Professional Documents
Culture Documents
All rights reserved. Apart from any fair dealing for the
purpose of private study, research, criticism or review,- as
permitted under the Copyright Designs and Patents Act,
1988, no part of this publication may be reproduced,
stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or
by any means, electronic, electrical, chemical, mechanical,
optical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the
prior permission of the copyright owner. Enquiries should
be addressed to the Publishers.
.
'\
i.! ---
1
t\~
~. ....
,~
(\
~
y
\
,/
/'
" ,~~~ : 3
f
.
\ /
~
.
, .J~"
.
I ...~ J
.;Ii..,}
r\'!!l~ ..
ff/)
A
1: Anglian king, early 7th C
2: Mercian warrior, 7th C
3.4: Anglo-Saxon warriors, 7th C
B
1: Romano-British militiaman, 6th C
2: North British cavalryman, 6th C
3: Welsh tribal warrior, 5th-6th C
c
..
1: Pictish nobleman, 8th-9th C
2: Pictish or north British hunter, 8th C
3: North Pictish chieftain, 7th-9th C
'- ~
""" '" -
1: English king, 9th C
2: Benedictine monk, 9th C
3: Northumbrian thegn, 8th-9th C
r t
J F
1: Scandinavian mercenary, 10th C
2: Anglo-Danish warrior, 9th-10th C
3: Hiberno-Norse jarl, early 11th C
r
.I
"'
I
I
,I 'f 't' .1:
.
~ I
) .I '"
Ail'
,', rI
" ll!ij., I , " ;:; q
~~ \ '~\'f' " l ' ', ,
I" ,
, ~~ . ,r I
k~ ," ~" , '
. 'j . ~~,
G
1: Anglo-Danish huscarl, early 11th C
2: Fyrd warrior, Welsh border, mid-11th C
3: English cavalry, Welsh March, mid-11th C
----
--
~
m
The British Isles
it 5th to 8th centuries
)-
Roman forts , s;gnol stations
@
!d ---- Major Roman roods
zt
I.
t- I
'-
'-
'i)
~~
OCEANU< BRITANNICuS
~
ff'f ..
~
OCEANUS ATLANTICUS
SAREA)~ .. '-
. ~
~
.
~
:.... .. ~,
.' ..
. --'..
Rouer,
"'.
\
... "'"
~
EMPIRE '.'"
Bhtoinworemore indentedand
."
mor!hyduring th' early M;ddl' Ages
,/ \ ".
" ,/
.
""'--
'\
5
'Danish' (Norse) Mercia conquered ~I
",."""",,-
"""""' """"'" =
- ,,\'
" ,,'T':C,"r./I\1/liI! ,111l('" 8'
917-g18
W~~. [
t -
.~
- ~ 919 'English' Mercia annexed by Wessex, I
~% ~A ~0 .. ~
~
-
919-927 Norse kingdom of York conqueredby Wessex
;~ l
"" -
920 Edward of Wessex recognised as seniol
n .:. s: "E c ~. king in Britain. II
\:\,ro,o"""",,' """~"""":: 937 Wessex difeats Celtic-Norse'Grand Alliance
'('("""""1"""""""""""'-
0 Met, 25
-i~ f -
at Brunaburgh.
?, 956 Strathclyde loses Menteith and Lennof
.~O'",) ~ ~~ to Alban.
~':\
,, ~
Met, 959 Unification of England under kin!
B 0 50
Edgar of Wessex.
962 Northum.bria loses Edinburgh ani
Midlothian to Alban.
4th-centuryRoman fortifications: (A) Signal station at 973 Northumbria cedes suzerainty 01
Scarborough; (B) Signal station without central tower, on Lothian and 'Borders' to Alban.
Alderney; (C) Fort at Cardiff. (After Johnson)
Io06 Alban difeated by Northumbria.
IOI4 Celtic-Irish defeat Norse ani
leaders murdered by Scots ofDal Riata. Norse-Irish at battle of Clontarf.
Picts put under Scottish king, formation IOI5 Strathclyde temporarily annexed b)\..
of united kingdom of Alban, Alli~. ~
865-867 Norse 'Great Army' raids across Eng- IOI6 Knut the Great joins England to hi(A
land, captures York. 'empire' of Denmark and Norway.
870 Norse capture Dumbarton, Strathclyde IOI8 Alban defeats Northumbria 31
capital. Carham., annexes Lothian and 'Bol'
871 Alfred oj Wessex halts Norse advanceat battle ders'.
of Ashdown. IO34 Strathclyde finally annexed by Alban,
875-900 Norse settle in Galloway. IO38 Galloway annexed by Alban (effectivlT
876 Norse begin to settle in England. creation of united kingdom ofScotland:r~
876--879 Norse force Alfred of Wessex to retreat to I062- Earl Harold of Wessex difeats Gruifydd, hig1n
Athelney. IO63 king of Wales. tri
879 WessexdifeatsNorseof East Anglia. IO66 Anglo-Saxons difeat Norse at StamJona
C.910-920 Northumbria loses Carlisle and Bridge. Normans defeat Anglo-Saxons aRI
northern Cumbria to Strathclyde. Hastings, conquer England. co
91 I London and Home Counties north of n~
Thames annexed by Wessex. th
Dumbarton Rock is a volcanic plug overlooking the Clydl I
9 I2-9 I7 Norse East Anglia conqueredby Wessex. Here the British kingdom of Strathclyde had its capital. W
eai
- B~
,cal
6
Ir=
oonquered
by 1068- Unsuccessful Anglo-Saxon rising against with lance rather than bow, as the influence of
1O6g Normans north of the Thames. Turkish or Hunnish horse-archery would not be
1O8! Anglo-Saxon exiles in Byzantine service fully reflected in Romano-Byzantine tactics until
'y Wessex.
,dbyWessex. (Varangians) defeated by Normans of the 5th century. The heavily armoured cataphractii
ed assenior southern Italy at Dyrrhachium. were no longer seen only in the east of the Empire.
IOg8 Frontier of Norse Kingdom of the Isles Stirrups were not necessary for such 'shock-
'andAlliance' agreed by treaty with Scotland. troopers', as their role remained that of breaking
the foe's infantry or light cavalry rather than facing
andLennox other heavy cavalry. Shields were rarely carried, as
0
lances were often wielded with both hands. Spurs
under king were, however, used. So were javelins, particularly
by horsemen of Alan or Sarmatian descent.
burgh and Foot soldiers remained important. Light infantry
carrying small shields fought as skirmishers with
erainty of javelins, bows or slings. Armoured infantry fought
Alban. in ranks carrying large shields, but were otherwise
equipped much like the cataphractii.Archery seems
Drse and Met. to have been as important in Britannia as elsewhere
~lontarf. 0 10 in the Empire. The late Roman bow was descended
.nnexed by from the so-called Scythian type, being of composite
4th-century defended hut group at Din Lligwy, Anglesey. Two
of the rectangular buildings were iron-smelting workshops.
construction, about hip-high, double curved and
land to his (After Houlder) with bone 'ears'. Many archers would have been of
lorway. Arab, Syrian or Parthian ancestry, but it is also
mbria at possible that the descendants of East African or
11and 'Bor- Sudanese Blemys were stationed in Britain. The
TheArthurian Age sagittarii Gallicani of Gaul may have had such
byAlban. African origins, for the Notitia Dignitatum shows two
The End of Britannia confronted Moorish heads as their shield emblem.
m (effective
fScotiand) . The last years of Roman rule saw Britain divided There is little doubt that the Romans also had
;ruffydd,
high into four Provinces, with a belt of allied British crossbows, but were such weapons for war or only
tribesacting as a buffer between Hadrian's Wall for the hunt? A device for shooting short heavy
at Stamford and the Picts of the northern Highlands. These arrows was used by some infantry, while Vegetius,
.o-Saxons at Romanprovinces were defended by three military writing around AD385, mentioned manubalistaeand
commands:the Dux Britanniarum, who commanded arcubalistae as weapons for light troops. Two
northBritannia and the Wall from his HQat York; centuries later Byzantine troops were using the
theComes litorisSaxonici(Count of the Saxon Shore), simple solenarioncrossbow, and the weapon possibly
jug the Clyde.
its capital. whowas responsible for the defences of the south- survived north of Hadrian's Wall. Fragments of a
easterncoasts; and the more recently created Comes crossbow were also found in a late Roman burial at
Britanniarumwho led a mobile frontier force. Burbage, Wiltshire, in 1893.
By the late 4th and early 5th centuries Hadrian's Other late Roman weapons pose fewer problems.
Wallhadceased to be a clearly defined frontier. It Relatively light lanceajavelins were thrown by ranks
was now a ramshackle structure between forts of infantry drawn up behind a shield wall, five
whichwere more like armed and densely populated normally being carried according to Vegetius. Axes
villages. The Wall itself, its turrets and mile-castles are seen rarely as weapons in late Roman carvings,
hadbeen abandoned, and the forts were inhabited and the sword retained pride of place as a close-
by the families of second-grade, and probably combat weapon. The short semispatha would
hereditary, frontier auxiliaries. generally have been used by the infantry while the
The most effective Roman troops were now longer Iranian-style spatha was more suitable for
cavalry.They generally fought in an Iranian style, cavalry.
7
-~