From Roman Britain to the Early Middle Ages: Britain and the Mediterranean

A Survey of the Links of the Early Medieval Britains links with Europe and the Late Roman Mediterranean world

At the end of the Fourth Century AD Roman Britain increasingly fragments and becomes a collection of small power centres. But what do we know of their outlook on the world? Was this a collection of small villages with little to concern for the world outside, beyond survival and who their direct neighbours were? Both the written sources and the archaeological material suggest otherwise, attesting to continued contacts across the sea, of political missions, diplomatic gifts, visits by great churchmen and journeys for learning and discovery.

In this course, we will look at what this world looked like for the Britains and the incoming settlers and what the wider world made of Britain between 400 and 700.