The Anglo-Saxons ruled England for 600 years. The role of women changed over that period and they often held important posts in politics and religion. The class will include a visit to the British Museum.
The course will examine the lives of women throughout the Anglo-Saxon period from the early settlers in the Fifth Century up to the Norman Conquest. We shall look at both the everyday lives of ordinary women as far as they can be reconstructed from the limited sources available and the role of more important women in society such as abbesses and queens. The last hour of the day will be spent at the British Museum looking at the archaeological evidence for women in Anglo-Saxon England including some of the stunningly beautiful brooches but also items that can be associated with specific important women.
The sources for Anglo-Saxon women include archaeology, looking at grave goods buried with women during the pre-Christian era. This shows the different tastes in brooches; cross-headed for Anglian women and Saucer shaped for Saxon women. This is an excellent source for determining where the different groups settled. There is also a difference in the quality and value of grave goods depending on the status of the woman and whereabouts she was buried. Grave goods also give an insight into the sort of work women did in the home. Moving into the Christian era the evidence comes from written sources such the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, Bede’s Ecclesiastical History and Charters. These give the stories of abbesses such as Hild of Whitby who hosted the Synod which decided whether the Anglo-Saxons would follow the Roman or the Celtic church. They also give evidence of how women became important political figures especially in the Mercian court with Aethelflaed becoming the sole ruler of Mercia and a leading figure in the reconquest of the Danelaw.
This course ran at the City Lit and British Museum in April 2012 and February 2017.
Below is copy of the handout listing some famous women
Some Notable Anglo Saxon Women
Below is my current list of Anglo-Saxon abbesses. I am still working on this and will update from time to time.
I was also asked for a bibliography at the class. Here is one based on that in my PhD thesis listing most of the major Primary Sources plus a small selection of Secondary Sources that are most relevant and/or interesting.