The Plantagenet dynasty secured and then lost most of Western Europewithin the space of a century. In this new translation by David Crouch Martin Aurell revives the passion and politics, revolts and reversals of the Plantagenet Empire By 1125 young Henry II found himself the head of what was to become known as the Plantagenet Empire, a disparate conglomerate of lands stretching from Scotlandto the Pyrenees, From Ireland to Limousin, founded on both civil war and family ties. Through its three generations of existence civil war and familial passions were to be both the source of sustenance and ultimate destruction of the Empire. This retelling of the drama of the era includes: the murder of Thomas Beckett, advisor to Henry II and later bishop of Canterbury; the wars of rebellion of Richard the Lionheart and John Lackland against their father Henry II; the crusades of Richard the Lionheart culminating in his capture; and the eventual crumbling of the empire under the reign of Henry III at the hands of his father's widow and Louis VIII. Aurell's superb knowledge of the complex sources for the period uncovers a world where sophisticated decision making and modern political manoeuvring: a world where political spin and propaganda were deliberately employed by Plantagenet Kings in ideological warfare against their rivals.

This monograph - which was very well received when originally published in France - contains a great deal of detailed information about the attitudes towards learning and written culture among members of the nobility in different parts of Europe in the Middle Ages. An encounter between a warring knight and the world of learning could seem a paradox. It is nonetheless related with the Twelfth-Century Renaissance, an essential intellectual movement for western history. Knights not only fought in battles, but also moved in sophisticated courts. Knights were interested on Latin classics and reading, and writing poetry. Supportive of "jongleurs" and minstrels, they enjoyed literary conversations with clerics who would attempt to reform their behaviour, which was often brutal. These lettered warriors, while improving their culture, learned to repress their own violence and were initiated to courtesy: selective language, measured gestures, elegance in dress, and manners at the table. Their association with women, who were often learned, became more gallant. A revolution of thought occurred among lay elites who, in contact with clergy, began to use their weapons for common welfare.This new conduct was a tangible sign of Medievalist society's leap forward towards modernity.

War, rebellion and castle-building in Normandy and Poitou, charters and writs, dedications of churches in England, Jews, attitudes to kindred - the regular stimulating mix. Seven papers in this volume deal with England, six (four of them in French) with northern and western France. One major focus is on the endowment and building of churches in England from the late Anglo-Saxon period to the early thirteenth century; a second important group looks at war, rebellion and castle-building in Normandy and Poitou. Three papers investigate the value of charters and writs for an understanding of political structures in Anglo-Saxon and twelfth-century England; and there are studies of the revealing ways in which attitudes to outsiders and insiders (Jews, and kindred) were articulated in eleventh- and twelfth-century Europe. Contributors: MARTIN AURELL, MARIE-PIERRE BAUDRY, PIERRE BAUDUIN, JULIA BOORMAN, NATALIE FRYDE, CHARLES INSLEY, STEPHEN MARRITT, VINCENT MOSS, DOMINIQUE PITTE, TIM TATTON-BROWN, PAMELA TAYLOR, MALCOLM THURLBY, ANN WILLIAMS.

The Plantagenet dynasty secured and then lost most of Western Europewithin the space of a century. In this new translation by David Crouch Martin Aurell revives the passion and politics, revolts and reversals of the Plantagenet Empire By 1125 young Henry II found himself the head of what was to become known as the Plantagenet Empire, a disparate conglomerate of lands stretching from Scotlandto the Pyrenees, From Ireland to Limousin, founded on both civil war and family ties. Through its three generations of existence civil war and familial passions were to be both the source of sustenance and ultimate destruction of the Empire. This retelling of the drama of the era includes: the murder of Thomas Beckett, advisor to Henry II and later bishop of Canterbury; the wars of rebellion of Richard the Lionheart and John Lackland against their father Henry II; the crusades of Richard the Lionheart culminating in his capture; and the eventual crumbling of the empire under the reign of Henry III at the hands of his father's widow and Louis VIII. Aurell's superb knowledge of the complex sources for the period uncovers a world where sophisticated decision making and modern political manoeuvring: a world where political spin and propaganda were deliberately employed by Plantagenet Kings in ideological warfare against their rivals.

This monograph - which was very well received when originally published in France - contains a great deal of detailed information about the attitudes towards learning and written culture among members of the nobility in different parts of Europe in the Middle Ages. An encounter between a warring knight and the world of learning could seem a paradox. It is nonetheless related with the Twelfth-Century Renaissance, an essential intellectual movement for western history. Knights not only fought in battles, but also moved in sophisticated courts. Knights were interested on Latin classics and reading, and writing poetry. Supportive of "jongleurs" and minstrels, they enjoyed literary conversations with clerics who would attempt to reform their behaviour, which was often brutal. These lettered warriors, while improving their culture, learned to repress their own violence and were initiated to courtesy: selective language, measured gestures, elegance in dress, and manners at the table. Their association with women, who were often learned, became more gallant. A revolution of thought occurred among lay elites who, in contact with clergy, began to use their weapons for common welfare.This new conduct was a tangible sign of Medievalist society's leap forward towards modernity.

The great strength of this collection is its wide range...a valuable work for anyone interested in the social aspects of the medieval nobility. CHOICE Articles on the origins and nature of 'nobility', its relationship with the late Roman world, its acquisition and exercise of power, its association with military obligation, and its transformation into a more or less willing instrument of royal government. Embracing regions as diverse as England (before and after the Norman Conquest), Italy, the Iberian peninsula, France, Norway, Poland, Portugal, and the Romano-German empire, it ranges over the whole medieval period from the fifth to the early sixteenth century. Contributors: STUART AIRLIE, MARTIN AURELL, T. N. BISSON, PAUL FOURACRE, PIOTR GORECKI, MARTIN H. JONES, STEINAR IMSEN, REGINE LE JAN, JANET N. NELSON, TIMOTHY A REUTER, JANE ROBERTS, MARIA JOAO VIOLANTE BRANCO, JENNIFER C. WARD

Survey of the reign of Henry II, offering a range of new evaluations and interpretations. Henry II is the most imposing figure among the medieval kings of England. His fiefs and domains extended from the Atlantic to the Mediterranean, and his court was frequented by the greatest thinkers and men of letters of his time,besides ambassadors from all over Europe. Yet his is a reign of paradoxes: best known for his dramatic conflicts with his own wife and sons and with Thomas Becket, it was also a crucial period in the evolution of legal and governmental institutions. Here experts in the field provide significant reevaluations of its most important aspects. Topics include Henry's accession and his relations with the papacy, the French king, other rulers in the British Islesand the Norman baronage; the development of the common law and the coinage; the court and its literary milieu; the use of Arthurian legend for political purposes; and the career of the Young King Henry, while the introduction examines the historiography of the reign. CONTRIBUTORS: MARTIN ALLEN, MARTIN AURELL, NICK BARRATT, PAUL BRAND, SEAN DUFFY, ANNE DUGGAN, JEAN DUBABIN, JOHN GILLINGHAM, EDMUND KING, DANIEL POWER, IAN SHORT, MATTHEW STRICKLAND CHRISTOPHER HARPER-BILL and NICHOLAS VINCENT are Professors of Medieval History at the University of East Anglia.