The most recent research into the Anglo-Saxon, Anglo-Norman, and Angevin worlds. Embracing disciplinary approaches ranging from the archaeological to the historical, the sociological to the literary, this collection offers new insights into key texts and interpretive problems in the history of England and thecontinent between the eighth and thirteenth centuries. Topics range from Bede's use and revision of the anonymous Life of St Cuthbert and the redeployment of patristic texts in later continental and Anglo-Saxon ascetic andhagiographical texts, to Robert Curthose's interaction with the Norman episcopate and the revival of Roman legal studies, to the dynamics of aristocratic friendship in the Anglo-Norman realm, and much more. The volume also includes two methodologically rich studies of vital aspects of the historical landscape of medieval England: rivers and forests. William North teaches in the Department of History, Carleton College. Contributors: Richard Allen, Uta-Renate Blumenthal, Ruth Harwood Cline, Thomas Cramer, Mark Gardiner, C. Stephen Jaeger, David A.E. Pelteret, Sally Shockro, Rebecca Slitt, Timothy Smit

Around 1147 the bishop of Chartres directed Geoffrey Grossus, a monk of Tiron Abbey, to write the life of its founder Bernard of Abbeville (ca. 1050-1116) in an effort to further his canonization. Although Geoffrey Grossus blithely borrowed from other writings on saints' lives to further his hagiographical purpose, he presented an erudite, action-filled, and sympathetic portrait of the ascetic founder of an increasingly prominent and wealthy congregation. Bernard was a reformed Benedictine monk, abbot of Saint-Cyprien of Poitiers, and claustral prior of its daughter abbey, Saint-Savin-sur-Gartempe. Deposed at the instigation of Abbot Hugh of Cluny shortly after his installation in 1100, Bernard traveled to Rome to make a spirited defense of Saint-Cyprien's independence before the papal curia. He alternated cloistered life with unauthorized retreats with Vital of Savigny's hermit community, supporting himself by woodworking and ironwork, and offshore on the pirate-infested Chausey Island. On tours with Vital and Robert of Arbrissel, he risked his life preaching clerical celibacy in Normandy. In old age he founded Tiron Abbey in Perche near Chartres and became known as a healer and visionary. Although Bernard worked few miracles and was never canonized, he was venerated as a holy man who was deeply involved in many aspects of the religious reformation of the eleventh and twelfth centuries. Tiron expanded into a large congregation under royal patronage with abbeys and priories in modern France and the British Isles, where it preceded the Cistercians by a decade in Wales, Scotland, and on the Southampton Water. Tironian abbeys and priories survived until the English Reformation and the French Revolution. The first English translation of the ""Vita Bernardi"", this book makes accessible to medieval and religious historians one of the more interesting and lively stories of the twelfth century.

Erec and Enide marks the birth of the Arthurian romance as a literary genre. Written circa 1170, this version of the Griselda legend tells the story of the marriage of Erec, a handsome and courageous Welsh prince and knight of the Round Table, and Enide, an impoverished noblewoman. When the lovers become estranged because Erec neglects his knightly obligations, they subsequently ride off together on a series of adventures that culminate in their reconciliation and the liberation of a captive knight in an enchanted orchard. An innovative poet working during a time of great literary creativity, Chretien de Troyes wrote poems that had a lively pace, skillful structure, and vivid descriptive detail. Ruth Harwood Cline re-creates for modern audiences his irony, humor, and charm, while retaining the style and substance of the original octosyllabic couplets. Her thorough introduction includes discussions of courtly love and the Arthurian legend in history and literature, as well as a new and provocative theory about the identity of Chretien de Troyes. This clearly presented translation, faithful in preserving the subtle expressive qualities of the original work, is accessible reading for any Arthurian legend aficionado and an ideal text for students of medieval literature.

"Erec and Enide" marks the birth of the Arthurian romance as a literary genre. Written circa 1170, this version of the Griselda legend tells the story of the marriage of Erec, a handsome and courageous Welsh prince and knight of the Round Table, and Enide, an impoverished noblewoman. When the lovers become estranged because Erec neglects his knightly obligations, they subsequently ride off together on a series of adventures that culminate in their reconciliation and the liberation of a captive knight in an enchanted orchard.

An innovative poet working during a time of great literary creativity, Chretien de Troyes wrote poems that had a lively pace, skillful structure, and vivid descriptive detail. Ruth Harwood Cline re-creates for modern audiences his irony, humor, and charm, while retaining the style and substance of the original octosyllabic couplets. Her thorough introduction includes discussions of courtly love and the Arthurian legend in history and literature, as well as a new and provocative theory about the identity of Chretien de Troyes. This clearly presented translation, faithful in preserving the subtle expressive qualities of the original work, is accessible reading for any Arthurian legend aficionado and an ideal text for students of medieval literature.

In this verse translation of "Cliges," written by Chretien de Troyes circa 1176, Ruth Harwood Cline not only preserves the artistry of the original work but also captures the wit, irony, and striking emotional power of Chretien's stylistic genius and highly structured form.

The romance begins with the marriage of Cliges's parents and continues with the clandestine, mutual love of their son and his uncle's bride, Fenice. Cliges and Fenice are finally united after executing a false-death plot aided by black magic.

With a thoroughness and clarity that will appeal to students and scholars of medieval literature, Cline's accessible translation effectively conveys the sparkle, pace, and intricate wordplay of Chretien's love monologues, classic themes, and complex poetic devices. In addition, her introduction sheds new light on the transmission of British history and legend to the French court of Champagne. With themes that echo from the Tristan legend to "Romeo and Juliet," "Cliges" is an exciting romance about young lovers who escape from an arranged match and find true love in marriage.

In this verse translation of "Perceval; or, The Story of the Grail," Ruth Harwood Cline restores to life the thematically crucial Arthurian tale of the education of a knight in his search for the Holy Grail.

Cline's translation, faithful to the highly synthetic, deliberately ornate nature of medieval French, follows Perceval from his home in Wales, through his rich and raucous adventures as a member of the fraternity of knights, to his climactic meeting with the Fisher King. Paralyzed by his first glimpse of the Grail, Perceval fails to save the ailing king. Distraught, the knight begins a new quest for the Grail, a journey on the road of penitence and faith. Perceval's venture, the true test of his knighthood, ends without conclusion; the death of author Chretien de Troyes left unsaid and undetermined the success of Perceval's quest.

This verse translation of "Yvain; or, The Knight with the Lion" brings to life a fast-paced yet remarkably subtle work often considered to be the masterpiece of the twelfth-century French writer Chretien de Troyes. The creator of the Arthurian romance as a genre, Chretien is revealed in this work as a witty, versatile writer who mastered both the soaring flight of emotion and the devastating aside and was as skillful a debater of the finer points of love as he was a describer of battles.