AAP240   The Celtic West: from the fall of Rome to the Viking Age   (20 credits)

Description

This interdisciplinary module focuses on western Britain and Ireland from the end of the Roman Empire in the early fifth century to the beginning of the Viking Age. The idea persists that, in contrast to the Anglo-Saxon regions of eastern Britain, the Celtic West was at the 'edge of the earth', and was a land of tyrants and barbarians, who, in their isolation, were removed from the cultural and political developments of this time. Beginning with a questioning of 'the Celts' and 'the Celtic West' this module  breaks down a series of misconceptions about Britain's 'Dark Age' past through the analysis and interpretation of written sources and archaeological evidence, including scientific data. It explores the people and their beliefs, and demonstrates that, far from existing on the 'fringe', early medieval western Britain and Ireland were intricately connected to the wider European and Mediterranean world.

Reading List