ABSTRACT
Imprecise as the available sources are, I shall nevertheless concentrate in what follows on the small corpus of fine metalwork attributable to Alfred’s circle; for as the few documentary descriptions imply, lavishly illuminated manuscripts and fine ivory carving in the manner of the Carolingian court schools seem, for reasons we shall return to, not to have been a prominent feature of Alfred’s court – and certainly none survive today. But first I should admit to an underlying premise. What we know about the culture of Alfred’s court and his own background and interests shows a consistent pattern of continental influences and contacts, particularly with the adjacent Frankish kingdoms. In such a climate, his aedificia nova, and the foreign craftsmen who made them, can be seen to draw on images and ideas associated with the Carolingian renovatio – though these ideas and influences were reworked into something very different in tone and purpose, as will be seen.8
