History Notes > History of the British Isles II: 1042-1330 Notes
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John%Gillingham%
! King's'personality'was'most'important'
!
Administration%
! Michael'Clanchy'6'From%Memory%to%Written%Record'
*> Major'importance'of'writs'+'seals'
*> Development'of'literate'ways'of'thinking'
*> French'first'developed'as'a'written'language'in'England'
*> Lay'literacy'grew'out'of'bureaucracy'e.g.'Richard'Hotot's'estate'book'
*> Casts'doubt'on'assessing'periods'via'their'literacy'6'yet'it'is'important'for' intellectual'developments'
! Michael'Prestwich'6'expansion'of'military'coincides'with'economic'expansion'
! Richard'Southern'6'Henry'I'was'not'the'creator'of'institutions'but'of'men'
!
*> Clanchy'6'difficult'to'substantiate'=>'Exchequer'
Anglo1Saxons%
! Allen'Brown'6'1066'was'a'modernising'shock'=>'ultimately'beneficial'
*> Saw'England'as'backward'in'comparison'to'Europe'
! Malcolm'Cameron'6'England'was'different'=>'precociously'developed'
! James'Campbell'6'England'was'well6developed'
! 1960s'6'discovery'about'old'English'coinage'
*> Nor'part'of'lordship'6'under'royal'control'(unlike'Normandy)'
*> 1961'6'Dolley'+'Metcalf'=>'recalling'+'reminting'in'late'C10th'
*> James'Campbell'6'large'number'of'coins'
! English'exceptionalism'
! Robin'Fleming'6'Campbell'may'be'right'about'precociousness'
*> Yet'brought'near'to'disaster'by'Cnut's'reliance'on'earls'6'Godwins'
- Stephen'Baxter'6'misunderstands'Domesday'=>'not'richer'than'king'
!
Main'issue'was'the'succession'
Norman%Conquest%
! Maurice'Powicke'6''gave'an'entirely'new'direction'to'English'history'but'it'was'unable'to' break'its'continuity''
! Brian'Golding'6'English'chip'of'state'sailed'on'under'a'new'+'more'vigorous'crew'
*> Yet'assumption'of'fast'assimilation'is'not'correct'6'fitful'penetration'of'Wales'+' Scotland'
*> Emergence'of''administrative'kingship''
*> Immense'desire'for'stability'=>'administrative'continuity'
*> Burgess'rights'were'never'racially'restricted'+'no'mass'colonisation'by'Norman' peasants'
! W.'L.'Warren'6'major'issue'of'retirement'or'death'of'native'administrators'by'end'of' C11th'=>'government'coming'apart'by'Henry'I'6'issue'of'control'of'sheriffs'+'moneyers'
*> Wholly'new'element'of'exploitation'of'feudal'lordship'6'reliefs,'wardships,' reversion'of'land'to'crown,'marriages'
- Could'also'levy'penalties'for'breach'of'rights'e.g.'marrying'
! David'Carpenter'6'about'8,000'Normans'
*> Very'few'had'land'in'Normandy'
! M.'Chibnall'6'Norman'Conquest'led'to'common'law'
*> Feudal'courts,'unifying'kingship'+'AS'shire'+'hundred'courts'+'writs'
*> Importance'of'century'and'a'half'between'Cnut's'law'codes'+'legal' development'of'Henry'II's'reign'6'great'formative'period'in'English'customary' law'
- No'need'for'a'new'law'code'
*> Arguable'that'if'there'had'been'no'NC'there'would'have'been'no'common'law'
! Stenton'+'Painter'6'retention'of''feudal'army''
*> Postan'6'suspects'an'economic'slump'at'time'of'conquest'=>'war'effort' coincides'with'rapid'economic'expansion'beginning'~1080'
! J.'O.'Prestwich'6'emphasis'importance'of'the'familia%regis'=>'expansion'by'reign'of' Edward'I'
*> Administrative'+'military'
! R.'A.'Brown'6'servitor%debita'owed'by'tenants6in6chief'can'only'be'traced'back'to'the' Conqueror'
*> Quota'of'knight6service'does'not'correspond'to'previous'assessment'for'AS' ford'
*> Feudalism'6''solemn'ties'of'fealty,'homage'+'investiture''6'hierarch'extending' through'society'
- Loose'affiliations'of'pre6Conquest'=>'territorial'nexus'of'Anglo6Normans'
! Frank'Barlow'6'much'that'did'not'alter'
*> Slaves'gained'more'freedom'6'overall,'the'NC'had'a'liberating'effect'
! J.'C.'Holt'6'Colonial%England%1066<1215'
*> England'was'a'colony'6'just'another'dynasty'e.g.'Cnut'
*> Parasite'within'host'6'kept'institutions'+'practices'
*> Building'6'assertion'of'power'+'domination'
*> Continuity'6'5'hide'unit'in'Worcester'
! Stenton'6'parallel'between'Norman'vavassores'+'English'sokemen'
*> Gives'great'emphasis'to'vagueness'of'English'feudalism'in'its'first'century'
*> Variations'in'knight's'service,'tenure'+'fee'
! Eric'John,'C'Warren'Hollister'+'Michael'Powicke'6'all'stress'continuity'
*> John'6'England'was'feudal'before'NC'in'tenure'+'military'organisation'
*> Warren'Hollister'6'dependent'military'tenure'in'pre6Conquest'England'
!
*> Powicke'6'continuity'of'feudalism'+'militia'
! J.'H.'Round'6'importance'of'conquest'for'feudalism'
! George'Garnett'6'exceptional'event'=>'all'about'land'ownership'
*> No'longer'landowners'=>'landholders'
*> Peculiarly'violent'process'of'Conquest'=>'gave'kings'after'1066'greater'power' than'they'had'in'Normandy'or'others'had'in'Europe'
*> Terra'regis'6'not'an'immediate'revolution'=>'gradual'development'of'force'of' lordship'in'12th'century'
*> Norman'lordship'6'land'tenure'+'justice'are'no'longer'different'=>'control'over' people'
*> Personal'+'tenurial'lordship'became'one'6'apart'from'liturgy,'homage'became' most'solemn'ceremony'
! George'Garnett'6'saw'England'as'an'estate'to'be'bequeathed'=>'ineffectual'inheritance'
!
Domesday%Book%
! Vivian'Galbraith'6''the'formal'written'record'of'the'introduction'of'feudal'tenure'+' therefore'of'feudal'law'in'England''
! Round'+'Frederic'Maitland'6''geld'book''
! R.'H.'C.'Davis'6'needed'because'Conquest'had'been'so'chaotic'
! Stephen'Baxter'6'distortion'by'magnates'e.g.'Wulfstan'of'Worcester'
!
! Georges'Duby'6'Maconnais'region'in'Burgundy'
*> Independent'castellans'took'control'of'justice'+'armed'power'=>'exploiters'v.' exploited'
*> Overthrow'of'previous'structure'6'took'on'previous'public'powers'
*> Feudal'6'society'of'lordship'
*> Lord'6'facet'of'private'power'+'dependent'labour'services'rather'than'public'tax'
*> Even'pre6Conquest'England'does'not'look'anything'like'this'6'public'court'with' royally'appointed'officials'=>'shires,'hundres'+'shire6reeves'
*> Would'not'matter'who'was'king'6'Stephen'Baxter'=>'matters'a'great'deal'in' England'6'huge'resources'gained'through'public'office'
! Frank'Stenton'6'The%First%Century%of%English%Feudalism'
*> Duby'has'no'particular'hierarchy'
*> Feudalism'was'defined'obligations,'explicit'hierarchy'+'land'law'6'totally' different'
! Marc'Bloch'6'subject'peasantry,'service'tenement,'warriors,'obedience'+'protection'=>' too'wide'a'definition'
! Michael'Aston's'work'on'Somerset'6'nucleation'of'settlement'+'loss'of'status'of' Somerset'thegns'
! Robin'Fleming'6'archaeology'+'material'culture'shows'lordship'e.g.'lordly'manors'of'
!
Goltho'or'Bishopstone'
Henry%I%
! Southern'6'here'that'the'history'of'England'begins'=>''English'crown'+'aristocracy''
*> Beginnings'of'political'organisation'+'government'machinery'
*> Manipulation'of'patronage'required''a'sophisticated'machinery'of'government,' a'highly'developed'system'of'royal'courts'+'royal'justice''
! Thesis'that'he'was'the'king'who'consolidated'the'Conquest'
*> Creation'of'Exchequer'
*> Receipts'of'tally'sticks'on'pipe'roll'
*> Judith'Green'6'achievement'of'advisers'rather'than'Henry'himself'
! Charles'Warren6Hollister'6''The'Rise'of'Administrative'Kingship:'Henry'I'+'Philip' Augustus''
*> Men'from'the'dust'was'not'innovative'
*> New'+'highly'effective'means'to'convention'ends'
- 'Invisible'Transformation''6'contemporaries'appear'to'be'unaware'of' exchequer,'central'treasury,'systematic'judicial'eyres'+'specialised' viceregencies'
- 'fundamental'shift'in'the'style'of'governance''
- Systematisation'of'patronage'+'increase'in'written'records'
!
! Le'Patourel'6'separation'of'England'+'Normandy'caused'instability'
*> He'is'wrong'6'Henry's'seizure'of'Normandy'brought'a'quarter'century'of'almost' continuous'crisis'precipitating'marriage'of'Matilda'+'immense'spending'on' warfare'
! Bachrach'6'Angevin'Empire'not'due'to'Conquest'but'due'to'marriage'markets'of'nobility'
!
=>'Matilda'
Stephen%
! Stubbs'6'anarchy'=>'desire'for'peace'
*> Shows'necessity'of'strong'government'6'dichotomous'alternative'of'feudal' anarchy'
*> Weak'king'6'could'not'balance'king'+'aristocracy'=>'MC'+'evolution'of' Parliament'
*> Failures'were'redeemed'because'he'was'catalyst'that'produced'reign'of'Henry' II,'one'of'Stubbs''great'medieval'constitutional'heroes'
- Decent'mediocrity'at'mercy'of'unscrupulous'+'treacherous'aristocracy'
! J.'H.'Round'6'barons'welcomed'2'claimants'to'throne'=>'could'sell'support'+'demand' concessions'e.g.'Geoffrey'de'Mandeville'6'blocks'of'land'
*> Yet'not'convinced'of'complete'anarchy'6'yet''feudalism'run'mad''
*> R.'H.'C.'Davis'6'dates'are'wrong'+'chroniclers'do'not'record'this'=>'Stephen'+' Matilda'were'not'this'gullible'Lack'of'examples'of'persistently'treacherous'barons' Barons'were'rebelling'against'land'insecurity'=>'mort%d'ancestor'(1176)' Widespread''waste''shows'anarchy'6'due'to'war?' End'of'era'6'hereditary'succession'rather'than''election''
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