In this book, the author makes use of the methodology he developed in Origins of Arthurian Romances (McFarland 2012) in order to reevaluate the post-Roman history of Britain. He begins by delving into the historical contexts of the key traditional players of the fifth century--Hengest and Gwrtheyrn. A better understanding of these two characters allows for a reexamination of the persons and events of the fifth, sixth, and seventh centuries. The text that follows entirely realigns how those centuries can be seen from a chronological as well as a military and political standpoint. The fifth century was not a time of British and Germanic fragmentation as they separated from Rome, but one of slow integration and the formation of kingships that were a result of the economic realities of surviving without the dying giant.

Drawing on historical documents, legends, archeology and literature, this history describes the disintegration of Roman Britain that reached a climax in the decades after the Britons overthrew Constantine's government and were refused Roman rule. Beginning with the weakening of Roman Britain, the author chronicles the breakdown of the empire's social, political and economic order and the re-emergence of British political, economic and social structure as well as a parallel development among the Germanic invaders. The roles of religion, disease, the military, the Irish and the Picts during the 4th through 7th centuries are examined. This study synthesizes advances in post-Roman studies since Leslie Alcock's 1971 classic Arthur's Britain.

Publisher description: This volume is unique in offering a comprehensive discussion of the Arthurian legend in Medieval Welsh literature. Little, if anything, is known historically of Arthur, yet for centuries the romances of Arthur and his court dominated the imaginative literature of Europe in many languages. The roots of this vast flowering of the Arthurian legend are to be found in early Welsh tradition and this volume gives an account of the Arthurian literature produced in Wales, in both Welsh and Latin, during the Middle Ages. The distinguished contributors offer a comprehensive view of recent scholarship relating to Arthurian literature in early Welsh and other Brythonic sources.

The centuries that followed the Roman withdrawal from the British Isles have not been called 'Dark' for nothing; in the sources that survive, fact and legend seem inextricably intertwined, and the work of later medieval writers has only deepened the confusion. Dr. Dumville has done much to help dissect and disentangle these sources, probing the cultural history of the Insular Middle Ages, tracing the channels through which historical knowledge was transmitted and the interaction of political thought and historical writing - ideologically based historiography looms large as evidence in any attempt to grasp how medieval people comprehended their past. In these essays, he concentrates on the historiographical practices of the Irish, Britons and English, which shared much in common. Specific themes are the Insular cultivation of genealogy, the classic British pseudo-history (as in the Historia Brittonum and Geoffrey of Monmouth), the important Cistercian school of historical studies at Sawley, and the traditions of annalistic chronicling. An important section of Addenda is also provided.Les siècles qui ont suivi le retrait romain des îles britanniques n'ont pas été qualifiés d' 'Obscurs' sans raison; dans les sources, faits et légendes semblent être irrémédiablement embrouillés et les traveaux d'écrivans médiéaveaux postérieurs n'ont guère fait que d'ajouter à la confusion qui régnait déjà. Le Dr Dumville a beaucoup fait, afin d'aider à disséquer et démêler ces sources, en explorant l'histoire culturelle du Moyen Age. Insulaire, en retraçant les voies par lesquelles la connaissance historiquefut transmise, ainsi que celles l'internaction de la pensée politique et de l'écriture historique. Ces essais se concentre sur les pratiques historiographes des Irlandais, des Britanniques et des Anglais qui possèdent un bon nombre d'aspects en commun. Les thèmes les plus spécifiques sont ceux de la culture Insulaire de la généalogie, de la pseudo-histoire classique britannique (telle qu'on la retrouve dans l'Historia Brittonium et Geoffroy de Monmouth), de l'importante école cistercienne d'études historiques de Sawley et des traditions de chroniques annalistes. On y trouve aussi une importante section d'addenda.

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