DOCSLIB.ORG

Clergy in Battle and on Campaign 33

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Clergy in Battle and on Campaign 33 Gerrard, Daniel M.G. (2011) The military activities of bishops, abbots and other clergy in England c.900-1200. PhD thesis http://theses.gla.ac.uk/2671/ Copyright and moral rights for this thesis are retained by the author A copy can be downloaded for personal non-commercial research or study, without prior permission or charge This thesis cannot be reproduced or quoted extensively from without first obtaining permission in writing from the Author The content must not be changed in any way or sold commercially in any format or medium without the formal permission of the Author When referring to this work, full bibliographic details including the author, title, awarding institution and date of the thesis must be given. Glasgow Theses Service http://theses.gla.ac.uk/ [email protected] The Military Activities of Bishops, Abbots and other Clergy in England c.900- 1200 Daniel Gerrard Thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy University of Glasgow Faculty of Arts School of Humanities September 2010 © Daniel Gerrard September 2010 Abstract This thesis examines the evidence for the involvement in warfare of clerks and religious in England between the beginning of the tenth century and the end of the twelfth. It focuses on bishops and abbots, whose military activities were recorded more frequently than lesser clergy, though these too are considered where appropriate. From the era of Christian conversion until long after the close of the middle ages, clergy were involved in the prosecution of warfare. In this period, they built fortresses and organised communities of warriors in time of peace and war. Some were slain in battle, while others were given promotion or lands for their martial exploits. A series of canonical pronouncements aimed to forbid or restrict the involvement of Christian clergy in organised bloodshed, and some writers branded militant clergy as corrupted by the lure of earthly power or even as having surrendered their sacerdotal status. This study therefore approaches the military practices of clergy alongside the legal and narrative treatments, and treats the latter as reactions to, not the background of, the former. This requires consideration of a wide range of narrative, diplomatic and legal source material. A broad approach shows that clerics’ military activities cannot be separated from their spiritual powers, that canonical treatment was more fragmented and less influential than has been assumed, and that the condemnations of some authors existed alongside others’ praise for clerics’ valour, loyalty, or commitment to defending their flocks. In consequence, the extended study of clerical participation in warfare is shown to have significant consequences for our conception of the bounds of military history, the construction of the licit and the illicit, and the nature of clerical identity itself. 1 Pro Genovefe, carissima mea 2 Acknowledgements I offer my thanks to the Carnegie Trust for the Universities of Scotland, who generously funded three years of research. Without the help and camaraderie of the postgraduate community and staff at the University of Glasgow, this project could never have been completed. In particular, among the staff, I would like to thank my supervisors, Professor Matthew Strickland, who conceived of this project and Dr Stephen Marritt, whose assistance was untiring, especially in my last dash towards submission. For their good-humoured support and advice on countless occasions, I thank Professor Julia Smith, Dr Stuart Airlie and Dr Mary Duckworth. My office-mates and the other PhD students in the department were essential in contributing good ideas, restraining most of my more outlandish notions and reminding me to keep working and to enjoy myself while I did so. In particular, I thank Ms Colette Bowie, Ms Laura Crombie, Ms Katy Dutton, Dr Joanna Royle and Ms Vanessa Traill for their patience, friendship and confectionary. I would also like to thank Dr Martin Brett for his generous assistance on several occasions and Professors Robert Bartlett and Chris Given-Wilson for convincing me that the medievalists really do have all the best tunes. I offer my thanks to my family for their unfailing encouragement, support and love, especially my father, Tim, my mother, Heather, and my brother Matthew. Above all, I thank my wife, Genevieve, who has had to live with a medievalist for the better part of a decade and the problem of militant clergy for almost half that time. She has been of great help in preparing the final draft of the manuscript. Professor Anne Duggan and Dr Andrew Roach examined the thesis and their kind advice has corrected many of my infelicities. The remaining errors, omissions, repetitions, misinterpretations and tedious chapters are entirely my own responsibility. 3 Contents Abbreviations 6 Introduction 8 Introduction II: Canonical Restrictions on Clerical Participation in Warfare from Nicaea (325) to Tribur (895) 19 Part 1: Clergy in Battle and On Campaign 33 Part 2: Military Power and Practice 58 Chapter 1: Prelates, Knights and Constables 58 Chapter 2: Warriors in Attendance 77 Chapter 3: Prelates and Fortresses 86 Chapter 4: Spiritual Weapons in Secular Warfare 105 Chapter 5: Delegated Powers and Local Defence 127 Part 3: Responses 141 Chapter 1: Canonical Responses 142 Chapter 2: Narrative Responses 169 Chapter 3: Political and Judicial Responses 221 Conclusions 235 Appendices 240 Bibliography 267 4 Tables and Figures Appendix 1 Table 1: Clerics present in battles and sieges in England before 1066 242 Appendix 2 Table 2: ‘Constables’ and ‘Marshals’ in the service of English Prelates 246 Table 3: Castles controlled by prelates 253 Table 4: Fortified Churches 256 Figure 1: The Banner of St Edmund (Harley 2278) 260 Figure 2: St Edmund in Battle (Harley 2278) 261 Table 5: St Oswald’s tenants: Terms of Service 262 5 Abbreviations AHR The American Historical Review AND David Rollason, Margaret Harvey, Michael Prestwich (eds), Anglo- Norman Durham 1093-1193. Woodbridge: Boydell. (1994). ANS Proceedings of the Battle Conference on Anglo-Norman Studies ASC The Anglo-Saxon Chronicles – New Edition. Michael Swanton (ed/trans). London: Dent. (1996). Bates RRAN Regesta Regum Anglo-Normannorum I 1066-1087, David Bates (ed). Oxford: Clarendon Press. (1998). Bede Bede, Historia Ecclesiastica Gentis Anglorum. Bertrand Colgrave, R.A.B Mynors (eds/trans). Oxford: Oxford University Press. (1991). C&S Councils & Synods, with other documents relating to the English church. 1, A.D. 871-1204. Dorothy Whitelock, M. Brett, C.N.L. Brooke (eds). 2 vols, Oxford: Clarendon Press. (1981). CRSHR Chronicles of the Reigns of Stephen, Henry II., and Richard I. Richard Howlett (ed). 4 vols, London: Longman. (1884-1889). EEA English Episcopal Acta, David Smith et al (eds). London, Oxford: Oxford University Press. (1980-). EHR The English Historical Review GCO Giraldus Cambrensis Opera, J.S. Brewer (ed). 8 vols, London: Longman. (1861-1891). GP William of Malmesbury – Gesta Pontificum Anglorum, M. Winterbottom, R.M. Thomson (eds/trans). 2 vols, Oxford: Clarendon Press. (2007). GR William of Malmesbury – Gesta Regum Anglorum – the History of the English Kings, R.A.B. Mynors, R. M. Thomson, M. Winterbottom (eds/trans). 2 vols, Oxford: Clarendon Press. (1998-1999). GS Gesta Stephani, K.R. Potter (ed/trans), Oxford: Clarendon Press. (1976). HEA Historia Ecclesie Abbendonensis – The History of the Church of Abingdon, John Hudson (ed/trans). 2 vols, Oxford: Clarendon Press. (2002-2007). Hemming Hemmingi Chartularium Ecclesiae Wigorniensis Thomas Hearne (ed). Oxford: Oxford University Press. (1723). 6 Jaffé Regesta Pontificum Romanorum (2nd edition) Philip Jaffé (ed), 2 vols, Graz: Akademische Druck- U. Verlagsanstalt. (1956). HN William of Malmesbury – Historia Novella – The Contemporary History, Edmund King, K.R. Potter (ed/trans), Oxford: Clarendon Press. (1998). Holtzmann Decretales Ineditae Saeculi XII, ed. And rev. S. Chodorow, C. Duggan, from the papers of W. Holtzmann. Vatican City: Biblioteca apostolica vaticana. (1982). HSJ The Haskins Society Journal: Studies in Medieval History Huntingdon Henry, Archdeacon of Huntingdon, Historia Anglorum – The History of the English People, Diana Greenway (ed/trans), Oxford: Clarendon Press. (1996). JH ‘Continuation by John of Hexham’, in SMO II. Jocelin Chronica Jocelini de Brakelonda de rebus gestis Samsonis Abbatis Monasterii Sancti Edmundi. H.E. Butler (ed/trans). London: Camden Society. (1949). JWC The Chronicle of John of Worcester R.R. Darlington, Patrick McGurk, Jennifer Bray (ed/trans). 3 vols, Oxford: Clarendon Press. (1995-). MGH Monumenta Germaniae Historica OV Orderic Vitalis, The Ecclesiastical History, Marjorie Chibnall (ed/trans). 6 vols, Oxford: Clarendon Press. (1969-1980). PL Patrologia Latina, Jacques-Paul Migne (ed), (217 Vols, Cambridge: Chadwyck-Healey (1844-1865); http://pld.chadwyck.co.uk/ RH ‘Historia Ricardi, Prioris Ecclesiae Haugustaldensis’, in CRSHR III. RRAN Regesta Regum Anglo-Normannorum, 1056-1154, H.W.C Davis, R.J. Whitwell (eds). 3 vols, Oxford: Clarendon Press. (1913-1969). SMO Symeonis Monachi Opera, Thomas Arnold (ed), 2 vols, London: Longman. (1882-1885). TRHS Transactions of the Royal Historical Society VST ‘Vita Sancti Thomae, Cantuarensis Archiepiscopi et Martyris, Auctore Willelmo Filio Stephani’, in James Craigie Robertson (ed), Materials for the Study of Thomas Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury. 7 vols, III, London: Longman. (1875-1885). 7 Introduction This thesis is one
Load more

Recommended publications
  • INTRODUCTION Anglo-Norman England Has
    HOSLER_f2_1-7 1/17/07 9:36 PM Page 1 INTRODUCTION Anglo-Norman England has long been a fertile subject for the study of medieval military history. Its preeminence is due in large measure to the events of 14 October 1066, during which William, duke of Normandy, wrested control of England away from Harold Godwinson at the Battle of Hastings. The result was a wave of changes that permanently altered the land of the Anglo-Saxons. Many of these changes directly influenced the methods by which the English crown conducted warfare, including the advent of a baronage and the importation of a feudal system of military obligation, both introduced after William’s coronation on Christmas 1066. William brought a policy of conquest and domination to England that defied compar- ison to the former Anglo-Saxon kingdoms. The Old English kings fought primarily defensive battles to preserve the Heptarchy against Viking and Danish expansion from the ninth to the eleventh century. In these endeavors the Saxons were only partially successful; the strong West Saxon-Kentish state built by Alfred (879–899) grew to include lands in the uncertain regions of Northumbria and Mercia, but the advent of the Danelaw and the return of Viking invasions in the late tenth century eroded the stability of the country. By the eleventh century Edward the Confessor (1042–1066) and his earls were struggling to maintain England’s borders in the rebellious west and north. In the years after Hastings, William solidified his reign through military operations such as the 1070 ‘harrying of the north’ with the Scots, as well as diplomatic moves that gained him the fealty of Welsh princes in 1081.
    [Show full text]
  • The Anarchy: War and Status in 12Th-Century Landscapes of Conflict
    Book review article: ‘The Anarchy: War and Status in 12th century Landscapes of Conflict’ Chapter 2, Historical Outline and the Geog- raphy of ‘Anarchy’, is a good summary of complex events, including the important point that control of Normandy was central to the struggle (p 30). The geographical spread of activity is illustrated by interesting maps of itineraries, particularly of Stephen, divided into phases of his reign. Early on, he went to Cornwall and north onto Scottish territory (in both cases accompanied by his army) but most- ly he was in central and southern England, with forays to Lincolnshire and, occasionally, York. WAGING WAR: FIELDS OF CONFLICT AND SIEGE WARFARE The subject of Chapter 3 (title above) is a critical issue in assessments of the Anarchy. Creighton and Wright note that pitched battles were rare and sieges dominated (p 34, 40). Church authorities attempted to regulate war, in particular protecting the Church’s posses- sions (p 36), but also deployed ‘spiritual weap- ons’, such as the saints’ banners on the mast The Anarchy: War and Status in (the Standard) at Northallerton (p 45). And a 12th-Century Landscapes of Conflict bishop, in a pre-battle speech at Northallerton, Authors: Oliver H. Creighton as recorded by Henry of Huntingdon, promised Duncan W. Wright that English defenders killed in combat would Publishers: Liverpool University Press, Ex- be absolved from all penalty for sin. [HH 71] eter Studies in Medieval Europe Laying waste enemies’ estates was a normal ISBN 978-1-78138-242-4 by-product of Anglo-Norman warfare, not Hardback, 346 pages unique to Stephanic conflict (p 37-8).
    [Show full text]
  • Credible Rulers and State Failure
    University at Buffalo School of Law Digital Commons @ University at Buffalo School of Law Journal Articles Faculty Scholarship 2015 Lords and Order: Credible Rulers and State Failure Matthew Dimick University at Buffalo School of Law Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.law.buffalo.edu/journal_articles Part of the History Commons, Law Commons, and the Political Science Commons Recommended Citation Matthew Dimick, Lords and Order: Credible Rulers and State Failure, 27 Rationality & Soc'y 161 (2015). Available at: https://digitalcommons.law.buffalo.edu/journal_articles/86 Matthew Dimick, Lords and Order: Credible Rulers and State Failure, Rationality and Society (27:2) pp. 161-194. Copyright © 2015 SAGE Publications. Reprinted by permission of SAGE Publications. Available at 10.1177/ 1043463115576137. This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Faculty Scholarship at Digital Commons @ University at Buffalo School of Law. It has been accepted for inclusion in Journal Articles by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons @ University at Buffalo School of Law. For more information, please contact [email protected]. LORDS AND ORDER:CREDIBLE RULERS AND THE CAUSES OF STATE FAILURE ¤ Matthew Dimick February 27, 2009 ¤I wish to thank David Crouch, Scott Gehlbach, Daniel Klerman, Pablo Mitnik, and Erik Olin Wright for comments and suggestions. A special thanks goes to Ivan Ermakoff for providing detailed comments with every successive draft. A very special thanks goes to James Montgomery for insightful assistance in constructing the model and for invaluable help in programming simulations. I also wish to acknowledge the source of the paper’s title from Chapter 9 of Crouch (2000) which in turn owes its inspiration to Barthélemy (1990).
    [Show full text]
  • Partners in Rule: a Study of Twelfth-Century Queens of England
    WITTENBERG UNIVERSITY PARTNERS IN RULE: A STUDY OF TWELFTH-CENTURY QUEENS OF ENGLAND AN HONORS THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF THE DIVISION OF THE HUMANITIES IN CANDICACY FOR THE DEGREE OF BACHELOR OF ARTS WITH HONORS DEPARTMENT OF HISTORY BY LAUREN CENGEL SPRINGFIELD, OHIO APRIL 2012 i CONTENTS INTRODUCTION 1 Chapter 1. From the Insignificance of Women to Queenship as an Office: A Brief Historiography of Medieval Women and Queenship 5 Chapter 2. Matilda II of Scotland: “Another Esther in Our Times,” r.1100-1118 13 Chapter 3. Matilda III of Boulogne: “A Woman of Subtlety and a Man’s Resolution,” r.1135-1154 43 Chapter 4. Eleanor of Aquitaine: “An Incomparable Woman,” r.1154-1189 65 CONCLUSION 96 APPENDICES 98 BIBLIOGRAPHY 104 1 Introduction By nature, because she was a woman, the woman could not exercise public power. She was incapable of exercising it. – Georges Duby, “Women and Power” With this statement, Georges Duby renders the medieval woman “powerless” to participate in any sort of governance in the Middle Ages. He and other scholars have perpetuated the idea that women who held landed titles in the Middle Ages relegated all power of that title to their husbands, including queens. Scholars have commonly assumed that the king, not the queen, was the only party able to wield significant authority in the governance of the country, and that men dominated the role of the queen in the political sphere. It is difficult to imagine how Duby and others reached his harsh conclusion about women and power in the Middle Ages once the ruling relationships between the kings and queens of twelfth-century England are examined.
    [Show full text]
  • Propaganda in Literature: a Study of the ​Encomium
    PROPAGANDA IN LITERATURE: A STUDY OF THE ENCOMIUM EMMAE REGINAE ​ AND THE WRITINGS OF ROBERT OF TORIGNI AS PROPAGANDA FOR EMMA OF NORMANDY AND THE EMPRESS MATILDA _______________ A Senior Honors Thesis Presented to Senior Honors Thesis Committee University of Houston _______________ In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Bachelor of Arts in History University of Houston, Texas December 2019 _______________ By Laila Abbasi Abbasi 1 Table of Contents: Acknowledgements: 2 Chapter 1: Introduction 3 Research Question: 7 ​ Literature Review: 8 ​ Propaganda with Norman rulers: 8 ​ Studies on Emma and Matilda: 11 ​ Primary Sources: 14 ​ Studies on Robert of Torigni's writing in the Gesta Normannorum Ducum: 17 ​ Studies on the Encomium: 18 ​ Research Design: 20 ​ Significance: 21 ​ Outline of the Study: 21 ​ Chapter 2: Emma of Normandy 23 Chapter 3: Empress Matilda 53 Chapter 4: Conclusion 77 Summary of the Study: 77 ​ Interpretation of Findings: 81 ​ Bibliography 83 Primary Sources: 83 ​ Secondary Sources: 84 ​ Abbasi 2 Acknowledgements: I was lucky to find a supportive committee for my Senior Honors Thesis: Dr. Sally Vaughn, Dr. Catherine Patterson, and Dr. Jesse Rainbow. I thank them for their advice and feedback on my research. I would like to especially thank Dr. Sally Vaughn for allowing me to study with her this past year, and being incredibly supportive of my endeavors. Finally, I dedicate this thesis to my mother, for allowing me to come to her with help for my writing, and supporting me as I worked on the project this past year. Abbasi 3 Chapter 1: Introduction Many contemporary writers wrote accounts of the Norman monarchs and other famous Norman figures in history.
    [Show full text]
  • A Study of Anglo-Saxon and Anglo-Norman Noble Women
    DAUGHTERS, WIVES, AND WIDOWS: A STUDY OF ANGLO-SAXON AND ANGLO-NORMAN NOBLE WOMEN Paula J. Bailey, M.S.E. Candidate Mentor: Ann Smith, Ph.D., Professor of History Abstract Traditional medieval histories have tended to downplay the role of noble women in early medieval England. However, increasingly popular gender studies in the last twenty years have prompted a renewed interest by scholars eager to make up for lost time and assign women a more significant role. In light of these efforts, research now indicates Anglo-Saxon women not only had considerable independence regarding land ownership, but they could also dispose of property at will. By contrast, noble women of the Anglo-Norman period appeared, at first glance, not to have fared as well as their Anglo-Saxon predecessors. A closer study, however, reveals that these later women not only held their own honor courts, supervised households and educated their children, but, when the need arose, helped defend their homes. In the military- based society of Anglo-Norman England, noble women were also needed to produce legitimate heirs. Wives, daughters, and widows in the Anglo-Saxon and Norman English world were not on the fringes of society. Introduction Scholars interested in gender studies have made great progress over the last twenty years researching and writing about medieval English women. Traditional histories had, until recently, slighted noble women and their contributions to early Anglo-Saxon society with claims that they played only a nominal role. Historians now conclude that, to the contrary, Anglo-Saxon noble women were relatively independent through their land-holding rights while, by contrast, later Anglo-Norman noble women lost some independence when land ownership became closely associated with the new military-based society that followed the Norman Conquest in 1066.
    [Show full text]
  • Matildaâ•Žs Role in the English Civil War of 1138-1153
    Running head: SOFTNESS OF HER SEX 1 “The Softness of Her Sex”: Matilda’s Role in the English Civil War of 1138-1153 Catherine Hardee A Senior Thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for graduation in the Honors Program Liberty University Fall 2011 SOFTNESS OF HER SEX 2 Acceptance of Senior Honors Thesis This Senior Honors Thesis is accepted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for graduation from the Honors Program of Liberty University. ______________________________ Douglas F. Mann, Ph.D. Thesis Chair ______________________________ Donna D. Donald, M.A. Committee Member ______________________________ William K. Hammersmith, M.Ed. Committee Member ______________________________ James H. Nutter, D.A. Honors Director ______________________________ Date SOFTNESS OF HER SEX 3 Abstract This thesis examines the life of the Empress Matilda (1102-1167), focusing on how factors beyond her control directed much of its course. It discusses her attempts to take control of the political realm in England and the effect this had on her, her supporters, and her kingdom. It also analyzes her later years and influence on her son Henry II. SOFTNESS OF HER SEX 4 “The Softness of Her Sex”: Matilda and the English Civil War of 1138-1153 When the White Ship disappeared beneath the waves of the English Channel in November 1120, it took with it William Atheling, the sole legitimate son of the English King Henry I. 1 With his heir-presumptive dead, Henry was forced to consider the options left for succession. The king’s immediate reaction was to take another young wife, but his marriage to Adeliza of Louvain in January of 1121 produced no children.
    [Show full text]
  • Narrative, History, and Kingship in Angevin England
    NARRATIVE, HISTORY, AND KINGSHIP IN ANGEVIN ENGLAND Peter Raleigh A dissertation submitted to the faculty at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in partial fulfillment of the requirements of for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Department of History. Chapel Hill 2019 Approved by: Marcus Bull Brett Whalen Robert Babcock Lloyd Kramer William Purkis © 2019 Peter Raleigh ALL RIGHTS RESERVED ii ABSTRACT Peter Raleigh: Narrative, History, and Kingship in Angevin England (Under the direction of Marcus Bull) This dissertation analyzes four important historiographical texts produced during the Angevin period of English history, roughly 1150-1220. It reads these texts through the lens of narratology, a modern body of theory concerned with the construction of meaning in narratives, in order to emphasize the complexity of their respective narrative projects. It argues that modern scholars of Angevin England have largely focused on these texts as sources of factual information about royal politics and war. An opportunity has thereby been missed to understand these texts as sophisticated efforts at conceptualizing Angevin kingship and its relationship to history, and to recognize the number and variety of such efforts during this period. Chapter One analyzes the use of narrative time in William of Newburgh’s Historia Anglorum to emphasize the anarchic nature of royal politics in King Stephen’s reign. Chapter Two demonstrates the cumulative impact of documents included in Roger of Howden’s Chronica, a text ordinarily regarded as lacking in narratorial rhetoric. Chapter Three demonstrates that the manuscript articulation of Richard of Devizes’ Cronicon is used to create a nuanced discussion of space and royal absence in the Angevin period.
    [Show full text]
  • Twelfth-Century English Queens: Charters and Authority
    1 Twelfth-century English queens: charters and authority M. Phil. Medieval History 2010 Lida Sophia Townsley, B.A., M.A. Supervised by: Dr. David Ditchburn and Dr. Peter Crooks Trinity College, Dublin 2 Declaration of originality I hereby declare that this thesis has not been submitted as an exercise for a degree at this or any other university, and that it is entirely the work of my own research, except as cited in reference. _____________________________________________ 3 Summary This thesis examines the authority of the first five English queens of the twelfth century, as seen through the English charters from this period. Surveying the charters issued by, witnessed by, and mentioning Matilda of Scotland, Adeliza of Louvain, Matilda of Boulogne, Empress Matilda, and Eleanor of Aquitaine provides a glimpse into the authority held and exercised by each. The definition for authority employed for this investigation includes a provision concerning not only actions but also means of action. Those means of action are seen here as preconditions for authority. Three preconditions are analyzed, namely alliances through dowries, land through dowers, and wealth through Queen's Gold. Once this basis for authority has been established, the authority itself is appraised. The charters are divided into two main categories for this study: those the queens issued themselves, and those they witnessed. The charters for which a queen was 'actor' are examined first, numerically, chronologically, and contextually, with a clear emphasis on the beneficiaries. Then, the charters witnessed by each queen are examined, based on the same criteria. What this material together shows is that there was little of a defined role for the queens in the administration of the kingdom, and that they all exercised their authority, to varying extents and at diverse periods of their reign.
    [Show full text]
  • The Culture of Food and Feasting in High Medieval England C
    The Culture of Food and Feasting in High Medieval England c. 1066-1330 Ross Staffin (University of Exeter) MPhil Thesis Submitted October, 2016 The Culture of Food and Feasting in High Medieval England c.1066-1330 Submitted by Ross Staffin to the University of Exeter as a dissertation for the degree of Master of Philosophy in Medieval Studies, October 2016. This dissertation is available for Library use on the understanding that it is copyright material, and that no quotation from the thesis may be published without proper acknowledgement. I certify that all material in this dissertation which is not my own work has been identified, and that no material has previously been submitted and approved for the award of a degree by this or any other University. The Culture of Food and Feasting in High Medieval England, c. 1066-1330 The Culture of Food and Feasting in High Medieval England (Project Abstract) The feast in medieval England brings into focus complex issues regarding ceremony and ritual, noble status and family lineage, community, and political authority. The feast was a stage where the lord demonstrated control over nature and its resources through the provision of food. This allowed for management of the household, the construction of informal relationships, and the publicization of formal ones. The feast also reflected the lord’s person with its displays of largesse, Christian piety, and good manners. It was usually a public affair, at which the lord’s socio-political effectiveness and personal identity could shine for a large and diverse audience. The feast was a powerful symbol of good lordship, and it has been studied extensively by historians.
    [Show full text]
  • EUSTACE, SON of KING STEPHEN: the Model Prince in Twelfth-Century England
    EUSTACE, SON OF KING STEPHEN: The Model Prince in Twelfth-Century England Honors Project for HSS-490 Dr. Richard Barton by Christopher A. Peck University of North Carolina, Greensboro Greensboro, North Carolina 3 May 2018 Peck 1 In 1152, King Stephen of England pressed Archbishop Theobald of Canterbury to crown his son, Eustace, as king of England during his life time.1 This action was explicitly forbidden by the Pope in a letter, and served as the final rebuke to Eustace and his father, before Eustace’s ultimate death in August, 1153. As the count of Boulogne and the elder son of King Stephen, Eustace has been unduly overlooked by historians. The historical significance attributed to the preceding and succeeding reigns of Henry I and Henry II have loomed very large in historical contexts, and have overshadowed Stephen’s reign, helping to diminish Eustace’s historical value.2 Eustace does not need to be painted as a failure, but he can easily be described as someone who, like his father, ultimately ended on the bottom of the wheel of fortune. Unlike Eustace, his rival, Duke Henry of Normandy (Henry II), was able to have his own son, Henry the Young King, crowned during his lifetime at age 15 in 1170.3 Stephen lacked the political capital to obtain this act for his own son. This can be attributed to the rival claim of Empress Matilda and her son – a political position some chroniclers and clergymen chose to support due to their distaste for Stephen or simply as an alternative to Stephen’s lordship.
    [Show full text]
  • A Closer Look at Early Modern Representations of Matilda, Lady of the English
    University of Nebraska - Lincoln DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln Dissertations, Theses, & Student Research, Department of History History, Department of Spring 2012 "So Stirring a Woman Was She": A Closer Look at Early Modern Representations of Matilda, Lady of the English Megan L. Benson University of Nebraska Lincoln Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/historydiss Part of the European History Commons, Medieval History Commons, and the Women's History Commons Benson, Megan L., ""So Stirring a Woman Was She": A Closer Look at Early Modern Representations of Matilda, Lady of the English" (2012). Dissertations, Theses, & Student Research, Department of History. 47. https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/historydiss/47 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the History, Department of at DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dissertations, Theses, & Student Research, Department of History by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. “SO STIRRING A WOMAN WAS SHE”: A CLOSER LOOK AT EARLY MODERN REPRESENTATIONS OF MATILDA, LADY OF THE ENGLISH by MEGAN L. BENSON A THESIS Presented to the Faculty of The Graduate College at the University of Nebraska In Partial Fulfillment of Requirements For the Degree of Master of Arts Major: History Under the Supervision of Professor Carole Levin May, 2012 “SO STIRRING A WOMAN WAS SHE”: A CLOSER LOOK AT EARLY MODERN REPRSENTATIONS OF MATILDA, LADY OF THE ENGLISH Megan L. Benson, M.A. University of Nebraska, 2012 Adviser: Carole Levin This thesis attempts to recover the representations of Matilda, Lady of the English, who nearly became queen of England in 1141.
    [Show full text]