Geoffrey of Monmouth and the English Past

Rebecca Thomas

    Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingChapterpeer-review

    Abstract

    This chapter examines the presentation of the Anglo-Saxon past in De gestis Britonum, considering both Geoffrey’s use of Anglo-Saxon sources and his attitude towards the Anglo-Saxons themselves. Focusing in particular on Geoffrey’s use of Bede’s Ecclesiastical History for his account of the 5th, 6th, and 7th centuries, it illustrates how he carefully drew upon and adapted this text to construct a different version of the Anglo-Saxon past in which the Britons occupied center stage and were treated sympathetically. In so doing he also radically departed from the histories of his Anglo-Norman contemporaries. This chapter examines the construction of this peculiarly British vision of Anglo-Saxon history.
    Original languageEnglish
    Title of host publicationA Companion to Geoffrey of Monmouth
    EditorsJoshua Byron Smith, Gerogia Henley
    PublisherBrill: Leiden
    Chapter3
    Pages105-128
    Number of pages23
    ISBN (Electronic)978-90-04-41039-8
    ISBN (Print)978-90-04-40528-8
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - Aug 2020

    Publication series

    NameBrill's Companions to European History
    Volume22

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