The proceedings of the 1996 Battle Conference contain the usual wide range of topics, from the late tenth century to 1200 and from Durham to Southern Italy, demonstrating once again its importance as the leading forum for Anglo-Norman studies. Many different aspects of the Anglo-Norman world are examined, ranging from military technology to the architecture of Durham Cathedral; there are also in-depth investigations of individual families and characters, including William Malet and Abbot Suger.

Whilst historians often regard the Norman Kingdom of Sicily as centralised and administratively advanced, County and Nobility in Norman Italy counters this traditional interpretation; far from centralised and streamlined, this book reveals how the genesis and social structures of the kingdom were constantly fraught between the forces of royal power and local aristocracy authority. In doing so, Hervin Fernandez Aceves sheds important new light on medieval Italy. This book is the result of thorough research conducted on the vast source material for the history of this fascinating 12th-century world. Starting with the activities of Norman counts and the configuration of the counties, it explores how social control operated in these nodes of regional authority, and argues that the Sicilian monarchy relied on the counties (and the counts' authority) to keep the realm united and exercise control.

This second volume by Graham Loud focuses on two key centres of the south Italian church in the central Middle Ages. The first section concentrates on the 'golden age' of the abbey of Montecassino, during the 11th and 12th centuries, when it was at the height of its influence and three of its monks became popes. The studies seek to place the abbey in its context, examining its relations with the papacy, Byzantium, and the local nobility. The second part deals with Benevento and the abbey of St Sophia, and looks at its development and administration, as well as the tensions that arose from its position as a papal enclave within the Kingdom of Sicily. Based on extensive archival research, the volume as a whole presents a fresh and original insight into the society of southern Italy from the coming of the Normans to its conquest by Charles of Anjou.

Using a combination of original sources and sharp analysis, this book is sheds new light on a crucial period in England’s development. From Norman Conquest to Magna Carta is a wide-ranging history of England from 1066 to 1215 ideal for students and researchers throughout the field of medieval history. Starting with the build-up to the Battle of Hastings and ending with the Magna Carta, Christopher Daniell traces the profound change England underwent over the period, from religion and the life of the court through to arts and architecture. Central discussion topics include: how the Papacy became powerful enough to proclaim Crusades and to challenge kings how new monastic orders revitalized Christianity in England and spread European learning throughout the country how new Norman conquerors built cathedrals, monastries and castles, which changed the English landscape forever how by 1215 the king's administration had become more sophisticated and centralized how the acceptance of the Magna Carta by King John in 1215 would revolutionize the world in centuries to come. This volume will make essential reading for all students and researchers of medieval history.

First published in 2007, this was the first significant study of the incorporation of the Church in southern Italy into the mainstream of Latin Christianity during the eleventh and twelfth centuries. Professor G. A. Loud examines the relationship between Norman rulers, south Italian churchmen and the external influence of the new 'papal monarchy'. He discusses the impact of the creation of the new kingdom of Sicily in 1130; the tensions that arose from the papal schism of that era; and the religious policy and patronage of the new monarchs. He also explores the internal structures of the Church, both secular and monastic, and the extent and process of Latinisation within the Graecophone areas of the mainland and on the island of Sicily, where at the time of the Norman conquest the majority of the population was Muslim. This is a major contribution to the political, religious and cultural history of the Central Middle Ages.

This ... is the first comprehnesive Jérriais-English dictionary to be published ... Research ... has enabled the addition of words found in older published texts to supplement the treasury of old words and phrases and enable everyone to appreciate fully Jersey's literary heritage.

Fresh perspectives on the English clergy, their books, and the wider Anglo-Saxon church.

This book explores women’s experiences of pilgrimage in Latin Christendom between 1300 and 1500 C.E. Later medieval authors harbored grave doubts about women’s mobility; literary images of mobile women commonly accused them of lust, pride, greed, and deceit. Yet real women commonly engaged in pilgrimage in a variety of forms, both physical and spiritual, voluntary and compulsory, and to locations nearby and distant. Acting within both practical and social constraints, such women helped to construct more positive interpretations of their desire to travel and of their experiences as pilgrims. Regardless of how their travel was interpreted, those women who succeeded in becoming pilgrims offer us a rare glimpse of ordinary women taking on extraordinary religious and social authority.