We shall start with a look at some of the rich late Roman treasure hoards from Britain (Mildenhall, Thetford, and Hoxne, all of which are now in the British Museum), before considering their significance in the broader context of the decline of imperial Roman authority in Western Europe. We shall then attempt to chart, in the light of recent work re-evaluating both documentary sources and archaeological evidence, what we can of the process through which the English-speaking peoples became dominant in Britain. Although this process now appears more complicated than was previously thought, it is also far more interesting.
We shall see that the origin-legend which tells of the brothers Hengest and Horsa landing at Ebbsfleet on the Island of Thanet in north-east Kent in 449 cannot be taken at face-value.
Similarly, the much later claims that arise from the stirring legends of King Arthur are fraught with profound historical uncertainties. This leads us to explore alternative models, one of which arises from the possibility that there may have been a connection in the 6th century between the consolidation of the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms in Britain and the destruction of the prosperous kingdom of the Ostrogoths in Italy.
During the early 7th century, it appears that all of these kingdoms were subject to the overlordship of King Rædwald of the Eastern Angles. This same king is also thought to be the most likely candidate (on the present evidence) to have lain in state aboard the treasure-laden funeral-ship berthed beneath Mound One at Sutton Hoo.
We shall examine some of the artistic and technical wonders found beneath this barrow and consider the questions they raise. The superb jewellery of gold, garnet, and blue glass reveals a high-culture synthesis of styles from Britain and the Continent. Some of the finest of these masterworks appear to have been made in the East Anglian royal workshop at nearby Rendlesham, as recent excavations have suggested. We shall see that the Sutton Hoo treasures, along with related discoveries from elsewhere in England, such as the Staffordshire Hoard, imply that the early 7th century was truly a Golden Age.
