The years between 900 and 1200 saw transformative social change in Europe, including the creation of extensive town-dwelling populations and the proliferation of feudalised elites and bureaucratic monarchies. In England these developments were complicated and accelerated by repeated episodes of invasion, migration and changes of regime. In this book, scholars from disciplines including history, archaeology and literature reflect on the major trends which shaped English society in these years of transition and select key themes which encapsulate the period. The authors explore the landscape of England, its mineral wealth, its towns and rural life, the health, behaviour and obligations of its inhabitants, patterns of spiritual and intellectual life and the polyglot nature of its population and culture. What emerges is an insight into the complexity, diversity and richness of this formative period of English history.

An integrated social history of England that spans the conventional divide of the Norman Conquest in 1066.

About the Author
Julia Crick is Associate Professor in the Department of History, University of Exeter. Her research interests include property, power and gender before 1100, aspects of palaeography and the transmission of texts in the Middle Ages, monastic culture and the uses of the past. Her publications include The Uses of Script and Print, 1200-1700, edited with Alexandra Walsham (2004), and Charters of St Albans (2007). Elizabeth van Houts is Lecturer in Medieval History at Emmanuel College, Cambridge, and Affiliated Lecturer in the Faculty of History, University of Cambridge. She has published extensively on Anglo-Norman history and the history of gender in the Middle Ages. Her recent publications include Exile in the Middle Ages (2004), with Laura Napran, and Medieval Writings on Lay Women in the Middle Ages (2011), with Patricia Skinner.

Reviews
'This is an imaginatively-conceived volume that cuts across conventional chronological divisions to offer new insights into the English medieval society and culture. No other volume offers so comprehensive an analysis of all aspects of life in Anglo-Saxon and Norman England. It should be an essential purchase for students and scholars working on England in the central Middle Ages.' Sarah Foot, Regius Professor of Ecclesiastical History, University of Oxford
'This is a ground-breaking collection that combines intellectual, political and cultural history with archaeological, literary, ecocritical and environmental scholarship in an unprecedented fashion. The result is innovative and interdisciplinary in the very best way - rich in insights, lucid, learned, and original.' Paul J. E. Kershaw, University of Virginia
'This fresh and interesting volume has broadened the normal range of selection for a social history to include such excellent literary scholars as Andy Orchard and Elaine Treharne, matching them with archaeologists and the incomparable Oliver Rackham. It will inspire the young to pursue a speciality from one or other of the chapters and one or two readers might even ponder the volume as a whole and go on to transcend specialities and produce a great social history of the complex kind we so singularly lack.' Paul R. Hyams, Cornell University
'This collection of thirty essays by field leaders, expertly edited by Julia Crick and Elisabeth van Houts, is ... very welcome and has much to offer medieval history. Going far beyond considerations of government, and taking in change alongside continuity, it makes important contributions ... excellent surveys and overviews, accessible to students and non-specialists, reinforcing and enlightening to veterans.' Alex Burghart, The Times Literary Supplement



Book Information
ISBN 9780521885614
Author Julia Crick
Format Hardback
Page Count 470
Imprint Cambridge University Press
Publisher Cambridge University Press
Weight(grams) 860g
Dimensions(mm) 235mm * 160mm * 25mm