This compendium of some of the best articles from BBC History Magazine explores a fascinating period in Britain’s history, from the fall of the Romans until the eve of the Norman Conquest. Discover the origins of the Anglo-Saxons and Vikings and find out how they battled to dominate the British Isles. Inside you will find: - A timeline of the key events in this period - Images of remarkable artefacts - Gripping tales of medieval warfare - Biographies of key figures such as Alfred the Great and Athelstan.
Dresses and Decorations of the Middle Ages - Vol. 1 + 2
Perhaps no part of the history of civilization is more interesting than the varying changes in dress and fashion. The different tribes who settled in the provinces of the Roman Empire, after its final dislocation, appear in general to have adopted the civil costume of the conquered Romans, whilst they probably retained with tenacity the arms and military customs of their forefathers. There was thus a general resemblance between the dress of the Anglo-Saxons, the Franks, and other : nations of the west. Among the Anglo-Saxons this dress was preserved, with very little alteration, till the latest period of their sovereignty.
We cannot pretend to offer to English archaeologists any new or startling discoveries. Anglo-Saxon industrial art has never, it is true, been dealt with as a whole, but its various branches, in all their numberless details, arc none the less well known. It is our desire to provide archaeologists with means of comparison, to enable them to judge from a broader standpoint questions relating to the great invasions. Our essay may serve to render less obscure an episode in the Barbarian epoch of which hardly anything is known on the Continent. Nor is there anything surprising in our design, seeing that historians recognise this period as one of general activity among the Barbarian races.
Through violent incursions by the Vikings and the spread of Christianity, medieval Ireland maintained a distinctive Gaelic identity. From the sacred site of Tara to the manuscript illuminations in the Book of Kells, Anglo-Irish relations to the Connachta dynasty, Ireland during the middle ages was a rich and vivid culture.
