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From Alfred the Great to Stephen by R. H. C. Davis
Twenty-two collected essays on late Anglo-Saxon and Norman history.
Hardcover
First published August 2, 2003
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About the author
R.H.C. Davis
16 books8 followersRalph Henry Carless Davis, always known publicly as R.H.C. Davis, was an English historian and educator specialising in the European Middle Ages. He was a leading exponent of strict documentary analysis and interpretation, was keenly interested in architecture and art in history, and was successful at communicating to the public and as a teacher.
R.H.C. Davis was the son of historian H.W. Carless Davis
R.H.C. Davis was the son of historian H.W. Carless Davis
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February 12, 2020
Note, this is a series of essays and I only read the ones up to the Norman Conquest. Whilst cutting edge when first presented, some of these are now distinctly old and have probably been revised by subsequent study:
Bede after Bede (1989) 14 pages
The EH was the inspiration for siting monasteries in the post conquest monastic revival. To contemporary historians the EH was important for the saints and religious history, rather than political history. They were either writing with the knowledge that Wessex became central to England and so cut down Northumbria's significance or if they were Northumbrian it contrasted the present unfavourably with the past and so they didn't pay much attention to the past glories.
East Anglia and the Danelaw (1955) 18 pages
The high number of Freemen in East Anglian Danelaw aren't to be equated with the descendants of soldiers from Guthrum's army. Whilst a superficially attractive idea, it fails on every point put forward to support it when they are closely examined. Other things of interest: Families with 3 sons, 2 with English names and 1 with a Scandinavian one, and the notion that part of Danelaw's peculiar institutions may have been introduced during the reign of Cnut and in East Anglia under Thorkell the Tall. This essay felt as if there should be more recent studies of this question.
Alfred the Great: Propaganda and Truth (1971) 14 pages
This almost falls within the territory of that old question of how do we know that Julius Caesar was Great? Because he told us so. Davis suggests that a lot of the sources of Alfred's reign were (loosely) written by him or for him, with the Chronicle having the purpose of encouraging the populous to continue the struggle against the Vikings. This is another essay where we now have a greater understanding than when it was written.
Alfred and Guthrum's Frontier (1982) 8 pages
This essay poses a few questions and whilst I wasn't fully convinced by Davis' suggestions, he does make some very interesting points. He discusses how the treaty boundary established by Alfred and Guthrum is problematic, with towns on the English side (Hertford and Buckingham) being recorded as captured by the English during the reign of Edward the Elder. This suggests that the border didn't last long, esepcially if the Danes advanced during the fracas of 893. The treaty does show that Alfred was able to delineate a border that ran largely within what was Mercia (The thoughts of the Mercians to this weren't recorded by the Chronicle). Davis suggests that Buckingham was English at an early date (886-93) and that there is a knock on effect concerning bringing the dating of the Burghal forwards by a generation.
The Norman Conquest (1966) 8 pages
This describes the excellency of the English administrative machinery, pointing out that there were no gaps to create confusion or through which people could slide. Every shire, hundred, hide or their equivalents had known boundaries and every adult male was a member of a shire, hundred or tithing. This organisation actually facilitated the conquest through allowing a more certain distribution of land and the raising of gelds. However, owing to a slight element of the Wild West concerning some appropriations of estates, searching enquiries had to be made to discover not only who owned what, but who should actually own it, based upon the antecessor and also what it was worth for taxation purposes.
Bede after Bede (1989) 14 pages
The EH was the inspiration for siting monasteries in the post conquest monastic revival. To contemporary historians the EH was important for the saints and religious history, rather than political history. They were either writing with the knowledge that Wessex became central to England and so cut down Northumbria's significance or if they were Northumbrian it contrasted the present unfavourably with the past and so they didn't pay much attention to the past glories.
East Anglia and the Danelaw (1955) 18 pages
The high number of Freemen in East Anglian Danelaw aren't to be equated with the descendants of soldiers from Guthrum's army. Whilst a superficially attractive idea, it fails on every point put forward to support it when they are closely examined. Other things of interest: Families with 3 sons, 2 with English names and 1 with a Scandinavian one, and the notion that part of Danelaw's peculiar institutions may have been introduced during the reign of Cnut and in East Anglia under Thorkell the Tall. This essay felt as if there should be more recent studies of this question.
Alfred the Great: Propaganda and Truth (1971) 14 pages
This almost falls within the territory of that old question of how do we know that Julius Caesar was Great? Because he told us so. Davis suggests that a lot of the sources of Alfred's reign were (loosely) written by him or for him, with the Chronicle having the purpose of encouraging the populous to continue the struggle against the Vikings. This is another essay where we now have a greater understanding than when it was written.
Alfred and Guthrum's Frontier (1982) 8 pages
This essay poses a few questions and whilst I wasn't fully convinced by Davis' suggestions, he does make some very interesting points. He discusses how the treaty boundary established by Alfred and Guthrum is problematic, with towns on the English side (Hertford and Buckingham) being recorded as captured by the English during the reign of Edward the Elder. This suggests that the border didn't last long, esepcially if the Danes advanced during the fracas of 893. The treaty does show that Alfred was able to delineate a border that ran largely within what was Mercia (The thoughts of the Mercians to this weren't recorded by the Chronicle). Davis suggests that Buckingham was English at an early date (886-93) and that there is a knock on effect concerning bringing the dating of the Burghal forwards by a generation.
The Norman Conquest (1966) 8 pages
This describes the excellency of the English administrative machinery, pointing out that there were no gaps to create confusion or through which people could slide. Every shire, hundred, hide or their equivalents had known boundaries and every adult male was a member of a shire, hundred or tithing. This organisation actually facilitated the conquest through allowing a more certain distribution of land and the raising of gelds. However, owing to a slight element of the Wild West concerning some appropriations of estates, searching enquiries had to be made to discover not only who owned what, but who should actually own it, based upon the antecessor and also what it was worth for taxation purposes.
Displaying 1 of 1 review