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Historiography 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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