Aims
Alfred of Wessex halted the Danish invasions of England, and his reign is often considered to be pivotal in laying the foundations for Anglo-Saxon unity and the eventual development of “Angle-land”. Alfred is often called “great” in recognition of his legal, educational, and military reforms, yet does he alone deserve this nickname?
This course examines Alfred’s reign, and compares his achievements with those of Offa of Mercia (730-796), and Charles the Great (Charlemagne), king of the Franks (768–814), in order to understand the nature of early medieval kingship. How did Offa, Charlemagne and Alfred rule? In what ways were the challenges they faced similar and different? Why did they promote education and literacy? Why are Alfred and Charlemagne known as ‘great’, whereas Offa of Mercia is not? Were Alfred and Charlemagne really that ‘great’ or did they just have great biographers?
Learning Outcomes
Upon successful completion of the course, students will be able to:
- Demonstrate knowledge of the main events of the historical period.
- Identity, assess and evaluate key turning points, significant events and individuals in in the creation of early medieval kingdoms
- Critically evaluate contemporary source material- textual, images and artefacts
- Critically evaluate historical articles and deconstruct popular reconstructions and reinterpretations
The Seminars
After week one, each session will begin with a class discussion of the key issues raised in the reading for that week. Then the key questions and themes of the reading for the next week will be introduced by the tutor.
- Week 1 :Who was Alfred the king and Scholar? Placing Alfred in his historical context.
- Week 2: After the Romans – the Formation of the early Anglo-Saxon kingdoms: Francia, Wessex and Mercia.
- Week 3: The Anglo-Saxon Contest for Supremacy: Northumbria, Mercia and Wessex
- Week 4: Offa of Mercia
- Week 5: The Rise of the Carolingians: Charlemagne’s Empire
- Week 6: Concepts of Kingship: Offa of Mercia, and Charlemagne
- Week 7: The Viking Threat: responses in Mercia
, Wessex and Francia - Week 8: Alfred’s Viking Wars
- Week 9: Alfred, the Church, Kingship and Unity
- Week 10: Alfred the Scholar and his influence on the development of “Angle-land”
- Week 11: What was Alfred’s Legacy?
Assessment
Formative assessment set around week 6, usually an essay plan. Feedback is given on the essay plan.
Summative assessment at the conclusion of the course. This will be a 2,000 word essay.
Suggested Initial Reading List
Other texts will form part of the reading list for the course. These are background texts:
- Abels, Richard. Alfred the Great: War, Kingship and Culture in Anglo-Saxon England. Longman, 1998.
- Brown, Michelle P.; Farr, Carole A.. Mercia: An Anglo-Saxon kingdom in Europe. Continuum, 2001.
- Davis, Jennifer R.. Charlemagne’s Practice of Empire. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2005.
- Einhard, and Notker the Stammerer. Two Lives of Charlemagne. Translated by David Ganz. London: Penguin Books, 2008.
- Keynes, Simon; Lapidge, Michael. Alfred the Great, Asser’s Life of King Alfred and other contemporary sources. Harmondsworth, England: Penguin, 1983.
- Kirby, D. H.. The Earliest English Kings (Revised ed.). London: Routledge, 2000.
- Lavelle, Ryan. Alfred’s Wars: Sources and Interpretations of Anglo-Saxon Warfare in the Viking Age. Woodbridge, Suffolk: Boydel Press, 2010.
- McKitterick, Rosamond. Charlemagne: The Formation of a European Identity. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2008.
- Nelson, Janet L.. King and Emperor: A New Life of Charlemagne. London: Penguin, 2019.
- Nelson, Janet. Rulers and Ruling Families in Early Medieval Europe. Aldershot: Ashgate, 1999.
- Pratt, David. The political thought of King Alfred the Great. Cambridge University Press, 2007.
- Riché, Pierre. The Carolingians: A Family Who Forged Europe. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1993.
- Scholz, Bernhard Walter; Barbara Rogers. Carolingian Chronicles: Royal Frankish Annals and Nithard’s Histories. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1970.
- Smyth, Alfred P.. King Alfred the Great. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1995.
- Story, Joanna (ed.). Charlemagne: Empire and Society. Manchester: Manchester University Press.
- Woodruff, Douglas. The Life And Times of Alfred the Great. London, UK: Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1993.
- Wormald, Patrick; Bullough, D.; Collins, R.eds. Ideal and Reality in Frankish and Anglo-Saxon Society. Oxford: B. Blackwell, 1983.
- Yorke, Barbara. Wessex in the early Middle Ages. Leicester: Leicester University Press, 1995.