[Regia-NA] Depressed Anglo-Saxons?

[HearthstoneArts at aol.com]

In a message dated 6/7/2004 2:15:32 PM Central Daylight Time, 
jmichal2 at yahoo.com writes:

> Or have any of you come across books that
> give historically sound but less gloomy pictures of
> Anglo-Saxon culture? 

"A History of Britian," by Simon Shama, Vol. I, Hyperion, 2000, has several 
chapters that give a picture of a vibrant, thriving, stablizing AS culture 
emerging from the more chaotic period just after the Roman forces left for good. 
It discusses the culture up through the conquest in 1066 and notes:

"Late Anglo-Saxon England was politically volatile but institutionally 
stable. Beyond the mayhem at court and the bloodshed of the battlefield, churches 
were being built, cases were being heard in court, merchandise was being 
produced and marketed and a strong and copious coinage was being minted. And from the 
few fragmentary survivals we can see that this was also a culture of great 
sophistication and versatility. The stunning ivories, dazzlingly coloured 
Psalters, intensely emotional Passion scenes, vividly animated birds and beasts, 
coming from the great ecclesiastical powerhouses of Winchester and Canterbury, 
are the equal of the best work to be found anywhere in Christian Europe." (pg. 
70-71)

The book "The Year 1000," by Robert Lacey and Danny Danziger, Publishers: 
Little, Brown and Co., 1999, is also very good. It covers a lot of subjects with 
good notations and references. Definitely not all "doom and gloom."

Oh, by the way, new to the list. Very interested in Regia NA. Love research. 
Have my own business doing Celtic knotwork (and other things) on pottery. Most 
of it based on illuminated manuscripts (at least that's where we started). 
Have a wife and two teenage kids (boy and girl). 

Sincerely,
Mike -- do we use our own names or persona names on the list? Just curious.
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