Early Christian Ireland

by T. M. Charles-Edwards

Overview

This is the first fully-documented history of Ireland and the Irish from Saint Patrick to the Vikings. Other books cover either a longer period (up to the Anglo-Norman conquests) or do not indicate in detail the evidence on which they are based. The book opens with the Irish raids and settlements in Britain, and the conversion of Ireland to Christianity, and ends as Viking attacks on Ireland accelerated in the second quarter of the ninth century.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780521363952
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	11/30/2000
Pages:	728
Product dimensions:	6.34(w) x 9.29(h) x 1.97(d)
Lexile:	1560L (what's this?)

About the Author

Thomas Charles-Edwards is Professor of Celtic in the University of Oxford. His previous books include Bechbretha (1983, with Fergus Kelly), The Welsh Laws (1989) and Early Irish and Welsh Kinship (1993).

Table of Contents

List of maps; List of tables; List of figures; Acknowledgements; Abbreviations; A note on pronunciation; A note on the Chronicle of Ireland; Introduction; 1. Ireland in the seventh century: a tour; 2. Irish society c.700: I. Communities; 3. Irish society c.700: II. Social distinctions and moral values; 4. Ireland and Rome; 5. Conversion to Christianity; 6. The organisation of the early Irish church; 7. Columba, Iona and Lindisfarne; 8. Columbanus and his disciples; 9. The Paschal controversy; 10. The primatial claims of Armagh, Kildare and Canterbury; 11. The origins and rise of Uí Néill; 12. The kingship of Tara; 13. The powers of kings; 14. Conclusion; Appendix: genealogies and king-lists; Glossary: Irish and Latin; Bibliography; Index.

Editorial Reviews

"A comprehensive survey of early-medieval Ireland..." Speculum

"Charles-Edwards presents a first rate history of early Christian Ireland and the Irish at home, in Britain, France, and Italy, ranging from Patrick to the coming of Viking fleets...Required reading for serious students of Irish history." Religious Studies Review

"...this book has set a high standard for the contention." Albion

"Charles-Edwards....has written THE book on Ireland between the fourth and ninth centuries. [He] deftly blends extensive recent scholarhsip with perceptive analses of notoriously difficult narrative, legal, literary, and epigraphic texts. This rich book is a must-have for all those who teach and do research on Europe's early Middle Ages." HISTORY: Reviews of New Books

From the Publisher