Landscapes of Defence in Early Medieval Europe ed. by John Baker, Stuart Brookes, and Andrew Reynolds (review)

Abstract

Reviewed by: Landscapes of Defence in Early Medieval Europe ed. by John Baker, Stuart Brookes, and Andrew Reynolds Roger Vella Bonavita Baker, John, Stuart Brookes, and Andrew Reynolds, eds, Landscapes of Defence in Early Medieval Europe (Studies in the Early Middle Ages, 28), Turnhout, Brepols, 2013; hardback; pp. xviii, 384; 65 b/w illustrations; R.R.P. €100.00; ISBN 9782503529561. This is a well-produced volume of thirteen papers following a conference at University College, London, in 2007 supported by the British Academy, which in turn arose from Beyond the Burghal Hidage, a three-year project sponsored by the Leverhulme Fund. Participants and contributors sought to consider defensive networks (rather than just individual strongholds) during England’s Viking Age (especially the times of Alfred the Great) and to compare and contrast them with contemporary defensive networks in early medieval mainland Europe using the interdisciplinary approaches offered by landscape and placename evidence and analysis. Though the main thrust of the collection of papers is Anglo-Saxon England, the editors stress that the book will interest students in various fields of early medieval European history. The papers provide bridges connecting those working on Southern Europe (Spain) and Northern Europe (Scandinavia), as well as Eastern Europe and the Low Countries. Italy and most of France are not covered. Quite apart from their interest to students of systems of defence and fortification, the papers will be relevant therefore to historians generally, and more specifically to archaeologists, historical geographers, experts on place names, and the like. The papers fall into three categories. The first covers the objectives of the Beyond the Burghal Hidage project and its attempt to draw together all fields relevant to the study of Anglo-Saxon defences including archaeology (Andrew Reynolds), mapping (Stuart Brookes), and vocabulary (John Baker). The next section consists of five papers that consider various topics of Anglo-Saxon defence: the manuscript sources for West Saxon fortifications (Barbara Yorke); Wallingford in Oxfordshire – a case history (Neil Christie, with Oliver Creighton and Matt Edgeworth); the function of the Anglo-Saxon Burh (Gareth Williams); suburban settlements in late Anglo-Saxon England (Andrew Gate); and the costs and development of civil defence 878–1066 (Richard Abels). The final section, also of five essays, looks at the ringwallburgen in Holland (Letty Ten Harkel), Frankish and Slavic fortifications in Germany (Peter Ettel), fortifications in Eastern Scandinavia (Charlotte Hedenstierna-Johnson, Lena Holmquist, and Michael Olausson), defensive sites in Northwest Spain (Juan [End Page 222] Antonio Quirós Castillo), and the evolution of defences in the County of Castille in the tenth century (Julio Escalona). The book is a most worthy addition to the series of Studies in the Early Middle Ages edited under the auspices of the Centre for Medieval Studies at the University of York. Roger Vella Bonavita The University of Western Australia Copyright © 2014 Roger Vella Bonavita