Slaves and Warriors in Medieval Britain and Ireland, 800 -1200

David Wyatt, Ph.D. (2003) in History, Cardiff University, is the Co-ordinating Lecturer in History at Cardiff University's Centre for Lifelong Learning.

"...David Wyatt is to be praised for focusing on, and giving us plenty of arguments for, the significant cultural aspect of medieval slavery...This work should be on the bookshelf of every student interested in early slavery in Europe...""Stefan Brink, Early Medieval Europe, August 2011“David Wyatt has produced the first comprehensive account of slavery in Wales, Scotland, Ireland, and England across the central four centuries of the Middle Ages. He is also sensitive to the Scandinavian influences and ancient Roman as well as Christian traditions that shaped a distinctive northern slavery along the shores of the North and Irish Seas... Vivid and compelling arguments and opinions make clear where Wyatt stands in the vast historiography on slavery... Wyatt has read widely in the sources and scholarly literature, and knows enough languages to recast the entire debate about slavery in northwestern Europe...”Stephen Epstein, American Historical Review, June 2010, Vol. 115, No. 3: pp. 876-877"Wyatt successfully presents an analysis of medieval slavery in cultural terms and offers a riposte to traditional interpretations warped by the lens of anachronistic economic principles...Whilst the book will be controversial amongst established medievalists, it offers a new and exciting exploration of how societies worked in Britain and Ireland during the early Middle Ages. As such, it is an essential read for anyone with serious aspirations to scholarship in that field." Richard Marsden, The Kelvingrove review, 5"David Wyatt seeks to strip away our modern sensibilities to address the issues in the social political context of the time, in this case AD 800-1200...This is a detailed and scholarly book (shot full with footnotes and source references), fluently written, drawing on many and varied literary illustrations, with an impressive bibliography."Caitlin McCall, Current Archaeology, September 2009, 234, pp. 46-7. “truly a study of weighty historical scholarship underpinned by extensive research, utilising studies in many different modern languages, as well as employing archaeological evidence whenever needed. Wyatt seems equally at home with the very complex Irish and Welsh sources alongside the more widely known sources, such as the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. If you wish to understand early medieval society you could do no better than read this all-embracing study of slavery in our islands.”Terry Barry History Scotland. Vol. 11, No.3, May/June 2011

• Acknowledgements List of IllustrationsAbbreviations 1. Slavery and HistoriographyMedieval slavery, modern sensibilitiesExplaining away medieval slaveryApproaching slavery: a case studyDefining slaveryApproaching the sourcesSlavery and progress: a self-reflexive perspective2. Slaves and WarriorsWarfare, warriors and slaveryAnthropological approaches to the youthful warriorWarfare and masculinity in medieval Ireland; the fíanThe Mursi: an anthropological parallelWarfare and masculinity: the Scottish contextWarfare and masculinity: the Welsh ynfydyonWarfare and masculinity: the Old Norse and Old English evidenceAbduction, honour and virilizationSlave raiding and virilization: the ‘rape’ of a territorySlavery and patriarchyIngroup-outgroup: Slaves and the warrior fraternityConclusions3. Slavery, Power and GenderPower, honour and genderPowerlessness, shame and genderSlavery and gender4. Slavery and SinSex, sin and slaveryReform ideals vs. warrior normsChallenging warrior norms in Anglo-Saxon society: a case studyReforming the English: the impact of the Norman ConquestReconfiguring norms of power/gender in post-Conquest society5. Slavery and Cultural AntipathyThe dynamics of cultural antipathyAcculturation, antipathy and the Welsh warriorAcculturation and antipathy in twelfth-century ScotlandA clash of cultures? The battle of the Standard, 1138Invasion, antipathy and slavery in twelfth-century IrelandConclusion: The Enduring Legacy of Medieval SlaveryEpilogueAppendix 1Appendix 2BibliographyPrimary sourcesSecondary sourcesIndex