"This book explores the rise of the Kingdom of Mercia, focusing on the reigns of Æthelbald (716-757) and Offa (757-796). It shows how Mercia became a dominant power in early medieval Britain, laying crucial foundations for the emergence of England. The Birth of the Anglo-Saxons, like my other books about the Early Medieval period, is a portrait of power, how it was exercised at all levels from the humblest household right up to the sceptre-wielding imperium of the greatest warrior kings."
"That power was expressed tangibly in landscape and architecture, in weapons, jewellery, dress fittings, coins and pottery, in roads and harbours and in the written word. Through them we see how relations between people and their lords, and tensions between church and state, propelled post-Roman Britain towards its emergence as a heterogeneous, creative and dynamic force in the Middle Ages and beyond."
Mercia transformed from a regional kingdom into the dominant power in early medieval Britain during the eighth century under Æthelbald and Offa. Royal authority and lordship appeared in tangible forms across landscape, architecture, weapons, jewellery, dress fittings, coins, pottery, roads, harbours and written records. Interactions between people and their lords and tensions between church and state shaped political institutions and legal practices. These developments created administrative and cultural foundations that later enabled the emergence of a heterogeneous but coherent English polity. Close study of charters and material culture reveals mechanisms of power and state formation.
Read at Medievalists.net
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