Kinship and Power in Mercia in the Long Eighth Century

漫长的八世纪麦西亚的亲属关系和权力

• 批准号: 2880782
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: University of Leicester
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Studentship
• 财政年份: 2023
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2023 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=studentship-2880782
• 关键词: Kinship; Power; Mercia; Long; Eighth

My project uses an interdisciplinary methodology to investigate how kinship, status and power was expressed within Mercian royal families in the long eighth-century (from Penda, d. 655, to Ceolwulf I, 821-3). These phenomena have been little studied in eighth-century Mercia, despite the contemporary dominance of that kingdom in Britain, and a well-established historiography on the medieval royal family. My project will investigate dynastic policies of Mercian kings and their familial implications, through analysis of a wide range of contemporary texts including charters, letters (especially the Boniface/Alcuin collections), hagiographical texts (eg: Vita Æthelberhti), genealogies and Mercian material culture (coins, manuscripts, sculpture and architecture). The dynastic and familial underpinnings of early English kingship have been studied. Nevertheless, there has been little research on the dynastic policies of Mercian kings. At varying times, descent from historical or semi-historical ancestral figures such as Penda, Icel or Pybba was important, and Offa (757-96) attempted to create a tightly formalised and exclusive kingship, drawing upon Carolingian kingmaking practices such as anointing. My project will investigate how these policies defined the royal family, in theory and practice. To this end, the genealogical representation of Mercian dynasties will be a major focus, especially the 'Anglian Collection' (London, British Library, MS Cotton Vespasian B.vi, fols 104-9). Early English genealogies have been examined as political assertions, however, the 'Anglian Collection' lacks recent scrutiny and new work on Insular Manuscripts opens more lines of inquiry. The political and familial roles of Mercian royal women, particularly queens, is a central theme. The roles of queens in pre-Viking Mercia have been surveyed and the influence of early medieval royal women has been studied. However, the position of each Mercian queen has not been properly contextualised and their relationships to wider familial identities remains unexplored. My study will use relevant Frankish and Anglo-Saxon comparanda, gender theory, and insights from Women's History, to enrich understanding of early English queenship and female expressions of power. This project will also explore the importance of religious houses (eg: Repton, Breedon-on-the-Hill, Bedford, Cookham) as expressions of Mercian dynastic identity. The socio-political power of Anglo-Saxon religious houses has been studied including those in Mercia. The architectural and newly-catalogued sculptural record is ripe for re-evaluating elite patronage of Mercian monasteries, especially in the Nene Valley (Northampton, Brixworth, Brigstock), and the network associated with the Anglo-Saxon abbey at Peterborough.Religious houses, dynastic policies, and queenship were all interlinked expressions of Mercian royal familial identity and by researching and comparing them to neighbouring Anglo-Saxon and European traditions I hope to both increase our overall understanding of the Mercian polity and early medieval dynastic and familial identity.

我的项目使用跨学科的方法来调查在漫长的8世纪(从彭达，公元655年，到齐乌夫一世，821-33年)，亲属关系，地位和权力是如何在Mercian王室中表达的。这些现象在8世纪的麦西亚很少被研究，尽管当时那个王国在不列颠占主导地位，而且关于中世纪王室的史学也很成熟。我的项目将通过分析广泛的当代文本，包括宪章、信件(特别是博尼法斯/阿尔昆收藏)、圣徒传记文本(例如：Vita？thelberhti)、谱系和Mercian物质文化(硬币、手稿、雕塑和建筑)，调查Mercian国王的王朝政策及其家庭影响。对早期英国王权的王朝和家族基础进行了研究。然而，关于商业王朝王朝政策的研究却很少。在不同的时期，从历史或半历史的祖先人物，如彭达，伊塞尔或皮巴的后裔是重要的，奥法(757-96)试图建立一个严格的正式和排他的王权，利用加洛林王朝的做法，如涂油。我的项目将调查这些政策是如何在理论和实践中定义王室的。为此，商业王朝的谱系表现将是一个主要的焦点，特别是‘盎格鲁收藏’(伦敦，大英图书馆，MS Cotton Vespasian B.vi，第104-9页)。早期的英国家谱一直被视为政治断言，然而，《安格利安文集》缺乏最近的审查，而关于岛国手稿的新工作开启了更多的调查线索。梅西亚王室女性，尤其是女王的政治和家庭角色是一个中心主题。调查了女王在维京时代前的麦西亚所扮演的角色，并研究了中世纪早期皇室女性的影响。然而，每个Mercian女王的地位还没有得到适当的背景分析，他们与更广泛的家庭身份的关系仍然没有被探索。我的研究将使用相关的法兰克语和盎格鲁-撒克逊比较法、性别理论和女性历史的见解，以丰富对早期英国王室和女性权力表达的理解。这个项目还将探索宗教房屋(例如：雷普顿、布里登-山上、贝德福德、库克姆)作为商业王朝身份的表达的重要性。对盎格鲁-撒克逊宗教机构的社会政治权力进行了研究，包括麦西亚的宗教机构。建筑和新编目的雕塑记录已经成熟，可以重新评估商业修道院的精英赞助，特别是在内纳山谷(北安普顿、布里克斯沃斯、布里斯托克)，以及与彼得堡的盎格鲁-撒克逊修道院相关的网络。宗教房屋、王朝政策和王室都是商业王室身份的相互关联的表达，通过研究和比较它们与邻近的盎格鲁-撒克逊和欧洲传统，我希望都增加我们对商业政体和中世纪早期王朝和家庭身份的整体理解。