What are some good sources on/including early-medieval (c. 600) Anglo-Saxon England and Wales?

by darevoyance

Any books, pdfs, articles, lists, or wikipedia pages are welcomed, although books and pdfs are preferred.

I'd like to read about Penda of Mercia, Kings Oswiu and Oswald of Northumbria, and Cenwalh of Wessex, as well as the Battle of Maserfield, Cenwalh's exile, and the Battle of the Winwaed.

y_sengaku

OK, you'd like to read on the detailed political history of the 7th century Britain, such as the world of Bede the Venerable (I assume you might also like to read/ have already read the English translation of his HE).

I'm sure that proper Anglo-Saxon special flairs like /u/BRIStoneman and /u/Steelcan909 must have more to say on OP's topic as well as much better selection of the recommended literature, but at least I can also suggest some basic books below:

+++

(Entry-Level)

  • Charles-Edwards, Thomas. 'Nations and Kingdoms'. In: After Rome, ed. Thomas Charles-Edwards, pp. 23-58. Oxford: OUP, 2003. Short Oxford History of the British Isles: is the easiest as well as in some depth read to give some up-to-date overview of the post-Roman political geography up to the ascendance of King Offa of Mercia. Robin Fleming, Britain after Rome: The Fall and Rise 400 to 1070 is a generally recommended excellent general work, but it might has too little details on the political dynamism of the 7th century.
  • Higham, Nicholas J. & Martin J. Ryan (eds.). The Anglo-Saxon World. New Haven:Yale UP,2013: is must read for you, I suppose. Edited by one of few experts specialized in Early ASE, with a brief introductory 'sources and issues' essays on the primary sources.
  • Yorke, Barbara. The Conversion of Britain: Religion, Politics and Society in Britain c. 600-800. Harlow: Pearson Longman, 2006: offers a balanced overview of the Christianization process of all the Britain, often intertwined with politics, at that period.

+++

(Intermediate)

  • Bassett, Steven (ed.). The Origins of Anglo-Saxon England. Leicester: Leicester UP, 1989. Studies in the Early History of Britain: is a classic collection of the essays on the formation of the kingdom in ASE, though focusing rather on the structural aspect of the government than on the detailed political events.
  • Davies, Wendy. Wales in the Early Middle Ages. Leicester: Leicester UP, 1990: gives the standard overview of early medieval Wales, though not so much in the 7th century.
  • Higham, Nicholas J. An English Empire : Bede and the Early Anglo-Saxon Kings. Manchester: Manchester UP, 1995: argues on how we should read the descriptions of Bede from a critical (rather very skeptical?) point of view, to look through a complexity of Early Anglo-Saxon England.

+++

(Advanced)

BRIStoneman

/u/y_sengaku has done a great job of providing a good reading list.

I'd also suggest:

Barley & Hanson (1968), Christianity in Britain 300-700

Curta (ed.) (2006), Borders, Barriers and Ethnogenesis: Frontiers in Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages

Davies, Halsall and Reynolds (eds.) (2006), People and Space in the Middle Ages, 300-1300

Petts and Turner (eds.) (2011), Early Medieval Northumbria: Kingdoms and Communities, AD 450-1100

Reynolds (2013), 'Archaeological Correlates for Anglo-Saxon Military Activity in Comparative Perspective' in Baker, Brookes and Reynolds (eds.), Landscapes of Defence in Early Medieval Europe

Yorke (2001), 'The Origins of Mercia; in Brown and Farr (eds.), Mercia: An Anglo-Saxon Kingdom in Europe

Charles-Edwards (2001), 'Wales and Mercia, 613-918' in Brown and Farr (eds.), Mercia: An Anglo-Saxon Kingdom in Europe