New insights into key texts and interpretive problems in the history of England and Europe between the eighth and thirteenth centuries. This volume of the Haskins Society Journal demonstrates the Society's continued interest in a broad range of geographical contexts and methodological approaches to medieval history. Chapters include a much-needed reassessment of AElfthryth and her place in the society and governance of tenth-century England, as well as a comprehensive survey of the conceptualization of excommunication in post-Carolingian Europe to c.1200. Further essays explore aspects of the Norman world of southern Italy, including the dynamics of political coalitions and kinship networks, ethnic identity, and material culture. The Journal continues to highlight close analyses of key primary sources,with a study of Angevin kingship in the writings of Hugh of Lincoln and Adam of Eynsham, and an examination of Ralph of Niger's Old Testament exegesis and criticism of crusading in the late twelfth century. A ground-breaking newstudy assesses the utility of colonialism as a valid model for understanding the extraction of sacred resources and relics from the crusader lands. The volume closes with a crucial reconsideration of the agency and power of medieval French peasants as attested in medieval cartularies, opening new approaches for further research into this critical and complex social group.

This edition presents the recently rediscovered episcopal cartulary of Auxerre, composed in the 1280s but assumed lost since the French Revolution. Along with confirmations by popes, quarrel settlements with counts, and agreements with the bishop's tenants, the cartulary contains documents that were previously unknown, notably several papal decisions. Auxerre was unusually well documented for the period 800-1200, but little information on the bishopric's history after 1200 has been available until now. The text contains a wealth of information about relationships between church leaders and other churches, between churches and secular leaders, and details on peasant rights and obligations.

This edition also includes the short thirteenth-century cartularies of the nuns of St.-Julien and of the cathedral chapter, the latter existing only in fragmentary form. With full annotation of people and places and English-language summaries, these cartularies make a valuable contribution to our understanding of this significant episcopal centre's history.