Anglo-Saxon England and the Meaning of Britain
What did Britain and the Britons mean to the Anglo-Saxons, and what did it mean to be their ruler?
What did medieval writers mean when they referred to ‘Britain’? They seem to have had a fairly clear idea of the geographical location and dimensions of the whole island, and were fond of repeating the description by Gildas in the early sixth century:
‘The island of Britain, situated on almost the utmost border of the earth, towards the south and west … stretches out from the southwest towards the North Pole, and is 800 miles long and 200 broad, except where the headlands of sundry promontories stretch farther into the sea.’
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