From the Vikings to the Normans

Home , Normans

The Short Oxford History of the British Isles General Editor: Paul Langford

Edited by Wendy Davies

OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS Contents

List of Illustrations xi Acknowledgements xiii List of Contributors xv

Introduction 1 Wendy Davies

Vikings and Normans 1 Other concerns of previous generations 3 England versus the rest 5 The sources 6

1 Kings, Kingships, and Kingdoms n Pauline Stafford

Kingship, overkingship, and monarchy 17 Succession to the throne 23 Kings and law 27 Church and king 33 Development of royal resources 35 External forces—Vikings and Normans 38

2 The Vikings 41 Barbara E. Crawford

Celtic Britain and Ireland • 42 Sources for the earliest raids Evidence for settlement The 'sea road' Ireland Dublin's significance Raids on north and east England 52 Viking aspirations to control all of Britain and Ireland Wessex and King Alfred _... 56 The dispersal of the great army 58 Imposition or integration The Danelaw Northumbria VIII I CONTENTS

Contrasts and conclusions 64 The second Viking Age 66 Cnut's conquest and the aftermath Kings and polities in north Britain

3 Exchange, Trade, and Urbanization 73 David Griffiths Exchanging and measuring wealth 77 The ninth century: upheaval and change 82 Towns as centres of power, 876-1016 86 Scandinavian towns in Britain and Ireland Anglo-Saxon towns The rise of commerce, 917-1100 97

4 Lords and Labour 107 Robin Fleming Landscape and lordship in Britain 107 Landscape and lordship in Ireland 114 Aristocratic, consumption 121 Wearing status 122 Eating status 126 Conspicuous piety 133

5 The Christianization.of Society 139 Huw Pryce A church triumphant? 139 Dioceses and monasteries 142 Ecclesiastical organization and pastoral care 147 The clergy: a caste apart? 150 Wealth and power 153 From pagans to Christians: the Vikings and the church 156 Belief and behaviour 162

6 Writing 169 Ddibhi 0 Crdinln The Viking impact 170 CONTENTS | IX

Continuity of learning and literature in Wales Scotland Anti-Irish kings in Scotland? Literacy and the laity " 181 Charters, wills, leases, and manumissions Royal and secular documents in England Learning and literacy after Alfred's reforms Vernacular writing in Ireland Continental influences in England after Alfred 187 Hermeneutic style Benedictine reform Irish writing and learning 192 Renewed contacts between England and Ireland Irish Latin learning Translations and vernacular writings Wales and Ireland

7 Britain, Ireland, and the South 203 John Gillingham

Reform 205 England Wales, Scotland, and Ireland Norman Conquest 214 The myth of feudalism Scotland, Wales, and the Normans Crusade 221 Lay lords and lay culture 222 Norman knights and castles French chivalry Fashionable lifestyles Clerical culture \ 227 Wales and Ireland England Towns and trade 230 lews The slave trade

Conclusion 233 Wendy Davies

Ethnicities and identities 233 Wealth 236 English expansion and Celtic reactions 238 CONTENTS

Further reading 242 Chronology 257 Glossary 263 Index 269