This book explores the historical relationship between the kingdom of Strathclyde and Anglo-Saxon England during the Viking period from the ninth to eleventh centuries AD.
It focuses on the North Britons or ‘Cumbrians’, an ancient people whose kings ruled from Govan, located on the western side of present-day Glasgow. In the tenth century, these kings expanded their rule southward from Clydesdale to the southern shore of the Solway Firth, bringing their language and culture to a region that had been under English control for over two hundred years.
They played a significant role in many political events of the time, leading their armies in battle and forming treaties to maintain peace. Their extensive realm, also known as ‘Cumbria’, was eventually conquered by the Scots, but its legacy lives on in the name of an English county.
The book also delves into how this county acquired the name of a long-vanished kingdom centred on the River Clyde. This history is an important chapter in the emergence of England and Scotland from the early medieval period or ‘Dark Ages’ into the countries we recognize today.
Author: Tim Clarkson | Publisher: Birlinn Ltd | Published: 20 October 2014 | Length: 224 pages | ISBN: 9781906566784 | Publishers page
