Where the Middle Ages Begin
The Old-English note may have begun life as an endorsement, either to the grant of privileges or (what is perhaps more likely) to the agreement about the woodland belonging to Romsey, a notice of which has become attached to it; it was not uncommon when diplomas were collected into cartularies for such endorsements to be used as ‘headings’ for the text.
An impressive array of data, ranging over the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, has been collected by two full-time researchers, James Galloway and Margaret Murphy. Of primary importance for the project are demesne farming accounts and inquisitions post mortem (detailing manorial land and other assets, especially again those of the demesne), both of which sources survive in very large numbers for the period under review. Also, the project incorpor- ates large amounts of data from urban records, particularly those dealing with merchants who were prominent in organizing London’s food supply.
The study of settlement history has developed within the fields of history, archaeology and geography. As a result much of the work carried out in settlement studies has borrowed the research and conclusions of scholars from other disciplines.
The attempt made in this paper to answer these questions will be based almost entirely on Welsh evidence. The English evidence, examined and re- examined since the late nineteenth century, is already sufficiently familiar to members of the British Agricultural History Society.
As these numbers suggest, Aylesbury seems to have made a comparatively minor contribution to the Late Saxon coinage pool. Basing his calculations on a total of some 44,350 English coins, Petersson estimated that, in each issue for which its coins were known, Aylesbury was responsible for only 0.1% or 0.2% of the recorded coins of the issue…
Ella Armitage’s analysisof early Norman castles in 1912 provides a clear espousalof this view, in particular her statement that in England the reasonsfor the erection of mottes seem to have been manorial rather than military; that is, the Norman landholder desired a safe residence for himself amidst a hostile peasantry, rather than a strong military position which could hold out against skilful and well-armed foes.
In this context, perhaps it is necessary to look in more detail at the function of the pipe rolls, and the way in which they were used by the exchequer.
David Crouch reconsiders William I and his sons as men of genuine piety – as well as soldiers.
Professor Lewis details the project, Profile of a Doomed Elite: The Structure of English Landed Society in 1066 project, which involves completing a prosopography of landowners from England in 1066
The McMullen Museum of Art at Boston College is now presenting the exhibition: Making History: Antiquaries in Britain, which showcases treasures from the Society of Antiquaries of London
The early Norman castle at Lincoln and a re-evaluation of the original West Tower of Lincoln Cathedral Vince, Alan and Stocker, David Medieval Archaeology, Vol.41 (1997) Abstract This note emerges from discussions undertaken as a result ofwork carried out on two related projects, both funded by English Heritage. The first of these is the production of […]
Some 900 years ago, a remarkable survey was undertaken. The survey, which has become known as the Domesday Survey, was ordered by the King of England, William (the Conqueror).
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