Kings and Kingdoms of Early Anglo-Saxon England

Kings and Kingdoms of Early Anglo-Saxon England provides a unique survey of the six major Anglo-Saxon kingdoms - Kent, the East Saxons, the East Angles, Northumbria, Mercia and Wessex - and their royal families, examining the most recent research in this field. Barbara Yorke moves beyond narrative accounts of the various royal houses to explain issues such as the strategies of rule, the reasons for success and failure and the dynamics of change in the office of king. Sixteen genealogical and regnal tables help to elucidate the history of the royal houses. Book Cover......Page 1 Title......Page 4 Contents......Page 5 Foreword......Page 6 List of tables and illustrations......Page 7 INTRODUCTION: THE ORIGINS OF THE ANGLO-SAXON KINGDOMS......Page 8 KENT......Page 32 THE EAST SAXONS......Page 52 THE EAST ANGLES......Page 65 NORTHUMBRIA......Page 79 MERCIA......Page 107 THE WEST SAXONS......Page 135 CONCLUSION: THE DEVELOPMENT OF KINGSHIP c. 600 900......Page 164 Notes......Page 186 Bibliography and Abbreviations......Page 203 There is a sense in which the history of the early Anglo-Saxon kingdoms can be said to have begun with the arrival of Augustine and a band of nearly forty monks at the court of King AEthelbert of Kent in 597.