Proceedings of the Battle Conference 2009

This latest collection reflects the full range and vitality of the current work on the Anglo-Norman period. It opens with the R. Allen Brown Memorial Lecture for 2009, a wide-ranging reflection by the distinguished French historian Dominique Barthelemy on the Peace of God and the role of bishops in the long eleventh century. Economic history is prominent in papers on the urban transformation in England between 900 and 1100, on the roots of the royal forest in England, and on trade links between England and Lower Normandy. A close study of the Surrey manor of Mortlake brings in topography, another aspect of which appears in an article on the representation of outdoor space by Norman and Anglo-Norman chroniclers. Social history is treated in papers dealing with the upbringing of the children of the Angevin counts and with the developing ideas of knighthood and chivalry in the works of Dudo of Saint-Quentin and Benoit of Sainte-Maure. Finally, political ideas are examined through careful reading of texts in papers on writing the rebellion of Earl Waltheof in the twelfth century and on the use of royal titles and prayers for the king in Anglo-Norman charters. Contributors: Dominique Barthelemy, Kathryn Dutton, Leonie Hicks, Richard Holt, Joanna Huntington, Laurence Jean-Marie, Dolly Jorgensen, Max Lieberman, Stephen Marritt, Pamela Taylor