The Wealth of Anglo-Saxon England

168 Pages·2016·1.14 MB·English

by  Peter Sawyer

the wealth of anglo-saxon england
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The Wealth of
Anglo-Saxon England
Based on the Ford Lectures delivered in the
University of Oxford in Hilary Term 1993
P ETER S AWYER
1
3

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© Peter Sawyer 2013
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First Edition published in 2013
Impression: 1
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ISBN 978–0–19–925393–7
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PREFACE
The Ford Lectures on which this book is based were delivered in
1993. The delay has been partly due to previous commitments and
the disruption caused by two removals, to Trondheim in 1996 and to
Uppsala in 2006. In 2008 I began revising the fi rst version in the light
of very helpful comments by a reader for the Press, but this work was
soon interrupted for two years by a serious illness. I have tried, with
incomplete success, to take account of publications that have
appeared since 1993.
I n the fi rst place I wish to thank the electors to the Ford Lectureship
for inviting me. Many friends and colleagues have helped to keep me
up to date by sending references and supplying books and papers,
many in advance of publication. I am particularly grateful to Mark
Blackburn and Stewart Lyon for criticizing early drafts of several
chapters, and for the guidance they, together with Michael Metcalf,
Martin Allen, and Rory Naismith, have given on the numismatic
e vidence. Stewart Lyon has kept me informed about the progress of
his work on the Winchester and York mints, and has generously
allowed me to use his results in advance of their publication. Thanks
are also due to many others who have, at various stages, helped with
advice and criticism: Marion Archibald, Martin Biddle, John Blair,
Wolfgang Brockner, Nicholas Brooks, Donald Bullough, James
Campbell, Simon Coupland, Michael Dolley, David Dumville,
Christopher Dyer, Robin Eagleton, Mary Garrison, Malcolm Godden,
James Graham-Campbell, Dennis Green, Philip Grierson, Sally
Harvey, Gert Hatz, Joyce Hill, Kenneth Jonsson, Derek Keene, Susan
Kelly, Jane Kershaw, Simon Keynes, Susan Kruse, Michael Lapidge,
preface
John Latham, Kevin Leahy, John LePatourel, John Maddicott, Brita
Malmer, John Moore, Janet Nelson, John Newman, Pamela Nightingale,
Terence O’Connor, Elizabeth Pirie, Nigel Ramsey, Timothy Reuter,
Dieter Rosenthal, Harold Schneider, Richard Sharpe, Ian Short, Colin
Smith, Ian Stewart (Lord Stewartby), Katharina Ulmschneider, Alan
Vince, Leslie Webster, Ian Wood, Patrick Wormald, and Ulrich
Zwicker. I am also indebted to Kungl. Vetenskaps- och Vitterhets-
Samhället i Göteborg for grants that enabled me to discuss this work
with colleagues in England and to use the Sackler Library in Oxford.
My greatest debt is to my wife for her enthusiastic support from
the start in 1989. She has patiently read, and criticized, several ver-
sions of the whole book. The result, however imperfect, is much the
better for her advice.
vi
CONTENTS
List of Figures ix
List of Tables x
List of Abbreviations x i
1 Introduction 1
2 Tempore Regis Edwardi 10
3 From Solidi to Sceattas 32
4 The Eighth and Ninth Centuries 6 1
5 From Edward the Elder to Edward the Confessor
(899–1066) 87
6 ‘Whoever has cash (denarios) can acquire anything
he wants’ 1 11
Appendix: Estimating Dies, Coins, and Currency 1 15
References 127
Index 147
LIST OF FIGURES
1 Pennies of Edgar, Æthelred II, and Cnut 5
2 Annual values in 1086 18
3 Annual values per team in 1086 19
4 Solidus of Justinian I 48
5 Merovingian tremissis and Anglo-Saxon thrymsa 5 4
6 Frisian and Anglo-Saxon sceattas 5 7
7 Histogram: single coin fi nds from southern England,
600–1180 5 8
8 Map: single fi nds of sceattas in England 7 5
9 Penny of Offa 78
10 Penny of Alfred 8 4
11 Map: mints of Athelstan 9 2
12 Eleventh-century French and German coins 1 13
F or permission to reproduce illustrations, thanks are due to The
Syndics of the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge (fi gs. 1,4,5,6,9,10,
12); Cambridge University Press (fi gs. 2,3); Oxbow Books (fi g. 7);
British Numismatic Society (fi gs. 8,11).
All coins are shown at double their original size.
LIST OF TABLES
1 Single coin fi nds in the Danelaw and elsewhere
in England 9 0
2 Average number of reverse dies used per year in
Winchester, York, and Lincoln, c .973–1066 120
3 Estimates of the number of reverse dies used in the
Lincoln mint, c.973–1066 121
4 Estimates of the number of reverse dies used in the
mints of Winchester, York, and Lincoln,
c.973 and 1066 122
5 Single fi nds of coins from 978 to 1135 recorded
before 1 April 2004 125