Fruits of the most recent research on the thirteenth century in both England and Europe. The articles collected here reflect the continued and wide interest in England and its neighbours in the years between Magna Carta and the Black Death, with many of them particularly seeking to set England in its European context.There are three main strands to the volume. The first is the social dimension of power, and the norms and practice of politics: attention is drawn to the variety of roles open to members of the clergy, but also peasants and townsmen, and the populace at large. Several chapters explore the manifestations and instruments of social identity, such as the seals used by the leading elites of thirteenth-century London, and the marriage practices of the Englisharistocracy. The third main focus is the uses of the past. Matthew Paris, the most famous chronicler of the period, receives due attention, in particular his changing attitude towards the monarch, but the Vita Edwardi Secundi's portrayal of Thomas of Lancaster and the Anglo-Norman Prose Brut are also considered. Janet Burton is Professor of Medieval History at University of Wales: Trinity Saint David; Phillipp Schofield is Professor of Medieval History at Aberystwyth University; Bjoern Weiler is Professor of History at Aberystwyth University. Contributors: J.R. Maddicott, Phillipp Schofield, Harmony Dewez, John McEwan, Joerg Peltzer, Karen Stoeber, Olga Cecilia Mendez Gonzalez, Sophie Ambler, Joe Creamer, Lars Kjaer, Andrew Spencer, Julia Marvin, Olivier de Laborderie

This book is a study of the politics of episcopal elections in twelfth- and thirteenth-century Normandy and Greater Anjou. This was a crucial period in the development of canon law and Joerg Peltzer offers the first analysis to bring together legal theory and practice, local custom, and politics. He explores the development of electoral theories and examines each election in context, offering insights into the varying balance of royal, papal and regional baronial power and the various career paths leading to an episcopal see. He shows how different systems of patronage worked, to what extent they were vehicles of social mobility, and how aristocratic families were structured. By comparing electoral practices in Normandy and Greater Anjou before and after the Capetian conquest the book significantly enhances our understanding of the theory and practice of canon law, local politics in Normandy and Anjou, and the high politics at the Capetian and Angevin courts.

This book is a study of the politics of episcopal elections in twelfth- and thirteenth-century Normandy and Greater Anjou. This was a crucial period in the development of canon law and Joerg Peltzer offers the first analysis to bring together legal theory and practice, local custom, and politics. He explores the development of electoral theories and examines each election in context, offering insights into the varying balance of royal, papal and regional baronial power and the various career paths leading to an episcopal see. He shows how different systems of patronage worked, to what extent they were vehicles of social mobility, and how aristocratic families were structured. By comparing electoral practices in Normandy and Greater Anjou before and after the Capetian conquest the book significantly enhances our understanding of the theory and practice of canon law, local politics in Normandy and Anjou, and the high politics at the Capetian and Angevin courts.

This volume contains the usual wide range of topics, and offers some unusual and provocative perspectives, including an examination of what the evidence of zooarchaeology can reveal about the Conquest. The other subjects discussed are the battle of AlenAon; the impact of rebellion on Little Domesday; Lawrence of Durham; Thomas Becket; Peter of Blois; Anglo-French peace conferences; episcopal elections and the loss of Normandy; Norman identity in southern Italian chronicles; and the Normans on crusade. The contributors, from Germany, France and Denmark as well as Britain, and the United States, are RICHARD BARTON, NAOMI SYKES, LUCY MARTEN, MIA MA1/4NSTER-SWENDSEN, JOHN D. COTTS, J.E.M. BENHAM, JARG PELTZER, JULIE BARRAU, EMILY ALBU, EWAN JOHNSON, G. A. LOUD, HANNA VOLLRATH.