Early English History Research Articles

Medieval Pasts and Eugenicist Futures: Grant Allen, Masculinity and Early English History

ABSTRACT Grant Allen was a Victorian scholar and novelist who published widely on science, literature and history. Embedded within these publications is a fascination with early England, particularly early English masculinity. Allen saw in England's origins a blueprint for the kind of white, hegemonic masculinity he wished to see reproduced not only in contemporary English society and culture but also in the eugenic makeup of the English people as well. By reaching to early English history to legitimise his own visions of imperial white masculinity, Allen weaves a fantasy of medieval male virility into the fabric of his Victorian present. This essay discusses Allen's interest in the social apparatus of gender, contemporary eugenicist discourse and the interpretive potential of an imagined medieval past and argues that Allen uses early English history to justify ongoing colonial projects and to frame white men as the rightful heirs to global power.

Historical Writing of Early Rus (c.1000–c.1400) in a Comparative Perspective, by Timofey V. Guimon

This work’s title is misleading, in that its ‘comparative perspective’ mainly concerns Anglo-Saxon England, albeit with glances at other Insular writings and writing practices in ancient civilisations. Its comparisons between Rus chronicles and texts produced in England may thus escape attention from early English history students. Timofey V. Guimon’s familiarity with the manuscripts of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle enables him to reappraise the ways in which those of Rus chronicles, too, may have undergone additions and emendations. Only two extant manuscripts pre-date 1400, and even these are copies. A cat’s-cradle has developed of hypothetical reconstructions of the successive redactions which texts supposedly underwent. For his part, Guimon does not favour over-elaborate stemmata. Instead, he offers a nuanced version of the chain of developments postulated by the founding father of Russian ‘textology’, Aleksey Shahkmatov: a set of annals kept soon after Prince Vladimir’s acceptance of Byzantine-style Christianity; a retrospective narrative composed, probably, in the mid-eleventh century; composition in the 1090s of the ‘Initial Compilation’; and the creation in the early 1100s of what is known to English readers as the Rus Primary Chronicle.

Rebel Angels: Space and Sovereignty in Anglo-Saxon England

Rebel Angels: Space and Sovereignty in Anglo-Saxon England

Joseph Armitage Robinson, Glastonbury and Historical Remembrance

Abstract This article discusses the relationship of history, theology and mythmaking with reference to the myths of Glastonbury. These related to the legends associated with Joseph of Arimathea’ purported visit to England, the burial place of King Arthur, as well as the quest for the Holy Grail. It draws on the work of Joseph Armitage Robinson (1858–1933), one of the most important Biblical and patristic scholars of his generation who, after becoming Dean of Westminster and later Dean of Wells Cathedral in Somerset, and close to Glastonbury, became a distinguished medievalist. After assessing the development of the Glastonbury legends and the use of early British history made in the earlier Anglican tradition, particularly in the work of Archbishop Matthew Parker (1504–1575), it goes on to discuss their revival in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries especially under the local parish priest Lionel Smithett Lewis (1867–1953). It concludes by showing that while there might be no historical substance in the myths, that there is nevertheless an important history to devotion and piety which is as equally open to theological and historical investigation as the events of history.

A European Turn in Early American History?

Abstract From the nineteenth century onwards, Americans have naturalized their colonial origins into a consensual nationalist history, emphasizing America’s perceived role as a refuge for the persecuted, while smoothing out a myriad of complexities in the process. Evan Haefeli attempts to overturn the assumptions underpinning this narrative and is convinced that many important aspects of early America need to be understood within a broader European context. In Accidental Pluralism, he argues that the collapse of religious unity in England lies at the root of the emergence of pluralism in colonial America, in which he includes Canada and the Caribbean. Relationships among states, churches, and publics were contested from the earliest decades of colonization and created a pluralistic religious landscape that no one had anticipated. The four reviewers are fulsome in their praise, calling it an impressive, important, powerful, and sweeping book that few scholars could have written. The reviewers also raise questions, for instance by problematizing the incorporation of the colonial American dimension into early British history, criticizing the validity of the chosen end date, and questioning his definitions of diversity, pluralism, and religious toleration. In his response Evan Haefeli takes the opportunity to reflect on what drove him to write the book and to organize it in this way. He acknowledges that connecting early American history with its broader European context was more difficult than it should have been, as the dominant questions in the two historiographies are an ocean apart. While the argument of the book is aimed at early Americanists, Haefeli is grateful that the reviewers situate the story he tells within the broader early modern European history of toleration.

‘Britones a Troianis duxerunt originem’: Historia Meriadoci, De ortu Waluuanii and their Galfridian companion-text in BL MS Cotton Faustina B VI

Abstract When a reader encounters the Latin romances Historia Meriadoci and De ortu Waluuanii in BL MS Cotton Faustina B VI, the romances are only the first two in a set of three texts copied by the same scribe on the same occasion. The third text, following directly on De ortu Waluuanii, is an abstract of books 1–6 of Geoffrey of Monmouth’s De gestis Britonum. While valuable in its own right as a witness to the DGB’s use and manuscript circulation, the abstract is presented and investigated here for what it may tell us about the Latin romances’ own transmission and reception, which have long been shrouded in mystery. As I argue, the abstract’s juxtaposition with the romances is no accident, and figures importantly in the romances’ presentation. Much as the opening stanzas of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight set the stage for King Arthur, in fact, the Latin synopsis begins with the fall of Troy and Brutus’ foundation of Britain before (much more expansively than the Gawain-poet) recounting the war and wrack of early British history, concluding with Merlin’s revelation to Vortigern of the warring dragons. In this and other ways this Galfridian abstract causes the Latin romances to quicken with correspondences to Geoffrey’s work; this effect may even suggest for the romances a date of composition not distant from that of the DGB itself. By exploring the interpretive possibilities of this widened manuscript context, the present paper seeks to initiate a re-examination of these mysterious Latin romances in relation to their Galfridian companion-text. This article concludes with an edition of the abstract itself, which until now has not been edited or translated.

Breakdown of the Anglo-Saxon Model of Globalization

The most advanced societies have no newly-needed democratic formations, as legally unsecured intellectual freedom may be usurped by powerful institutions having a formal respect for the old democratic principles. Generally, this means that we are witnessing not just personality changes, but tectonic shifts in the legal and political strata that existed and developed within the period of Modernity. The purpose of this research is to identify the features of current crisis in the Anglo-Saxon globalization. This goal can be achieved on the back of classical philosophy and large-scale historical material applied simultaneously. This approach demonstrates that globalization processes are still guided by the legacy of early English history and the ideas that originated during the Age of Enlightenment. Anglo-Saxon Model discredits itself and, consequently, becomes non-legitimate when it comes to its supreme right to interpret the idea of democracy. An important aspect of this research is how the religious trends of the 17th century were interwoven with political, legal and cultural consequences.

The earliest modern Anglo-Saxon grammar: Sir Henry Spelman, Abraham Wheelock and William Retchford

AbstractThe first scholars interested in Anglo-Saxon had to learn it by direct contact with original sources. Work on a dictionary preceded that on a grammar, notably through the efforts of John Joscelyn, Archbishop Parker's Latin Secretary. Like Parker, Sir Henry Spelman (1563/4–1641) found that many of his sources for early English history were in Anglo-Saxon. Consequently he encouraged the study of Old English by establishing a Lectureship in Anglo-Saxon at Cambridge University and worked closely with its first (and only) holder, Abraham Wheelock. Together with Wheelock's pupil, William Retchford, and possibly drawing on some earlier work by Joscelyn (since lost), these scholars attempted to formulate the rudiments of Anglo-Saxon grammar. This pioneering work, basically a parts-of-speech grammar, survives in three versions, two of them incomplete. In this article I discuss the contents and methodology used and present for the first time an edited text of the first modern Old English grammar. It was a remarkable achievement.

THE ONGOING LIVES OF BOOKS AND THEIR LIBRARIES

One early spring afternoon in 1982 I happened to find myself ambling along Fuzhou Road in Shanghai and coming by chance upon a small unattractive bookstore. The brown paint on its outer doors was peeling, the stucco surface of its exterior needed a good scrubbing, and more than a few tiles on its floor were broken. If then no different in appearance from the other bookstores I had earlier visited along this famous Shanghai book street, this store nonetheless boasted a strikingly different kind of stock: it specialized in selling second-hand Western books. While novels abounded on its shelves, the pre-war variety in hardback and the more recent in paperback, one thick non-fiction volume caught my eye. Entitled Domesday Book and Beyond, this classic 1887 treatment of early English history by the great English legal historian Frederic W. Maitland had long been on my reading list. Somehow a copy of it had ended up in this unpromising bookshop. When I opened the virtually virgin pages of this copy and noticed that it could be bought for a proverbial song, I readily leapt to the temptation and acquired it with delight.

The Study of English National History by Sir Francis Palgrave: The Original Use of the National Records in an Imaginative Historical Narrative

This article reveals how the study of medieval English history, in particular its legal institutions, was remodeled and represented by Sir Francis Palgrave in an imaginative and constructive historical narrative, through the pioneering use of the national records. It demonstrates that, beyond the obvious attributes of an equivocally gothic style, the significance of Palgrave’s work lies in its innovative combination of technique and method. The argument of the article then focuses on the significance of Palgrave’s work: of his methods and theories, and how Palgrave’s interpretation of early English legal history was a vivid and innovative example of drawing conclusions from the analysis of the development of legal principles – specifically, those relating to the influences of the demographic, legal and institutional vestiges of the Roman empire on English law. His interpretation exemplified inventiveness and insightfulness of theory, matched by methodical deployment of the archival evidence to which Palgrave had unprecedented access. In Palgrave we will see the imperial idea of “authority” at its acme, before it was eclipsed by the ideas of the Germanist school and with that a reemphasized credence placed on the Common Law historiographical tradition from Coke, through Hale and culminating in Blackstone. The implications of Palgrave’s work have long been underrated, so in conclusion it is the purpose of this article to re-evaluate and revise that underestimation.

Pinpointing the Emergence of the Company Limited by Guarantee’ in Company Law: Historical Origins and Modern Day Review

The origin of the "company limited by guarantee" is nearly impossible to pinpoint. While some experts believe that this type of business form sprang into being overnight, it is more likely that the company limited by guarantee slowly developed over centuries of time. The origins of the company limited by guarantee have a shadowy existence, which is likely attributable to the notion that this business form is comprised of bits and pieces of other business forms that existed in early English history.

<i>A Companion to Bede</i> (review)

Reviewed by: A Companion to Bede Emily V. Thornbury A Companion to Bede. By George Hardin Brown. Anglo-Saxon Studies, 12. Woodbridge, Suffolk: The Boydell Press, 2009. Pp. ix + 170. $90. The Venerable Bede’s influence has never died, as George Hardin Brown makes clear in this excellent and comprehensive introduction to the Northumbrian monk’s great oeuvre; but the last twenty years have been particularly kind to his work. The canon of Bede’s writings has been tested and its dating refined; many new manuscripts have been discovered, leading to considerable new insights about the dissemination of texts both popular and rare; and close examination has begun to reveal the subtlety of Bede’s rhetorical technique. Some modern editions, and especially the important translations published by Liverpool University Press, have also opened the less well-known didactic and exegetical works to a new readership. This surge of interest in—and fresh accessibility of—Bede’s entire corpus makes A Companion to Bede all the more welcome and necessary, and it will undoubtedly be immensely useful to students of early English history, literature, and theology. The present work is an update of Brown’s earlier Bede the Venerable (Boston: Twayne, 1987); given the development of Bedan scholarship in the interim, it amounts to an entirely new book. The references are in fact so up-to-date that they will become most useful in the near future—the final chapter in particular, on “Bede’s Works Through the Ages,” references a great deal of forthcoming work (including Brown’s own The Bedan Legacy, and the Cambridge Companion to Bede, ed. Scott DeGregorio). The time-warp aspect of this is a bit disconcerting in 2009, but besides ensuring the volume’s ongoing usefulness, it also gives a strong impression of the present vibrancy of this field and the continued need for scholarship. Brown several times points out major desiderata (for instance, the lack of translations of the New Testament commentaries, p. 59; further consideration of Bede’s Latinity and rhetoric, pp. 96 and 134), as well as the virtues of understudied works. The Companion provides encouragement as well as orientation to beginning scholars, therefore, and it would be an excellent book around which to structure a seminar. The first chapter, “Bede’s Life and Times,” is tightly focused on Bede himself and [End Page 385] his monastery. Brown gives a brief history of the foundation of Monkwearmouth-Jarrow and the labors of its early abbots Benedict Biscop and Ceolfrith to build the paired houses up as a seat of learning and correct monastic observance. The treatment of early Northumbrian political and ecclesiastical history is extremely concise (pp. 3–4), and readers not already familiar with the period will probably need to supplement this section with the references provided and Bede’s own accounts. The real purpose of the Companion, however, is not to provide immediate historical or social context—although the notes generally indicate where this can be found—but rather to explicate the nature, purpose, and unique contributions of Bede’s writings. This it does exceptionally well. The bulk of the book (chaps. 2–5) is a systematic consideration of each of Bede’s works in its generic context: so the groups discussed are “Educational Works,” “Biblical Commentaries” (subdivided by Old and New Testament and “Biblical Aids”); “Homilies, Hagiography, Martyrology, Poems, Letters,” and “Histories.” The references for each section are complete, and there are considerable cross-references along with a full index and table of contents, so those looking for particular texts can use this volume piecemeal. It would be a pity to do this exclusively, though, because the discussions of genre which introduce chapters 2, 3, and 5 are illuminating and wide-ranging considerations of the development of immensely popular medieval forms. Brown’s explanation of Biblical commentary in particular (pp. 33–42) beautifully illuminates how central these commentaries are to an understanding of medieval reading practices, particularly the fourfold interpretation, of which “Bede was the definitive authority in the Middle Ages” (p. 38). Literary scholars will find the summary of Bede’s terminology for allegorical and figural interpretation particularly useful (p. 37), along with the extended discussions of the...

Folly and fortune in early British history: from Caesar to the Normans

List of Tables and Illustrations Preface: About This Book Introduction: Humans, History, Folly, and Fortune The Roman Eagle Lands The Coming of the Pagans The Improbable Norman Conquest So Just How Foolish or Fortunate Have We Been? Appendix I: The Question of Arthur Appendix II: Timeline Appendix III: Chronology of Kings and Overlords of England from the Anglo-Saxon Advent to the Norman Conquest Bibliography of References

Invented and Manufactured History

In 1138, at the height of the Mediaeval period and less than seventy-five years after William the Conqueror led his Norman barons into Britain, an imaginative Welshman, Geoffrey of Monmouth, completed a detailed account (in Latin, of course) entitled The History of the Kings of Britain. In it he gave the British people an apocryphal, proud, and noble Trojan ancestor, Brutus, the grandson of Aeneas. With this fine pedigree rooted in the ancient and classical civilizations, he dispelled any thoughts that the ancient British might have been rude barbarians beyond the reach of the Graeco-Roman world. He was most resourceful in applying his rich imagination to filling in the many gaps in early British history. He successfully pandered to the sensibilities of his Norman patrons. He related stirring accounts of heroic times, such as the story of King Lear, ready for Shakespeare to exploit centuries later. He created the channel through which the enduring Arthurian legend is transmitted to an appreciative audience year after year. But more than anything else, Geoffrey of Monmouth started a grand tradition of invented history. Earlier British writers had also invented parts of their historical accounts, but Geoffrey's rousing good stories immediately became popular throughout Europe and remained so well into the eighteenth century. That great tradition of invented history continues its powerful influence into the present day, as the persistent efforts of some Scottish nationalists attest. The English-speaking world is replete with attempts to use classical, biblical, folkloric, invented, and imagined sources for personal, monetary, ethnic, religious, political, and national aggrandizement through the vehicle of invented history. The documentation of sources has long been a problem for the inventors of history. For example, Geoffrey claimed that he had obtained many details from a vetustissimus liber, a very ancient book in the British (that is, Welsh) language that has never materialized. When British antiquarians in

The Early History of Tissue Culture in Britain: The Interwar Years.

The technique of tissue culture has, throughout the twentieth century, become a mainstay of biomedical research, and exists today as a celebrated scientific tool. However, an examination of its early history demonstrates that it was once contested, with professional opinion differing as to its value to science and medicine, and, crucially for the purposes of this article, considerable public awareness of its potential and perceived pitfalls. Here, the hitherto neglected situation in the early British history of tissue culture will be studied, with the focus being the work performed at the Strangeways Research Laboratory in Cambridge during the interwar years of the last century. Examination of the early life of this institution shows that scientists eager to stress the technique's viability tapped into popular sentiment to overstress its potential, in a fashion reminiscent of earlier experimental biologists and their contemporary American counterparts. This ultimately backfired on British culturists as the press coverage of their work became incredibly sensationalist, and increasingly sinister in tone, and scientific fact and fantastical speculation became inseparable.

Ravishing Strides: Signs of the Peripatetic in Early Modern Performance

Actors' feet are accepted as part of their expressive equipment – but doubts are often expressed that this has always been so. The evidence of early English theatre history is adduced to suggest otherwise, while recent treatments of the peripatetic in literary studies argue that the ‘visible walk’ attains prominence only in the Romantic period. But David Roberts argues that, from the emergence of permanent theatres, walking offered a metonymy for performance which persisted throughout the seventeenth century. Cross-dressing highlighted the expressive potential of the feet, while close examination of play-texts implies evolving styles of the peripatetic in performance, and the scenic theatres of the Restoration frequently portrayed walking as a cultural activity bound up with the status of both actors and scenery in post-revolutionary London. David Roberts teaches English and Drama at University College Worcester, and has published widely on theatre and literature from 1550 to 1789. He leads an AHRB-funded project on theatre criticism.

News, Newspapers, and Society in Early Modem Britain

Sharp News All the pieces should be of interest to specialists and the contributions of Levy, Atherton and Raymond in particular combine specific detail and argument...in such a way as to be useful to undergraduate and general readers as well. Canadian Journal of Political Science To someone who is interested in the early English history of the news, especially one who is already familiar with much of the history, Raymonds collection of essays contain a wide range of interesting discussions Renaissance & Reformation Nevitts study provides an exemplary model for recovering evidence of the careers of personnel

The discovery of Old Welsh

Summary Edward Lhuyd’s (1660–1709) Archaeologia Britannica (Oxford 1707), was intended to be a study of early British history together with copies of some of the original source material The only volume to appear, entitled Glossography, printed glossaries and grammars of the Celtic languages and lists of Irish and Welsh manuscripts, and it set out the principles of phonetic changes and correspondences so that linguistic and written evidence for the relationships of the first (Celtic) inhabitants of the British Isles could be evaluated. The antiquity of the evidence was of prime importance. Lhuyd sought the ‘very ancient’ written sources which would bridge the gap between the post-Roman inscriptions and the medieval Welsh manuscripts which he had seen. Humphrey Wanley (1672–1726), the Old English scholar, drew his attention to the Lichfield gospel book and two Latin manuscripts at the Bodleian Library which contained Welsh glosses and Lhuyd himself discovered the Cambridge Juvencus manuscript. These were the oldest forms of Welsh which he had seen. He analysed the palaeography, the orthography and vocabulary of these witnesses, and although he was not able fully to comprehend these records, he was able to begin to describe the characteristics of the British insular hand and to define some of the features which distinguished Old Welsh from Middle Welsh.

Michael V. C. Alexander. Three Crises in Early English History: Personalities and Politics during the Norman Conquest, the Reign of King John, and the Wars of the Roses. Lanham, Md.: University Press of America. 1998. Pp. 272. $36.00. ISBN 0-7618-1188-5

Michael V. C. Alexander. Three Crises in Early English History: Personalities and Politics during the Norman Conquest, the Reign of King John, and the Wars of the Roses. Lanham, Md.: University Press of America. 1998. Pp. 272. $36.00. ISBN 0-7618-1188-5 - Volume 31 Issue 3

Castleford’s Chronicle or The Boke of Brut ed. by Caroline D. Eckhardt

REVIEWS last chapter, "Modern Readers/Medieval Texts" (pp. 148-57), is slightly disappointing, probably because its title made us expect more than what is actually just a rather repetitive conclusion. My own conclusion highlights the importance of this interdisciplin­ ary contribution. It also congratulates the author and the editor for the correctness of the French quotations, names, etc., and even the reliabil­ ity in their use ofFrench accents. There are, however, a few slight errors or inconsistencies. Names starting with a first de/De are difficult to spell and to classify alphabetically. Those of Dutch/Flemish origin should in general be spelled with a capital D and appear under D, but since there are different practices, I would not object to a different system. Let me simply say that we find De Man, Paul, in the index, versus de Man, Paul, in the bibliography (yet under the letter D); Bruyne, Edgar de, in the index and bibliography (under the letter B) versus Bruyne in the text (his actual name is De Bruyne). Anthime Fourrier's book should read L'Hzmzanisme medieval dans !es litteratures romanes dti Xlle at1 XIVe siecle, and not rzzedievale (twice on p. 193). On p. 189, Terence Scully's edition ought to read "Le Cottrt d'Arzzottrs" de Mahiett le Poirier et la "Suite Anonyme de la Court d'Amours." Let me also suggest the addition of Bakhtin (cf. p. 182) to the index; and, to the bibliography, an edition (or translation) of Gerald of Wales's De rebus a se gestis-"a crucial text" (p. 168). It is often a bit mean to pinpoint such small details; given the exceptional neatness of the presentation, I hope that this very short list will rather show that it has almost reached editorial perfection. JULIETTE DOR Universite de Liege CAROLINE D. ECKHARDT, ed. Castleford's Chronicle or The Boke of Brue, vols. 1 (introduction and books 1 to 6) and 2 (books 7 to 12), Early English Text Society [EETS}, o.s., 305 and 306. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1996. Pp. xvi and vii, 1065. $125.00. Castleford's Chronicle, as it is usually called (from the name written at the top of the opening folio, although this is not necessarily the name ofthe author), is "a long verse chronicle, written in a Northern English dia­ lect" and surviving in a single copy (from the fifteenth-century) in the 349 STUDIES IN THE AGE OF CHAUCER Niedersachsische Staats-und Universitatsbibliothek in Gottingen (vol. 1, p.xi).It belongs to "a broad family of medieval texts, widely distrib­ uted in Latin and French versions as well as in English, that recount the traditional history of the British Isles, attributing the early settlement of Britain to Brutus, a descendant of Aeneas" (1:xii).The text "follows the general contents of the other vernacular 'Brue' chronicles ...but it does not agree with any of them exactly" (1:xiii).It includes, for ex­ ample, "a strange version of the Norman Conquest in which Harold is said to marry William's sister Elaine" (1:xi), and appears to conflate Geoffrey, Duke of Brittany (son of Henry II), with his illegitimate half­ brother, Geoffrey, Archbishop of York (1:xiii). After a prologue ex­ plaining why Britain was originally named Albion, it "presents a series of legendary rulers-including Brutus, Lear, and Arthur-who reflect the construction of early British history established some two centuries earlier by Geoffrey of Monmouth's Historia regum Britanniae ...then proceeds through the period of the Saxon and Norman conquests and continues into more recent times, closing with the events of the year 1327" (1:xii).The text ends "perhaps incomplete, with the deposition of Edward II and his imprisonment in Berkeley Castle," but makes no mention of his death (1:xiii). Excerpts from Castleford's Chronicle have been published before, but Eckhardt's edition (completing the work begun by Angus McIntosh in 1938 and continued by Frank Behre) gives us for the first time a printed text of the whole thing.The two volumes so far published contain the complete text (nearly 39,500 lines, in short rhyming couplets) preceded by a brief introduction; volume 3 will include the...