Saxon Identities, AD 150–900

Nonfiction, History, Western Europe, Medieval
Cover of the book Saxon Identities, AD 150–900 by Dr Robert Flierman, Bloomsbury Publishing
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Dr Robert Flierman ISBN: 9781350019461
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing Publication: July 13, 2017
Imprint: Bloomsbury Academic Language: English
Author: Dr Robert Flierman
ISBN: 9781350019461
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Publication: July 13, 2017
Imprint: Bloomsbury Academic
Language: English

This study is the first up-to-date comprehensive analysis of Continental Saxon identity in antiquity and the early middle ages. Building on recent scholarship on barbarian ethnicity, this study emphasises not just the constructed and open-ended nature of Saxon identity, but also the crucial role played by texts as instruments and resources of identity-formation. This book traces this process of identity-formation over the course of eight centuries, from its earliest beginnings in Roman ethnography to its reinvention in the monasteries and bishoprics of ninth-century Saxony.

Though the Saxons were mentioned as early as AD 150, they left no written evidence of their own before c. 840. Thus, for the first seven centuries, we can only look at the Saxons through the eyes of their Roman enemies, Merovingian neighbours and Carolingian conquerors. Such external perspectives do not yield objective descriptions of a people, but rather reflect an ongoing discourse on Saxon identity, in which outside authors described who they imagined, wanted or feared the Saxons to be: dangerous pirates, noble savages, bestial pagans or faithful subjects. Significantly, these outside views deeply influenced how ninth-century Saxons eventually came to think about themselves, using Roman and Frankish texts to reinvent the Saxons as a noble and Christian people.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

This study is the first up-to-date comprehensive analysis of Continental Saxon identity in antiquity and the early middle ages. Building on recent scholarship on barbarian ethnicity, this study emphasises not just the constructed and open-ended nature of Saxon identity, but also the crucial role played by texts as instruments and resources of identity-formation. This book traces this process of identity-formation over the course of eight centuries, from its earliest beginnings in Roman ethnography to its reinvention in the monasteries and bishoprics of ninth-century Saxony.

Though the Saxons were mentioned as early as AD 150, they left no written evidence of their own before c. 840. Thus, for the first seven centuries, we can only look at the Saxons through the eyes of their Roman enemies, Merovingian neighbours and Carolingian conquerors. Such external perspectives do not yield objective descriptions of a people, but rather reflect an ongoing discourse on Saxon identity, in which outside authors described who they imagined, wanted or feared the Saxons to be: dangerous pirates, noble savages, bestial pagans or faithful subjects. Significantly, these outside views deeply influenced how ninth-century Saxons eventually came to think about themselves, using Roman and Frankish texts to reinvent the Saxons as a noble and Christian people.

More books from Bloomsbury Publishing

Cover of the book Castagnaro 1387 by Dr Robert Flierman
Cover of the book Thinking Through Fashion by Dr Robert Flierman
Cover of the book The Lottery Wars by Dr Robert Flierman
Cover of the book Now You Know by Dr Robert Flierman
Cover of the book You've Got the Wrong Girl by Dr Robert Flierman
Cover of the book Relational Hermeneutics by Dr Robert Flierman
Cover of the book Brand New Ancients by Dr Robert Flierman
Cover of the book The Detox Kitchen Bible by Dr Robert Flierman
Cover of the book Out of Step by Dr Robert Flierman
Cover of the book St Lô 1944 by Dr Robert Flierman
Cover of the book Fear and Misery of the Third Reich by Dr Robert Flierman
Cover of the book The Kidnapping of Journalists by Dr Robert Flierman
Cover of the book Coleridge and German Philosophy by Dr Robert Flierman
Cover of the book Mustang and Thunderbolt Aces of the Pacific and CBI by Dr Robert Flierman
Cover of the book Tacitus by Dr Robert Flierman
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy