Ceawlin
Subtitle: the man who created England
By: by Rupert Matthews
Publisher: Pen & Sword Military
Published: 2012
Place of publication: Barnsley, South Yorkshire
Language: eng
Number of pages: 233
ISBN-13: 9781848846760
Subjects: Politics and government; Kings and rulers; Military History; Roman influences; Civilization; Military leadership; History; Biography; Power (Social sciences)
Description: In this book Rupert Matthews puts forward his ground breaking new theories on the collapse of the post Roman order in Britain and the formation of England. Drawing on newly analyzed written sources and the growing mass of archaeological finds he presents a very different picture of post Roman Britain than that usually put forward. In place of the anarchy and mayhem, Rupert suggests that Romanised governmental structures managed to survive the economic collapse of the 5th century and the population collapse of the early sixth century to emerge in new and barbarianism form in the later sixth century. The key figure in this story was Ceawlin, King of Wessex in the 570s. It was he who finally smashed the old order with his ambitious grab for power and who thus opened the way to the creation of the England that we know today with its English culture, English language and English character.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (pages 228-229) and index.
Table of contents: title: Ceawlin's Family Tree; title: Part I. Cometh the Hour; title: Late Roman Britain; title: The Wide Ruler; title: The Power Shift; title: The Arthurian Peace; title: The Britain of Gildas; title: Britain in Decline; title: Part II. Cometh the Man; title: The Lands of Cealwin; title: The Wars of Ceawlin's Family; title: The Face of War; title: Ceawlin the Man; title: Ceawlin Goes to War; title: Power Bid; title: Disaster at Adam's Grave; title: Part III. England and the English; title: Britain Divided; title: The Savage Swords; title: The Heirs of Ceawlin.