From Caledonia to Pictland: Scotland to 795 (New Edinburgh History of Scotland)

__From Caledonia to Pictland__ examines the earliest phases of Scottish history at a time when ''Scotland'' hadn't yet come into existence. It charts the transformation of the Celtic-speaking tribes of Iron Age Caledonia into the multi-lingual Christian kingdoms of Early Medieval northern Britain, peopled by Picts, Britons, Angles and Gaels. Major factors in this process include the direct and indirect influence of the Roman Empire, the profound impact of Christianisation, and the influx of Germanic settlers to the east and of Gaelic settlers to the west. Politically, we see the emergence of dynastic kingship and the earliest origins of state structures; culturally, this was a period of vibrant artistic achievement. The volume concludes with a chapter on sources introducing the wide-range of, often intractable, evidence available to the historian of the period. From Caledonia to Pictland examines the transformation of Iron Age northern Britain into a land of Christian kingdoms, long before'Scotland'came into existence. Perched at the edge of the western Roman Empire, northern Britain was not unaffected by the experience, and became swept up in the great tide of processes which gave rise to the early medieval West. Like other places, the country experienced social and ethnic metamorphoses, Christianisation, and colonization by dislocated outsiders, but northern Britain also has its own unique story to tell in the first eight centuries AD.This book is the first detailed political history to treat these centuries as a single period, with due regard for Scotland's position in the bigger story of late Antique transition. From Caledonia to Pictland charts the complex and shadowy processes which saw the familiar Picts, Northumbrians, North Britons and Gaels of early Scottish history become established in the country, the achievements of their foremost political figures, and their ongoing links with the world around them. It is a story that has become much revised through changing trends in scholarly approaches to the challenging evidence, and that transformation too is explained for the benefit of students and general readers.Key Features:•The only detailed political history to treat the first eight centuries AD as a single period of Scottish history.•Redresses the imbalance created by an existing literature dominated by archaeologists. From Caledonia to Pictland provides a narrative history of the period.•Bridges a traditional disciplinary divide between the Roman and early medieval periods.•Locates this phase of Scotland's history within a European context, emphasising what is unique and what is not. Copyright 5 Contents 6 Maps and Genealogical Tables 8 Acknowledgements 10 General Editor’s Preface 12 Introduction Fabulousness, Obscurity and Difficulty: Narrative History to 795 14 Part One The Passing of Caledonia (69–597) 26 Chapter 1 New Nations: Caledonia from Cerialis to Caracalla 28 Chapter 2 The Later Roman Iron Age and the Origins of the Picts 56 Chapter 3 Uinniau, ‘Ninian’ and the Early Church in Scotland 81 Chapter 4 Word and Example: Columba in Northern Britain 107 Postscript ‘The Roman Interlude’ 129 Part Two The Age of the Kings of Bamburgh (576–692) 132 Chapter 5 High Lords of Princes: Áedán, Urbgen and Aeðilfrith (576–616) 134 Chapter 6 Sighs of Sorrow: Iona and the Kingdoms of Northern Britain (616–43) 168 Chapter 7 Emperor of All Britain: Oswy and his Hegemony (642–70) 188 Chapter 8 Bull of the North: Bridei son of Beli and the Fall of the Aeðilfrithings (671–92) 213 Postscript Scotland and the Aeðilfrithing Legacy 242 Part Three The Pictish Project (692–789) 248 Chapter 9 League and Iron: Bridei son of Der-Ilei, Iona and Argyll (692–707) 250 Chapter 10 Nations Reformed: Northumbria and Pictavia (704–24) 277 Chapter 11 ‘When Óengus took Alba’: Despot, Butcher and King (728–61) 300 Chapter 12 Dragons in the Air: A Doubtful Generation (761–89) 333 Chapter 13 Regime-craft in Early Historic Northern Britain 360 Postscript Remote from the Roman Nation 388 Timeline 393 Guide to Further Reading 399 Bibliography 406 Index 423 "Examines the transformation of Iron Age northern Britain into a land of Christian kingdoms, long before 'Scotland' came into existence."--Page 4 of cover.