The Making of England: A New History of the Anglo-Saxon World by Mark Atherton (review)

Mark Atherton gives a reign by reign account of Anglo-Saxon politics and literature from Alfred (r. 871–899) to Edgar (r. 959–975). His overarching theme is the unity of the English kingdom forged by Alfred and the six Wessex kings who succeeded him. Under Edgar, 'England became a united kingdom for the first time […] with a standard written language, and a rich literature, with a tightly controlled administration […] and a network of towns' (p. 3).

This is a book for the general reader, but more particularly for students of the history and/or literature of Anglo-Saxon England. Atherton, who is a lecturer in English at an Oxford college, probably has more to offer students of literature. As to history students, they appear to be already well provided with studies of the unification of England under Alfred and his tenth-century successors. But what Atherton chiefly aims to provide them with is awareness of the 'inner thoughts and feelings' and the 'ideals and aspirations' that can be found in a variety of literary sources, particularly hagiography. 'These insights', he affirms, 'should also be included in a history of the Anglo-Saxon world' (p. 3).

English students can gain a more informed overview of literacy and the production of literature in the covered period by consulting the various companions and encyclopedias specifically written for them from the 1990s onward. Latin and vernacular literature between Alfred's educational revival and the Benedictine reform in Edgar's reign has, however, only relatively recently received close attention. Atherton's book therefore makes a useful contribution by offering a continuous narrative of literary history in the period between these two cultural high points. Its most attractive feature is the wide range of both Latin and vernacular literature Atherton discusses, finding significance and interest in texts that might have been thought too esoteric to set before non-specialists, such as the Fonthill Letter and Lantfred's Vita of St Swithin. Atherton's readable style is well suited to his target audiences. The chronological lists at the beginning of each chapter, giving dates of the events mentioned, are an excellent idea. A genealogical table would have been helpful too, particularly for following the dynastic infighting.

One of the weaknesses of Atherton's book, however, is his cursory presentation of the educational reforms that form the beginning and end of his regnal history. Of course, Alfred's preface to Cura Pastoralis has been extensively discussed, but Atherton's intended readers must at least be either told or reminded that Alfred's aim was to teach vernacular literacy to all sio gioguð ('young persons') of the freeborn classes and, after that, to teach Latin to those with an aptitude for religious orders. According to Asser's Life of Alfred, the king's youngest son acquired both vernacular and Latin literacy at a monastic school, presumably Winchester, along with almost all of the children of the nobility, and many who were not noble. And his youngest daughter, together with Edward, his eldest son and heir, were, at the time Asser wrote, being taught at court in the vernacular by male and female teachers.

A substantial body of work on Anglo-Saxon women's literacy has been published since Christine Fell's pioneering study appeared in 1984. It is therefore startling to find Atherton stating that, in Edward's reign, 'the written vernacular continued to be fostered by the ruling elite, who had certainly benefited from the great drive to teach their sons—and perhaps also their daughters—to read in Old English' (p. 122).

Likewise, in his discussion of Edgar's founding of monasteries, Atherton makes no mention of nunneries. Yet Wilton already had a monastic school whose pupils included secular women before c. 960, and it became a notable centre of learning after being re-founded...