Edgar, King of the English, 959-975: New Interpretations (Pubns Manchester Centre for Anglo-Saxon Studies, 8) - Softcover

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1843839288 ISBN 13: 9781843839286

Publisher: Boydell Press, 2014

Synopsis

King Edgar ruled England for a short but significant period in the middle of the tenth century. Two of his four children succeeded him as king and two were to become canonized. He was known to later generations as "the Pacific" or "the Peaceable" because his reign was free from external attack and without internal dissention, and he presided over a period of major social and economic change: early in his rule the growth of monastic power and wealth involved redistribution of much of the country's assets, while the end of his reign saw the creation of England's first national coinage, with firm fiscal control from the centre. He fulfilled King Alfred's dream of the West Saxon royal house ruling the whole of England, and, like his uncle King Æthelstan, he maintained overlordship of the whole of Britain. Despite his considerable achievements, however, Edgar has been neglected by scholars, partly because his reign has been thought to have passed with little incident. A time for a full reassessment of his achievement is therefore long overdue, which the essays in this volume provide. CONTRIBUTORS: SIMON KEYNES, SHASHI JAYAKUMAR, C.P. LEWIS, FREDERICK M. BIGGS, BARBARA YORKE, JULIA CRICK, LESLEY ABRAMS, HUGH PAGAN, JULIA BARROW, CATHERINE KARKOV, ALEXANDER R. RUMBLE, MERCEDES SALVADOR-BELLO

About this title

Review:

A timely reassessment of this monarch and reign. YEAR'S WORK IN ENGLISH STUDIES Illuminates aspects of Edgar's reign that have not been well covered in most general works, and its consistently high standard will ensure that it becomes essential reading for those who wish to understand the life and times of Edgar the Peaceable. ENGLISH HISTORICAL REVIEW

About this edition

• Publisher: Boydell Press
• Publication date: 2014
• ISBN 10: 1843839288
• ISBN 13: 9781843839286
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 294
• Editor: Scragg Professor Donald