The cult of saints in the early Welsh March: aspects of cultural transmission in a time of political conflict
The last mark of subjection … touched the realm of sentiment merely and yet was none the less keenly felt by a people so imaginative as the Welsh.
Review: The Medieval Anarchy: History In An Hour
The latest ebook from History In An Hour, The Medieval Anarchy aims to give the reader a relatively quick look at events during the reign of King Stephen (1135-1154), a period of civil war throughout the Anglo-Norman empire.
Anglo-Norman defence strategy in selected English border and maritime counties, 1066-1087
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.
The Queen of troubadours goes to England: Eleanor of Aquitaine and 12th Century Anglo-Norman Literary Milieu
Although her importance in the growth of courtly love literature in France has been sufficiently stated, little attention has been paid to her patronising activities in England.
Many Motives: Geoffrey of Monmouth and the Reasons For His Falsification of History
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.
Triangles of the Sacred Sisterhood
In courtly works, the resolution is generally in favour of the status quo as a courtly adulterous affair rarely works out, while in the fabliau the marriage is generally left intact, although a deceitful wife may be given carte blanche to philander.
A Companion and Guide to the Norman Conquest
Peter Bramley’s beautifully illustrated field guide and companion to the Norman Conquest gives full details of both the events and the personalities associated with each of these sites, together with the historical background and the reasons for the end of Anglo-Saxon rule.
The Norman Conquest and Anglo-Saxon literacy
Michael Clanchy, Emeritus Professor of Medieval History at the IHR, takes a fresh look at the effects of the Norman Conquest
The Meetings of the Kings of France and England, 1066-1204
Between 1066 and 1154 the kings of France and of England are known to have met each other on five occasions: in 1079, 1109, 1113, 1120, and 1137.
Mary and the Jews in Anglo-Norman Monastic Culture
This thesis looks at the ways in which Benedictine monks contributed to the fashioning of images of Jews in sources related to the Marian cult in the post-Conquest period, 1066-1154.
The Myth of the Anglo-Saxon Oral Poet
There are at least two reasons why the search for the Anglo-Saxon oral poet is worth reopening. To begin with, current thinking about oral poetry and poetics in the Anglo-Saxon period has been indelibly stamped by the classic Parry/Lord thesis, well known in its evolution from the 1950s to more recent years,
Marjorie Chibnall, leading Anglo-Norman scholar, passes away
Her career included teaching at the universities of Cambridge, Southampton and Aberdeen, and among her honours was being a Fellow of the British Academy and appointed to the Order of the British Empire in 2004.
Cultural Changes in England resulting from the Battle of Hastings
This paper, in examining the reigns of the Ethelred, Canute, Harold Harefoot and Hardicanute, and Edward the Confessor, will show how they came to power, the legacy each left – if any — and how the events during each reign ultimately led to the Battle of Hastings, with William the Conqueror’s victory changing England forever.
First Catch Your Toad: Medieval Attitudes to Ordeal and Battle
Emma, the mother of Edward the Confessor, had walked over hot iron ploughshares to disprove an allegation of intimacy with Alwyn Bishop of Winchester, while Curthose, the Conqueror’s son, is reputed to have undergone the ordeal to prove his paternity.
Saints and sinners in the works of Marie de France
What was Marie trying to share with her twelfth century audience when she wrote The Lais?
Living Links: The Role of Marriage between Welsh and Anglo-Norman Aristocratic Families in the Welsh Struggle for Autonomy, 1066-1283
These marriages were utilized by the Welsh in their attempts to preserve their political identity and autonomy against the incursions of the Anglo-Normans, as well as to gain advantages over their Welsh rivals. The Anglo-Normans, in turn, used the marriages to gain land and influence in Wales.
The role of the Norman kings in the framing of the British Constitution
I attempted to show how William respected the Anglo-Saxon constitution in its main principles. The Conquest, together with the influence of the system of government then prevaling on the Continent brought about some changes…
Sin, Penance and Purgatory in the Anglo‐Norman Realm: The Evidence of Visions and Ghost Stories
Historians have tended to explore these two changes of the ‘long twelfth century’ — the reinvention of penance and the rise of purgatory — in isolation from each other. Here I intend to focus on the relationship between the two, and to look in particular at one aspect of it: the implications of theological change for perceptions of the fate of the dead.
Writing the Order: Religious-Political Discourses in Late Anglo-Saxon England
The issue of how authority was created, maintained and defined in religious terms by the written word is therefore the main concern throughout this study.
Love, Marriage, and Happiness: Changing Systems of Desire in Fourteenth-Century England
It is my intention not only to explore the discourse of love and desire in the fourteenth century, but also to examine how the ideas have been altered from those present in the Anglo-Norman and Latin material that was written or widely read in twelfth-century England and what pressures and influences may have brought about these changes.
The Rectitudines singularum personarum: A Pre- and Post-Conquest Text
The most important extant document for our understanding of Anglo-Saxon manorial social structure is a text scholars call the Rectitudines singularum personarum
New in Medieval Books this week!
Hey Medievalverse! Ring in 2012 with these fab, hot off the press releases!