The English Settlements

288 Pages·1986·28.389 MB·English

by  John Nowell Linton Myres

This entirely new work is the last volume to
be published in the Oxford History of
England, and replaces J. N. L. Myres’s own
part of the first volume in the series. Roman
Britain and the English Settlements — the
classic ‘Collingwood and Myres’. The author
returns to the subject of his earlier contri­
bution — the dark centuries of English
history between the collapse of Roman rule
in the early fifth century and the emergence
of the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms in the seventh
— but considers the period afresh in the
light of the rapid proliferation of work on
the subject in the half-century since the first
volume was published. Much new evidence
on the literary sources, on the archaeological
evidence both in England and on the conti­
nent, and on place names and other linguis­
tic developments has led to significant
changes in emphasis: Dr Myres now draws
attention to some little-understood factors
which seem to link Roman Britain with
Anglo-Saxon England, and so suggests
strands of political and social continuity
which may help to explain this complex and
traumatic period of our history.
1 his volume takes its place in the series as
Volume lb, alongside Peter Salway’s major
recent study of Roman Britain (Volume la,
1981; Oxford Paperbacks 1984), which
replaced R. G. Collingwood's part of
‘Collingwood and Myres’.
J. N. L. Myres is Honorary Student of Christ
Church and formerly Bodley’s Librarian in
the University of Oxford.
Jacket illustration: Anglo-Saxon pot from North
Elmham, Norfolk. By permission of the Trustees of the
British Museum

THF. OXFORD HISTORY
OF ENGLAND
Edited by SIR GEORGE CLARK
THE OX FO RD HISTORY OF ENGLAND
Edited b y SIR GEORGE CLARK
IA. ROMAN BRITAIN
By PETER SALWAY, 1981
IB. THE ENGLISH SETTLEM ENTS
By J. N. L. MY RES, 1985
II. A N G LO -SA X O N EN G LA N D , c. 550-1087
By SIR FRANK STENTON. Third edition, 1971
III. FROM DOMESDAY BOOK TO MAGNA CARTA. 1087-1216
By AUSTIN L. POOLE. Second edition, 1955
IV. TH E T H IR T E E N T H CENTURY. 1216-1307
By SIR MAURICE POWICKE. Second edition, 1962
V. TH E F O U R T E E N T H CENTURY. 1307-1399 ■
By MAY MCKISACK, 1959
VI. THE F IF T E E N T H CENTURY. 1399-1485
By E. F. JACOB, 1961
VII. TH E E A R L I E R TUDO RS. 1485-1558
By J. D. MACKIE, 1952
VIII. THE REIGN OF E L IZ A B E T H . 1558-1603
By J. B. BLACK. Second edition, 1959
IX. T H E EARLY STUARTS. 1603-1660
By GODFREY DAVIES. Second edition, 1959
X. THE L A T E R STUARTS. 1660-1714
By SIR GEORGE CLARK. Second edition, 1956
XL TH E WHIG SUPREMACY. 1714-1760
By BASIL WILLIAMS. Second edition revised by C. II. STUART, 1962
XII. TH E REIGN OF G E O R G E III. 1760-1815
By J. STEVEN WATSON, 1960
XIII. TH E AGE O F R EFO RM . 1815-1870
By SIR LLEWELLYN WOODWARD. Second edition, 1962
XIV. EN G LA N D . 1870-1914
By SIR ROBERT ENSOR, 1936
XV. ENGLISH H ISTO R Y . 1914-1945
By A. J. P. TAYLOR, 1965
T H E
E N G L I S H
S E T T L E M E N T S
By
*
J . N. L. MYRES
som etime Bodley's Librarian and
President o f the Society o f Antiquaries
CLARENDON PRESS • OXFORD
1986
Oxford University Press, Walton Street. Oxford 0X2 6DP
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Oxford is a trade mark of Oxford University Press
Published in the United States
by Oxford University Press, New York
© Oxford University Press 1986
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced,
stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means,
electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without
the prior permission of Oxford University Press
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
My res. J. N. L.
The English settlements. —
(Oxford history of England: IB)
I. Great Britain History — Roman period,
—
55 B.C.-449 A.D. 2. Great Britain — History
— Anglo-Saxon period, 449-1066
I Title
942.01 DA 145
ISBN 0-19-821719-6
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Myres, J. N. L. (John Nowell Linton)
The English Settlements.
(The Oxford history of England; IB)
Bibliography: p.
Includes index.
1. Great Britain History Anglo-Saxon period,
449-1066. 1. Title. 11. Series.
DA152.M97 1985 942.01 85-15538
ISBN 0-19-821719-6
Set by G res tun Graphics, Abingdon
Printed in Great Britain
at the University Press, Oxford
by David Stanford,
Printer to the University
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
T HIS book could never have reached the point of publication with­
out the generous assistance of many friends and scholars working
in the same fields who have contributed in different ways to its
completion. To a number of these I have expressed my obligation in the
text or the notes. But I owe much more than I may realize to personal
contacts over more than fifty years with those, both in this country and
abroad, with whom 1 have often discussed the problems of this age. I am
also greatly indebted to my son, Dr. M. T. Myres, of the Department of
Biology at Calgary University, who was mainly responsible for persuading
me to persevere with this task at an age when many authors have had
their fill of reading and writing, and may find it more burdensome than
they once did to express themselves intelligibly in print. His experience
of university teaching in Canada, albeit in a field of study far removed
from mine, has enabled me to avoid obscurities of expression and to
provide explanations, especially of some technical terms, which may be
helpful to students unfamiliar with the historical and geographical
backgrounds in which the story of the English settlements must be set.
The welcome decision of the publishers to allow for the first tim e in
this series some illustrations in addition to maps has enabled me to
include a few visual aids, to explain the basic sequences in the archae­
ological evidence for this period which arc difficult either to expound
or to comprehend without such help. For permission to reproduce for
this purpose material already published elsewhere in different contexts
I am greatly indebted to Professor V. I. Evison, Mrs. S. C. Hawkes, Dr.
M. Welch, and Mr. William J. Roberts IV. They are of course in no way
responsible for any unexpected conclusions I may have drawn from the
objects themselves.
I am also most grateful to Delia Twamley and Margaret Golby, who
have typed at different stages a continuously evolving and often rather
messy manuscript with admirable accuracy and precision. Above all my
thanks are due to my good friends Jean Cook and Grace Briggs, who
have collaborated most generously and efficiently in relieving me of
nearly all the tiresome and time-consuming incidentals of authorship.
They have identified, checked, and standardized my often wayward
references, investigated many queries, and removed minor obscurities,
duplications, and errors of all kinds. While any remaining defects are
entirely my responsibility, it is due to them that this book has reached
a form which makes publication possible. 1 am most grateful for all that
they have done to bring this to pass.
J. N. L. M.