Download PDF | Anglo-Norman Studies 31-Proceedings of the Battle Conference 2008, ed. C. P. Lewis, 2009.
222 Pages
The contemporary historians of Anglo-Norman England form a particular focus of this issue. There are contributions on Henry of Huntingdon’s representation of civil war; on the political intent of the poems in the anonymous Life of Edward the Confessor; on William of Malmesbury’s depiction of Henry I; and on the influence upon historians of the late antique history attributed to Hegesippus. A paper on Gerald of Wales and Merlin brings valuable literary insights to bear. Other pieces tackle religious history (northern monasteries during the Anarchy, the abbey of Tiron) and politics (family history across the Conquest, the Norman brothers Urse de Abetot and Robert Dispenser, the friendship network of King Stephen’s family). The volume begins with Judith Green’s Allen Brown Memorial Lecture, which provides a wide-ranging account of kingship, lordship, and community in eleventh-century England.
C. P. Lewis is Reader in History at the University of London Institute of Historical Research and VCH Editor for Sussex.
EDITOR’S PREFACE
The 31st annual Battle Conference was held at its customary venue, Pyke House in Battle, from 24 to 28 July 2008. All the papers read during the conference are printed here. They include the Allen Brown Memorial Lecture, honouring the conference’s founder, which was delivered on the first evening by Professor Judith Green of the University of Edinburgh, once an undergraduate pupil of Allen’s. The lecture is supported by the R. Allen Brown Memorial Trust, a registered charity. The opening reception and the lecture were held at Battle abbey by kind permission of the headmaster of Battle Abbey School. The Trust welcomed a group of local historians and others from Battle and district to the event. Further information about the Battle Conference can be seen at www.battleconference.com.
The outing on Saturday 26 July ventured into West Sussex on a delightfully sunny day, taking in the churches at Lyminster, Burpham, and Poling, and lunching at the George & Dragon, Burpham, adjacent to one of King Alfred’s burhs. The landlord and his staff provided excellent hospitality, all the more impressive given that they were also serving a large wedding party. The incumbents, churchwardens, and church helpers at all three churches are warmly thanked for their obliging help. Carol Davidson Cragoe and Chris Lewis led the tour. Back at Pyke House there were displays of new books by Boydell & Brewer, Oxford University Press, and Shaun Tyas, all of whom are thanked for adding much to the interest of the conference.
Many people at Boydell & Brewer help to see the annual volume through the press, and the editor — on behalf of authors and readers alike — thanks them all. The key to timely publication has once again been Caroline Palmer’s tactful persistence in extracting the typescript and disk from the editor at just the right moment. Her cheerful presence at the conference itself also adds much to the atmosphere.
While this volume was in preparation, the conference’s longest-standing friend and supporter at Battle, Ian Peirce, died suddenly and at no great age on 11 November 2008. Ian taught and lived locally, had deep roots in the area around Battle, and was involved in the Battle Conference from its foundation by Allen Brown in 1978. Year after year he helped a succession of directors run the Pyke House conferences, besides leading innumerable tours of the battlefield and showing items from his extensive collection of medieval arms and armour. His good cheer made every newcomer to the conference welcome, and his many friends among the global network of Battlers mourn his passing with great sorrow.
Chris Lewis
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