Preface List of Maps and Figures Abbreviations Timeline Introduction 1. Roman London and its End: First to Fifth Centuries AD 2. Among the Ruins: Post-Roman London 3. London between Kingdoms: c.600–800 4. Lundenwic: 'An Emporium for Many Nations' 5. Alfred the Great and the Vikings 6. London in the Tenth Century: c.900–75 7. Late Anglo-Saxon London 8. London in 1066: The Battle of Hastings and After Notes Select Bibliography Where to See Anglo-Saxon London Index
Recalling the lost cities which laid the foundations of today’s metropolis, Rory Naismith tells the stirring story of how dead Londinium was reborn, against the odds, as bulwark against the Danes and pivotal English citadel.
A Fellow of the Royal Historical Society, Rory Naismith is Lecturer in Medieval British History at King’s College London, UK. His earlier books include Money and Power in Anglo-Saxon England (2012), which in 2013 won the Best First Book Prize of the International Society of Anglo-Saxonists.
Excellent history… Among the most fascinating aspects of this work
are Naismith’s careful and cogent explanations on the
interpretation of findings and artifacts.
*CHOICE*
Naismith’s service to old London is heroic. In carefully sorting
and untangling its post-Roman rebirth he allows a crucial phase in
its long life to take its rightful place in the annals of the great
and monstrous city.
*The Spectator*
Impeccably researched, engagingly written and handsomely presented
... this is a timely reminder that the prominence of London was
historically contingent rather than inevitable.
*BBC History Magazine*
With his deft use of archaeology, the tenuous literary sources and
numismatic evidence ... Naismith manages to weave together a very
effective account of London’s political and economic
development.
*Literary Review*
Written with an evocative turn of phrase and a sharp eye for
interesting detail, Citadel of the Saxons is packed full of
information, and impressive in its scope.
*Current Archaeology*
An essential, impressively informative, and core addition to
personal reading lists, as well as community, college, and
university library Medieval Studies collections, "Citadel of the
Saxons" is a non-fiction history that reads as smoothly as the most
well crafted novel.
*Library Bookwatch*
'Citadel of the Saxons is the first comprehensive treatment of
Anglo- Saxon London. Rory Naismith ranges widely across
archaeology, coinage and written sources – showing an impressive
command of multiple sub-disciplines in the process – to piece
together a fresh picture of the early medieval metropolis.
Engagingly written yet authoritative, this is everything a history
book should be!'
*Levi Roach, Senior Lecturer in Medieval History, University of
Exeter, author of Æthelred: The Unready*
‘No one can know yet to what degree Brexit will affect the fortunes
of England’s capital. But Rory Naismith’s riveting history of
Anglo-Saxon London is a reminder of how – despite all that the city
suffered during its first millennium, and the rivalries with which
it had to contend – it survived such that possession of it emerged
as the key to power during the Norman Conquest. Sacked by Boudicca
in the first century, deserted by the Romans in the fifth,
economically outdone by Ipswich in the seventh, and overshadowed
both by the metropolitan status of Canterbury and York and by the
royal glamour King Alfred and his successors bestowed on
Winchester, London nonetheless emerged in 1066 as the place where
Duke William needed to be accepted and where it was essential for
him to stage his coronation. The strength of Rory Naismith’s
narrative derives from his mastery of the disparate sources needed
to understand London’s developing success. The author’s deep
knowledge of the complexities of Anglo-Saxon coinage is matched in
this book by an acute sense of the importance of the recent
archaeological discoveries that have revealed how the city took
shape within, and beyond, and then again within its ancient Roman
walls. Anyone who loves London – that “place of the overflowing
river” (which is probably the ancient meaning of its name) – will
want to buy this superb book.’
*Henrietta Leyser, Emeritus Fellow and Former Lecturer in History,
St Peter’s College, Oxford, author of A Short History of the
Anglo-Saxons and of Beda: A Journey Through the Seven Kingdoms in
the Age of Bede*
‘Rory Naismith in his new book displays remarkable control of an
extraordinarily diverse range of evidence and constructs a
narrative with many unfamiliar details and dimensions. His story
begins in Roman Britain, and extends here to the Norman Conquest of
England in 1066. By virtue of its position on the river Thames, and
at the hub of a network of roads, London continued to prosper
throughout the Anglo-Saxon period. It was always, the author shows,
at the centre of events and was renowned too as a significant
centre of commerce. From the foundation of St Paul’s to the
building of Westminster Abbey, Dr Naismith ably and authoritatively
guides the reader through all the city’s twists and turns, while at
the same time bringing to life a rich supporting cast of Mercians
and West Saxons, English and Danes. This is an original and
compelling account of early London.’
*Simon Keynes, Elrington and Bosworth Professor of Anglo-Saxon,
University of Cambridge*
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