Writing Pre-Conquest History: The Case Study of Æthelflæd of Mercia

Description

October 14 1066 marks a conceptual disruption to England’s history that looms large in English cultural memory. The Norman Conquest brought with it new lords, a new language, strange names, and imposing architecture. There is, no doubt, an extent to which this was indeed a disruption. Yet to what degree did those writing the history of pre-Conquest England perceive it as such? Certainly, the replacement of England’s kings and their thegns, of archbishops and bishops did not amount to some sort of damnatio memoriae of the pre-Conquest political world. Indeed, it became something of an abiding interest for post-Conquest writers. The intellectual culture of twelfth-century England produced an extensive corpus of histories and hagiographies which focused on figures from the pre-Norman past. The pre-eminent historians of the period – William of Malmesbury, Henry of Huntingdon, John of Worcester – were all keenly aware that England’s history stretched back to sub-Roman Britain. Among those they singled out for particular attention was the tenth-century leader, Æthelflæd Lady of the Mercians. This paper will examine the transmission of Æthelflæd’s legacy into the Anglo-Norman historical tradition, using her as a case study for a wider discussion of how post-Conquest historians wrote pre-Conquest history.

Period	2 Oct 2021
Event title	Conference of the Australian Early Medieval Association
Event type	Conference
Degree of Recognition	National