A richly valuable source of knowledge. MEDIUM AEVUM By the time of the Conquest, the Normans had been established in Normandy for over a hundred and fifty years. They had transformed themselves from pagan Northmen into Christian princes; their territories extended from England, southern Italy and Sicily to distant Antioch, and their influence had spread throughout western Europe and the Mediterranean. Duke William's victory at Hastings and the resulting Anglo-Norman union brought England into the mainstreamof European history and culture, with far-reaching consequences for Western civilisation. These specially commissioned studies are concerned with the achievements of the cross-Channel realm. They make a major contribution toan understanding of the hundred years that witnessed great change and major developments in English and Norman government and society. There are surveys of the two constituent parts, of Normandy under the Angevin kings, of the place of kingdom and duchy in the politics and culture of the North Sea, and of the parallel Norman achievement in the Mediterranean. There are overviews both of secular administration and of the church, and a study of "feudalism" and lordship. Within the broad field of cultural history, there are discussions of language, literature, the writing of history, and ecclesiastical architecture. Contributors: LESLEY ABRAMS, MATTHEW BENNETT, MARJORIE CHIBNALL, CHRISTOPHER HARPER-BILL, ELISABETH VAN HOUTS, EMMA MASON, RICHARD PLANT, CASSANDRA POTTS, DANIEL POWER, IAN SHORT, ANN WILLIAMS

Latest volume in leading forum for research on the Anglo-Norman world. This most recent volume of papers contains the usual wide range of papers and topics. The Memorial lecture concerns St Anselm, a personality particularly dear to R. Allen Brown. There is a particular emphasis on the writing of history, with papers on regional identity in early Normandy, Henry of Huntingdon, the Anglo-Norman Estoire and the definition of racial identity in post-Conquest England; other topics include language in a colonial society, Anglo-Norman aristocracy (with studies ofindividual families), and the history of the church. Norman Southern Italy is represented by a study of the family structure in the principality of Salerno. Contributors: D.E.. LUSCOMBE, EMMA COWNIE, R. BEARMAN, P. DAMIAN-GRINT, JOANNA DRELL, DIANA GREENWAY, VANESSA KING, CASSANDRA POTTS, IAN SHORT, KATHLEEN THOMPSON, H. TSURUSHIMA

Papers exploring the impact of change on aspects of the twelfth-century Anglo-Norman world. The twelfth-century renaissance, though usually seen as a French phenomenon, produced fundamental changes in the culture and politics of the wider Anglo-Norman world. The essays in this volume, by leadingscholars in this field meeting at La Bretesche, Brittany, in 1995, explore the impact of this change. Covering a variety of topics, including the transmission of Norman saints' cults, vernacular history and aristocratic values, and shifting modes of deathand dying, they have in common the elements of change and transformation occurring throughout society during the course of the Anglo-Norman era. The late Professor C. WARREN HOLLISTER taught at the University of California at Santa Barbara. Contributors: C. WARREN HOLLISTER, CASSANDRA POTTS, JOHN GILLINGHAM, JUDITH GREEN, ROBIN FLEMING, DAVID CROUCH