Citation

Bassett S. Early Medieval Europe 2007; 15(1): 53-85.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2007, John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1111/j.1468-0254.2007.00198.x

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Military might is widely recognized as having been a key element in the Mercian kings’ ability to forge and maintain a large kingdom in midland England in and after the seventh century. The paper argues that its basis was a network of fortified places – all major royal settlements that were given substantial defences in the eighth and early ninth centuries – and a systemic mechanism for manning them. The archaeological evidence of these defences at Hereford, Tamworth and Winchcombe is reviewed; the probable locations of other such early fortified places in midland England are considered; and the significance of this burghal system for our understanding of ‘the supremacy of the Mercian kings’ is weighed.