Dark Age Monarch - The Reign of King Arthur

Arthurian tradition has followed two distinct paths. Medieval romance depicts the spectacular capital of Camelot and a land of armored knights, jousts, and fantastical adventures. More recent researchers have focused on identifying the real King Arthur, if such a person existed, in the early days of the Dark Ages. Dark Age Monarch: The Reign of King Arthur blends the two strands together in an inventive re-telling that maintains elements of the traditional tale but set in a historical perspective—with a bit of magic thrown into the mix.

Following the Roman exodus in the early 5th Century, Britain was fractured into petty fiefdoms that left the island vulnerable to foreign invaders. At a point where it appeared the Angles and Saxons would erase the British heritage, Arthur emerged as both a King and the Leader of Battles. His reign unified the land and preserved the Britons' way of life long enough to be remembered throughout history.

John Broughton's Dark Age Novels

Saints & Sinners:

Saxon times are not called the Dark Ages for nothing. It is a violent, unrecognisable world of kill or be killed …  In seventh century England, tribes and so-called kings vie for power and blood flows freely throughout the land.  Aethelred, ruler of Mercia, is being pressed from all sides – north, south, east and west. And his wife, Osthryth, daughter of a rival Northumbrian king, is murdered in unknown circumstances.  Osthryth’s ring falls into the hands of warrior noble Aethelbald who is accused of her murder and forced to leave Mercia by his conniving cousin Coeolred who has eyes on the throne. 

Mixed Blessings:

Mierce, the English Midlands, 8th Century A.D.   Æthelbald, King of Mierce, is a man of ambition. Having created much-needed stability within his domain, he now aspires to the taking of surrounding kingdoms to expand and fortify his own. With stealth and cunning, Æthelbald manipulates other men of power, like chess pieces, to achieve his goals.

As Æthelbald’s reign grows and strengthens, so too does the authority of the church, whose leverage over monarchical matters becomes increasingly overbearing. The church does not approve of King Æthelbald’s exploits with innocent women and seeks to bring him into line with the threat of eternal damnation.  This, the sequel to Saints and Sinners, chronicles the life of an English king in the days where the boundaries of kingdoms and social propriety were undergoing rapid change.

Perfecta Saxonia:

King Alfred never achieved his dream of uniting the disparate Anglo-Saxon kingdoms into one Perfecta Saxonia.  The man destined to fulfill Alfred's dream is his grandson, Athelstan, as the spark of unity begins in the Saxon kingdom of Wessex. Abandoned by his father and raised by his uncle, young Athelstan faces numerous adversities on his way to becoming a mighty warrior and diplomat.  But can he overcome the odds to transform England from an insignificant island off the Western European mainland, into the leading centre of tenth-century diplomacy and learning?

Wyrd of the Wolf:

In seventh century England, political and religious upheaval mean that nobody is safe.   As the old gods are eroded by the new church, and tribes and ambitious men vie for power, property and precedence, blood is shed throughout the land.  In the south, ealdorman Aelfhere believes that for his only child, sixteen-year-old daughter Cynethryth, marriage to a Saxon king is the way to security. And so, somewhat against her own wishes, Cynethryth is betrothed. Yet as battle rages around her, and with her betrothed away to fight, Cynethryth too becomes a victim of war. 

In the Name of the Mother:

It is 689 AD, and Cynethryth is returning from Rome, carrying her dead husband's child.  She soon gives birth to a son, Aethelheard, whose parentage alone places him in danger. His mother has a tough choice to make and travels to Dorset, where the king is a cousin of her late husband.  After the king adopts the boy, he grows up in the dangerous company of rebellious princes, all who wish to overthrow the mighty Ine, king of Wessex.

The Purple Thread:

It is 733 AD in Anglo-Saxon Britain – a time and a world of warriors, wars and religious extremes.  Begiloc, a young freedman from Wimborne with a wife and son, is most definitely a man of action. But his world is turned upside down when the young Briton and best friend Meryn are ordered away to protect English missionaries in Germany.  For a man accustomed to brutality, Begiloc has a soft spot for the purple-tinged mountains, waterfalls, lakes, animals, trees and flowers – beginning to muse whether they, rather than Man, do not better embody the essence of God.  However, mission follows mission across the continent and Begiloc is driven ever further from his loved ones at home.

Die for a Dove:

Invasion, 674 AD and Werburgh, great-niece of the Abbess of Ely travels by night to bury and save the abbey treasure under a wayside cross in the kingdom of Lindsey.  Werburgh has crafted a magnificent gold and garnet jewel in the form of a dove. A cryptic inscription on the back indicates the location of the treasure. The dove becomes a family heirloom and only resurfaces in the English Civil War.  The reappearance of a cryptic clue to the whereabouts of the forgotten dove leads to a hunt across two continents and a trail of deaths.

Ulf's Tale:

A Swedish nobleman. A kidnapped child. The choice between power and morality.  At the start of the slaughter-marred eleventh-century, nine-year-old Ulf is taken hostage by King Aethelred.  It’s the beginning of a life of luxury and opportunity for Ulf. But treachery and plotting throughout the country threaten uneasy alliances, while ambitious rivals attempt to seize power for themselves.  His own life threatened, Ulf embarks on a quest for unity to bring peace to the Baltic states. Will his own moral convictions be enough to overcome divided loyalties, religious clashes and ambitious kings?

The Anglo-Saxon Fenland by Dr Susan Oosthuizen

From University of Cambridge:

The Anglo-Saxon Fenland, the latest book by Dr Susan Oosthuizen, Reader in Medieval Archaeology at ICE, has just been published. It unexpectedly reveals a traditional landscape managed by relatively prosperous communities who lived in stable societies into which newcomers from north-west Europe were absorbed. The 'dark' ages have finally stumbled into the light.

Synopsis from Oxbow Books:

Archaeologies and histories of the fens of eastern England, continue to suggest, explicitly or by implication, that the early medieval fenland was dominated by the activities of north-west European colonists in a largely empty landscape. Using existing and new evidence and arguments, this new interdisciplinary history of the Anglo-Saxon fenland offers another interpretation. The fen islands and the silt fens show a degree of occupation unexpected a few decades ago. Dense Romano-British settlement appears to have been followed by consistent early medieval occupation on every island in the peat fens and across the silt fens, despite the impact of climatic change. The inhabitants of the region were organised within territorial groups in a complicated, almost certainly dynamic, hierarchy of subordinate and dominant polities, principalities and kingdoms. Their prosperous livelihoods were based on careful collective control, exploitation and management of the vast natural water-meadows on which their herds of cattle grazed. This was a society whose origins could be found in prehistoric Britain, and which had evolved through the period of Roman control and into the post-imperial decades and centuries that followed. The rich and complex history of the development of the region shows, it is argued, a traditional social order evolving, adapting and innovating in response to changing times.