The Surprisingly Brief 'Golden Age' of Anglo-Saxon England
Deep Down History
2,845 views
The early 7th century produced some of the most breathtaking treasures in English history — the gold and garnet masterpieces of Sutton Hoo, the Staffordshire Hoard, and the exquisite jewellery of Kentish workshops. Yet this ‘Golden Age’ of Anglo Saxon England was remarkably brief. In this episode of Deep Down History, we explore how such extraordinary craftsmanship flourished for only two or three generations, and why it faded so quickly.
We trace the story from the wealth of late Roman Britain to the gold poor early Anglo Saxon settlements, before following the trail of precious materials across Merovingian Gaul, the Byzantine Empire, and long distance trade routes reaching India and Sri Lanka. Along the way, we examine how elite gift giving, political alliances, and shifting global networks shaped the flow of gold and garnets into early medieval England.
Featuring the treasures of Sutton Hoo, the Staffordshire Hoard, Prittlewell, Taplow, and the great Kentish cemeteries, this video reveals how a combination of artistry, international exchange, and historical chance created a moment of unparalleled splendour — one that still captivates us 1,400 years later. #AngloSaxonEngland, #SuttonHoo, #StaffordshireHoard, #EarlyMedieval, #Archaeology, #DeepDownHistory, #AngloSaxonArt, #BritishHistory, #MedievalJewellery, #historydocumentary
Chapters
00:00 Introduction: the Golden Age of Anglo-Saxon England
00:55 Hoards and gold supply in late Roman Britain
02:04 Gold-poor early Anglo-Saxon England
04:36 The riches of the late 5th/early 6th century Merovingians and Byzantine Gold
07:45 The wealth of Kent in the late 6th and early 7th century
09:36 Sutton Hoo, the Staffordshire Hoard, and the provenance of garnets
13:46 The zenith and rapid decline of the Golden Age
16:59 The legacy of a remarkable moment in time
For credits and acknowledgements, please see the end credits.
Sources and Further Reading:
General works on early medieval objects, including gold and garnets:
Bayliss, A and Hines, J (eds) (2013) Anglo-Saxon Graves and Grave Goods of the 6th and 7th centuries AD: a Chronological Framework
Carver, M (2000) Burial as Poetry: The Context of Treasure in Anglo-Saxon Graves, in Tyler, E (ed) Treasure in the Medieval West: 25–48
Hamerow, H (2017) The Circulation of Garnets in the North Sea Zone ca. 400–700, in Hilgner, A, Greiff, S and Quast, D (eds) Gemstones in the First Millennium AD: 71-84
Harrington, S and Welch, M (2014) The Early Anglo-Saxon Kingdoms of Southern Britain: Beyond the Tribal Hidage [Especially chap. 10]
Hinton, D A (2005) Gold & Gilt, Pots & Pins: Possessions and People in Medieval Britain [Especially chaps 1-3]
Nicolay, J A W (2014) The Splendour of Power: Early medieval kingship and the use of gold and silver in the southern North Sea area
Pion, C, Gratuze, B, Périn, P and Calligaro, T (2020) Bead and Garnet Trade Between the Merovingian, Mediterranean, and Indian Worlds, in Effros, B and Moreira, I (eds) The Oxford Handbook of the Merovingian World: 819-59
Webster, L (2000) Ideal and reality: Versions of Treasure in the Early Anglo-Saxon World, in Tyler, E (ed) Treasure in the Medieval West: 49–59
Sutton Hoo & Rendlesham:
Bruce-Mitford, R (1975) The Sutton Hoo Ship Burial: Volume 1 [see pp. 605-53 for the coins]
Campbell, J (2000) The Impact of the Sutton Hoo discovery on the Study of Anglo-Saxon History, in his The Anglo-Saxon State: 55–83
Carver M (2005) Sutton Hoo: A seventh-century princely burial ground and its context
Scull, C, Brookes, S, and Williamson, T (2024) Lordship and Landscape in East Anglia AD 400– 800: The Royal Centre at Rendlesham, Suffolk, and its contexts
Works on other specific sites or objects:
Calligaro, T, Kazanski, K, Périn, P (2023) Decoration of the Grave Goods of King Childeric I, in Jirik, J, Blazkova, K, Bezakova, J and Ager, B et al (eds) Royal Insignia of Late Antiquity from Msec and Revnicov: 71–9
Fern, C, Dickinson, T and Webster, L (2019) The Staffordshire Hoard: An Anglo-Saxon Treasure [Especially pp. 125-7, 129-32 incl Table 3.1 on garnet sources]
Hamerow, H, Shortland, A and Cameron, E (2021) Early medieval garnet-inlaid metalwork: A comparative analysis of disc brooches from early Wessex, The Antiquaries Journal, 101: 143–59 [On the West Hanney and Milton brooches]
Primary Sources on Anglo-Saxon, Merovingian and Byzantine history:
Anglo-Saxon Chronicle: MS ‘A’ can be viewed at purl.stanford.edu/wp146tq7625, for one of many translations see Whitelock, D (1979) English Historical Documents I: c. 500-1042 [2nd edn].
Fredegar The Fourth Book of the Chronicle of Fredegar, transl Wallace-Hadrill, J M (1960)
Gregory of Tours The History of the Franks, transl. Thorpe, L (1974)
Menander The History of Menander the Guardsman, transl Blockley, R C (1985)
Procopius The History of the Wars, transl Dewing, H. B (1914-40)
8 Comments
I enjoyed your video, it is the first time I have really seen the geographical locations of the Garnet finds.
The Surprisingly Brief 'Golden Age' of Anglo-Saxon England
Deep Down History
2,845 views
The early 7th century produced some of the most breathtaking treasures in English history — the gold and garnet masterpieces of Sutton Hoo, the Staffordshire Hoard, and the exquisite jewellery of Kentish workshops. Yet this ‘Golden Age’ of Anglo Saxon England was remarkably brief. In this episode of Deep Down History, we explore how such extraordinary craftsmanship flourished for only two or three generations, and why it faded so quickly.
We trace the story from the wealth of late Roman Britain to the gold poor early Anglo Saxon settlements, before following the trail of precious materials across Merovingian Gaul, the Byzantine Empire, and long distance trade routes reaching India and Sri Lanka. Along the way, we examine how elite gift giving, political alliances, and shifting global networks shaped the flow of gold and garnets into early medieval England.
Featuring the treasures of Sutton Hoo, the Staffordshire Hoard, Prittlewell, Taplow, and the great Kentish cemeteries, this video reveals how a combination of artistry, international exchange, and historical chance created a moment of unparalleled splendour — one that still captivates us 1,400 years later. #AngloSaxonEngland, #SuttonHoo, #StaffordshireHoard, #EarlyMedieval, #Archaeology, #DeepDownHistory, #AngloSaxonArt, #BritishHistory, #MedievalJewellery, #historydocumentary
Chapters
00:00 Introduction: the Golden Age of Anglo-Saxon England
00:55 Hoards and gold supply in late Roman Britain
02:04 Gold-poor early Anglo-Saxon England
04:36 The riches of the late 5th/early 6th century Merovingians and Byzantine Gold
07:45 The wealth of Kent in the late 6th and early 7th century
09:36 Sutton Hoo, the Staffordshire Hoard, and the provenance of garnets
13:46 The zenith and rapid decline of the Golden Age
16:59 The legacy of a remarkable moment in time
For credits and acknowledgements, please see the end credits.
Sources and Further Reading:
General works on early medieval objects, including gold and garnets:
Bayliss, A and Hines, J (eds) (2013) Anglo-Saxon Graves and Grave Goods of the 6th and 7th centuries AD: a Chronological Framework
Carver, M (2000) Burial as Poetry: The Context of Treasure in Anglo-Saxon Graves, in Tyler, E (ed) Treasure in the Medieval West: 25–48
Hamerow, H (2017) The Circulation of Garnets in the North Sea Zone ca. 400–700, in Hilgner, A, Greiff, S and Quast, D (eds) Gemstones in the First Millennium AD: 71-84
Harrington, S and Welch, M (2014) The Early Anglo-Saxon Kingdoms of Southern Britain: Beyond the Tribal Hidage [Especially chap. 10]
Hinton, D A (2005) Gold & Gilt, Pots & Pins: Possessions and People in Medieval Britain [Especially chaps 1-3]
Nicolay, J A W (2014) The Splendour of Power: Early medieval kingship and the use of gold and silver in the southern North Sea area
Pion, C, Gratuze, B, Périn, P and Calligaro, T (2020) Bead and Garnet Trade Between the Merovingian, Mediterranean, and Indian Worlds, in Effros, B and Moreira, I (eds) The Oxford Handbook of the Merovingian World: 819-59
Webster, L (2000) Ideal and reality: Versions of Treasure in the Early Anglo-Saxon World, in Tyler, E (ed) Treasure in the Medieval West: 49–59
Sutton Hoo & Rendlesham:
Bruce-Mitford, R (1975) The Sutton Hoo Ship Burial: Volume 1 [see pp. 605-53 for the coins]
Campbell, J (2000) The Impact of the Sutton Hoo discovery on the Study of Anglo-Saxon History, in his The Anglo-Saxon State: 55–83
Carver M (2005) Sutton Hoo: A seventh-century princely burial ground and its context
Scull, C, Brookes, S, and Williamson, T (2024) Lordship and Landscape in East Anglia AD 400– 800: The Royal Centre at Rendlesham, Suffolk, and its contexts
Works on other specific sites or objects:
Calligaro, T, Kazanski, K, Périn, P (2023) Decoration of the Grave Goods of King Childeric I, in Jirik, J, Blazkova, K, Bezakova, J and Ager, B et al (eds) Royal Insignia of Late Antiquity from Msec and Revnicov: 71–9
Fern, C, Dickinson, T and Webster, L (2019) The Staffordshire Hoard: An Anglo-Saxon Treasure [Especially pp. 125-7, 129-32 incl Table 3.1 on garnet sources]
Hamerow, H, Shortland, A and Cameron, E (2021) Early medieval garnet-inlaid metalwork: A comparative analysis of disc brooches from early Wessex, The Antiquaries Journal, 101: 143–59 [On the West Hanney and Milton brooches]
Primary Sources on Anglo-Saxon, Merovingian and Byzantine history:
Anglo-Saxon Chronicle: MS ‘A’ can be viewed at purl.stanford.edu/wp146tq7625, for one of many translations see Whitelock, D (1979) English Historical Documents I: c. 500-1042 [2nd edn].
Fredegar The Fourth Book of the Chronicle of Fredegar, transl Wallace-Hadrill, J M (1960)
Gregory of Tours The History of the Franks, transl. Thorpe, L (1974)
Menander The History of Menander the Guardsman, transl Blockley, R C (1985)
Procopius The History of the Wars, transl Dewing, H. B (1914-40)