Forging the Kingdom
Power in English Society, 973–1189

A study of English society and political culture that casts new light on the significance of the Norman Conquest.

Judith A. Green (Author)

9780521158299, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 27 May 2017

318 pages
22.8 x 15.1 x 1.7 cm, 0.45 kg

'Green offers an updated survey of political and social transitions between the Anglo-Saxon and Anglo-Norman monarchies. Framed as a history of power and its exercise, this volume reaffirms the traditional historiography of kings, nobles, and churchmen laying the foundations of the modern English state; hence, social change is defined as only that among the politically powerful. Untraditionally, however, Green shifts the post Anglo-Saxon temporal frame from the expected 1066–1135 period to the year 1189, which allows her to include the reign of Henry II. Such an expansion of the transition window, with its inclusion of the Angevin's legal and administrative kingship as well as of London's rise as the kingdom's capital, provides a new optics for the traditional view that the medieval English kingdom was indeed a state. … Power itself is well considered, often with reference to developments in Continental Europe. … Recommended. Graduate students/faculty.' J. P. Huffman, Choice

Between the imperial coronation of Edgar in 973 and the death of Henry II in 1189, English society was transformed. This lively and wide-ranging study explores social and political change in England across this period, and examines the reasons for such developments, as well as the many continuities. By putting the events of 1066 firmly in the middle of her account, Judith Green casts new light on the significance of the Norman Conquest. She analyses the changing ways that kings, lords and churchmen exercised power, especially through the building of massive stone cathedrals and numerous castles, and highlights the importance of London as the capital city. The book also explores themes such as changes in warfare, the decline of slavery and the integration of the North and South West, as well as concepts such as state, nationalism and patriarchy.

1. Introduction
2. Contexts
3. Kings
4. Lay lords: an age of aristocracy
5. Archbishops, bishops and abbots
6. Individuals, communities and networks
7. Power and place
8. London: the making of a capital city
9. A patchwork kingdom
Conclusion.

Subject Areas: Social & cultural history [HBTB], Early history: c 500 to c 1450/1500 [HBLC], British & Irish history [HBJD1]