This coming week I’ll be featuring summaries on some of my favourites sessions and papers from #KZOO2015. I kicked off my first session on Thursday with the Magna Carta.
Philippa Langley: The End of Richard III and the Beginning of Henry I
March 27, 2015 By
Amidst all the excitement, and the whirlwind that was Richard III’s reburial in Leicester, I managed to catch up with one of the world’s most famous Ricardians, ‘the Kingfinder’, Philippa Langley.
The Identity of the St Bees Lady, Cumbria: An Osteobiographical Approach
June 23, 2014 By
USING AN OSTEOBIOGRAPHICAL approach, this contribution considers the identity of the woman found alongside the St Bees Man, one of the best-preserved archaeological bodies ever discovered. Osteological, isotopic and radiocarbon analyses, combined with the archaeo- logical context of the burial and documented social history, provide the basis for the identifica- tion of a late 14th-century heiress whose activities were at the heart of medieval northern English geopolitics.
The Normans are an Unconquerable People: Orderic Vitalis’s Memory of the Anglo-Norman Regnum during the Reigns of William Rufus and Henry I, 1087-1106
March 1, 2014 By
This essay examines Orderic’s portrayal of the three sons of William the Conqueror, as well as one member of the Anglo-Norman high aristocracy, in an effort to understand how and why his Historia Ecclesiastica recreates the nineteen-year period between the death of William the Conqueror and the ascension of Henry I as an age of violence, poor lordship, and ambiguous gender roles.
Analyzing History: Bertran de Born – Innocent Poet or Inciter of Revolt
February 22, 2014 By
While words are powerful tools that can invoke emotions ranging from jubilation to revulsion, could they be the cause of a rebellion against Henry II of England by his children and wife, Eleanor of Aquitaine? Could the words of a mere troubadour drive the revolt of a family against their king?
Why Roman Law Did Not Succeed in England
November 18, 2013 By
England is the only European country whose legal system is not based on the Code of Emperor Justinian I
The Fortune of War: Henry I and Normandy, 1116 – 1120
August 8, 2013 By
The Fortune of War: Henry I and Normandy, 1116 – 1120 Dillon Byrd Oklahoma Christian University, Tau Sigma, Journal of Historical Studies, Vol.21 (2013) Abstract Henry I had great success in keeping the peace in England and Normandy, aside from the first two years of his reign. There were only two Norman uprisings against Henry, the first […]
Was the White Ship disaster mass murder?
May 21, 2013 By
It was perhaps the worst maritime disaster of the Middle Ages, not just because it cost 300 lives, but because one of them was the heir to the Anglo-Norman Empire. One scholar has a theory that the sinking of the White Ship on the night of November 25, 1120 was not a tragic accident, rather a case of mass murder.
Stories of the Death of Kings: Retelling the Demise and Burial of William I, William II and Henry I
April 7, 2013 By
This paper examines the accounts that describe the death and burial of three successive kings: William the Conqueror, William Rufus, and Henry I.
Matilda of Scotland, Queen of England
April 4, 2013 By
Matilda was to become adept at combining family connections, political alliances and patronization of the Church to her advantage.
The Knighting of Henry, son of William the Conqueror, in 1086
November 19, 2012 By
This paper was part of SESSION VIII: Power & Politics in the Long Twelfth Century, at the Haskins Conference at Boston College.
“The Softness of Her Sex”: Matilda’s Role in the English Civil War of 1138-1153
October 29, 2012 By
This thesis examines the life of the Empress Matilda (1102-1167), focusing on how factors beyond her control directed much of its course. It discusses her attempts to take control of the political realm in England and the effect this had on her, her supporters, and her kingdom. It also analyzes her later years and influence on her son Henry II.
A Historiography of Chastity in the Marriage of Edith of Wessex and Edward the Confessor
October 4, 2012 By
While records of Edith’s life and her marriage to Edward are poor, the historiography of those who narrated her life after her death is rich. In some ways, the historiography of her life was directly related to that of her husband’s.
The Arthur of the chronicles
September 30, 2012 By
Even if we cannot accept the claim made by Geoffrey in his introduction that his putative source was ‘attractively composed to form a consecutive andorderly narrative’, he certainly made extensive use ofWelsh genealogies andking-lists.
Many Motives: Geoffrey of Monmouth and the Reasons For His Falsification of History
August 19, 2012 By
It is clear to most modern historians who have studied Geoffrey’s Historia that its contents bear little to no resemblance to real events. Even in Geoffrey’s own lifetime many historians condemned the work.
The role of the Norman kings in the framing of the British Constitution
April 26, 2012 By
TO TAKE OR TO MAKE? CONTRACTING FOR LEGITIMACY IN THE EMERGING STATES OFTWELFTH-CENTURY BRITAIN
July 24, 2011 By
TO TAKE OR TO MAKE? CONTRACTING FOR LEGITIMACY IN THE EMERGING STATES OFTWELFTH-CENTURY BRITAIN Gardner, Leigh A. (Jesus College, University of Oxford) UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD, Discussion Papers in Economic and Social History, Number 73, November (2008) Abstract The early twelfth century was notable for the centralization and consolidation of royal governance in the centre as well as the […]
This progenitor of Britishness has been denied her place in the pantheon
July 17, 2011 By
This progenitor of Britishness has been denied her place in the pantheon Jenkins, Scott The Guardian, December 21 (2007) Abstract Where are you, Hollywood? Where is the dozy BBC? She was a king’s daughter, another’s hostage, and mistress of a third. Her beauty made men tremble at the mention of her name. She was seized […]
The Anglo-Norman Civil War of 1101 Reconsidered
August 10, 2009 By
The Anglo-Norman Civil War of 1101 Reconsidered By Neil Strevitt Anglo-Norman Studies v.24 (2004) Introduction: In July 1101, Robert Curthose, duke of Normandy and eldest son of William the Conqueror, landed in England with the intention of challenging his younger brother Henry I, for the English throne. Though contemporaries recognized a good story when they […]
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