About the book

“This is a book that deserves to be read by all those interested in the early medieval period, particularly if their interests touch upon the religious culture of the period, although it clearly has a relevance beyond that. It is also a significant addition to the corpus of regional studies in this period. A stimulating book that challenges many familiar notions, in the best traditions of good scholarship, it will undoubtedly prompt continued debate and evaluation of its conclusions. No author could ask for more.” John Hunt, Staffordshire Archaeological and Historical Society Transactions

“[A]n impressive survey of the religious landscape of early medieval Lichfield. Scholars of Anglo-Saxon England or local history will find no more complete guide to Lichfield and its environs than the one provided here.” Ben Reinhard, Church History

“It is challenging, stimulating and often insightful, and provides a welcome review of some key historiographical debates on the period.” John Hunt, Landscape History

“It is possible to argue with the ways in which Sargent reassembles the pieces of this jigsaw, but it is difficult to argue that this sort of activity is long overdue; as such, it not only makes an important contribution to our understanding of the region in the early medieval period, but also offers an alternative way of conceptualizing and analysing communities that has much broader implications.” Katharine Sykes, Midland History

This book focuses on the period from the seventh to eleventh centuries that witnessed the rise and fall of Mercia, the great Midland kingdom, and, later, the formation of England. Specifically, it explores the relationship between the bishops of Lichfield and the multiple communities of their diocese.

Andrew Sargent tackles the challenge posed by the evidential ‘hole’ at the heart of Mercia by synthesising different kinds of evidence — archaeological, textual, topographical and toponymical — to reconstruct the landscapes inhabited by these communities, which intersected at cathedrals and minsters and other less formal meeting-places.

Most such communities were engaged in the construction of hierarchies, and Sargent assigns spiritual lordship a dominant role in this.

Tracing the interconnections of these communities, he focuses on the development of the Church of Lichfield, an extensive episcopal community situated within a dynamic mesh of institutions and groups within and beyond the diocese, from the royal court to the smallest township.

The regional elite combined spiritual and secular forms of lordship to advance and entrench their mutual interests, and the entanglement of royal and episcopal governance is one of the key focuses of Andrew Sargent's outstanding new research.