GB
  
You are currently viewing the United Kingdom version of the site.
Would you like to switch to your local site?
47 MIN READ TIME

Ghosts of Brexits past

410 The first Brexit: enforced detachment

After three and a half centuries of Roman rule, Britannia is declared “on your own” by the emperor Honorius. He withdrew his legions to defend Gaul. Britannia is left on Europe’s fringe throughout the Dark Ages. Its sovereignty is restored, sort of. But the arrival of Augustine from Rome precipitates the first Euroreferendum, at the Synod of Whitby in 664. The Ionans of Lindisfarne are defeated, and victory goes to Wilfrid of Ripon and the pro-Rome faction. England agrees to join Europe’s Catholic community under the authority of the Pope. For a millennium it becomes a faith-taker not a faith-maker.

Read the complete article and many more in this issue of Prospect Magazine
Purchase options below
If you own the issue, Login to read the full article now.
Single Digital Issue May 2019
 
£5.99 / issue
This issue and other back issues are not included in a new subscription. Subscriptions include the latest regular issue and new issues released during your subscription. Prospect Magazine
PRINT SUBSCRIPTION? Available at magazine.co.uk, the best magazine subscription offers online.
 

This article is from...


View Issues
Prospect Magazine
May 2019
VIEW IN STORE

Other Articles in this Issue


Prospect
Editorial
The chat in Westminster is all about crisis, yet the
Letters
Letters
Like Mark Damazer, I am a fervent supporter of public
Opinions
The Tories are split and morale is low. But don’t write them off just yet
The Tories are split and morale is low. But don’t write
Forget feel-good diversity—women MPs have made a practical difference
Forget feel-good diversity—women MPs have made a practical
Send them back—it’s high time we started to decolonise our museums
Send them back—it’s high time we started to decolonise
Cosiness and its malcontent—meet the Socrates of Copenhagen
Denmark’s most successful recent export, hygge, is
Justin Trudeau is mired in scandal— can he survive?
When Justin Trudeau was elected prime minister of Canada
Power to some people
A century has passed since the first universal suff
Features
CRISIS. WHY IT’S TIME TO REWIRE BRITISH POLITICS
FOR ALL ITS QUIRKINESS, OUR CONSTITUTION ALWAYS USED TO MUDDLE THROUGH. BUT THE BREXIT CRISIS IS STRAINING IT LIKE NEVER BEFORE
Ye Olde Curiosity Constitution
Dusty parchments, ancient offices and precedents that outline “the way things are done” define the British constitution. Its anachronisms are often a hoot, but can also give rise to some very strange wrinkles in the way we are governed
Beg, borrow and steal
Bright ideas for fixing Westminster from around the world
Does Britain need a proper constitution?
YES Yes, if by “proper” we mean codified, with some
Labour’s other leader
Tom Watson has built a power base. What does he want to do with it, asks Kevin Maguire
Forging the Führer
The sinister trade in fake Hitler paintings is thriving. But who is buying them—and why?
How Jacinda Ardern is transforming New Zealand
She made headlines for her compassionate response to March’s terror attack. Less noticed is the way this young PM’s radical plans are shaking up her country
The donor detective
Thousands of children conceived by anonymous sperm donation still have no right at all to know their biological fathers. But they are turning to DNA sites to track them down— and one woman has made it her very personal mission to help
Arts & books
The shadow of mankind
Other animals can laugh, feel, think and mourn—so why do we still treat them so badly, asks Ray Monk
Generation games
A slowing birthrate is a sign a society is advancing, says David Willetts, but has it slowed too far in Europe?
Sweet civility
A pugnacious attack on liberalism misses the point, argues Deirdre McCloskey
A room for two
Virginia Woolf is inspiring a new generation of women writers, says Francesca Wade
Late reading with Clive James
After an operation, Clive recovers with George Herbert’s help—and ponders the absurdity of Bodyguard
Books in brief
Cyclone Idai, which has just devastated the coastal
Recommends
Emma Crichton-Miller Edvard Munch: Love and Angst British
Events
The Prospect Book Club meets every third Monday of
Life
Don’t pass it on
Earlier this year, a Berkshire couple rummaging in
Luxury of solitude
Ispent last month at an artists’ colony in the woods
Sport vs sport
What’s the best sport? Can it be measured or argued
Old words, new times
When I was at university, studying Latin and Greek
Hello kitty
Someone asked me recently if I felt worried about my
Policy
Policy report: transport and technology
Government is promising a technological revolution—is it up to the job?
Economics and investment
The analyst: Duncan Weldon Associate Economics Editor
Brief Encounter
Brief encounter
The Square and the Tower: Networks, Hierarchies and