What we think of as ‘England’ was, at the start of the 10th century, made up of a number of smaller kingdoms — many powerful in their own right — including the area known as as the Danelaw, ruled by Scandinavian kings. Yet, as MJ Porter, author of King of Kings, writes, by the middle […]
Anglo-Saxon Kingdoms: Art, Word, War
Anglo-Saxon Kingdoms: Art, Word, War at the British Library has been hailed as “a once-in-a-generation exhibition“. Edoardo Albert finds that, in this giant treasure-hoard, the brightest jewels are often in the smallest details. Would you give a thousand acres of the best land for a book? Benedict Biscop, founder of the double monastery at Monkwearmouth-Jarrow, did. […]