Bibliography

Evans, Nicholas, “Cultural contacts and ethnic origins in Viking Age Wales and northern Britain: the case of Albanus, Britain's first inhabitant and Scottish ancestor”, Journal of Medieval History 41:2 (2015): 131–154.

  • journal article
Citation details
Contributors
Article
“Cultural contacts and ethnic origins in Viking Age Wales and northern Britain: the case of Albanus, Britain's first inhabitant and Scottish ancestor”
Periodical
Volume
41
Pages
131–154
Description
Abstract (cited)
Albanus, an eponymous ancestor for the kingdom of Alba, provides an example of the extent to which the creation of an ethnic identity was accompanied by new ideas about origins, which replaced previous accounts. Through an analysis of the Historia Brittonum’s textual tradition and Welsh knowledge of early Roman history and medieval ethnic groups, this article establishes that Albanus was added to the Historia Brittonum in the late ninth or early tenth century as an ancestral figure for the new kingdom of Alba in northern Britain. This was potentially a result of shared political situations in Gwynedd, Alba (formerly Pictland) and Strathclyde in relation to Scandinavian power at this time, which encouraged contacts and the spread of Alba-based ideology to Gwynedd. The later development of this idea and its significance in Alba itself, Geoffrey of Monmouth's account and English claims to supremacy over Scotland are also traced.
Subjects and topics
Headings
Wales and the Vikings Scotland 9th century 10th century
Sources
Texts
History, society and culture
Agents
AlbanusAlbanus
Entry reserved for but not yet available from the subject index.

See more
Places
Contributors
C. A., Dennis Groenewegen
Page created
December 2017, last updated: June 2020