Edgar, King of the English, 959-975: New Interpretations - Pubns Manchester Centre for Anglo-Saxon Studies

Marc Notes: Revised versions of nine papers given to a conference organized by the Manchester Centre for Anglo-Saxon Studies in 2005, plus 4 other chapters.; Includes bibliographical references and index. Review Quotes: Illuminates aspects of Edgar's reign that have not been well covered in most general works, and its consistently high standard will ensure that it becomes essential reading for those who wish to understand the life and times of Edgar the Peaceable. ENGLISH HISTORICAL REVIEWReview Quotes: A timely reassessment of this monarch and reign. YEAR'S WORK IN ENGLISH STUDIES Illuminates aspects of Edgar's reign that have not been well covered in most general works, and its consistently high standard will ensure that it becomes essential reading for those who wish to understand the life and times of Edgar the Peaceable. ENGLISH HISTORICAL REVIEWTable of Contents: List of Illustrations -- Contributors -- Preface -- Abbreviations -- Genealogy: The House of Alfred -- Map: England during the Reign of Edgar -- Part I. Documentary Evidence -- 1. Edgar, rex admirabilis / Simon Keynes -- 2. A Conspectus of the Charters of King Edgar, 957-975 / Simon Keynes -- Part II. Edgar before 959 -- 3. Eadwig and Edgar: Politics, Propaganda, Faction / Shashi Jayakumar -- 4. Edgar, Chester, and the Kingdom of the Mercians, 957-9 / C. P. Lewis -- 5. Edgar's Path to the Throne / Frederick M. Biggs -- Part III. Edgar, 959-975 -- 6. The Women in Edgar's Life / Barbara Yorke -- 7. Edgar, Albion and Insular Dominion / Julia Crick -- 8. King Edgar and the Men of the Danelaw / Lesley Abrams -- 9. The Pre-Reform Coinage of Edgar / Hugh Pagan -- Part IV. Edgar and the Monastic Revival -- 10. The Chronology of the Benedictine 'Reform' / Julia Barrow -- 11. The Frontispiece to the New Minster Charter and the King's Two Bodies / Catherine E. Karkov -- 12. The Laity and the Monastic Reform in the Reign of Edgar / Alexander R. Rumble -- 13. The Edgar Panegyrics in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle / Mercedes Salvador-Bello -- Index. Publisher Marketing: King Edgar ruled England for a short but significant period in the middle of the tenth century. Two of his four children succeeded him as king and two were to become canonized. He was known to later generations as "the Pacific" or "the Peaceable" because his reign was free from external attack and without internal dissention, and he presided over a period of major social and economic change: early in his rule the growth of monastic power and wealth involved redistribution of much of the country's assets, while the end of his reign saw the creation of England's first national coinage, with firm fiscal control from the centre. He fulfilled King Alfred's dream of the West Saxon royal house ruling the whole of England, and, like his uncle King AEthelstan, he maintained overlordship of the whole of Britain. Despite his considerable achievements, however, Edgar has been neglected by scholars, partly because his reign has been thought to have passed with little incident. A time for a full reassessment of his achievement is therefore long overdue, which the essays in this volume provide. CONTRIBUTORS: SIMON KEYNES, SHASHI JAYAKUMAR, C. P, LEWIS, FREDERICK M. BIGGS, BARBARA YORKE, JULIA CRICK, LESLEY ABRAMS, HUGH PAGAN, JULIA BARROW, CATHERINE KARKOV, ALEXANDER R. RUMBLE, MERCEDES SALVADOR-BELLO. Review Citations:

Reference and Research Bk News 08/01/2009 pg. 30 (EAN 9781843833994, Hardcover)