In all of the literature on Anglo-Saxon England, rarely has the question of social class been confronted head-on. This study draws upon recent research into topics such as religious practice, emotions, daily life, and intellectual culture to investigate how the aristocracy of Northumbria maintained social dominance over wider society. Moreover, this monograph suggests that the crisis that brought an end to Northumbria as an independent kingdom was the product of the social contradictions produced by the ruling class as social domination developed over time. The analysis is divided into three broad parts – production, circulation, and consumption – both as a nod to Marxist historiography and also to signal a commitment to a methodology that situates the subject within a global context.

Renato Rodrigues da Silva holds a PhD from the University of Leicester and has worked as a post-doctoral researcher at Universidade Federal Fluminense and as a temporary lecturer at Universidade Federal de São Paulo (Unifesp). He is currently a post-doctoral researcher in medieval history at Unifesp, and part of the Ciro Cardoso Centre for Pre-capitalist Studies (CCCP- Prék).

Acknowledgements
List of Figures
Abbreviations
Introduction
Chapter 1. The Aristocracy’s Appearance
1) Nouns for aristocrats: labels
2) Aristocrats as warriors
3) Aristocratic Women
4) Social Mobility? The cases of Imma and Caedmon
5) The crystallization of the aristocracy: the Durham Liber Vitae
Conclusion
Bibliography
Chapter 2. Production: Classes and Class Relations
1) Concepts and Definitions
2) Why is the eighth century a ‘long’ one?
3) Forces of Production and Means of Production, at Sherburn (N. Yorks)
Conclusion
Bibliography
Chapter 3. Circulation
1) Land donation
2) Circulation , Coins and Coinage
Conclusion
Bibliography
Chapter 4. Time, History and Class through narratives
Introduction
1) History and Ideological reproduction
2) Narratives, Form and Content
3) The past and its senses in Anglo-Saxon Society: the vernacular and Latin
4) Bede and his works
5) The Historia Regum
Conclusion
Bibliography
Chapter 5. Consumption: Aristocratic Eating
Introduction
1) Types of evidence available
2) Fasting and Feasting
3) Flixborough
Conclusion
Bibliography
Chapter 6. The End: Death
Introduction
1) Death as a form of time reckoning
2) Periods, Chronology and their meaning in Archaeology
3) Clerics, jewelry and status
4) Wills: reproduction through death
5) Rites of Death
Conclusion
Bibliography
Conclusion
Index