Home / Authors / John Broughton

Author

John Broughton

1928–1999

John Broughton is a British author best known for historical novels set in Anglo-Saxon England and the early medieval British Isles. Born in Cleethorpes, Lincolnshire, in 1948, he studied Medieval and Modern History, with archaeology, at the University of Nottingham. He later worked in several occupations, including teaching history and English, translation and university language instruction, and has lived in Calabria, southern Italy, since 1992.

Broughton returned to writing in 2014 and published The Purple Thread, the first of numerous novels covering the period between the end of Roman Britain and the Norman Conquest. His historical works include Perfecta Saxonia, Ulf’s Tale, John the Old Saxon, the Sceapig Chronicles and the Bretland Trilogy. He has also written time-travel, crime and speculative fiction, but his principal interest remains the political, religious and cultural development of Anglo-Saxon England.

Periods and events

Medieval Wales Early Medieval Pilgrimage to Rome Formation of England Danish Conquest of England Anglo-Saxon England Danelaw Great Heathen Army Alfred the Great and Wessex Medieval England after the Norman Conquest Kingdom of Northumbria in the Seventh Century Wessex in the Ninth Century Viking Age Late Roman Britain Arthurian Britain

Series

Series by John Broughton (6 series)

The Bretland Trilogy in Order

by John Broughton 3 books 4.2

The Bretland Trilogy follows the dynasty of Rhodri Mawr as the kingdoms of early medieval Wales resist Viking raids, Mercian pressure and the expanding influence of Wessex. Beginning with young warriors drawn into Rhodri’s defence of Gwynedd, it continues through Anarawd’s reign and concludes with Hywel Dda’s consolidation…

Rhodri’s Furies

4.2

Avenging Rhodri

3.5

Hywel the Good

4.6

Saints and Sinners in Order

by John Broughton 3 books 3.9

The Saints and Sinners trilogy dramatizes the rise of Mercia from the late seventh century through the reigns of Æthelbald and Offa. Its rulers seek dominance over neighbouring kingdoms while navigating murder accusations, disputed succession, rebellion, dynastic marriage and the growing authority of the Anglo-Saxon Church. The sequence…

Saints and Sinners

3.9

Mixed Blessings

3.8

Offa – Rex Merciorum

4.4

The Sceapig Chronicles in Order

by John Broughton 3 books 4.1

The Sceapig Chronicles follows one family on the Isle of Sheppey, known to the Anglo-Saxons as Sceapig, from the first Viking raids at the end of the eighth century to Alfred the Great’s wars against the Great Heathen Army. Deer herders, landowners and royal advisers are drawn from…

The Runes of Victory

4.0

Sea Wolves

4.2

Blood Eagle

4.3

Wyrd of the Wolf in Order

by John Broughton 3 books 4.0

The Wyrd of the Wolf trilogy follows Cynethryth and her son Æthelheard through the political and religious conflicts of seventh- and eighth-century southern England. Cynethryth’s forced marriage, captivity and divided loyalties place her at the centre of the wars that brought the last pagan communities of the south…

Wyrd of the Wolf

4.0

In the Name of the Mother

4.3

The Wyvern’s End

4.0

Saint Cuthbert Trilogy in Order

by John Broughton 3 books 4.2

The Saint Cuthbert Trilogy follows three generations of Northumbrians whose lives become entwined with the saint, his community and the preservation of his legacy. Beginning on seventh-century Lindisfarne, the sequence moves through the Danish settlement of Northumbria and into the Anglo-Norman world that created a permanent shrine for…

Heaven in a Wild Flower

4.2

The Horse-Thegn

4.2

The Master of the Chevron

4.3

The Saxon Shore Trilogy in Order

by John Broughton 3 books 4.0

The Saxon Shore Trilogy traces the weakening of Roman authority in Britain from the breakaway empire of Carausius to the political world remembered in Arthurian legend. Successive generations of Valdor’s family serve as soldiers and commanders while imperial rivalry, frontier warfare and the withdrawal of Roman forces transform…