Conquests in Eleventh-Century England: 1016, 1066

The cataclysmic conquests of the eleventh century are here set together for the first time.Eleventh-century England suffered two devastating conquests, each bringing the rule of a foreign king and the imposition of a new regime. Yet only the second event, the Norman Conquest of 1066, has been credited with the impact and influence of a permanent transformation. Half a century earlier, the Danish conquest of 1016 had nonetheless marked the painful culmination of decades of raiding and invasion - and more importantly, of centuries of England's conflict and cooperation with the Scandinavian world - and the Normans themselves were a part of that world. Without 1016, the conquest of 1066 could never have happened as it did: and yet disciplinary fragmentation in the study of eleventh-century England has ensured that a gulf separates the conquests in modern scholarship. The essays in this volume offer multidisciplinary perspectives on a century of conquest: in politics, law, governance, and religion; in art, literature, economics, and culture; and in the lives and experiences of peoples in a changing, febrile, and hybrid society. Crucially, it moves beyond an insular perspective, placing England within its British, Scandinavian, and European contexts; and in reaching across conquests connects the tenth century and earlier with the twelfth century and beyond, seeing the continuities in England's Anglo-Saxon, Danish, Norman, and Angevin elite cultureand rulership. The chapters break new ground in the documentary evidence and give fresh insights into the whole historical landscape, whilst fully engaging with the importance, influence, and effects of England's eleventh-centuryconquests, both separately and together. LAURA ASHE is Professor of English Literature and Fellow and Tutor in English, Worcester College, Oxford; EMILY JOAN WARD is Moses and Mary Finley Research Fellow, Darwin College, Cambridge. Contributors: Timothy Bolton, Stephanie Mooers Christelow, Julia Crick, Sarah Foot, John Gillingham, Charles Insley, Catherine Karkov, Lois Lane, Benjamin Savill, Peter Sigurdson Lunga, Niels Lund, Rory Naismith, Bruce O'Brien, Rebecca Thomas, Elizabeth M. Tyler, Elisabeth van Houts, Emily Joan Ward.

Why 1016 Matters; or, The Politics of Memory and Identity in Cnut's kingdom - Charles InsleyWhy Did Cnut Conquer England? - Niels LundConquest and the Law - Bruce O'BrienCnut and William: A Comparison - Elisabeth M C van HoutsCurrency and Conquest in Eleventh-Century England - Rory NaismithEpiscopal Exon? Exeter, Cathedral Library, MS 3500 and the Role of Bishops in the Domesday Survey - Lois LaneConquest and Manuscript Culture - Julia C CrickKings, Saints and Conquests - Sarah FootCultures of Conquest: Warfare and Enslavement in Britain Before and After 1066 - John B GillinghamConquest and Material Culture - Catherine E. KarkovRemapping Literary History: The Patronage of Anglo-Saxon and Anglo-Norman Queens - Elizabeth M. TylerQueens and Demons: Women in English Royal Genealogies, c.1100-c.1223 - Peter Sigurdson LungaFrench Women in Early Norman England: The Case of Hawise of Bacqueville - Stephanie Mooers ChristelowEnglish contact with the European mainland throughout the eleventh century - Timothy BoltonThe View from Wales: Anglo-Welsh Relations in the Time of England's Conquests - Rebecca ThomasEngland and the Papacy Between Two Conquests: The Shadow of 'Reform' - Benjamin SavillChild Kings and the Norman Conquest: Representations of Association and Succession - Emily Ward