Book Description

R. Allen Brown selects original material - literature, legal documents, letters and objects -to present the Norman Conquest. This selection of documents offers an insight into the Norman Conquest of England from a variety of perspectives. It is divided into four parts, each dealing with evidence of a different kind: literary and narrative sources (including Norman, Old English and Anglo-Norman texts); documentary sources, such as charters, writs and leases; letters; and the art of the period, principally, though not exclusively, from the Bayeux Tapestry. Both Anglo-Saxon and Norman England are represented, and Normandy itself is the subject of one section. R. Allen Brown's general introduction supplies a broad context for the material, and commentaries are provided with the documents where necessary, explaining points of particular significance, while a select bibliography gives suggestions for further reading. All documents are provided in translation. Reprint; first published in 1984. R. ALLEN BROWNwas professor of history at King's College, London, and founder of the annual Battle conference on Anglo-Norman studies.