Spatial Configurations of Power in Anglo-Saxon England: Sidelights on the Relationships between Boroughs, Royal Vills and Hundreds

2019 ◽  
pp. 436-455
Author(s):  
Andrew Reynolds
Keyword(s):  
Urban Development ◽  
Social Complexity ◽  
Urban Environments ◽  
Linear Measure ◽  
Anglo Saxon ◽  
Administrative Functions ◽  
12Th Century ◽  
Spatial Configurations ◽  
New Perspective ◽  
Progressive Nucleation

The complex social and administrative fabric of Anglo-Saxon England existed largely without urban environments. Based upon patterns of naming, this chapter examines relationships between local administrative districts (hundreds) and central places, arguing for the long-term persistence of pre-urban modes of social organisation in Anglo-Saxon England. Following a review of urban development in Anglo-Saxon England, neglected material is brought to bear on long-standing notions of urbanism which emphasise the progressive nucleation of social and administrative functions as a linear measure of social complexity. A new perspective is offered here which emphasises the limited extent of urban development in England before the 12th century and the robust nature of non-urban social complexity as a social system. Overall, the applicability of measures of social and administrative complexity drawn from ‘primary’ complex societies is questioned and a plea is made for approaching European post-Roman societies on their own terms rather than by comparison with ancient and classical ones.

The Cult of St Edmund, King and Martyr in Medieval Ireland

2018 ◽  
Vol 136 (4) ◽  
pp. 223-238 ◽  
Author(s):  
Francis Young
Keyword(s):  
Middle Ages ◽  
Anglo Saxon ◽  
Norman Conquest ◽  
14Th Century ◽  
Patron Saint ◽  
12Th Century ◽  
Anglo Norman ◽  
Christ Church ◽  
Medieval Ireland ◽  
The Middle Ages

St Edmund, king and martyr (an Anglo-Saxon king martyred by the Vikings in 869) was one of the most venerated English saints in Ireland from the 12th century. In Dublin, St Edmund had his own chapel in Christ Church Cathedral and a guild, while Athassel Priory in County Tipperary claimed to possess a miraculous image of the saint. In the late 14th century the coat of arms ascribed to St Edmund became the emblem of the king of England’s lordship of Ireland, and the name Edmund (or its Irish equivalent Éamon) was widespread in the country by the end of the Middle Ages. This article argues that the cult of St Edmund, the traditional patron saint of the English people, served to reassure the English of Ireland of their Englishness, and challenges the idea that St Edmund was introduced to Ireland as a heavenly patron of the Anglo-Norman conquest.

scholarly journals Meatscapes: Spaces and processes associated to subsistence livestock

2016 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Leila Marie Farah
Keyword(s):  
Urban Development ◽  
18Th Century ◽  
Methodological Approach ◽  
Analytical Framework ◽  
Urban Landscapes ◽  
Historical Maps ◽  
Legal Documents ◽  
New Perspective ◽  
Livestock Products ◽  
By Products

How was subsistence livestock linked to architecture and the urban development in the settlement of 17th and 18th century Montreal? This article argues that landscapes and buildings interact with and accommodate the transformation of livestock products and by-products along various stages; and, that these animal parts contribute to defining urban landscapes. The paper presents a novel analytical framework to study foodscapes, and more particularly meatscapes by way of identifying spaces through which animal parts transited, and by spatially mapping them. It does so via a mixed methodological approach, including researching legal documents, travelers’ notes, databases, historical maps and plans dating back to the French period. Examining processes and spaces involving subsistence livestock, their products and by-products as well as individuals related to their transformation provides a new perspective on how ordinary activities shaped the lives and the spaces in a settlement.

Vestigial Signs: Inscription, Performance, and The Dream of the Rood

PMLA ◽  
2010 ◽  
Vol 125 (1) ◽  
pp. 48-72 ◽  
Author(s):  
Seeta Chaganti
Keyword(s):  
Material Culture ◽  
Old English ◽  
Historical Narrative ◽  
English Text ◽  
Anglo Saxon ◽  
Dream Of The Rood ◽  
Media Performance ◽  
New Perspective ◽  
And Performance

Anglo‐Saxonists often explore connections between The Dream of the Rood and two ritual objects, the silver Brussels cross and the sandstone Ruthwell monument, inscribed with verses related to the poem. This essay offers a new perspective on these artifacts, elucidating not a historical narrative linking them but rather an Anglo‐Saxon poetics made visible in their juxtaposition. It argues that these three manifestations reveal a dialectic of inscription and performance in Anglo‐Saxon poetics. Reading the familiar Old English text through J. H. Prynne's “A Note on Metal” (1968), which imagines dialectics both of metal and stone and of inscription and performance, the essay also interrogates certain divisions between premodern and modern aesthetic traditions. Theories of media, performance, and inscriptionality help to stage an interdisciplinary analysis of The Dream of the Rood and to show that its poetics originate in the formal frameworks of Anglo‐Saxon material culture. (SC)

scholarly journals Radiocarbon Dating in Late-Roman and Medieval Contexts: An Archaeological Excavation in the Center of Florence, Italy

Radiocarbon ◽  
2007 ◽  
Vol 49 (2) ◽  
pp. 611-616 ◽  
Author(s):  
M E Fedi ◽  
A Arnoldus-Huyzendveld ◽  
A Cartocci ◽  
M Manetti ◽  
F Taccetti
Keyword(s):  
Mass Spectrometry ◽  
Urban Development ◽  
Radiocarbon Dating ◽  
Beam Line ◽  
Archaeological Excavation ◽  
Urban Context ◽  
12Th Century ◽  
Archaeological Areas ◽  
The University ◽  
Excavation Area

A series of samples for radiocarbon dating were collected in 2005 from the Biblioteca Magliabechiana archaeological excavation area in the center of Florence, Italy, in a project directed by the Dipartimento di Archeologia e Storia delle Arti of the University of Siena, in cooperation with the Soprintendenza per i Beni Architettonici e per il Paesaggio per le province di Firenze e Prato. This area is located near the Uffizi Galleries, close to the Roman town, the Arno River and one of its former tributaries. The area is peculiar for the Florentine urban context because it was free from urban development until the 12th century AD. The exposed stratigraphy showed the presence of several layers composed of natural sediments, partly the result of historical floods. Here, we report a series of 14C measurements on charcoal and seed samples collected on this excavation. 14C dating has been performed in the LABEC laboratory in Florence, on the accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) beam line of the AMS-IBA 3MV Tandetron accelerator. We also had the opportunity to compare the 14C dates obtained with several series of samples previously collected in nearby archaeological areas. Results were consistent with the data obtained previously and, moreover, offer interesting new aspects to the interpretation of the archaeological findings.

scholarly journals Biodiversity Conservation and Sustainable Urban Development

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (12) ◽  
pp. 4964
Author(s):  
Ingo Kowarik ◽  
Leonie K. Fischer ◽  
Dave Kendal
Keyword(s):  
Urban Development ◽  
Biodiversity Conservation ◽  
Urban Environments ◽  
Sustainable Urban Development ◽  
Urban Landscapes ◽  
Sustainable Cities ◽  
Cultural Ecosystem Services ◽  
Special Issue ◽  
Conservation Policies

Urbanization is a major driver of environmental change and is closely linked to the future of biodiversity. Cities can host a high richness of plants and animals, and this urban biodiversity supports multiple regulating, provisioning and cultural ecosystem services. Developing biodiversity-friendly cities is thus inextricably linked to sustainable urban development and human wellbeing. The contributions to this Special Issue on “Biodiversity Conservation and Sustainable Urban Development” in the journal Sustainability illustrate the role of urban environments as pressures on biodiversity, and envision pathways towards developing more biodiverse urban environments that are accepted and supported by people. Contributions reveal promising opportunities for conserving biodiversity within many urban landscapes. The insights from this Special Issue can support urban conservation policies and their implementation in the development of sustainable cities.

Anarchy: War and Status in 12th-Century Landscapes of Conflict

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Oliver Creighton ◽  
Duncan Wright
Keyword(s):  
Material Culture ◽  
Archaeological Sites ◽  
Historical Narratives ◽  
Rural Settlements ◽  
Anglo Saxon ◽  
Stephen King ◽  
12Th Century ◽  
Anglo Norman ◽  
New Research ◽  
Material Record

The turbulent reign of Stephen, King of England (1135–54), has been styled since the late 19th century as 'the Anarchy’, although the extent of political breakdown during the period has since been vigorously debated. Rebellion and bitter civil war characterised Stephen’s protracted struggle with rival claimant Empress Matilda and her Angevin supporters over ‘nineteen long winters’ when, according to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, ‘Christ and his Saints slept’. Drawing on new research and fieldwork, this innovative volume offers the first ever overview and synthesis of the archaeological and material record for this controversial period. It presents and interrogates many different types of evidence at a variety of scales, ranging from nationwide mapping of historical events through to conflict landscapes of battlefields and sieges. The volume considers archaeological sites such as castles and other fortifications, churches, monasteries, bishops’ palaces and urban and rural settlements, alongside material culture including coins, pottery, seals and arms and armour. This approach not only augments but also challenges historical narratives, questioning the ‘real’ impact of Stephen’s troubled reign on society, settlement, church and the landscape, and opens up new perspectives on the conduct of Anglo-Norman warfare.

scholarly journals Connecting cities and their environments: Harnessing the water-energy-food nexus for sustainable urban development

2015 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Arthur Chan
Keyword(s):  
Urban Development ◽  
Wide Spectrum ◽  
Urban Environments ◽  
Sustainable Urban Development ◽  
Urban Systems ◽  
Environmental Pressures ◽  
Metropolitan Regions ◽  
Economic Progress ◽  
Rural Environments ◽  
The Individual

AbstractThousands of years of development have made the production and consumption of water, energy, and food for urban environments more complex. While the rise of cities has fostered social and economic progress, the accompanying environmental pressures threaten to undermine these benefits. The compounding effects of climate change, habitat loss, pollution, overexploitation (in addition to financial constraints) make the individual management of these three vital resources incompatible with rapidly growing populations and resource-intensive lifestyles. Nexus thinking is a critical tool to capture opportunities for urban sustainability in both industrialised and developing cities. A nexus approach to water, energy, and food security recognises that conventional decisionmaking, strictly confined within distinct sectors, limits the sustainability of urban development. Important nexus considerations include the need to collaborate with a wide spectrum of stakeholders, and to “re-integrate” urban systems. This means recognising the opportunities coming from the interconnected nature of cities and metropolitan regions, including links with rural environments and wider biophysical dynamics.

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