The Continental Saxons developed from a subsistence economy, practiced up to the Carolingian conquest in the late eighth century, to become rulers of the Holy Roman Empire a little over a century and a half later. A historian introduces the topic, evaluating the reliability of the sources. Archaeologists then describe the living conditions, especially along the coast where villages have been excavated, and social customs revealed by grave-goods. Legal procedures are inferred from surviving evidence, and the regional economy, based on agriculture and animal husbandry, is reconstructed through the study of vegetable remains and pollen analysis. The birth of urban communities, stimulated by monastic settlements and trade, is followed through archaeological evidence; study of visual art-forms is based on analysis of grave-goods; and in the absence of surviving evidence for poetry, a Carolingian eulogical poem is discussed. Also discussed are Saxon political relations prior to and during the Carolingian conquest; the few signs of traditional religion that can be gleaned from the 'Lives' of missionaries; and Christianity and the activity of religious orders, which eventually brought about the conversion of the Saxons and the introduction of written culture.

An examination of both the role played by Fortune in Arthurian literature and legend, and the fortunes of the legend itself. The essays in this volume offer a general overview and a number of detailed examinations of Arthur's fortunes, in two senses. First is the role of Fortune itself, often personified and consistently instrumental, in accounts of Arthur's court and reign. More generally the articles trace the trajectory of the Arthurian legend - its birth, rise and decline - through the middle ages. The final essay follows the continued turning of Fortune's wheel, emphasizingthe modern revival and flourishing of the legend. The authors, all distinguished Arthurian scholars, illustrate their arguments through studies of early Latin and Welsh sources, chronicles, romances [in English, French, German, Italian, Latin and Welsh], manuscript illustration and modern literary texts. Contributors: CHRISTOPHER A. SNYDER, SIAN ECHARD, EDWARD DONALD KENNEDY, W.R.J. BARRON, DENNIS H. GREEN, NORRIS LACY, CERIDWEN LLOYD-MORGAN, JOAN TASKER GRIMBERT, ALISON STONES, NEIL THOMAS, JANE H.M. TAYLOR, CAROLINE D. ECKHARDT, ALAN C LUPACK.

Essays examining the Langobards, with important conclusions for early medieval Italy. The Langobards or Lombards were the last Germanic group to invade the Roman Mediterranean, crossing the Alps into Italy in 568-9. They were nonetheless one of the longest-lasting, for their state survived Charlemagne's conquest in774, and was the core of the medieval kingdom of Italy. The incompleteness of their conquest of Italy was also one of the root causes of Italian division for over 1300 years after their arrival. But they present a challenge to the historian, for most of the evidence for them dates to the last half-century of their independence, up to 774, a period in which Langobard Italy was a coherent and apparently tightly-governed state by early medieval standards. How they reached this from the incoherent and disorganised situation visible in late sixth-century Italy is still a matter of debate. The historians and archaeologists who contribute to this volume discuss Langobard archaeologyand material culture both before and after their invasion, Langobard language, political organisation, the church, social structures, family structures, and urban economy. It is thus an important and up to date starting point forfuture research on early medieval Italy. Contributors: G. AUSENDA, S. BARNISH, S. BRATHER, T.S. BROWN, N. CHRISTIE, M. COSTAMBEYS, P. DELOGU, D. GREEN, W. HAUBRICHS, J. HENNING, B. WARD-PERKINS, C. WICKHAM.

A study of two Germanic tribes, the Baiuvarii and Thuringi, looking at their origins, development, and customs between the fifth and the eighth centuries. The large neighbouring tribes of the Baiuvarii and Thuringi, who lived between the Alps and the River Elbe from the fifth to eighth centuries, are the focus of this book. Using a variety of different sources drawn from the fieldsof archaeology, history, linguistics and religion, the contributions discuss how an ethnos, a gens, or a tribe, such as the Baiuvarii or Thuringi, might appear in the written and archaeological evidence. For the Thuringi tribal traditions started around the year 400 or even earlier, while the Baiuvarii experienced a much later ethnogenesis from both immigrants and a local, partly Romance population in the mid-sixth century. The Baiuvarii and Thuringi are studied together because of the astonishing connections between their two settlement landscapes. In the context of the row-grave civilisation the Thuringi belonged primarily to the eastern, the Baiuvarii to thewestern sphere. The kingdom of the Thuringi was assimilated into the Merovingian Empire after their defeat by the Franks in the 530s, which also changed their burial customs to the style of the western row-grave zone. In contrast,the Baiuvarii were not "Frankicised" until more than a century later and their grave customs remained more typically "Bavarian". The chapters highlight typical features of each region and beyond: settlements, agricultural economy, law, religion, language, names, craftsmanship, grave goods, mobility and communication. Janine Fries-Knoblach is a freelance archaeologist with a special interest in the fields of settlements, agriculture and technology of protohistoric Central Europe, and has taught at a number of German universities; Heiko Steuer is Professor Emeritus of Prehistoric and Protohistoric Archaeology and Archaeology of the Middle Ages at Freiburg University, Germany, with a special interest in the social and economic history of Germanic tribes in Central Europe; John Hines is Professor of Archaeology at Cardiff University and is supervising the publication of the remaining volumes inthis series. Contributors: Giorgio Ausenda, Janine Fries-Knoblach, Heike Grahn-Hoek, Dennis H. Green, Wolfgang Haubrichs, Joachim Henning, Max Martin, Peter Neumeister, Heiko Steuer, Claudia Theune-Vogt, Ian Wood.

The work of top scholars in Visigothic studies... Using all evidence available, the volume addresses the evolution of the Visigoths in early medieval history. CHOICE Indispensable for all scholars of the Visigoths. ENGLISH HISTORICAL REVIEW Books on the Visigoths and Visigothic Spain in English are rare, so this is a welcome addition to their ranks... wide-ranging collection (which) has much to offer, not just to Spanish studies but to students of late antiquity in general. CLASSICAL REVIEW Between 376 and 476 the Roman Empire in western Europe was dismantled by aggressive outsiders, barbarians' as the Romans labelled them. Chief among these were the Visigoths, a new force of previously separate Gothic and other groups from south-west France, initially settled by the Romans but subsequently, from the middle of the fifth century, achieving total independence from the failing Roman Empire, and extending their power from the Loire to the Straits of Gibraltar. These studies draw on literary and archaeological evidence to address important questions thrown up by the history of the Visigoths and of the kingdom they generated: the historical processes which led to their initial creation; the emergence of the Visigothic kingdom in the fifth century; and the government, society, culture and economy of the mature' kingdom of the sixth and seventh centuries. A valuable feature of the collection, reflecting the switch of the centre of the Visigothic kingdom from France to Spain from the beginning of the sixth century, is the inclusion, in English, of current Spanish scholarship. Dr PETER HEATHERteaches in the Department of History at University College London.