Does anyone know anything about Pre-Norman medieval English culture?

Question

Wikipedia is always a good source, but I need people to tell me as much as they know about medieval English culture, preferably around the years 900 - 1000 A.D. Thanks.

Answer 1

The challenge to answering your question is understanding the depth and the type of information you are seeking. Most of the information easily available on the net is rather superficial and significant data is available but usually in written form or for a fee through the net. For example, the Annual Bulletin of Historical Literature, is an excellent ‘on-line’ source but there is a subscription fee to access these research papers.

If you could lay your hands on a copy of the works (specifically, ‘Feudalism: Its Frankish Birth and English Development) of William Stubbs I’m sure that it would provide much of what you are seeking.

Other sources could be:
• P.H. Saywer, Anglo-Saxon Charters: an Annotated List and Bibliography, (London, 1968)
• N. Brooks, 'Anglo-Saxon Charters: the Work of the Last Twenty Years', Anglo-Saxon England, 3, (1974)
• S.E. Kelly, 'Anglo-Saxon Lay Society and the Written Word', The Uses of Literacy in Early Mediaeval Europe. ed. R. McKitterick, (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1990)
• Simon Keynes, 'Charters and Writs' in The Blackwell Encyclopaedia of Anglo-Saxon England, (Oxford: Blackwell, 1999)
• Simon Keynes, secretary, Anglo-Saxon Charters series (British Academy) British Academy Review, 1998
• Joint Committee on Anglo-Saxon Charters website

Although it has multiple links to actual sources, a net site that may help is:
• Anglo-Saxons.net Charters Searchable database of Anglo-Saxon Charters

In particular (when using this link) take the link ‘what’s elsewhere’. That will open several optional links and one of those (under, ‘Other links of interest’) is ‘Online Reference Book for Medieval Studies’ which will open many links from which your searches will likely pull-up much of what you seek.
It is important to keep in mind that the cultures of that time (even though there were varying social systems due to time and places) were based in ownership of land as the basis of authority. You can (in general) chart this from the time of Clovis, the Frankish King, who died in 511 CE but major evolution began to occur with the advent of Charles Martel and his son Pepin the Short (dying in 768) and the building of the kingdom from which Charlemagne built his empire. What I’m suggesting is that you report within the concept of land ownership as the foundation structure of all society of those times.

In any case, do not expect to find all you want in a single site and finding all that you want through the net will be difficult. For example, there is not a single type of English village from those times. The forests were large and the common people didn’t travel far from their home village due to multiple dangers. Each village was somewhat unique due to the existing capabilities within the village. Very often going from one village to another in England would result in differing versions of the language. So too was Celtic and Saxon Village laws (somewhat different from village to village) but these were the foundations of what in later years would become the foundation of Old English Common Law. These laws were within the culture of the people as is provable by the fact that the Norman control (beginning in 1066 CE) came to naught as these Common Laws began to reassert themselves with the first great charter (1215 CE).

Answer 2

It was an Anglo-Saxon culture where the rulers spoke the same language as the ruled - unlike the situation after the Conquest. Things were more democratic - Kings could be elected and decisions were taken at the 'witan'. The Vikings had invaded and ruled for a while - Cnut etc. - but the Anglo Saxon aristocracy had prevailed against them.

Answer 3

Originating in 8th century Wessex, The Anglo-Saxon Shire system would replace the Roman Provinces as the British standard of local government. Throughout the 8th and 9th centuries the system gradually expanded to cover the whole of England. A Shire which usually took its name from its principle city was governed by an Eldorman, a noble of the highest social rank, who was appointed by the King to represent his interests within the region. The Eldormen were responsible for the Shire militia (the fyrd), secular law in the shire moot, and presided over the shire court. From the 10th and 11th century many of these Eldormen became powerful local magnates, often controlling more than one shire, and the title became shortened to Earls.

A common subdivision of the shire, in Saxon regions south of the River Tees, was the Hundred. These varied in size from area to area and emerged as local administrative units during the 10th century. The name may have originated from the grouping of a hundred Hides, a unit of land considered sufficient to support a peasant and his household. Again the Hide could be of various sizes ranging from as little as 40 acres in Wessex to about 120 acres in the eastern shires. Hides were the basic unit for the assessment of taxation and military service, and were subject to the Hundred courts, which met every four weeks, having jurisdiction in cases relating to local issues and apportioning taxes.

The Anglo-Saxon system of Shire, Hundred and Hide was not so dissimilar to that within the Danish controlled regions in the North, Central, and Eastern England in which Danish rather than Saxon laws and customs prevailed. King Edgar (reigned 959-75) granted autonomy to the Danish settlers in these regions. This being known as the Danelaw . Between the rivers Tees and Thames in eastern England this would still prevail as the common customary law even as late as the 11th and 12th centuries. In these regions the organization of local government was known as the Wapenstakes , which probably originates out of the Norse words for Weapon and Take; Taking or grasping a weapon was probably a Viking way of signifying assent at meetings. Like the Saxon Hundreds the Wapenstakes was the basic unit of tax assessment , and each Wapenstake was responsible for maintaining law and order within its own jurisdiction. The Danelaw equivalent of the Saxon Hide was, from the 10th century, known as the Ploughland. This was a unit of land of probably amounting to about approximately a hundred acres which could be ploughed by one team of eight oxen .

Incidentally, the term Hundreds still exists today in one form. The Chiltern Hundreds; are three Hundreds (Stoke, Desborough and Burnham ) in south central England . By tradition a Member of Parliament cannot resign his seat, but if he wishes to retire he may apply for one of two stewardships, the holder of which, since he becomes a paid member of the crown , may not (since 1707) sit in Parliament. Formerly there were several such stewardships, but since 1957, there have been only two-the Chiltern Hundreds and the Manor of Northstead in Yorkshire.

With the Norman conquest the Shires would be replaced by the Counties, although the word Shire would continue often as a part of the county name-e.g. Yorkshire, Nottinghamshire, Hampshire etc. Under Norman control the Eldormen would likewise be replaced by Sheriffs, although the manner of their appointment and duties would largely remain unchanged from that of their earlier counterparts.

Answer 4

Then try a different website, or *gasp* go to the library and look at some books.

Answer 5

this site has some nice info about every day life
http://www.britainexpress.com/History/dark_ages_index.htm