Editing Bath, Somerset (section)

===Post-Roman and medieval===
[[File:Bath Abbey Exterior, Somerset, UK - Diliff.jpg|alt=Yellow stone building with large arched windows and a tower.|thumb|left|upright|[[Bath Abbey]]]]

Bath may have been the site of the [[Battle of Badon]] ({{circa}} 500&nbsp;AD), in which [[King Arthur|Arthur]], the hero of later legends, is said to have defeated the [[Anglo-Saxons]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.buildinghistory.org/bath/saxon/dobunni.shtml#Gildas |title=Dobunni to Hwicce |work=Bath past |access-date=2 May 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150923195110/http://www.buildinghistory.org/bath/saxon/dobunni.shtml#Gildas |archive-date=23 September 2015 |url-status=live }}</ref> The town was captured by the [[History of Anglo-Saxon England|West Saxons]] in 577 after the [[Battle of Deorham]];<ref name="myeng">{{cite web |url=http://www.myenglandtravel.com/history-of-bath-england.html |title=History of Bath England, Roman Bath history |work=My England Travel Guide |access-date=2 May 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080220181930/http://www.myenglandtravel.com/history-of-bath-england.html |archive-date=20 February 2008 |url-status=live }}</ref> the Anglo-Saxon poem ''[[The Ruin]]'' may describe the appearance of the Roman site about this time.<ref>{{cite book |last=Klinck |first=Anne |title=The Old English Elegies: A Critical Edition and Genre Study |year=1992 |publisher=McGill-Queen's University Press |location=Montreal |page=61 }}</ref> A monastery was founded at an early date&nbsp;– reputedly by [[Saint David]] although more probably in 675 by [[Osric, king of the Hwicce|Osric]], King of the [[Hwicce]],<ref>{{cite book |last=Davenport |first=Peter |title=Medieval Bath Uncovered |year=2002 |publisher=Tempus |location=Stroud |isbn=978-0752419657 |pages=31–34 }}</ref> perhaps using the [[Bath city walls|walled area]] as its precinct.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.timetravel-britain.com/articles/towns/bathtime.shtml |title=Timeline Bath |work=Time Travel Britain |access-date=2 May 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080403054732/http://www.timetravel-britain.com/articles/towns/bathtime.shtml |archive-date=3 April 2008 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.100welshheroes.com/en/biography/saint%20david |title=Saint David |work=100 Welsh Heroes |access-date=2 May 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121010050612/http://www.100welshheroes.com/en/biography/saint%20david |archive-date=10 October 2012 }}</ref> [[Nennius]], a 9th-century historian, mentions a "Hot Lake" in the land of the Hwicce along the [[River Severn]], and adds "It is surrounded by a wall, made of brick and stone, and men may go there to bathe at any time, and every man can have the kind of bath he likes. If he wants, it will be a cold bath; and if he wants a hot bath, it will be hot". [[Bede]] described hot baths in the geographical introduction to the ''Ecclesiastical History'' in terms very similar to those of Nennius.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Campbell |first1=James |last2=John |first2=Eric |last3=Wormald |first3=Patrick |title=The Anglo-Saxons |date=1991 |publisher=Penguin |isbn=978-0140143959 |pages=40–41 }}</ref> [[King Offa]] of [[Mercia]] gained control of the monastery in 781 and rebuilt the church, which was dedicated to [[St. Peter]].<ref name="Poliquin">{{cite web |title=Bath Abbey |url=http://www.uquebec.ca/musique/orgues/angleterre/batha.html#English |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130621205423/http://www.uquebec.ca/musique/orgues/angleterre/batha.html |archive-date=21 June 2013 |work=Robert Poliquin's Music and Musicians |publisher=Quebec University |access-date=18 September 2007 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

According to the Victorian churchman [[Edward Churton]], during the Anglo-Saxon era Bath was known as ''Acemannesceastre'' ('Akemanchester'), or 'aching men's city', on account of the reputation these springs had for healing the sick.<ref>{{cite book |title=The Early English Church |url=https://archive.org/details/earlyenglishchu01churgoog |last=Churton |first=Edward |author-link=Edward Churton |year=1841 |publisher=James Burns |edition=2nd |location=London |page=102 }}</ref>

[[File:Speed baths.jpg|thumb|Map of Bath by [[John Speed]] published in 1610]]
By the 9th century, the old Roman street pattern was lost and Bath was a royal possession. [[King Alfred]] laid out the town afresh, leaving its south-eastern quadrant as the abbey precinct.<ref name="Alfreds Borough"/> In the [[Burghal Hidage]], Bath is recorded as a [[burh]] (borough) and is described as having walls of {{convert|1375|yd|m}} and was allocated 1000 men for defence.<ref>{{cite book |last=Davenport |first=Peter |title=Medieval Bath Uncovered |year=2002 |publisher=Tempus |location=Stroud |isbn=978-0752419657 |pages=40–42 }}</ref> During the reign of [[Edward the Elder]] coins were [[Mint (coin)|minted]] in Bath based on a design from the [[Winchester]] mint but with 'BAD' on the obverse relating to the Anglo-Saxon name for the town, Baðum, Baðan or Baðon, meaning "at the baths",<ref>{{cite book |last=Davenport |first=Peter |title=Medieval Bath Uncovered |year=2002 |publisher=Tempus |location=Stroud |isbn=978-0752419657 |pages=50–51 }}</ref> and this was the source of the present name. [[Edgar of England]] was crowned king of England in [[Bath Abbey]] in 973, in a ceremony that formed the basis of all future [[Coronation of the British monarch|English coronations]].<ref name="Edgar">{{cite web |url=http://www.englishmonarchs.co.uk/saxon_12.htm |title=Edgar the Peaceful |work=English Monarchs&nbsp;– Kings and Queens of England |access-date=2 May 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150701165135/http://www.englishmonarchs.co.uk/saxon_12.htm |archive-date=1 July 2015 |url-status=live }}</ref>

[[William Rufus]] granted the town, abbey and mint to a royal physician, [[John of Tours]], who became Bishop of [[Wells, Somerset|Wells]] and Abbot of Bath,<ref>{{cite book |last=Powicke |first=Maurice |author-link=F. M. Powicke |year=1939 |title=Handbook of British Chronology |isbn=978-0-901050-17-5 |page=137 |publisher=Offices of the Royal Historical Society }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Barlow |first=Frank |author-link=Frank Barlow (historian) |title=William Rufus |page=182 |publisher=Yale University Press |date=March 2000 |isbn=978-0-300-08291-3 }}</ref> following the sacking of the town during the [[Rebellion of 1088]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Davenport |first=Peter |title=Medieval Bath Uncovered |year=2002 |publisher=Tempus |location=Stroud |isbn=978-0752419657 |page=71 }}</ref> It was papal policy for bishops to move to more urban seats, and John of Tours [[Translation (ecclesiastical)|translated]] his own from Wells to Bath.<ref name=Huscroft128>{{cite book |last1=Huscroft |first1=Richard |title=Ruling England, 1042–1217 |date=2004 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-0582848825 |page=128 }}</ref> The bishop planned and began a much larger church as his cathedral, to which was attached a priory, with the bishop's palace beside it.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Taylor |first1=Ann |title=Bath Abbey 1499-1999 |date=1999 |publisher=Bath Abbey |page=3 }}</ref> New baths were built around the three springs. Later bishops returned the episcopal seat to Wells while retaining the name Bath in the title, [[Bishop of Bath and Wells]]. [[St John's Hospital, Bath|St John's Hospital]] was founded around 1180 by Bishop [[Reginald Fitz Jocelin]] and is among the oldest [[almshouse]]s in England.<ref name="soc">{{cite web |url=http://www.buildinghistory.org/jean/spiritofcare.shtml |title=The eight-hundred-year story of St John's Hospital, Bath |work=Spirit of Care |publisher=Jean Manco |access-date=2 May 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090821173938/http://www.buildinghistory.org/jean/spiritofcare.shtml |archive-date=21 August 2009 |url-status=live }}</ref> The 'hospital of the baths' was built beside the hot springs of the [[Cross Bath]], for their health-giving properties and to provide shelter for the poor infirm.<ref name="sioa">{{cite web |url=http://www.buildinghistory.org/bath/medieval/shelter.shtml |title=Shelter in old age |last=Manco |first=Jean |publisher=Bath Past |access-date=2 May 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150923195109/http://www.buildinghistory.org/bath/medieval/shelter.shtml |archive-date=23 September 2015 |url-status=live }}</ref>

Administrative systems fell within the [[Hundred (county division)|hundreds]]. The [[Bath Forum|Bath Hundred]] had various names including the Hundred of Le&nbsp;Buri. The Bath Foreign Hundred or Forinsecum covered the area outside the city and was later combined into the Bath Forum Hundred. Wealthy merchants had no status within the hundred courts and formed [[guild]]s to gain influence. They built the first [[guildhall]] probably in the 13th century. Around 1200, the [[List of Mayors of Bath|first mayor]] was appointed.<ref>{{cite book |last=Davenport |first=Peter |title=Medieval Bath Uncovered |year=2002 |publisher=Tempus |location=Stroud |isbn=978-0752419657 |pages=97–98 }}</ref>