23

a n i m p r o b a b l e location. If Gildas w a s a native o f t h e a r e a in which he

North-west Wales seems unlikely. It is not in the romanized lowland zone and had no Romano-British towns. Although Gildas expressed a

wrote, then he is most likely to have written in an area which had previously contained towns, and over which Roman law, or Roman-style administration, was still prevailing.3 As we saw in Chapter 1 this may exclude the south-western peninsula west of Exeter.31 There, and in the remaining part of east Devon, c o n t a c twith Anglo-Saxons may have been, at least, limited, but a location in the West Country might fit all of these

personal knowledge of Maglocunus, which could be taken to suggest that he wrote in, or close to, north-west Wales, this also need not be so. Gildas

mentioned that Maglocunus had been to school with 'the refined master of almost all Britain',2 so Gildas could have known Maglocunus from

school.? Gildas's knowledge of Maglocunus does not, therefore, locate Gildas and it is highly unlikely that Maglocunus could have found a high

quality classical education in sub-Roman north Wales. South-west Wales also seems an improbable location for Gildas as he was probably not writing in an area under Irish political control. Given his hostility to the

Irish, it is hard to imagine that he would have not made mentionof Irish

rule or occupation of his own area.26 South-west (and central) Wales was

also far from any possible Anglo-Saxon settlement in the sixth century, and Gildas's familiarity with the Anglo-Saxons may reinforce the idea

that he did not write in these areas, or in any other far-western area. A

location anywhere in Wales or in the West Midlands must be improbable if we accept the evidence of Gildas's separation from either Chester or

Caerleon b y the 'unhappy partition with the barbarians' 2 Assuming

these barbarians to be Anglo-Saxons, we have no reason to suppose that

travel across the West Midlands was impeded by their presence in the sixth century, not least because there are no pagan Anglo-Saxon

cemeteries in this a r e a . Therefore, fi Gildas was separated from Caerleon or Chester by the partition with the barbarians, then he was

unlikely to have been separated from the town by barbarians between it and the West Midlands. It is equally unlikely that he was separated from the town to the west, where there were also no barbarians so far as we can now establish. Accepting that this separation existed, and that the

criteria. It might also explain Gildas's apparently puzzling separation

from Caerleon or Chester, as Anglo-Saxon settlement in the Severn Valley may have hindered, at least, land-contact between the two areas.32 There are other hints in Gildas's text to support a We s tCountry location. Gildas knew of events within the year (or possibly month) in Dumnonia, 33 and mentions snow-white pebbles in streambeds, presumably either

chalk, limestone or quartz, perhaps suggesting Devon, the West Country

or south Wales and arguing against a Dobunnic location.34Gildas refers to the south coast, to the River Thames and River Severn, and even to

the ease of sailing to Gallia Belgica.35 Moreover, the coastal cliff-edge

fortifications mentioned in De Excidio are of limited distribution. This d i s t r i b u t i o n i n c l u d e s the S o u t h We s t n o f u r t h e r to the east t h a n east

Devon, even if we permit High-Peak to be included) and south-east Wales.36 If Gildas wrote in Dumnonian or Durotrigan territory, he wrote i nor close to an area within which such s i t e sexisted. It i sonly reasonable to suppose that such harbour-side sites, probably involved in maritime interaction, would, however, be known of in adjacent territories, thus

negating this as evidence for still more closely locating Gildas.

On the basis of these hints Gildas probably wrote in east Devon, or in the West Country, but probably not in Cirencester or the Dobunnic kingdom. It is most likely that he wrote in the southern part of this area, where travel to northern Gaul and knowledge of overseas migrations

of

might most readily be combined with an area yielding the caves, hills,

impeding barbarians, this leaves the possibility that Gildas was denied

and cliffs of Gildas's text, alongside thorough integration into Romanperiod urban society and administration. Indeed, much evidence of fourth-century Christianity is present in this area, to form the background to the early monasticism referred to in De Excidio.3 Given the borders between the Durotrigan area and the Anglo-Saxons to one side, Dumnonia to another, and its position opposite Gaul to the south, the Durotrigan area (perhaps especially the southern part of it), might best

distribution

of

Anglo-Saxon cemeteries

r e fl e c t s the

distribution

a c c e s s to C h e s t e r o r C a e r l e o n from t h e east or s o u t h

From the above observations we may see that, fi Gildas was writing

within what had been the Roman province o f Britannia Prima, which

seems likely,? and if he was separated from Caerleon or Chester by an 22. M. Miller, 'Relative and absolute publication date of Gildas's De Excidio in medieval scholarship', BBCS, 26 (1974-76), 169-74 (173). 23. Gildas, DE, 13., I.4, I.18, I.19, I.24,and I.26, (for example), show how frequently towns are mentioned by Gildas.

24. Gildas, DE, II.36

25. Lapidge, 'Gildas's Education'. 26. Gildas, DE, I.19, and 1.21.

27. Bid., 1.10. 28. Dumville, "Thechronology', 72; Hines, 'Philology', 34-6. 29. The area including the five kings mentioned ni De Excidio II, probably extended from the south-western peninsular to Anglesey, and was therefore within Britannia Prima.

T h e s a m e c o n c l u s i o n h a s b e e n r e a c h e d by H i g h a m ' O l d l i g h t '

30. Lapidge,

31. 32. 33. 34. 35. 36. 37.

'Gildas's education', 49-50; for references to towns in Gildas, DE, se n. 23.

See also, M . Todd,The South-West to AD 1000 (New York, 1987), 216.

Gildas, DE, I.18; Miller, 'Relative and absolute', 173. Miller, 'Relative and absolute', 173. Gildas, DE, I.3. Ibid. Dark, Discovery. Thomas, CIRB, figs 15, 16, and 17, see now map 22, p .55; a n dC . Thomas, Celtic Britain {19867

264

Civitas to Kingdom

fulfil all the constituent elements of Gildas's geographical perspective as found in his De Excidio.

Two pieces of evidence might be thought to militate against a West

Country, or south-western location. T h e first is Gildas's reference to the

Anglo-Saxons arriving in eastern Britain t o beat back the peoples of the

North'38 This need not imply that he was writing in northern Britain. Not only are almost all parts of Britain to the north of the suggested Durotrigan place of writing, but Pictish raids by land could have been far

to the south of Hadrian's Wall in the fifth century.3 By sea the Picts could have raided even further south, if the Attacotti, probably a group from Ireland or the far north, were to be found in Gaul in the fourth century. I n t e r e s t i n g l y, the archaeological evidence for the earliest

Anglo-Saxon settlements has suggested to Böhme, Hawkes and Hines

that these were distributed from Humberside to the south c o a s t .1 A

northern writer would, therefore, have placed the Anglo-Saxons to the south, a midland writer most likely would have considered them to the east, and it is only from South Wales or the West Country that these would s e e m in t h e n o r t h east.

It might also be thought that because Gildas was apparently ignorant of the importation of the late fifth- and sixth-century exotica up the River Severn 21 we are unable to locate him in the area surrounding this

river. However, we have seen that this problem may result from the relative

chronology of the imported pottery and Gildas.

If these negative arguments are unsatisfactory, we may also note that

two pieces of archaeological evidence may be adduced to support a

Durotrigan, Dobunnic or Dumnonian location. Gildas thought that the fifth century had been a period of extensive destruction as the result of the Irish and Anglo-Saxon raids.13 This coincides with a location in the

West Country, as this is the only area in which archaeology has produced

evidence that such destruction occurred within fifth-century western Britain.14

While there may have been other areas in which this occurred, such evidence of destruction might be recognized even in low quality excavation.

Appendix 1

the Wall being rebuilt by people

265

from the civitas of Durotriges

Lindinienses in the fourth c e n t u r y. It is, therefore, possible that local

knowledge, preserved in Durotrigan territory, remembered the existence (and apparent building of Hadrian's Wall in the late fourth century. This

is the period in which Gildas places the construction of the Wall, and such knowledge could have aided Gildas's rhetorical purpose in his use of the fourth-century history available to him, and enabled him to disregard what textual sources told him about the date of the Wall. 61 Higham has drawn attention to Gildas's description of the use of conscript labour in the construction of Hadrian's Wall, but has not connected this reference to the inscriptions.* It seems to me, however, to support the derivation of Gildas's knowledge from Durotrigan local knowledge.

If Gildas wrote in the Durotrigan kingdom he apparently had information

about kingdoms distant from his place of writing, and recent knowledge of south-western events. Gildas knew of five kingdoms, but perhaps did not mention the area in which he himself lived. On the basis of the geography of sub-Roman Britain as it has been interpreted in C h a p t e r4, and the Pre-Roman Iron-Age political geography of western Britain, we

might wonder why, out of seven political units, five were mentioned by Gildas - and one may have been the place of writing - yet there is no

m e n t i o nof the seventh, perhaps the Dobunnic area. This may have been because Gildas felt that its ruler was not to be criticized, or because of

the relationship or close proximity of the Durotrigan and Dobunnic polities. Gildas felt, however, that he could criticize Constantine of Dumnonia so, perhaps, the Dobunnic kings were among those who he implies were not deserving of such criticism. Alternatively, if we abandon

an early to mid-sixth century dating of Gildas, or the standard dating of the battle of Dyrham, or both,48 this could have been because he was

writing after D y r h a m a n d the D o b u n n i c polity had c e a s e d to exist.

How-

ever, Gildas seems to have thought that there had been peace in his own lifetime, and Irish textual evidence may suggest that Gildas wrote prior t o c i r c a A D 570.49

More speculatively, if Gildas is to be located in the West Country, ti

It may be, therefore, that this distribution reflects fifth-century circum-

may be that his interest in the northern walls si in some way related to the construction of the Wansdyke boundary, as Higham has suggested.50

of the inaccuracies in Gildas's knowledge of the North. This comprises

Perhaps both Gildas's concern for linear boundaries, and that of the builders of the Wansdyke, were the outcome of local memories (or knowledge of the contemporary re-defence) of Hadrian's Wall, or one might

stances, not the process of archaeological discovery. Another piece of information can be adduced which may explain some

two famous inscriptions from Hadrian's Wall, which mention sections of

have stimulated an interest in such boundaries in the other. 15

These geographical hints in Gildas's text may make it possible to ten-

38. Gildas, DE, 1.23.

39. Ibid. - the Picts were already as far south as Hadrian's Wall and had overwhelmed its

40.

defenders in 1.19. Frere, Britannia, 339-40.

41. Böhme, 'Das Ende'. Additional material has been added to Böhme's distribution maps by S. C. Hawkes, 'The South East after the Romans: The Saxon Settlement', in The

45. Collingwood and Wright, The Roman Inscriptions, 1672 and 1673.

46.

Wright, 'Did Gildas read Orosius?'.

42. Gildas, DE, I.3.

47. N. J. Higham, 'Gildas, the Roman Walls, and British Dykes',CMCS, 3 2(1991), 1-14. 48. Dumville, 'The chronology', 84. 49. Dumville, 'Gildas and Uinniau', in Gildas: New Approaches, eds Lapidge and Dumville

44. K. R. Dark, 'St Patrick's villula and the Romano-British villa in the fifth century' (forth-

50. Higham, 'Gildas, the Roman Walls'.

Saron Shore, ed. .V Maxwell (1989), 78-95 (89, 91,and 93); Hines, 'Philology', 34.

43. Dumville, "The chronology, 73 and 83 c o m i n g .

214, n. 55

51.

Gildas, DE, I.15, I.18., I.19.

266

Civitas to Kingdom

tatively locate Gildas in the Durotrigan polity, perhaps in the south of that area, equivalent to modern Dorset. The evidence of his text has enabled us to see that he was well informed on parts of what, in the

Appe ndix 2 T h e C h r o n o l o g y of E a r l y C h r i s t i a n M o n u m e n t s in

fourth century, was the province of Britannia Prima, distant from his homeland. Interestingly, Gildas attests a provincial outlook and a recognition of the unity of the Roman Diocese of Britanniae, although these had ceased to have an identity in British political geography. Gildas may, then, be most convincingly located in what had, in the fourth century at

sub-Roman Britain

least, been the civitas of the Durotriges. This is an area providing evi-

dence of intense romanization, early Christianity, major towns, chalk and limestone hills, caves, and sea-cliffs. Knowledge of Dumnonia, coastal

promontory forts, and the emigration to Brittany might be expected, and so too might knowledge of the Anglo-Saxons and their language. It may be no c o i n c i d e n c e that this too is one a r e a w h e r e i n s e c u l a r classical edu-

cation is attested in the fourth century, and where fifth-century monasticism and an interest in classical literature may be evidenced in the archaeological record.52

In conclusion, we may note that by locating Gildas not in the North or

West Midlands but, instead, in the West Country, we are able to ask new

questions about his text and to note that, if we accept a West Country place of writing, the text shows us a sixth-century Durotrigan with afi n e classical education and a diocesan (not tribal) perspective, who could employ information from at least the whole of what had been, in the fourth century, Britannia Prima.

In his classic study of the early Christian monume nts of Wales, NashWilliams placed them in four classes.' Class-IV comprise s inscripti ons

certainly later in date than the ninth century, but Classes-I, I and III all

belong to the period covered by this book. The conventional chron

of these inscriptions is certainly in need of revision.? It relies ology upon

epigraphy, historical associatio ns, and art-histor ical dates assigned to symbols and sculptural elements of the stones.3 All of these provide, at

most, terminus post quem dates for monuments displaying datable symbols or letter-forms. Historical associations date only one or two Class-I stones, and Class-Il stones (cross-marked stones without inscriptions)

are,b y definition, uninscribed.

Historical evidence only becomes of

much chronological value when considering Class-III inscriptions, and

art-historical dating and epigraphy provide a clearer guide to the chronology of Class-III stones than to that of t h e other classes. It is possible

to relate these aspects of Class III stones to surviving manuscripts,

themselves datable.

A thorough reconsideration of the chronology of Class-I stones is

currently in the process of publication , and the chronology of ogom

inscription s, which when they occur in Britain form part of Class-I, have

. McManus in a recent book.‹ These been considered at length by D

studies have resulted in a clarificat ion of the date, origins and relation-

ship between Latin-inscribed Class-I stones and ogom inscriptions. To summarize the results: ogom would seem to belong to the fifth to seventh centuries, its non-epigraphic use continuing later in a reduced form. It

probably derives from ecclesiast ical contact between Ireland and sub-

Roman Britain, and, as A . Harvey has shown, is closely related to the Latin manuscr ipt tradition of early Christia n Ireland.3 .1 Nash Williams, ECMW. 2. K. Dark, 'Epigraphic, art-historical, and historical approaches to the chronolog y of Class I inscrib .3 Ibid.

52. See Chapter 5 and, Dark, Discovery.

ed stones', in Edwards and Lane, The early Church, 51-61.

4. D. McManus, An introduction to ogam (Maynooth, 1991). 5. A. Harvey, 'Early literacy ni Ireland: the evidence from ogam', CMCS, 14 (1987), 1-15; 'Some significant points of early Celtic Insular orthography', in Sages, Saints and Storytellers, eds D. O Corrain, .L Breatnach and K . McKone (Maynooth, 1989), 56-66; and ogham "The inscriptions and the Roman alphabet: two traditions or one?', Archaeology Troland A (1000)

268

Civitas to Kingdom

Appendix 2

Class-I inscribed stones may be divided into four main groups on the

grounds of the direction and technique of inscription: horizontal cut, horizontal pocked, vertical cut, and vertical pocked monuments (fig. 61) Continental

Late Romano-British semi-formal

fifth-century

inscriptions

inscriptions

HC

HC

VP

VC

HP

HC

269

almost all of the inscriptions would seem to lie in the fifth to seventh

centuries, with a few vertical cut inscriptions showing evidence o fa later date. The phase in which characteristics of both horizontal cut and vertical pocked inscriptions are found would seem, on epigraphic and art-historical

grounds, to centre on the sixth century.

T h e horizontal cut inscriptions seem to relate closely to Late Romano-

British 'semi-formal' epigraphy, such as milestones, and to the subRoman inscriptions of Gaul, and the relationship between their formulae and those of the Gallic series of inscriptions help to date them. But it is now recognized t h a tthe Gallic inscriptions containing absolute dates within their texts are few and belong to specific regions. The chronology of the Gallic inscriptions is, therefore, itself less certain than it seemed, for example, to Nash-Williams. However, they too, like the principal period of the British inscriptions, seem to end in the seventh century - as do the similar inscriptions of Italy and Spain. The Italian, Spanish and

Gallic groups, however, start in the fourth century, whereas character-

istically fourth-century formulae are absent fromBritain."

Thenew chronology for the British Class-I inscriptions is far vaguer

than that proposed by Nash-Wi lliams, or on philological grounds, by

Kenneth Jackson.$ It is, however, no longer possible to support a closer

dating of these stones. VP Slab-crosses

Class-II monuments may have begun ni the sixth century, andanalogous sculptures also exist in Gaul. As they lack inscriptions they are incapable of close dating, and can be assigned only to a broad date range on arthistorical grounds. This encompasses the whole of the period considered here after the sixth century. The production of Class-Ill inscriptions can be dated to the eighth century on art-historical, epigraphic and historical grounds, and continued through the ninth century, and later.

Figure 61 Diagram showing the chronology of sub-Roman inscriptions. These can be assigned a relative chronology on the grounds of their

relationship to Romano-British and Class-III monuments. Horizontal cut inscriptions seem to be the earliest, as they relate most closely to Romano-British inscriptions. Vertical pocked inscriptions share character-

istics with Class-III monuments, but do not relate closely to Romano-British

epigraphy. Horizontal pocked and vertical cut inscriptions would seem to

form an intermediate stage between horizontal cut and vertical pocked inscriptions, although because they may derive from a combination of the characteristics of the horizontal cut and vertical pocked groups, vertical

pocked inscriptions may have begun to be produced earlier. The resulting

relative chronology puts horizontal cut inscriptions earliest, then vertical pocked inscriptions, followed by a phase combining the characteristics of both tvpes after which vertical cut stones alone were produced. An absolute chronology can be provided by examining the association

6. J. Knight, "The Early Christian Latin Inscriptions of Britain and Gaul: Chronology and Context', ni Edwards and Lane, The early Church, 45-50; and "Seasoned with Salt: Insular.

with datable features, such as letter-forms, symbols and, most of all,

Gallic Contacts in the Early Memorial Stones and Cross Slabs', ni Dark, External Contacts. 7. Now conveniently shown as graphs by Randsborg, The First, 115. The absence offourthcentury formulae from Britain was recognized by J. K . Knight, I'n Tempore Iustini Consularis: contacts between the British and Gaulish church before Augustine',

tury and

8. K . Jackson, Language and history in early Britain (1953).

memorial formulae. This places the start of the sequence in the fifth centhe latest

v e r t i c a l c u t s t o n e s in t h e t h i r t e e n t h c e n t u r y , b u t

Collectanea historica: essays ni memory of Stuart Rigold (1981), 54-62.

Abbreviations u s e d

JRA

Journal of Roman Archaeology

JRS

Abbreviations Used

271

J o u r n a l of R o m a n Studies

STA

Lowe, CLA M e d Arch

Millett, RB

Journal of Theoretical Archaeology

. Lowe, 1934-71, Codices latini antiquiores. E. A Apalaeographical guide to Latin manuscripts prior to the ninth century (11 vols and supp.) Medieval Archaeology

M.

Millett,

The

Romanisation of Britain

(1990)

Nash-Williams, ECMW

V . E.

Nash-Williams, The Early Christian

m o n u m e n t s o f Wa l e s ( 1 9 5 0 )

OJA

Alcock, AB

Leslie Alcock, Arthur's Britain (1989)

Ant

Antiquity

Ant J

Antiquaries Journal

Arch

Archaeologia

Patrick, Confessio

a n d M u i r c h u ' s Life (1978)

Archaeologia Cambrensis Archaeological Journal

Bassett, OAK

Steven Bassett (ed.), The origins of AngloSaxon kingdoms (1989)

Bede, H E

Historia Ecclesiastica Britannia

Carver, ASH

Casey, The end

Cleary, ERB Dark, Discovery

Dark, External Contacts

quest, Co-existence, and Change (1990) Cambridge Medieval Celtic Studies

. Carver, (ed.), The Age of Sutton Hoo M

(1992)

P. J. Casey (ed.), The end of Roman Britain

(1979)

The early Church

Frere, Britannia Gildas, DE

K. R. Dark, Discovery by Design, forthcoming K. R. Dark, (ed.), External Contacts and the English Historical Review N. Edwards and A. Lane (eds), The early Church in Wales a n d the West (1992)

Sheppard Frere, Britannia: A History of

Roman Britain (3rd edn., 1987) De Excidio Britanniae translation, book- and c h a p t e r - n u m b e r s are t h o s e of:

M. Winterbottom (ed. & transl.), Gildas, The Ruin o f Britain a n d o t h e r works (1978)

Hingley, R$RB Jones and Mattingley, A t l a s

RCAHMW

Randsborg, The first Rivet and Smith. PNRB

K. Randsborg, The first millennium A.D. in Europe and the Mediterranean (1991)

. Smith, The Placenames A . .L F. Rivet and C

of Roman Britain (1979) Scottish Archaeological Review

SAR SC

S t u d i a Celtica

Scott, TRA

E. Scott (ed.), Theoretical Roman Archaeology (1993)

Thomas, CIRB

C. Thomas, Christianity in Roman Britain to

AD 5 0 0 (1981) Wa c h e r, T R B

J. Wacher, The Towns of Roman Britain (1974)

B r i t a i n (1989)

Britain, forthcoming

Edwards and Lane,

Royal Commission on Ancient and Historical Monuments Royal C o m m i s s i o n on Ancient a n d Historical M o n u m e n t s o f Wales

A. S. Esmonde Cleary, The Ending of Roman

E c o n o m y o f L a t e R o m a n a n d Post Roman

EHR

RCAHM

Bulletin o f t h e B o a r d of Celtic S t u d i e s

Burnham and Davies CC B. C. Burnham and J. L. Davies (eds.), ConCMCS

translation a n d c h a p t e r n u m b e r s are those

of: A. B. E. Hood, St Patrick, His Writings

Arch C a m b Arch J BBCS

Brit

Oxford Journal of Archaeology

R. Hingley, Rural Settlement in Roman Britain

(1989)

B. Jones and D.

Mattingly, An

R o m a n B r i t a i n (1990)

Atlas of

CONVENTIONS

My spelling 'ogom' for the fifth- to seventh-century Irish inscriptions si the c o r r e c t Irish form.

Forms of all Romano-British place-names are those in A. L. F. Rivet

and Colin Smith, The Placenames of Roman Britain (1979).

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Index

(Illustration references are indicated by italic numerals) kings, 125, 224, 227

abbesses, 68 abbots, 68

Aberffraw, 107, 195,

221, 229,231

Acropoli, 168 .

-асит, 235

Adomnan, 212 Aeneas, 188

Aeneid, 185, 190

aerial photograph, 13 Aetius, 51, 259

Africa, 76, 178, 180-1, 201, 235, 239-40, 247

African Red Slip Ware, 239 Age of the Saints, 142

agriculture, 12, 22 (n. 101), 30, 163, 207, 231-2, 243-4

aisled buildings, 178 Aldborough, 72, 99, 100, 101 Aldhelm, 92, 109

Alfred (King), 142, 152, 155-7, 224 Alington Avenue, 123(n. 143) Allectus, 10

mercenaries, 54, 89 minister (estates), 160

palace, 175

political control, 86, 95, 107, 250, 255

settlement,51, 53, 70,89, 107, 127-8, 135, 219, 251, 259, 262-4 settlers, 47, 109, 254

texts, 107, 152 Wessex, 91 animal:

bone, 207 burrows, 17 Annales Cambriae, 103, 119, 147, 225 Antonine Wall, 261 Appleshaw, 56

Aqua Sulis,89 aqueducts, 174 Aquitaine, 52, 236, 256 Arab:

conquest, 239 (n. 122), 242, 244

Alps, 40 Ambrose, 56

invasion, 240, 246 Arabia, 234, 241

amphora(e), 74, 88, 181, 211

Archenfield, 155 architecture, 12, 22 (n. 101), 27, 239

Anastasius, 211 Ancaster, 36, 164 Aneirin, 197 Angles, 48

Arfon, 196

Ariconium, 155, 40 Arles, 57

Anglesey, 77-8, 92, 196, 222, 261

Armes Prydein, 227

Anglian, 248, 248

Armorica, 57-8, 91, 104

AnglianTower, 74

army, 5, 8, 47-8, 96, 254

anglicization, 141

Aroscetan, 153

Anglo-Norman, 140-2 Anglo-Saxon, 2, 5, 24, 47, 53, 59, 72, 88, 94, 107, 110, 126, 131, 134, 150-1, 154-5.

Arosaete, 153 Arthwys, 147 (n. 38)

159, 161-3, 169, 172, 199-200, 205, 215-6,

219-20, 223-7, 250-1, 254-5, 263-4, 266 burials, 116, 126

cemeteries. 54. 86. 87, 89, 115, 123, 1278, 154, 214, 262 charters, 142, 146, 148, 159, 160, 227 Chronicle, 108, 107, 126, 147, 154, 198,218 conquest, 65, 97, 135, 217-8, 220 England, 6, 137-8, 150, 169, 205, 211, 226, 229, 233-4

Asia Minor, 2 Asser, 147, 224-5 Athelstan, 227 Athens, 22-3 Atrebates, 100, 101 Attacotti, 264

Augusta, 18 Aurelius Caninus, 103 Bacaudae, 55-7 Bacaudic:

310

Index

Index

rebellion, 56-7 Badajoz, 238

baileys, 221 Balkans, 23, 173, 201 Bangor, 107, 122

Bantham, 92, 20, 155, 204, 208 barbarian:

raiding, 12, 34, 46, 49, 70, 252 settlement, 240

bards, 192 barrows, 27, 116-7, 121-2 bronze-age, 113 square. 75

square-ditched, 74, 75 (n. 22), 120, 123

Barton Court, 26

basileus, 178 basilica/basilice, 10, 13

Caelextis Monedorigi, 76, 77, 78 Caerleon, 84, 261, 262-3

Brigantes/Brigantia/Brigantian,72-4, 99. 99. 100, 101, 109-10, 128-9, 134, 135, 1515

Caerwent, 10, 15, 19, 23, 62, 84-6, 98, 101,

157, 254

Bristol Channel, 84

Britannia Prima, 9, 50, 71, 89, 184, 251, 256, 262, 266 Britannia Secunda, 9, 251 Britanniae, 7-8, 10, 50, 247, 266 Britanny, 92, 191, 209 British: monks, 68 penitentials, 184

Briton Ferry, 75 Brittonic names, 76

belt:

brooch:

buckles, 48, 236 sets, 48, 58, 127

Bernaccia, 250 Bignor, 25 bilingual inscriptions, 80, 116, 193 Birdoswold, 176, 177 Birka, 16

Cadwallon, 109, 216, 225

Brigomaglos, 110

Bath, 107, 108, 123 (n. 143), 165, 178, 187 baths, 22 (n. 101), 28, 174 Baths Basilica, 17 Bede, 57, 78, 109, 115, 126, 151, 198, 218, 225, 249 Belacudatrus, 99

Belgae, 101, 101, 135

Cadbury Tickenham, 162

Brenhin, 128 Brent Knoll, 162 Breton, 91 (n. 106) Breton laws, 148

tribe, 82 Britishness, 76

Caernarvonshire, 97

105, 165, 204-5 cairns, 120, 121, 123

round,75, 121 square, 75 Caistor, 101, 165

Calchuynynydd, 109, 127 Caldey, 92, 93

Cambrian range, 127

Cameron, 165, 169, 205 Cannington, 125, 162, 174 (n. 14), 203, 205 Canterbury, 14, 101, 109 (n. 82) Cantiaci, 100, 101 Cantret, 195 Elfred, 110

Orddwy, 76, 78, 97 Cantrefi, 98, 116, 137, 157, 195-6, 220 Canu Taliesin, 72, 78 (n. 40) Capel Eithin, 119

Brochfael, 147 (n. 39)

bronze, 203, 211, 215 Bronze Age, 115

Carausius, 10

Class G, 84, 86, 121, 215 penannular, 84, 86, 121, 178, 213, 214, 215.

220 Brough-on-Humber, 101

Caradog, 85 Caratacus, 85 Cardiff, 45, 84

Cardiganshire, 83, 110, 122

Brycheiniog,71, 79-83, 103-104, 118, 118, 126, 130, 131, 134, 135, 192, 196, 225-7

Carew, 170 Carew Cross, 228

Buchtrig, 75 Buckland Monachorum, 110

Carlisle Abbey, 71

bishoprics, 57, 140, 155 bishops, 35, 49, 53, 64-5, 67-8, 94, 133, 141, 182, 184, 213, 233

buckles, 48 buildings:

bishop houses, 105, 157

Bishopshill, 42 black Burnished ware, 253 Black D e a t h , 244 (n. 147)

Blackfriar's Street (Carlisle),71 Bodmin Moor, 105 Bokerley Dyke, 117

Boduoc. 125

bone, 174, 207, 208-9

Boniface, 218

book production, 184 books, 191, 213 Bordeaux, 211, 236

boundary clauses, 141

Bourton Grounds, 62

Bourton on the Water, 165 bowls, 56, 211 Boxmoor, 179 Bradley Hill, 36

Branogenium, 97

Brawdy, 114, 159-60, 160, 162, 167, 193, 209 Brean Down, 60, 62 Breconshire, 222

Bryn Euryn, 123, 196

aisled, 28, 178-9 cob, 71 masonry, 30, 71, 174, 256 mortared stone, 58, 72, 74 mud-wa lled. 16-7 public, 18

Carlisle, 71-2, 74, 99, 101, 129, 300

Carmarthen, 98, 101, 165 Carmarthenshire, 80, 110 Carolingian, 29-30, 185, 234, 242 carpets, 27, 175 Carrawburgh, 62

Carthage, 239 Carvetian/Carvetii,71-3, 99, 99, 101, 109, 129, 134, 135

Castell Dwyran, 110 Castle Caereinion, 121 (n. 136)

strip, 71 s u n k e n - f e a t u r e d ,88, 90 timber, 16, 28, 46, 59 timber-framed. 24. 46. 74 turf, 16-7

Castle Dore, 200

Catamanus, 107

Cathac of St Columba, 187 Catsgore, 30 (n. 160)

311

names, 178 saints, 132

society, 5, 206

cemeteries, 16, 35, 36, 54, 62, 68, 75, 85-6,

115. 119. 121, 161-2, 177, 203, 205 censer, 211 ceramics, 125, 209, 236, 253

Ceredig, 83, 104 Ceredigion, 71, 83, 103-4, 119, 121, 130-1, 134, 135, 225 chalk hills, 127 chapels, 119, 159 charcoal, 15-7 chariot, 78, 192

Charon's obol, 205 charters, 209

Chedworth, 27 Chelmsford, 164

Chester, 98, 107, 109, 128, 260, 261, 262-3

Chichester, 101 Chilterns, 12, 32, 86, 127, 154 chimneys, 29 (n. 146) Chi rho, 56, 184 Christian:

artefacts, 18, 39

militancy, 49, 55-7

rebellion, 56, 58 Christianity, 2, 10, 29-30, 34, 35, 36-7, 49, 64, 96, 172, 181-4, 200, 216, 253, 263, 266

Christians, 18, 53, 55-6, 59, 79, 94, 96, 174, 181

Chronicle (Aquitaine's), 52 Chun, 94, 167, 169, 181, 193, 199,204, 220, 233 church:

dedications, 129-33, 152 medieval, 65, 86

Roman, 67, 246

stave, 174

wood, 161

w o o d e n - a p s e d ,65

church(es), 18-21, 22 (n. 101), 24, 34, 36-7, 46, 52, 58, 86, 200, 213, 215, 253 Cilternsaete, 153 Cingulum, 48

Cirencester, 21, 65, 89, 101, 107, 108, 165, 194, 263

cattle, 207 Catuvellauni/Catuvellaunian, 71, 86-9, 87, 100, 101, 109, 127, 134, 135, 173,215 cavalry, 197, 199

Burwens, 72

caves. 263 cella, 32

citadel forts, 75, 196 Ciuis, 76, 252 Class I inscribed stones, 66, 76. 83, 93, 110, 116-7, 118, 120, 122-3, 126, 152, 157, 158, 160, 181-4, 182, 192, 220, 233,

Buzenol, 167

Celtic, 12, 28-30, 43-4, 47, 52, 62,78, 126,

Classes I to I Vmonuments, 267-9 Class IIImonuments,222, 222-3, 228, 267-9 class-conflict, 30, 49

wooden, 27-8, 36 burch, 166

burials, 47, 65, 75, 86, 116, 119, 121, 123, 158, 162, 174, 182, 204, 231, 236, 239, 249

Bury Hill, 162

Byzantine, 172, 175-6, 178, 201, 209-11, 213, 240, 242, 244-6, 257

165, Cadbury Congresbury, 90, 139, 161-2, 0 0 70 914 1 0 0

148. 155. 171, 178, 180, 194, 197, 223,

232, 250, 255 art, 178, 189

heroic, 79, 172, 191-4, 216

267-9

Claudian, 53

Clawdd Mawr, 117 c l e r o y. 36. 49. 57. 213

Index

312

clerics, 216, 246 clientship, 206-9 Clifton Camp, 162 climate, 252 clipped siliquae, 60

Clocaenog, 75 cloth, 174 Clwyd, 98 coin:

Boduoc, 125 Corio, 108, 125

deposits, 32 distributions, 115 histograms, 45

hoards, 10, 63, 32, 34 Iron-Age, 115 sequence, 18

coinage, 2 (n. 2), 40, 55, 59-60, 96-9, 107,

108, 172, 174, 176, 200-6, 214, 215-6,

238, 243, 250, 256

Coit Maur, 126

Colchester, 21, 37, 62, 102

Cold Knap, 84 Colonate, 29 (n. 148) Coloniae, 9, 15, 19, 21, 67 Comes, 44 compasses, 184 Confessio, 50, 206 (n. 193)

Constans, 57, 67

Constantine (mentioned in Gildas's De Excidio), 91, 102, 265 Constantine I, 8, 10, 57 Constantine III, 57-8, 63, 69, 92 (n. 113), 94, 96

Constantinople, 23, 209-10, 256

Constantius, 51-3, 68 Continent(al), 52, 56, 68, 168-9, 180, 192, 199, 201, 220, 223, 233, 243, 252, 267 Conway Valley, 123 Coptic, 211 Corbridge, 73 Corietalaui, 100, 101 Corinium, 89

Index Cripplegate, 24, 88 Cronk Sumark, 75

Crosby Lodge, 72 cross-slabs, 228, 268 Croydon, 127

images, 55 statues, 55, 62 Cumberland, 189 Cumbria/Cumbrian, 72, 257 Cumbrogi, 257 Cunedda, 74

Cuneglasus, 78-9, 103, 123, 192 Curia, 10 Curice, 10 curse tablets, 12, 55, 187 Cwrt Lechryhd, 221, 228-9, 231 Cymry, 257 Cynddylan, 104

Cyningas, 109 D85 (see Santa Maria in Civita) D-ware, 181, 209

Dalmahoy, 75

Dal Riada, 75 Damascus, 23 Damnonia, 102 Danubians, 47 Darenth, 127

Diocletian, 29, 246 disease, 232, 242-3

Ditchley, 26 Dobunni, 43, 89, 99, 101, 110, 112, 125-6, 134, 218, 254 Dobbunie:

Elfed, 110, 151

coinage, 107

kingdom, 84, 89, 102, 108, 109-10, 124, 132, 135, 263-5 kings, 265

Eli, 147 (n. 38) Elise, Pillar of, (see Pillar) Elmet, 75, 110, 151-2, 153, 157

Elmetiaco/Elmetiacos, 75, 110, 151, 152

dogs, 208 Dolaucothi, 98 Dolbadarn, 159

Elmetsaetan, 153 Elmetsaete, 35

Emperor, 178, 211 Emrys, 85

Dolebury, 162

Dolwyddelan, 159

Dorchester (Dorset), 101, 123, 153, 165, 176, 184, 194

Dorchester upon Thames, 74 Dorsaete, 153 Dornsctan, 154 Dorset, 41, 74, 123, 154, 176, 184, 189, 253, 266 doublets, 142-6

Drim, 228

E n g l i s hChannel, 45

entertainment, 25 Ephesus, 22-3 epigraphy, 45, 51, 98, 102-3, 110, 131, 133, 173, 183, 186, 192, 209, 238, 242, 267-9 episcopal:

centres, 22, 25, 66, 67, 85, 95, 169 church, 24, 65 sees, 65, 67

daub, 16 Deceangli, 98, 101, 134, 136 de Montogomery (see Montgomery)

Dumnonium Promontorium, 105

ethnoarchaeology, 115

Dumnos,79 Dubricius, 155

Europe, 43, 169, 173, 176, 216-7, 240, 242-3, 245-6, 252-3, 255

De Excidio Britanniae, 51, 67, 91, 102-3,

Dunragit, 129 Durham, 148

defences, 20, 22, 164 Degannwy, 76, 107, 123, 126, 196, 204, 221,

Durnouaria, 154 Durotriges/Durotrigan, 84, 90-1, 101, 99102, 125-7, 132, 134, 135, 188, 190, 207, 254, 263-6

Dartmoor, 92

deer, 208-9

109, 184, 192, 203, 254, 261, 258-66 221, 229

Deira/Deiran, 128, 250 Deisi, 80

101, 102-5, 126, 130, 132, 134, 135, 138, 171, 183, 233, 254, 261, 263-4

Eusebius, 38

Lindinienses, 265

deities, 22 (n. 101),99

Dux Brittaniarum, 9, 44, 73-4, 128

Delu, 206

dyes, 212

Demetian, 83, 110, 119, 130, 157

Demetae, 43,79-83, 101, 109 cantrefi, 83, 157

kings, 96 De Raris Fabulis, 141 Devon, 42, 91-2, 105, 110, 123, 155-6, 263

Dyfed, 76, 79-83, 8 5 ,92, 94-5, 103-4, 106, 110, 112, 117-8, 126, 130, 132, 134, 135, 137, 151, 180, 226-6, 229, 261

183, 192-3, 195-6,

bishop houses, 107, 157 kings of, 83

Dyffryn Ceiriog, 121 (n. 136) Dyfrig, 147, 155

Cotswolds, 12 court, 72, 133, 149, 182, 211, 213

Dewisland, 196

dykes, 150-1

D i d o . 1 8 8 189

Dyrham, 107, 108, 109, 125, 265

181, 193, 200, 204, 208, 228 crafts, 200 crannog, 231 Crickley Hill, 124, 193

Dinas Bran,257

E-ware, 193, 211, 220, 242 East Anglia, 215

Dinas Emrys, 76, 159, 164, 167, 181, 193, 204, 207-9, 220

East Wivelshire, 156

Coygan Camp, 42 (n. 222), 80, 81, 114, 167,

Eclogues, 185, 188 (n. 89)

Eddius, 115 E d e nValley, 71, 98 Edinburgh, 74 Edmic Dynbych,226, 229, 230 education, 2, 235, 262, 266 Edward I, 256 Egypt, 55, 201, 209

Erging, 155 Essex, 161, 216 estates, 20, 44, 139, 159-63, 168-9, 171, 243

Demeti, 98, 102, 110, 119

hundreds, 126, 137, 151, 156, 155-6, 183

223), 114, 205

Dumnonia/Dumnonii, 43, 79, 84, 91-4, 99,

Cornovia, 105, 175, 224

138, 149-50, 155, 157, 162, 168, 195-6. 203, 209, 213, 218, 227-8, 233-4, 257

Dinorben, 41 (n. 218), 42 (n. Dinuurin, 233

Eccles, 27, 66

ecclesiastics, 56, 107, 162, 168-9, 213, 222-3, 225, 230, 233, 236, 246

dark earth, 2, 15-7, 17 (n. 66), 19, 21, 25

Corinth, 22 Corio, 125 Coritani, 100

Cornovii,78-9,98, 101, 105 Cornwall/Cornish, 41-2, 91-2, 94, 105, 126,

Dinas Powys, 84, 94, 107, 114, 129, 163, (n. 124), 169, 181, 193, 207-9, 213, 220-1 Dinefwr, 107, 126, 229

313

Dinarth, 123, 196

Dinas Dinorwig, 97

Easter, 37

evangelization, 183 Excerpta de Libris Romanorum et Francorum,

148

exchange, 18, 213-6 Exeter, 91, 101, 105, 218, 263 exotica, 117,259-60, 264 famine, 232, 241, 243 Farley, 62 farmhouses, 239 farms/farming/farmsteads, 26-7, 59, 163, 231 feasting/feasts, 178, 180, 206-9, 231 Fennii, 104 feudalism, 2,, 29 Ffernfael, 147 (n. 39), field:

148 (n. 43)

systems, 110 walking, 13 Fife, 75

Fir Domnann, 92

Flavia Caesariensis, 9, 71, 251 Flintshire, 97 Fluchtburh, 168

314

Index

foci, 22-3, 25, 84, 113, 223, 233 food rents, 148 Fora/Forum: 10, 13, 18, 20, 2 (n. 101), 65, 66 Lincoln, 65

forts/fortresses, 44, 240

fort sites, 1, 70

forts (see also hillforts), coastal promontory, 212, 263, 266 citadel, 75, 196 contour, 196

harbour-side, 196, 212 hilltop, 40 inland promontory, 84, 159, 195 multivallate, 84, 167 nuclear, 75

of the Saxon Shore, 9, 45 (n. 244), 46, 88, 260

of the Ordovices, 97 Roman, 73, 78, 98, 155 Forum ware, 238 Francamus, 78 (n. 40) France, 185 Franks, 48, 213

Frankia/Frankish, 62, 149, 173, 191, 211-3, 220, 235-6, 242-4, 247, 250-1 Frilford, 62

Frisians, 48

Frocester, 25, 124 Fulham, 88 Furfooz, 167 furniture, 26-7 Gaelic, 192

Gallia Belgica, 261, 263

Gallic: bishoprics, 57 Chronicle, 53 churches, 183 e m p i r e , 10

memorial stones, 236, 269 towns.

18

villas, 30 (n. 155)

Gallo-Roman, 247, 259

Galway, 234 gaming counters, 205 Gangani, 97 Gatcombe, 90, 166 g a t e s t r u c t u r e s , 198

Gateholm, 114, 163, 164, 164. 179

Gaul, 7-8, 12, 15, 22, 27, 29-30, 30 (n. 153), 32, 26, 43, 47, 51, 53-60, 62, 94, 138,

168, 176, 178, 180-1, 183. 186-7. 189. 191, 198, 201, 209-10, 220, 235-6. 238. 240, 243, 246-7, 251-2, 254,256, 264. 269 Georgics, 185 German:

artefacts, 47-8, 107 cemeteries, 47 troops, 47-8

Index

Germanic, 88, 90, 236, 249, 251 areas, 8 burials, 47

invasion, 247

kingdoms, 50, 195 mercenaries, 70 migration, 248

political takeover, 54, 70 raiders, 45, 252 rule. 249

settlement, 54-5, 249, 254

G e r m a n i a ,251

Germanus, 52, 121 Gerontius, 92, 109 gift exchange, 232

Gildas, 2, 25, 32, 39, 50-1, 54, 64-6, 67-9, 78-

9, 81, 91-2, 102-3, 109-10, 123, 128, 1812, 184, 190, 192, 194, 196, 198, 203, 205, 207, 213, 215, 225, 252, 254, 258-66, 261

glacial m o v e m e n t , 241

Glamorgan, 141, 147, 223, 229 Glastonbury, 211 Glastonbury Tor, 189, 194, 204, 208 glass, 40, 174, 228, 236 Gleeum, 89

Gloucester, 21, 23, 65, 67, 85, 102, 107, 108,

138, 165, 194 Gloucestershire, 123-4 Glywys, 104

Glywysing, 83-6, 95, 103-4, 112, 119, 126, 129-31, 134, 135, 225, 227

gold, 55, 181

government, 10, 29, 51, 133, 136, 232

Gower, 85, 196 GPO site, 17 (n. 66) graffitti, 181

Grambla, 204, 213

graves(see also barrows, cairns), 48, 203, 205, 215, 250

Great Chesterford, 62, 150-1

Greece, 22 Greeks, 47

Gregory of Tours, 62, 78, 236 Gruffydd, 147 (n. 38) Grünwald, 167

Gwent, 83-6, 105, 106, 112, 119, 129-31,

134, 135, 141, 147, 227 Gwithian,204, 208, 228 Gwlad, 84

Gwlad Venta, 105

Gwrgan, 147 (n. 38)

Gwynedd, 74-8, 83, 103-4, 106, 109-10, 112, 118, 119, 121, 123, 126-7, 130.

132, 134, 135-6, 138, 141, 150, 156, 171, 192, 196, 218, 225-9, 231, 255,

256

Gwynedd, Prince of, 256

Hadrianic frontier, 254

Hadrian's Wall, 9, 44-6, 62, 71, 73, 74, 96 (n. 126), 128-9, 198, 218, 2 3 3 ,2 6 0 ,264-5, 261

imports, 55 Incastellamento, 237 industrial:

hagiography, 52, 85, 142, 244 halls, 10, 27, 178-81, 209 hall-villas, 28, 178

industries, 12, 236

Hampshire, 123

infantry, 199 inhumation, 249

Ham Hill, 162

Hanbury, 159 harbours, 46

Harlow, 62 Heanburh, 159 Heiric, 185 heirlooms, 47-8 helmets, 198 Hen Domen, 175-6 Heraclius, 178

Herefordshire, 155 heroic society, 51, 181-4, 197-8, 254 Hibernicization, 193

High Peak, 114 (n. 102), 123-4, 181, 193,

204, 207-8, 220, 263 hill-forts (see also forts)

40-4, 49, 7 2 ,78, 84, 90, 98, 114, 117, 159, 162-4, 166, 168-9, 178-81, 193, 195-7, 199, 208-9, 215, 221, 224, 229, 231,233, 236-7, 254, 256 Hinton St Mary, 36 Historia Brittonum, 130, 142, 154 (n. 77), 157, 226 Historia Ecclesiastica, 5 8 ,218 hoards, 10, 11, 32, 34, 35, 49, 190, 202 Holcombe, 179 Honorius, 52, 58, 63 house-churches, 37-8 Housesteads, 62 H o n e , 190

Humberside, 250, 264 Humbleton Heugh, 75

hundreds, 98, 116, 126, 137, 151, 155, 156, 157, 195-6

hunting, 206-9

husbandry, 207 h u tgroups, 41, 76 Hwicce, 107, 153 hydraulic systems, 174

Hywel, 147 (n. 39) Iberian provinces, 246 Iceni, 100, 101 ice cores, 241

Icklingham, 36 Ilchester, 90, 101, 166, 169, 196 Imperial Government, 1 Imperialism, 7 imported:

exotica, 117, 211, 213, 232, 259-60

M e d i t e r r a n e a n wares, 74, 94, 124-5. 209

p o t t e r y, 24, 92, 124, 209, 264

315

workers, 2 1

inscribed stones, 76, 82-3, 91-2, 107, 116-7, 121, 123, 130, 151 inscriptions, 12, 15, 51, 94, 100, 110, 119, 176, 183, 199, 216, 220, 223, 264, 267-9 bilingual, 80, 116, 193 Latin, 12, 80, 116 ogom, 74 Insula Piro, 92 invasions, 51,

110, 244, 246-7, 254

ipsissima verba, 197 Irchester, 179 Ireland, 43, 80, 92,

114-5, 126, 138, 149-50,

157, 168, 181, 183, 185, 190-1, 194, 197-8, 206, 208, 216, 229-30, 240-4, 251, 260, 261, 264, 267 Irish, 8, 45, 51, 75,79, 82-5, 92, 94-5, 118, 130, 132, 152, 160, 180, 185, 191-2, 194-7, 252, 259, 262, 264 annals, 104, 109, 232 aristocrats, 132 colonization, 80, 91

dynasties, 50, 74, 76,80, 183, 193, 216 -man, 78, 180 immigrant, 80

Laws, 149, 180 names, 93 160 -ness, 81, 193

prince, 75 Sea Province,206 sea trade, 212

settlers, 132, 194 s e t t l e m e n t , 245

tribesmen, 85

Iron Age, 5, 42, 43, 82-3,85, 100, 102, 104-5, 107, 115, 118, 125, 126, 129, 135, 151, 168, 172, 175, 197-200, 231, 249, 251, 255, 265 iron working, 18 Islamic conquest, 239 Isle of Man, 57 Isleof Wight, 41, 248 Isoa Dumnoniorum, 105 I s u r i u mB r i g a n t u m , 72, 100

Italy, 15, 22, 30 (n. 153), 54-5, 59, 168, 1801, 185, 187, 190, 201, 212, 235, 236-41, 244, 247, 251-2, 254, 256, 269

Ithel, 147 (n.38) ivory diptychs, 185 (n.73)

jewellery, 2, 190-200. 205 Jordon Hill. 62 Joseph.

141

316

Index

Julian the Apostate, 32, 34 Justin, 211

Justinian/Justinianic, 210-11, 239, 244, 246, 260

Jutes/Jutish, 48, 248

Index linear earthworks, 117 Litchfield, 65, 150 literacy, 2, 10, 30, 173, 181, 184-5, 216, 235-6 literature, 12 liturgical manuscripts, 184

Littlecote, 26

Kenstec, 233

Llanaelhaiarn, 75

Kent, 41, 62, 190, 215, 248, 250-1

Llanarmon, 121 (n. 136) Llanarmon yn lal, 121 (n. 136) Llandaff Charters, 3, 137-8, 140-8, 150, 155 Llandegai, 119

Kerrier, 156

Killibury, 155, 156

kings, 51, 96, 102-3, 109-10, 133, 151, 171,

174, 178-81, 184, 191, 198-200, 205-6, 211, 213, 215-6, 218, 229-30, 232, 256

King

Dumnonian, 233 of Gwynedd, 225, 227, 231 of Powys, 109, 121, 231 Roman, 63 Kingscote, 165

kingship, 43-4, 51, 55, 63-4, 69-70, 72, 74, 77, 85, 90, 94, 95, 97, 129, 168, 178, 194-5, 215, 220, 225, 230-2 lans, 183 La Pétonniere, 235 Lake District, 128 Lamyatt Beacon, 60, 62 land tenure, 1, 116

Landocco, 183

Llandewi Brefi. 130 Llandough, 84, 162 Llanfechain, 121 ( n .136)

Llangollen, 223 Langorse, 226, 226, 229, 231 Llantwit Major, 84

Llewellyn, 256 Lleyn, 195

LIwyfenyd, 72 London, 71 (n.66), 17-8, 21, 23-4, 62, 65, 86, 88-9, 102, 154, 161

Mithraeum, 62 Longbury, 204 long-cist, 75 Low Ham, 190 Lowtham, 189 (n.90) Lullingstone, 36, 189 Lundy, 92

landowner, 38, 49, 59

Luni, 22. 237

Lands End, 105

Lupus of Troyes, 52 Lydney, 11, 32, 34, 62, 84, 86

land tenure, 29 (n. 148) Lankhills, 16

L y m i n s t e r , 161

Larina, 235

Lyvennet, 72

Late Antique, 2-3, 21-4, 27, 172, 178, 180,1 216, 223, 236, 240, 242, 256 Latimer, 88

Latin, ,2 10, 47, 54, 76, 79-80, 91, 105, 141, 168, 181, 184, 191, 206,216, 236, 256, 258

Latinity, 47, 49, 181

Laugharne, 196 law(s), 2, 8, 29, 44, 180, 206, 216, 223, 229, 236 lawyers, 10 lead: pigs, 98

tanks, 35

leather, 174

Leeds, 110, 151-2 legal profession, 8 Leicester, 101

Lesnewth, 156

Mabinogion, 229 Macsen Gwledig, 85 Maelgwn,77, 103 Maen Madoc, 92 maerdref-system, 232-3 maerfreft, 233-4 Magister Militum, 92 (n.113) Magistratus, 76, 195 (n. 123)

Maglocunus, 77-8, 103, 123, 128, 225 (n.37), 262

Magnentius, 96 Magnus Maximus, 10, 96 Magonsctan, 153-4

Magonsaete, 153

Maiden Castle, 11, 32, 34, 62 Manchester, 128

libations, 119

manor houses, 29

Liber Landauensis, 140, 147 Lichfield Gospels, 148, 229, 230 (n.75)

manufacturing, 19, 236

Life of King Alfred, 147

Lincoln, 21, 65, 67, 102

Lincolnshire, 62

Lindinis, 101 Lindisfarne Gospels, 189-91

manuscript:

Martinian:

militancy, 56-8, 94 monasticism, 56, 60 m a r t y r s ,35, 56, 66

Mathrafal, 107, 221, 229 Maurig, 147 (n.39; mausol ea, 83, 119, 121

Mawgan Porth, 228, 233 Maxima Caesariensis, 9, 8 (n.22), 86, 251 Mays Hill, 204, 208 measures (see weights and measures)

medicine, 184 Mediolanum, 97

Mediterranean, 7, 20, 22 (n. 101), 27, 34, 37, 48, 51, 74, 124-5, 166, 176, 184, 187,

189, 201, 209, 211, 223, 240-6 megaliths, 27

Meifod, 222 memorial stones, 236

Martinian, 56, 60 monks, 258 British, 57, 68 Mont, 167 Montgomery (Rogerde), 175 monumentality, 27-8

Morcant, 147 (n.39), 148 (n.43) Morgannwg, 104 Moridunum, 80 mortaredstone buildings, 58, 168 mortaria, 181

mortuary chapels, 119

mosaics, 12, 18, 26-8, 39, 175, 178, 180, 188, 190, 196

Mounth, 126

'Multiple Estate Model', 137-9, 148-51 Murrell Hill, 189 music, 180 -mynster, 66, 161-2

Menai, 78, 104

meneage, 138

Meols. 128. 204

Meonstoke, 25 mercenaries, 54, 78, 107, 197 merchants, 211, 213, 256 Mercia,

135, 216, 218, 220, 224

Mercians, 117, 154, 224 Merida, 211, 238 Merionethshire, 78, 97 Merovingian, 29-30, 235 Mesopotamians, 47 metal working, 16, 18,204-5, 211,213,228-9, 256

Meurig, 147 (n.38), 148 migration, 50, 79-80, 91, 191, 252, 263, 266

Milan, 23

milecastles, 45 milestones, 269 m i l i t a n c y

Christian, 55

naval detachments, 45-6 Nettleton, 60, 62, 68 N e v e r 222

New archaeology (ists), 6, 113, 139 New Pieces,78 nomisma, 203 Norman:

castle, 175, 221 Conquest, 141

French, 192 Normans, 175, 225 North Africa, 180-1, 201,235, 239-40 North Leigh, 25, 27 North Sea, 45 Northumbria, 109, 113, 149-51, 191, 195-6, 216, 218, 220, 250

Norway, 174

Norwegian stave churches, 174 Notitia Dignitatum, 9 nuclear forts, 75

religious, 59

militare, 48 military, 10, 12-3, 22 (n.101), 38, 40,44-9, 64, 72, 136, 198, 240, 244-5 manuals, 198 tactics, 198, 254

trophies, 48 units, 2 2(n. 101) weapons, 254

minster estates, 137, 160,162 Mitcham, 127 Mithraea/Mithraeum, 38, 62, 183 Moat Knowe, 75 monarchy, 223

illumination,3, 184 production, 184-6, 216, 256

monasteries, 59, 66, 68, 86, 114, 140-1, 162,

economy, 19, 49 place, 22, 25, 166, 243

monasticism, 2, 55-6, 60, 67-8, 72, 138, 258,

market:

317

169, 183, 193, 208, 212, 218, 222-3, 230-1, 233-4, 237-8, 244 260. 263. 266

Offa, 224 Offa's Dyke, 117, 223-4 ogom, 79, 118, 194, 267-9 bilingual inscriptions, 80, 116 inscriptions, 74, 116, 193 stones, 91, 93, 150

olive oil, 211

Olympiodorus, 53 Ordous, 83, 106, 110, 111, 119 Ordovices/Ordovican/Ordovician, 74-8, 83. 97-8, 101, 110, 119, 135-6, 183 organically-tempered pottery,88, 123-5, 124 Orosius, 57, 260 Orpheus, 39 (n.201) Orpington, 127 Ostrogoths,211, 247 Oswestry, 224 Otford, 190

318

Index

Index

Owain, 72

pigs, 98, 208

Oxfordshire, 41, 253

pilgrimage, 210 Pillar of Elise, 107, 121, 130, 226, 227 pilum, 199

'Pirenne thesis', 242

re-defence, 180 refuge sites, 166

refugees, 192 Reges, 51, 101

cemeteries, 115, 123, 262 culture, 58 culture of revenge, 55

151, 154, 161-2, 250 plague, 232, 241-4 Plas Gogerddan, 83, 119, 121, 122

plates, 211

god/goddess, 55

podum, 141

landowners, 59 mosaics, 39

poems/poetry, 72, 180-1, 184-5, 197, 223 poetic panegyric, 178 political, 13, 74, 168-9, 171, 218, 224, 226-7, 234, 240, 246-55, 262 geography, 6, 54, 97-103, 112-3, 127, 129,

regrants, 142-6 religion, 10, 12-3, 19, 49 Religiosa Historia, 68 renders, 149, 206-7 re-used structures/buildings, 177, 196 Rex Brittanorum, 225 Rex Brittonum, 225 Rex Romanorum, 178 Rheged, 128-9

buildings, 62 burials. 38

religious artefacts, 62 religious sites, 29, 59 revival, 32-4, 36. 38 temples, 11, 20, 30, 32, 34, 56, 61, 63, 68

pagans, 56, 69, 79, 205 paganism, 30, 32, 34, 38-9, 49, 55, 96, 182 Pagans Hill, 62 Paganus, 36 Pagenses, 79, 105 Pagi, 102 Pagus Tricurius, 92 Paintings, 12, 26 wall, 26, 189 palaces, 21, 256

palisaded sites, 114, 195 Palmyrans, 47 papal ruling, 173 Paris, 191 Parisii, 100, 101, 128 patronage, 190, 196, 207, 213, 220-3, 230 patron saints, 132 Pavia, 236 peasants revolt, 96 (n. 127)

place-names, 42, 78-9, 84, 87, 88, 97, 104-5,

ploughing, 17

133, 135-6, 139, 140, 150, 157, 265-6

organisation, 6, 139, 157, 220-3, 244 pollen-analysis, 232 polyfocal, 22-4 ports (see also seasonal ports), 18, 212 postholes, 17 (n.66)

pottery, 40, 56, 79 (n.43), 97-8, 116-27, 176,

193-4, 209, 211-3, 228, 233, 236, 239-40

bar-lug, 223 (n.63)

Black Burnished Ware, 253 (n. 192)

Byzantine. 209 D-ware, 181, 209 E-ware, 193, 211, 220, 242

imported, 24, 94, 124, 125, 213, 264

manufacture, 172

mass-production, 2 (n.2), 2 2(n. 101), 174, 243, 256 organically tempered, 88, 123-5, 124 Oxfordshire-Ware, 253 (n.192) Poundbury, 68, 74, 90, 119, 189, 194, 204, 208

Pecsaete, 153

Powder,

Peibidiog, 83

Powys/Powysian,78-9, 105, 106, 107, 112,

Pelagian/Pelaagianism, 39, 52-3, 184 Pembroke, 196 Pembrokeshire, 110

penannular brooches, 84, 178, 213, 214, 215, 220 Penbryn, 83, 110, 122 Pencersctan, 153-4 penda, 216 Penllystyn, 193 Penmachno, 110, 121-2

Pennines, 109, 127-8 Pennocrucium, 154 Penwith, 156 peripatetic court, 149 Persian, 244, 246 pewter bowl, 56

Phrygian cap, cover Picts/Pictish/Pictland, 45, 75, 126, 149. 199, 252, 260, 261, 264 Piddington, 26

156

121-3, 126, 128-30, 132-3, 134, 135, 151, 196, 218, 224-7, 229, 231

Powys: king of, 103, 109, 121 princes of, 103 prefect. 8 Prehistoric, 166 Principia, 24

Procopius, 51, 53, 55, 198, 209-11 production/productivity, 12, 19, 21, 25, 28, 40, 46, 164, 186-6, 213, 231, 243, 256

Prosper, 52 Protictoris, 81

Provinciae, 50 Ptolemy, 97-9, 104-5 public works, 8, 20

punctus, 186 purple, 57, 181 Putney, 88 Pydar, 156

fort, 15, 78, 98, 155

government, 58, 96, 196, 240

maritime, 34

Padstow, 155, 156 P a d u a , 23 pagan:

Empire, 32, 49, 58, 246, 256

raiding: barbarian, 34, 252 Irish, 252

Imperial d i o c e s e ,50 king, 178

law, 29, 44, 58, 85, 149, 181, military s i t e s ,64 road, 92, 126

Regni, 100

k i n g s ,72

Rhi, 152, 220 Rhine/Rhineland, 40, 168, 236, 251 Rhodri, 147 (n.38) Rhuys, 147 (n.38) Rhyddech, 147 (n.38) Rhyd Orddwy, 97 Richborough, 46 Ribchester, 128 Rivenhall, 161 River:

Avon, 108, 125-6, 155 Camel, 126 Dart, 156 (n.92)

Dee, 126, 118, 155 Dervent, 73

Dyfi, 126, 28

Exe. 156 (n.92)

sculpture, 189 signal stations,45 state, 29 (n.149), 52

wall paintings, 189 walls, 20 (n.94), 260 withdrawal, 51, 63, 69, 200

Romano-Gallic, 168 Rome, 22, 185, 187, 237, 246 rounds, 105, 233

Ruberslaw, 75 Rudchester, 62 rustic-capital, 185

St Alban's, 24, 53, 86, 88-9, 101, 261 St Asaph, 122

St St St St St St

Beuno, 130, /31/2 Bridget, 160 Brychan, 82, 130, 131/2 Cadog, 130-1, 131/2 Columba, 187 Cuthbert, 24, 71, 218

St Cynog, 130, 131/2

St David('s),82, 130-1, 131/2, 222 St Denis, 185, 190 St Dochau, 130

St Dogmaels, 110 St Enodoc, 156, 155

Giping, 127 (n. 164)

St Finnian, 184

Orwel, 127

St G e r m a n u s ,39, 52-3, 130, St Illtud, 130, 131/2

Humber, 127, 197 Mersey, 73, 128

Parret, 108, 126 Severn, 260, 261, 263-4 Tamar, 126 Taw, 156 (n.92) Thames, 127, 249, 261, 263 Towy, 118, 126

Usk, 98, 119, 126 river valley sediments,241 roads, 46

Rochester, 164 army, 44 (n.236), 47, 54, 70, 96, 201 a r t , 189

bureaucracy, 2, 51, 55 burial, 239 cemeteries, 86 church, 67, 246 coins, 214, 250

Conquest, 80, 85, 100, 102

236, 263

m i l e s t o n e , 92

St Garmon, 121, 130, 131/2, 133 200

St John, 203, 206 St M a r t i nof To u r s ,55, 5 7 ,62 St Melania, 138 (n.6)

St St St St

Patrick, 68, 184, 203, 207 Paul in the Bail, 67 Petroc, 130, 131/2 Samson, 92

St Simon Stylites, 68

St Teilo, 130, 131/2, 142 satan, 153-4 saet (names), 153 Saints:

Celtic, 132 Demetian, 82

Salisbury, 216 S a n Giovannidi Ruoti, 237 sand-dune sites, 155, 208, 212, 221 Santa Maria n i Civitá, 168, 237 sarcophogi, 236

319

320

Index

Sardis, 2 Saxons, 48, 52, 248-9, 248, 260 Scandinavia, 240

schools, 181 Scotland, 75, 113, 166, 199, 229, 257 Scots, 45 scout ships, 46

sculpture, 228, 231 seasonal ports (see also Ports), 212 Segontium, 45, 62, 76-7, 183, 229

Selwood, 126 service industries, 19 settlements: defended, 12 elite, 13 fortified, 12 temple, 15

Severnside, 32

Severn valley, 263

Seviac, 235 sheep, 207 Shepton Mallet, 36

shields, 189, 198 ships, 46, 211

shops, 15, 19 shrines, 24, 30, 40, 66 Sidonius, 168, 235

Silchester, 15, 18, 23, 101, 138, 150-1, 249

(n. 167) siliquae (clipped), 60 silting, 241 silver:

bowls, 211 coinage, 55 plate, 10, 11, 211 Siluran/Silures, 82-3, 86, 98, 101, 131 Sixtus IV, 185 slag, 15

Snape, 116 (n.114) social archaeology, 5-6

soldiers, 38, 47-8, 78 (n.40)

Solway Firth, 41 Somersaetan, 154

Somerset, 41, 123-6, 154, 190 South Cadbury, 90, 107, 125, 162, 165, 166, 166, 177, 179, 190, 196, 198, 204, 207, 209

South Shields, 48 Spain, 7, 12, 30, 59, 173, 180, 211, 235, 23840, 243-4, 247, 251, 256, 269 spears, 198-9 spiral-headed pins, 84, 86 Springhead, 62 squatter occupation, 72, 177 stabellum,

180

stabling, 16 Stafell, 180 Staines, 88 stakeholes, 17

Index trading places, 128, 212, 221

volcanic activity, 241

trefi, 155, 233

Vortigern, 63

stave churches, 174

Trethurgy, 193, 204, 213, 228 Trevelgue, 94, 155, /22, 220 Trevor, 121-2

votive objects, 12 Votodinian, 52, 74-5

stone carving, 26

tribune, 53

Wales, 1, 6-7,

Stantonbury, 162 statues (cult). 55. 62 Stephanus, 114 Stilicho, 53 Stokeleigh, 162

Tribal Hidage, 115, 151-5, 157

Stratton, 156

Trier, 22, 236

strip buildings, 19, 71

Trig, 156 'Trinovantes/Trivanovantian, 71, 86-9, 87,

styli/stylus, 12. 181

Sumorsaete, 153 sunken-featured buildings, 88, 90 surplus, 12, 200-7, 216, 232

100, 101, 127, 134, 135 173, 215 troop movements, 45, 53, 227, 244

Sutton Hoo, 211

trophies, 48 Tryfan, 53 tuatha, 152

symbolism, 49

Tudor, 152

symbol-stones, 126 Syria, 68, 177, 209

Tudrhi/Tudri, 152 Turks, 23

Sussex, 161

Tacitus, 98

•

Vinniau, 184

taxes, 8, 19, 25, 174 Tegeingl, 98

urbs, 168 Urien, 72, 128

territoria, 102

Thames Valley, 88, 127, 215-6, 249

Theodosian, 29 (n.148), 203 Thetford hoard, 190 Thiessen polygons, 113 tigern, 63

timber buildings, 16, 28, 46, 59, 178, 209

timber-framed buildings, 24, 46

tin, 203

'Tintagel, 91-2, 93, 94, 114, 133, 155, 156, 164, 164, 179, 181, 193, 195, 204, 209, 210. 2 2 0

Church, 92

Titus Cogidubnus, 43 tombstone carving, 173 Tomsaete, 153 Tours, 22-3, 236 town Councils, 10 towns, 1, 2, 5, 12-9. 46

Anglo-Saxon, 24 Gallic, 18 medieval, 22-3 trade:

long-range,18-9, 21, 25, 209£13, 231-2

maritime, 19, 21 trading, 15, 18, 191, 228

223, 244, 246,

250.252

Tyn-y-Llanfarm, 121 (n. 136)

Uley, 60, 60, 62, 63, 68, 194

Valentia, 8 (n.22), 9, 251 Vandals, 240, 247 Venedos cives, 110,

wall:

warfare, 107, 197-200, 221,

T y Mawr, 204, 208

Vir tribuniciae potentis, 53

36, ,38, 40, 49, 55, 59, 60, 62, 70, 180 pagan, 11, 20, 30, 32, 61, 62 Tenby, 93, 94, 226, 229, 230 tenurial system, 29-30, 49, 58-9, 236

199, 206, 216-22, 230, 262-4

walking distance, 139

warbands, 172, 178-81, 197-8, 223

Tapete Brittannum, 175 taxation, ,1 20, 58, 68, 200-6, 242

Temple sites,33 Temples 1, 10, 15, 18-9, 21, 22 (n. 101), 34,

41-2, 44-5, 62, 64, 74-5, 85,

93, 94, 97-8, 103, 106, 110, 118-8, 120, 121, 123, 127, 132, 137-9, 141-2, 149, 152, 159, 162, 168-9, 171, 180-4, 195-6,

hangings, 27

Tandderwen, 74-5. 123

tax collectors, 10

Vortipor, 76, 80-1, 82, 103, 107, 110

paintings, 26, 189 Wansdyke, 108, 117, 123, 124, 125-6, 190, 207, 265

tudoedd, 152

swords, 198

321

122

Venedotian, 74-6, 78, 83, 121, 123, 128, 225-6

Veneti, 104 Venii, 78, 104 Venta Belgarum, 101 Venta Silurum, 84, 105 Vergil, 185, 190 Vergilius Romanus, cover, 185-91, 188 Verona, 237

Verulamium, 19, 23, 74, 88 (n.86) v e t e r a n s s e t t l e m e n t s , 48, 102 vici, 15

water jars, 211

wattle and daub, 15-6 Weald, 249 (n. 167) weights and measures, 181, 205

Welsh, 51, 53, 78, 80, 105, 126, 139, 149-50, 197-8, 207, 229, 232, 257 cantrefi, 116, 151, 155-7, 195 genealogies, 103 hundreds. 116

kingdoms, 74, 118, 223-8 kings, 147, 223, 227, 231, 234 Laws, 148-50, 180, 220 poetry, 104, 128, 223 poets, 72 Wessex, 220, 234 West Country, 32, 84, 86, 91, 93, 117, 120, 123-4, 135, 160-3, 166, 173, 196, 215, 217-8, 260, 263-6 West Midlands, 157, 159, 161, 203, 218, 262-3, 266 West Wilvelshire, 156 Whithorn, 194 wic, 87

Victricius (of Rouen), 56

will (King Alfred's), 152, 155-7

Viking, 16, 226 raids, 225

wine, 211-2

Vilauba, 238 villages, 21, 23, 29 (n. 147) villas, 1, 5, 10, 12-3, 15, 25-30, 34, 41-3, 45-6, 49, 59, 68, 70, 72, 76, 78, 84, 88, 90-1, 102, 161-2, 172, 178, 209, 235, 237-9, 243-4, 245 Gallic, 28, 30 (n. 155) Vindolanda, 110 Viroconum, 79 (n.43) Visigoths, 247 Vita Martini, 56

Wood eaton , 62

Vita (Prima) Sancti Samsonis, 92 Vita Sancti Germani, 24, 52-3

Winchester, 16, 23, 101, 101 Wirral. 128 Witham, 31, 62 witness lists, 147 wood, 174

Woodchester, 25, 27 Worcester, 17 (n.66), 65, 107, 108 Worlebury, 162

Wrekin, 79 Wreocensaete, 153 Wreocensœtan, 153-4

Wroxeter, 17, 23, 65, 69, 74, 78-9, 85, 98, 101, 123, 154, 165, 194,256

322

Index

XTENT, 113-4 Y Gododdin, 197, 199 Yeavering, 175-6, 250

Younger Fill, 241

York, 10, 18, 21, 24, 65, 72, 73, 74, 102, 129 Yorkshire, 113, 128

Zozimus, 51, 53, 55, 58