The late 7th century to the mid-11th century, which incorporates the rise in dominance of the Anglo Saxon kingdoms Mercia and Wessex and subsequently England. Documentary evidence of the period is more plentiful but archaeological evidence is not much more extensive than for the 5th to 7th centuries (Dalwood, 2007, 113).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Terminology<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
The term \u2018Anglo-Saxon\u2019 or \u2018Saxon\u2019 has habitually been used to define the population and culture of the geographical area that is now England, in-between the collapse of Roman military, economic and administrative rule, and the Norman conquest. First coined in Continental Europe in the late 8th century, the term gained popularity in the mid-19th century, to describe the waves of northern European migrants \u2013 including the Angles, Saxons and Jutes \u2013 who settled in \u2018England\u2019 from the 5th and 6th centuries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This blanket term has been challenged in more recent years with historical interpretations of the period largely favouring the term Early Medieval to describe the broader groups of people, who were settled or who came to settle in \u2018England\u2019, their individual, group and\/or inter-connected identities and much of the physical evidence they left behind. However, the term Anglo-Saxon remains in use to describe the distinctive material culture, which emerged from the mid-5th<\/sup> to 7th<\/sup> centuries, and which appears to have been introduced as a result of the migration and settlement of Northern Europeans during this period. The terms Viking and Anglo-Scandinavian are also commonly used to describe material culture of, and influenced by, Scandinavian design and\/or manufacture, following the influx of raiders and migrants from Sweden, Norway and Denmark, from the 8th century AD. More recently the term Anglo-British has been coined in acknowledgement of the \u2018missing\u2019 Britons in 19th and early 20th century Anglo-Saxon studies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Much of our understanding of the Early Medieval comes from historical accounts largely concerned with those individuals and groups with power and wealth. The potential for the archaeological record to broaden our understanding of the period is vast, although it should be noted that the archaeological record can also, at times, be more reflective of those with wealth and status. The benefit of inter-disciplinary research is well understood and although the Worcestershire Research Framework for the Early Medieval is principally concerned with archaeological research questions and objectives it is noted that a multifaceted approach to research and understanding is desirable in order to better connect and contextualize concepts across the different disciplines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The transition from Roman Britain to Early Medieval England remains a key issue in British archaeology. Worcestershire is one of the best documented counties in England, in this period, with a significant compendium of Charters<\/strong> – written legal documentation including diplomas, wills and writs<\/em> -, Chronicles<\/strong> – a collection of annals, dating from the 9th century<\/em> – and narrative sources<\/strong> – from the churches of Worcester and Evesham, and the succession of churchmen who were great landowners, secular and religious leaders<\/em>. These sources offer incidental details about secular, as well as political and religious life, landownership and land use. Bede\u2019s Ecclesiastical History of the English People\u2019s, <\/em>written within the first third of the 8th century is also a key source from the period. This rich and voluminous documentation is reflected in the work of historians such as Hooke, Dyer, Sims-Williams, Tinti, Holt and Baker (Worcester), Cox (Evesham and the Vale) and Maddicott (Droitwich).<\/p>\n\n\n\n The historical record recognises the emergence of \u2018kingdoms\u2019, \u2018provinces\u2019 or \u2018estates\u2019 from the later 6th century, including the kingdom of the Hwicce, established in AD577 following the defeat of the native Britons by the West Saxons. The precise boundary of the kingdom of the Hwicce is uncertain although it is generally considered to be consistent with the later boundary of the Diocese of Worcester<\/a>, founded in AD679\u2013680. During the 7th century the kingdom of the Hwicce is documented as having been absorbed within the expanding kingdom of Mercia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Following a period of dominance, the kingdom of Mercia steadily declined from the early 9th century, gradually becoming surpassed by the emerging dominant kingdom of Wessex. Viking incursions from the late 8th century led to a period of conflict and Scandinavian dominance over large parts of the east and south of the country, including the eastern part of Mercia. Ceolwulf II reigned over western Mercia, by consent of the Danes, until his death in AD879, after which he was succeeded by \u00c6thelred II, under the overlordship of Alfred the Great of Wessex, who had defeated the Vikings at the Battle of Eddington (AD878) and who had secured his kingdom from future attacks, through a series of initiatives, including military and legal reforms and the development of the Burghal system. Alfred adopted the title Anglorum Saxonum rex <\/em>or \u2018King of the Anglo-Saxons\u2019 as the ruler of all Anglo-Saxons not subject to Danelaw.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Alfred\u2019s son, and successor, Edward the Elder, and daughter \u00c6thelfl\u00e6d<\/a>, who had succeeded as \u2018Lady of the Mercians\u2019, following her husband\u2019s death, further consolidated Wessex dominance in southern England by conquering the Danelaw south of the Humber.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Edward\u2019s son \u00c6thelstan advanced further, building strategic alliances and conquering the Viking stronghold of York in AD927 and Scotland in AD934. Building on the political and legal reforms of his grandfather Alfred the Great, and with overlordship of northern Britain, as well as Wales, \u00c6thelstan re-imagined the political landscape into a largely single unified kingdom, becoming known as rex Anglorum<\/em> \u2018King of the English\u2019 and even in some documents \u2018King of all Britons\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Following \u00c6thelstan\u2019s death Wessex dominance progressively collapsed in large parts of the country. Viking incursions eventually overwhelmed King \u00c6thelred II, known as the unready, and in AD1013 King Sweyn Forkbeard<\/a> of Denmark invaded England. \u00c6thelred II fled to Normandy<\/a>, returning briefly to rule after Sweyn\u2019s death in AD1014. Following his death \u00c6thelred II was briefly succeeded by his son, Edmund Ironside<\/a>, but he died after a few months and was replaced by Sweyn’s son Cnut<\/a>, making England, once again, part of a Scandinavian empire.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Wessex dynasty was revived with the accession of Edward the Confessor in AD1042. With no heir upon his death in AD1066, a succession struggle between several claimants ensued. Harold Godwinson was crowned but his reign was short-lived. After successfully repelling an invasion, led by rival claimant, and Cnut\u2019s heir, Harald Hardrada<\/a>, Harold was defeated and killed at the Battle of Hastings by Duke William of Normandy, William\u2019s decisive victory once again restructuring the course of Britain\u2019s history and culture. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Archaeology, including new and emerging scientific methods and techniques, has the potential to confirm or challenge literary and documentary sources and greatly broaden our understanding of the Early Medieval period. However, despite documentary and place name evidence revealing a period of intense activity in a closely settled and developed landscape, as noted by Hooke, in Watt [ed.] <\/a>(2011), archaeological evidence of Post Roman and Early Medieval activity in Worcestershire remains frustratingly scant with many key sites discovered by chance rather than systematic analysis and\/or survey. Issues include, difficulty detecting Post Roman and Early Medieval archaeology other than through intrusive fieldwork and lack of recognition of Post Roman and Early Medieval deposits, as a consequence of the low use of pottery in the period (Dalwood, 2007, 114).<\/p>\n\n\n\n The 2011 West Midlands Regional Research Framework represented the results of a resource audit, which identified the nature and extent of the archaeological resource across the region, followed by a series of seminars, period based discussion and cross-sector collaboration, which interrogated and interpreted the resource to produce period based Research Assessments, Agendas and Strategies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In \u2018The post-Roman and Early Medieval periods: a potential archaeological agenda\u2019 Hooke describes the period as probably one of the periods least visible archaeologically <\/em>and undoubtedly a period in which changes occurred that underpinned much subsequent development<\/em>. Themes examined included Ethnicity, Burial, Territory and Belief and Settlements and Settlement Hierarchy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Dalwood, in Jackson and Dalwood et al (2007) Archaeology and Aggregates in Worcestershire: A Resource Assessment and Resource Agenda<\/em>, also presents a useful overview of Early Medieval\/Anglo Saxon archaeology and potential avenues for research. Much of this overview remains relevant in 2022 and as such has been drawn upon during development of the online Early Medieval Research Framework for Worcestershire.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It should be noted that metal detecting, if undertaken responsibly, also has a useful role in archaeological investigation of the period, with the recovery of Early Medieval metalwork, recorded by the Portable Antiquities Scheme<\/a>, supporting better understanding of the period as well as improved identification of sites and enhanced public interest in the period. <\/p>\n\n\n The Early Medieval Research Framework for Worcestershire is divided into four key themes; Settlement and Landscape<\/strong>, Industry and Trade<\/strong>, Death and Burial<\/strong> and Religion, Christianity and the Church<\/strong>. Click on the section cards to view each theme. <\/p>\n\n\n\n We welcome all comments on any aspects of the research framework, sign in above and then click on the plus signs to make comment. Thank you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Baker N J and Holt R 1996, \u2018The city of Worcester in the tenth century\u2019 in Brooks N and Cubitt C (eds.), St. Oswald of Worcester: life and influence<\/em>, Leicester University Press, pp 129-46<\/p>\n\n\n\n Baker N J and Holt R 2004 Urban growth and the medieval church: Gloucester and Worcester<\/em>, Aldershot, Ashgate<\/p>\n\n\n\n Bassett, S 1989 ‘Churches in Worcester before and after the conversion of the Anglo-Saxons’ in The Antiquaries Journal 69<\/em>, pp 225-56<\/p>\n\n\n\n Bassett, S 2008 ‘The Middle and late Anglo-Saxon defences of western Mercian towns’ in Anglo-Saxon Studies in Archaeology and History 15<\/em>, pp 180-239<\/p>\n\n\n\n Cox, D 2015 The Church and Vale of Evesham, 700-2015: Lordship, Landscape and Prayer: Studies in the History of Medieval Religion, Boydell Press<\/p>\n\n\n\n Dalwood, H 2003 \u2018The archaeology of post-Roman and early medieval Worcestershire\u2019 in West Midlands Regional Research Framework for Archaeology<\/em> West Midlands Regional Research Framework: Downloads (archaeologydataservice.ac.uk)<\/a> (accessed 19th<\/sup> October 2022)<\/p>\n\n\n\n Dalwood, H 2007 \u2018Post-Roman and early medieval period to conquest\u2019 in R Jackson and H, Dalwood (eds.) Archaeology and Aggregates in Worcestershire: A Resource Assessment and Research Agenda, Report 1477<\/em>, Worcestershire County Council with Cotswold Archaeology<\/p>\n\n\n\n Dyer, C 2008 Lords and Peasants in a Changing Society: The Estates of the Bishopric of Worcester, 680-1540, Cambridge University Press<\/p>\n\n\n\n Grundy, G, B 1935 \u2018The Ancient Highways and Tracks of Worcestershire and the Middle Severn Basin: Part III\u2019 in The Archaeological Journal<\/em> 95<\/em>, pp. 98-141 <\/em>The Archaeological Journal: Introduction (archaeologydataservice.ac.uk)<\/a> (accessed 19th October 2022)<\/p>\n\n\n\n Hamerow, H, D, Hinton and S, Crawford (eds.) 2011 The Oxford Handbook of Anglo-Saxon Archaeology<\/em>, Oxford University Press, Oxford<\/p>\n\n\n\nAn Inter-disciplinary approach to understanding<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
The Historical Record<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Political History <\/h2>\n\n\n\n
The Archaeological Record<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"Photograph](\"https:\/\/researchframeworks.org\/worcs\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/25\/2023\/05\/WMID6EFDB7-Image-6_2.jpg\")
Rights Holder: Birmingham Museums Trust<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\nResearch Questions<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
WORCS_EM21: Should the term Anglo-British be used to refer to the blending\/interaction of British and Anglo Saxon communities and cultures in Britain, as Anglo-Scandinavian has been used to describe the blending\/interaction of Norse and Anglo-Saxon communities and culture \u2013 in order to better establish the identity of our Region during the Early Medieval Period?<\/h3>
More information on this question <\/summary>
Found in the following Frameworks: <\/h5>Worcestershire<\/a><\/span>
Local Framework Numbering: <\/h5>WORCS_EM21<\/span>
Status: <\/h5>Active<\/span>
Date accepted: <\/h5>21\/04\/2023<\/span><\/div><\/details><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
Bibliography and Key Sources<\/h2>\n\n\n\n