Kingship, Social Change, and the Church, 867–1066

Abstract

Chapter 5 considers the relationship between kingship, social change, and the church during Scandinavian and West Saxon conquest, and incorporation into the English kingdom. It uses contemporary annals preserved in later contexts, tenth- and eleventh-century histories, coins, settlement and cemetery archaeology, and distributions of metalwork to reconstruct social and political frameworks and investigate religious patronage. It begins by establishing the outlines of Scandinavian conquest and rule 867–954. It proceeds to suggest that a Northumbrian people and kingdom continued to exist, and that political actors sought to rule the Northumbrians as a whole. It observes the instabilities faced by Scandinavian rulers thanks to their own followers, indigenous Christian society, migrants, and social change, arguing that this made alliance with the church an attractive prospect. It analyses the West Saxon conquest and the instabilities it produced for English kings and their representatives, prompting further alliance with the church.