Anglo-Saxon Elite

Renato Rodrigues da Silva holds a PhD from the University of Leicester. He is currently a post-doctoral researcher in medieval history at Unifesp, and part of the Ciro Cardoso Centre for Pre-capitalist Studies (CCCP-Prék).

"Renato Rodrigues da Silva’s book provides a fresh Marxist perspective on the Northumbrian aristocracy of the long eighth century, framing it as a dominant class whose strategies of power, wealth circulation, and reproduction are carefully dissected. While the use of a rigid Marxist model offers insights, it occasionally overlooks the complexities of Northumbrian society, especially the role of the ecclesiastic aristocracy." – Alban Gautier, Speculum, issue 2, 2024

• Acknowledgements Abbreviations Introduction 1. The Aristocracy’s Appearance Introduction 1. Nouns for aristocrats: labels 2. Aristocrats as warriors 3. Aristocratic Women 4. Social Mobility? The cases of Imma and Caedmon 5. The crystallization of the aristocracy: the Durham Liber Vitae Conclusion 2. Production: Classes and Class Relations Introduction 1. Concepts and Definitions 2. Why is the eighth century a ‘long’ one? 3. Forces of Production and Means of Production, at Sherburn (N. Yorks) Conclusion 3. Circulation 1. Land donation 2. Circulation, Coins and Coinage Conclusion 4. Time, History and Class through narratives Introduction 1. History and Ideological reproduction 2. Narratives, Form and Content 3. The past and its senses in Anglo-Saxon Society: the vernacular and Latin 4. Bede and his works 5. The Historia Regum Conclusion 5. Consumption: Aristocratic Eating Introduction 1. Types of evidence available 2. Fasting and Feasting 3. Flixborough Conclusion 6. The End: Death Introduction 1. Death as a form of time reckoning 2. Periods, Chronology and their meaning in Archaeology 3. Clerics, jewellery and status 4. Wills: reproduction through death 5. Rites of Death Conclusion Conclusion Index List of Figures