The History of the Anglo-Saxons

Published 1799–1805, this four-volume work was a benchmark in Anglo-Saxon studies, drawing on manuscripts in the British Museum.

Sharon Turner (Author)

9781108082044, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 15 March 2018

536 pages
21.6 x 14 x 3 cm, 0.25 kg

Sharon Turner (1768–1847) practised as a solicitor in London, specialising in the law of copyright, but devoted his free time to studying Anglo-Saxon literature and history. In 1799–1805 he published this four-volume work, still acknowledged as a turning point in Anglo-Saxon studies and a benchmark in historiography. Turner was elected a fellow of the Society of Antiquaries in 1800, soon after the first volume appeared. His approach of contrasting 'Anglo-Saxon freedom' with 'the Norman yoke' held particular appeal at a time of deteriorating political relations with France. Turner's lasting achievement, however, was to draw public attention to the rich and fascinating material contained in the Anglo-Saxon manuscripts he had studied at the British Museum. This work went through many editions, but was eventually superseded by Kemble's The Saxons in England (1849, also reissued). Volume 4 (1805) is a survey of Anglo-Saxon culture, including domestic life, law, religion, and literature.

Preface
Part I. Of the Saxons in their Pagan State: 1. The character and persons of the more ancient Saxons
2. The government and laws of the more ancient Saxons
3. The religion of the Saxons in their pagan state
4. On the menology and literature of the pagan Saxons
Part II. Of the Manners of the Anglo-Saxons: 1. On their infancy, childhood, and names
2. Their education
3. Their food
4. Their drinks and cookery
5. Their dress
6. Their houses, furniture, and luxuries
7. Their conviviality and amusements
8. Their marriages
9. Classes and conditions of society
10. Their gilds or clubs
11. Their trades, mechanical arts, and foreign commerce
12. Their money
13. Their chivalry
14. Their superstitions
15. Their funerals
Part III. Their Landed Property: 1. Their husbandry
2. The proprietorship in land, and their tenures
3. The burdens to which lands were liable, and their privileges
4. Their conveyances
5. Some particulars of the names of places in Middlesex and London, in the Saxon times
6. Law suits abound
7. Their denominations of land
Part IV. The Government of the Anglo-Saxons: 1. The king's election and coronation
2. His family and officers
3. The dignity and prerogatives of the Anglo-Saxon cyning
4. The Witena-gemot
5. Their official dignities
Part V. The History of the Laws of the Anglo-Saxon: 1. Homicide
2. Personal injuries
3. Theft
4. Adultery
5. The were and the mund
6. Their bohr or sureties
7. Their legal tribunals
8. Their ordeals and legal punishments
9. The trial by jury
Part VI. Their Poetry, Literature, Arts and Sciences: 1. The Latin poetry of Aldhelm
2. The Latin poetry of Bede
3. The Latin poetry of Boniface, Alcuin, and others
4. The vernacular poetry of the Anglo-Saxons
5. On the Anglo-Saxon versification
6. Of the literature of the Anglo-Saxons
7. The arts of the Anglo-Saxons
8. Their sciences
Part VII. Their Religion: 1. The propagation of Christianity
2. The Anglo-Saxon Te deum and Jubilate
Part VIII. Their Language: 1. On the structure or mechanism of the Anglo-Saxon language
2. On the originality of the Anglo-Saxon language
3. On the copiousness of the Saxon language.

Subject Areas: British & Irish history [HBJD1]