The Anglo-Saxon State

About this book

The power sophistication unity and wealth of the late Anglo-Saxon state have been underestimated. The shadow of defeat in 1066 and an assumption that the Normans brought about strong government and a unification that had not previously been there has prevented many of the remarkable features of Anglo-Saxon society from being seen. In The Anglo-Saxon State James Campbell shows how strong unified and well-governed Anglo-Saxon England was and how numerous and wealthy were its inhabitants. Late Anglo-Saxon England was also a country with a political class considerably wider than just the earls and thegns. William Stubbss vision of Anglo-Saxon England as a country with real representative institutions may indeed be truer than that of his denigrators. James Campbells work demands the rethinking of Anglo-Saxon history.