The Early Anglo-Saxons, before Alfred the Great

This course studies the history of the Germanic raiders and settlers who created Anglo-Saxon England, through the lens of their material culture.

We shall discover how people from beyond the lines of the Roman Empire became heirs to Rome, how they related to the post Romano-British and Celtic inhabitants of the British Isles, to the Continent and to the Near East, and how their sense of identity developed and was expressed in their art, architecture, literature and thought.

We explore the written, visual and material culture of the Anglo-Saxons from the Roman withdrawal in the 5th century until the Viking upheavals of the mid-9th century. We discuss finds such as the Sutton Hoo and Prittlewell burials and the Staffordshire Hoard, alongside artworks including the Ruthwell Cross, the Franks Casket, the Lichfield Angel and the Vespasian Psalter, all set in context using historical, archaeological, artefactual and literary sources.