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Andrew Breeze, <I>British Battles 494-937: Mount Badon To Mediaevistik 33 . 2020 395 and estates in the ninth and tenth centu- events both geographically and contextu- ries. The book provides an almost over- ally and better explain their significance. whelming amount of information about This work is not a cohesive study of early the sources for early medieval Milan and medieval Britain or British military histo- the scholarship engendered by them. Balz- ry, but does supply important additional aretti’s microhistorical approach to the information about the selected battles and charters of Sant-Ambrogio is successful demonstrates that Breeze’s method provi- in demonstrating the political, social, and des a sound approach for locating histori- economic complexity of Lombardy in this cal events with greater accuracy. period. While this study does not offer a Breeze’s first three examples cover new paradigm for treating charters as his- Arthurian battles from the sixth century. torical sources, as Barbara Rosenwein’s To In these studies, Breeze brings together Be the Neighbor of St. Peter: The Social recent scholarship and contemporary ac- Meaning of Cluny’s Property, 909‒1049 counts, along with examinations of Welsh did in 1989, it nonetheless demonstrates place-names and even the hydronyms the potential of these formulaic documents included in the names of these battle to to “shed light on the histories of ‘ordinary’ provide a clearer picture of the history of people in ways in which few other sorts of Britain during this period. Breeze locates evidence do for this period” (p. 24). the Battle of Mount Badon near Braydon in Scott G. Bruce, Wiltshire. He argues that the Britons in this Department of History, Dealy Hall 614, battle were commanded by Ambrosius Au- Fordham University, Bronx, NY 10458; relianus, not Arthur, while at the same time [email protected] asserting that Arthur was a historical figu- re, a Celtic chieftain from northern Britain, and even suggesting his likely burial place. The next three battles examined are Andrew Breeze, British Battles 494- all Celtic conflicts that predate the era of 937: Mount Badon to Brunanburh. New Viking raids. Breeze offers more precise York: Anthem Press, 2020, 140p. details about all of these battles, not only This book provides a valuable and detailed their locations, but also the identities of investigation of the locations of some im- important participants. This work helps portant battles in early medieval British better explain the significance of these history. More focused on the battlefields battles within the broader context of the than the battles themselves, it questions characters and dynasties that shaped Bri- the traditional sites and names for thirteen tish history during this period. major battles, with the goal of providing The third part of the book covers four students and scholars of Anglo-Saxon his- closely related battles in northern Bri- tory with a more precise understanding of tain from the mid seventh century, the these conflicts. The book builds on Bree- battles of Hatfield, Hexham, Maserfelth, ze’s previous work on early English women and Uinued. These chapters particular- and Dark Age Christianity and showcases ly showcase Breeze’s ability to trace the his philological methodology of re-analy- Latin, Welsh, and even hybrid etymolo- zing British and Welsh names in tandem gies of the names given to these battles to with the topography. This method enables determine more accurately their location, him to locate more accurately historical such as in one instance, he identifies a applyparastyle “fig//caption/p[1]” parastyle “FigCapt” 396 Mediaevistik 33 . 2020 2020 specific hill. These explanations illustra- to establish parameters that will encoura- te both the strategies used by the generals ge archaeological research at the sites that commanding the armies and the broader he identifies. If investigations had already historical importance of these conflicts. uncovered significant material evidence 00 The final chapters of this book analyze to locate the battles at these sites, Breeze’s three battles fought between the Saxons research would be unnecessary. As he ack- 00 and the Vikings. In these examples, nowledges, many of his conclusions, such Breeze demonstrates how to combine his as those about the Battle of Badon, are not 1 philological studies of battle names with wholly new, but they are significantly more local material evidence. He highlights the precise and better substantiated than ear- page 396 presence of a Saxon stone cross at one site, lier arguments that proposed similar loca- archaeological discoveries indicating a tions. In the case of the battles of Arthuret mass grave at another, as well as the stra- and Maserfelth, Breeze offers some of the 2020 tegic concerns of the Vikings, to support most precise locations for early medieval his proposed locations of these battles. battlefields in British history. His work not The findings of this book are fascinating only supplies more accurate explanations and Breeze’s interrogation and combinati- of the strategies of early medieval British on of different types of evidence is extre- generals and the location and importance mely impressive. In carrying out this work of these battles, but gives historians a bet- he has deployed his extensive knowledge ter sense of the authenticity of the literary of the different languages and linguistic sources that previously comprised the cultures that shaped British culture during main evidence for the locations and dates this period and any available textual evi- of these conflicts. dence about the battles, as well as previ- While Breeze successfully defends the ous scholarship, both contemporary and validity of his methodology, he has also pre-modern. With the rare exception of the missed an opportunity to show how the- second chapter, in which his argument for se findings might reshape Anglo-Saxon Arthur’s burial place is dangerously reli- history more broadly. Thirteen is a lar- ant on an argument from silence, and his ge number of case studies when Breeze somewhat clumsy comparisons of these does not provide a clearer explanation of battles to Agincourt, Waterloo, and twen- his decision to include each one. Many tieth-century ethnic cleansings, his con- of these chapters are also quite old. Half clusions are generally the cautious results were written previously, five or even eigh- of a thorough investigation of the evidence teen years ago. Those readers interested in woven together into a plausible narrative. this topic would surely appreciate a more At one point he memorably eviscerates unified study that demonstrates how his Catherine Clarke’s more cavalier approach approach has changed our knowledge of to interpreting Bede’s account of the batt- early medieval British history and gene- le of Drythelm in her 2006 work Literary ralship. Perhaps this distinguished scholar Landscapes and the Idea of England (80). will make that project his next endeavor. While more support from archaeologi- Richard Allington, cal and material evidence, best displayed in Eastern New Mexico University, Station the later chapters, would strengthen Bree- 19, 1500 S Ave K, Portales, NM 88130 ze’s arguments, in most cases he is trying [email protected].
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