The Normans and empire : the Ford Lectures delivered in the University of Oxford during Hilary Term 2010 / David Bates.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Bates, David, 1945- author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Normans--Great Britain.

Normans.

Great Britain--Colonies.

Great Britain.

Colonies.

Physical Description:

xv, 237 pages ; 24 cm

Edition:

First Edition.

Place of Publication:

Oxford : Oxford University Press, 2013.

Summary:

In 2010, David Bates presented the Ford Lectures in British History at the University of Oxford. The Normans and Empire is the book tht was born from these Lectures. It offers a new interpretative framework for the analysis of the history of the cross-Channel polity created by William the Conqueror in 1066 until its end in 1204, when the duchy of Normandy was conquered by the French king, Philip Augustus. As part of its argument, it also suggests an innovative way to approach the pan-European diaspora of the Normans. The book's central argument is built around models and analytical tools borrowed from the social and political sciences. It uses a methodology and conceptual framework that sets out to be cross-disciplinary and which employs approaches that are frequently applied in the study of other historical period, with some of the book being constructed around life stories. It further develops its analysis using terms such as power, hegemony, values, cultural transfer, core, periphery, and networks. It seeks to resolve what the author argues is a range of disconnected historiographies, and to re-position analysis of personal and political identity. In encompassing the history and histories of much of north-western Europe and some of southern Europe, it draws attention to the weaknesses of historical writing that is excessively Anglo-centric. The result is an innovative history of the Normans, of the duchy of Normandy and north-western France, and of the British Isles. Book jacket.

Contents:

The Normans and empire

The experience of empire

William the conqueror as maker of empire

Hegemony

Core, periphery, and networks

Empire : from beginning to end.

Notes:

"In 2010, David Bates presented the Ford Lectures in British History at the University of Oxford ... [this] book was born from these lectures. It provides an interpretative analysis of the history of the cross-Channel empire created by William the Conqueror in 1066 to its end in 1204 when the duchy of Normandy was conquered by the French king, Philip Augustus, the so-called 'Loss of Normandy'. Bates proposes that historians of the Normans can learn from the methods of social scientists and historians of other periods of history - such as making use of such tools as life-stories and biographies - and he employs such methods to offer an interpretative history of the Normans, as well as a broader history of England, the British Isles, and Northern France in the eleventh and twelfth centuries."--Provided by publisher.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

0199674418

9780199674411

OCLC:

871201984