Religion and Literature in Western England, 600–800

Even the Venerable Bede knew little about the two Anglo-Saxon kingdoms described in this book. In the sixth and seventh centuries the pagan peoples of the Hwicce and Magonsaetan occupied the frontier from Stratford-upon-Avon as far as the Welsh kingdoms west of Offa’s Dyke. They retained their own kings, aristocracy and independent monasteries into the eighth century. Using archaeological, place-name and historical sources, Dr Sims-Williams describes the early conversion to Christianity of these people, the origins of the dioceses of Worcester and Hereford, and the precocious growth of Anglo-Saxon monasticism. Drawing on many neglected documents he reveals a wide range of Continental, Irish and Anglo-Saxon influences on the church and shows that the monasteries were as varied in character as the Northumbrian foundations described by Bede.

List of illustrations; Preface; List of abbreviations; 1. Introduction; 2. The kingdoms of the Hwicce and the Magonsaetan; 3. Paganism and Christianity; 4. Early influences on the church; 5. Varieties of monasticism; 6. The eighth-century church; 7. Biblical study; 8. Letter-writing; 9. The unseen world: the monk of Wenlock’s vision; 10. Prayer and magic; 11. Milred, Cuthbert and Anglo-Latin poetry; 12. The church and the landscape; 13. Conclusion; Bibliography; Index.