Britain and "England": the Origin of Concepts and Their Fate in the Middle Ages

It is well known that both history and geography, which did not have the status of independent disciplines in the Middle Ages in Europe, were often intertwined at that time. Not surprisingly, many English medieval historians considered it necessary to include in their writings more or less lengthy descriptions of the territory on which the events described by them unfolded. The article deals with the origin of the concepts "Britain" and "England", their mutual significance in the Middle Ages (mostly before c. 1300). The author indicates that the notion of "England" appeared rather lately (about c. 1000) and for some time remained somewhat ambiguous, meaning both the new name of the island of Britain and one of its parts.