Treaties, Frontiers and Borderlands:The Making and Unmaking of Mercian Border Traditions
Morn Capper
This article explores the complexity and nuance of borderlands border relations focusing on Mercia. Identifying a host maintenance strategies negotiating control over people, places resources, mitigation risk maximisation opportunity, but also strategic escalation de-escalation tensions, study re-evaluates how Mercian traditions supported expanded hegemony between seventh ninth centuries. The significant departures approach presented here are (i) rethinking traditional focus military, religious ethnic identities to integrate these among other activities experiences defining early medieval frontiers (ii) considering reimagining not only Mercia’s during its emergence heyday as kingdom reflecting territory itself became borderland under rule Aethelred Aethelflaed Viking Age, such it was formative in creation Danelaw England. Alfred/Guthrum Treaty Ordinance Dunsaete contextualised against scales negotiation activity framing Mercian/Anglo-Welsh Anglo-Danish borderlands. Different ‘Mercian borderlands’ compared this analysed complex zones interaction, responsive geographical factors, criss-crossed by multi-stranded pathways daily life. were understood maintained militarily, physically, spiritually, ideologically. considers shaped convenience need reinforced or permeable at locality, community levels.
Offa's Dyke journal