The Durham Liber Vitae, a sumptuous manuscript created in ninth-century Northumbria containing lists of 3,000 names of royalty, aristocracy, and churchmen, is one of only three books of its type to survive from medieval Britain. Updated sporadically in the tenth and eleventh centuries, it became a repository for the names of monks at Durham Cathedral Priory up until the Dissolution, and later included the names of lay persons through the Middle Ages--some from the royalty and aristocracy, but many from much humbler levels of society. Durham Liber Vitae: The Complete Edition brings the Liber Vitae to life, unlocking its considerable potential for a range of studies in linguistics, religious history, and paleaeography. Supported by a high-resolution digital facsimile on CD-ROM, introductions to the manuscript, extensive indexes, and full linguistic commentaries on absolutely all recorded names, Durham Liber Vitae: The Complete Edition is an essential volume for scholars of medieval English history.

First printed edition, with facsimile and studies, of a significant manuscript from medieval England.

The Picts is a survey of the historical and cultural developments in northern Britain between AD 300 and AD 900. Discarding the popular view of the Picts as savages, they are revealed to have been politically successful and culturally adaptive members of the medieval European world. Re-interprets our definition of ‘Pict’ and provides a vivid depiction of their political and military organization Offers an up-to-date overview of Pictish life within the environment of northern Britain Explains how art such as the ‘symbol stones’ are historical records as well as evidence of creative inspiration. Draws on a range of transnational and comparative scholarship to place the Picts in their European context

A HISTORY OF OLD ENGLISH LITERATURE A History of Old English Literature has been significantly revised to provide an unequivocal response to the renewed historicism in medieval studies. Focusing on the production and reception of Old English texts and on their relation to Anglo-Saxon history and culture, this new edition covers an exceptionally broad array of genres. These range from riddles and cryptograms to allegory, liturgical texts, and romance, as well as lyric poetry and heroic legend. The authors also integrate discussions of Anglo-Latin texts, crucial to understanding the development of Old English literature. This second edition incorporates extensive reference to scholarship that has evolved over the past decade, with new chapters on both Anglo-Saxon manuscripts and on incidental and marginal texts. There is expanded treatment throughout, including increased coverage of legal texts and scientific and scholastic texts. The book concludes with a retrospective outline of the reception of Anglo-Saxon literature and culture in subsequent periods.

A guide to life at a medieval monastery, this book brings alive the monastic community of Durham and offers a fascinating glimpse into the history of Durham Cathedral.