Early Modern Britain's Relationship to Its Past: The Historiographical Fortunes of the Legends of Brute, Albina, and Scota. Philip Robinson-Self. Kalamazoo, MI: Medieval Institute Publications, 2018. x + 178 pp. $89.99

[...]his very fictionality allowed for consideration of what the past meant and what it could be made to mean” (34). Robinson-Self analyzes several historians’ versions of the Albina narrative to show how dismissals of Albina, who provided a foil for Brute and a timely lens for examining female rule...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inRenaissance quarterly Vol. 74; no. 1; pp. 304 - 306
Main Author Connell, Sarah
Format Journal Article Book Review
LanguageEnglish
Published Cambridge Cambridge University Press 01.04.2021
Subjects
Historians
Narratives
Renaissance period
United Kingdom > UK
Kalamazoo Michigan
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Summary:[...]his very fictionality allowed for consideration of what the past meant and what it could be made to mean” (34). Robinson-Self analyzes several historians’ versions of the Albina narrative to show how dismissals of Albina, who provided a foil for Brute and a timely lens for examining female rule, in fact instantiated her role in early modern historical thought. The volume closes with a coda on King Arthur and some final thoughts on the utility of Britain's origin legends for commenting on the present, not just despite but because of their gaps and unpalatable elements.
ISSN:0034-4338
1935-0236
DOI:10.1017/rqx.2020.369