Borders and the Norman World
Frontiers and Boundaries in Medieval Europe
Will be published approx. on 23. June 2026
Book
Paperback/Softback
416 pages
978-1-83765-386-7 (ISBN)
Description
Study of the Norman World's borders, frontiers, and boundaries in Europe, shedding fresh light on their nature and extent.
The Normans exerted great influence across Christendom and beyond in the eleventh and twelfth centuries. Figures like William the Conqueror and Robert Guiscard subdued vast territories, their feats recorded for posterity by chroniclers such as Orderic Vitalis and Geoffrey Malaterra. Through travel and conquest, the Normans encountered, created, and conceptualised many borders, with the areas of Europe that they ruled and most affected often being grouped together as the "Norman World".
This volume examines the nature, forms, and function of borders in and around this "Norman World", looking at Normandy, the British-Irish Isles, and Southern Italy. Three sections frame the collection. The first concerns physical features, from broad frontier expanses, to rivers and walls that were both literally and metaphorically lines of division. The second shows how borders were established, contested, and negotiated between the papacy and lay rulers and senior churchmen. Finally, the third highlights the utility of conceptual frontiers for both medieval authors and modern historians. Among the subjects covered are Archbishop Anselm's travels across Christendom; the portrayal of borders in the writings of William of Jumieges, Orderic Vitalis, and Gerald of Wales; and the limits of Norman seigneurial and papal power at the edges of Europe. Overall, the essays demonstrate the role that the manipulation of borders played in the creation of the "Norman World", and address what these borders did and whom they benefited.
The Normans exerted great influence across Christendom and beyond in the eleventh and twelfth centuries. Figures like William the Conqueror and Robert Guiscard subdued vast territories, their feats recorded for posterity by chroniclers such as Orderic Vitalis and Geoffrey Malaterra. Through travel and conquest, the Normans encountered, created, and conceptualised many borders, with the areas of Europe that they ruled and most affected often being grouped together as the "Norman World".
This volume examines the nature, forms, and function of borders in and around this "Norman World", looking at Normandy, the British-Irish Isles, and Southern Italy. Three sections frame the collection. The first concerns physical features, from broad frontier expanses, to rivers and walls that were both literally and metaphorically lines of division. The second shows how borders were established, contested, and negotiated between the papacy and lay rulers and senior churchmen. Finally, the third highlights the utility of conceptual frontiers for both medieval authors and modern historians. Among the subjects covered are Archbishop Anselm's travels across Christendom; the portrayal of borders in the writings of William of Jumieges, Orderic Vitalis, and Gerald of Wales; and the limits of Norman seigneurial and papal power at the edges of Europe. Overall, the essays demonstrate the role that the manipulation of borders played in the creation of the "Norman World", and address what these borders did and whom they benefited.
Reviews / Votes
A fascinating volume that will appeal to all interested in European borders and frontiers. * MEDIEVAL ARCHAEOLOGY * This is a very impressive volume and the editors are to be credited with producing an excellent collection of essays. The book will not only be an invaluable work of reference for anyone interested in the latest scholarship on the Norman world, many of the arguments set forth here will also stimulate new research. The book should, therefore, be an obligatory addition to undergraduate reading lists, and more experienced researchers will no doubt find a great deal of exciting and new information here. * CERAE JOURNAL *More details
Language
English
Place of publication
Woodbridge
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Boydell & Brewer Ltd
Target group
College/higher education
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Illustrations
11 maps and 4 b/w illus.
Dimensions
Height: 234 mm
Width: 156 mm
Thickness: 22 mm
Weight
581 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-83765-386-7 (9781837653867)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Dan Armstrong | Áron Kecskés | Charles C. Rozier
Borders and the Norman World
Frontiers and Boundaries in Medieval Europe
E-Book
12/2023
1st Edition
De Gruyter
€72.99
Available for download
Dan Armstrong | Aron Kecskes | Charles C. Rozier
Borders and the Norman World
Frontiers and Boundaries in Medieval Europe
Book
12/2023
Boydell Press
€157.20
Shipment within 3-4 weeks
Unknown | Dan Armstrong | Aron Kecskes
Borders and the Norman World
Frontiers and Boundaries in Medieval Europe
E-Book
12/2023
1st Edition
Boydell & Brewer Ltd
€72.99
Available for download
Persons
DAN ARMSTRONG is a Teaching Fellow in Medieval History at University College Dublin. ARON KECSKES is a St Leonard's Associate at the University of St Andrews, UK. CHARLES C. ROZIER is Lecturer in Medieval Studies at the University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK. LEONIE V. HICKS is Reader in Medieval Studies at Canterbury Christ Church University, Canterbury, UK. DAN ARMSTRONG is a Teaching Fellow in Medieval History at University College Dublin. MARK HAGGER is a reader in medieval history at Bangor University. LEONIE V. HICKS is Reader in Medieval Studies at Canterbury Christ Church University, Canterbury, UK. ARON KECSKES is a St Leonard's Associate at the University of St Andrews, UK. CHARLES C. ROZIER is Lecturer in Medieval Studies at the University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK. EMILY A. WINKLER is a Fellow of St Edmund Hall and member of the History Faculty at the University Oxford.
Content
Introduction: Writing the Borders of the Norman World
Dan Armstrong and Aron Kecskes
PART I: Borders In and Around the Norman World
1. Ireland and the Anglo-Normans within the Irish Sea World: Rebels, Mercenaries, Allies 1066-1169
Caitlin Ellis
2. The Northern Limits of Norman Power: Border Policies in Northumbria, c. 1050-1100
Chelsea Shields-Mas and Charles C. Rozier
3. Controlling an Unstable Boundary: The Normans and their Continental
Border Areas, 911-1135
Astrid Lemoine-Descourtieux
4. Boundary-making in the Beneventano in the early Twelfth Century
Aron Kecskes
PART II: Ecclesiastical Borders
5. Alexander II and the Normans: Borders as Instruments of Dialogue
and Compromise
Maria Vezzoni
6. Gregory VII, Lanfranc, and Ireland: Papal Relations at the Periphery
Dan Armstrong
7. "... a mari Barensi usque ad mare Bononiense": Crossing Borders. The Travels of Archbishop Anselm of Canterbury, libertas ecclesiae, and the Uses of Clerical Mobility in an Age of Reform
William M. Aird
8. Temporal and Spiritual Power in Norman Sicily: An Unreal Border?
Ignazio Alessi
9. The Crossing of Borders: The Legations of John of Crema, 1124-1125
Callum A. Jamieson
PART III: Conceptual Boundaries
10. The Very Idea of a Border in Britain
Emily A. Winkler and Nia Wyn Jones
11. Norman Borders in the Work of William of Jumieges and Orderic Vitalis, c. 1057-1141
Mark Hagger
12. Is there a 'Norman' Historiography of the Conquest of Southern Italy?
Marie-Agnes Lucas-Avenel
13. The Lion, the Camel, and the Cassa of Terracina: Transfer and Exchange on the Borders of Norman Italy
John Aspinwall
Afterword: Borders, Landscapes, and Seascapes
Leonie V. Hicks
Select Bibliography
Index
Dan Armstrong and Aron Kecskes
PART I: Borders In and Around the Norman World
1. Ireland and the Anglo-Normans within the Irish Sea World: Rebels, Mercenaries, Allies 1066-1169
Caitlin Ellis
2. The Northern Limits of Norman Power: Border Policies in Northumbria, c. 1050-1100
Chelsea Shields-Mas and Charles C. Rozier
3. Controlling an Unstable Boundary: The Normans and their Continental
Border Areas, 911-1135
Astrid Lemoine-Descourtieux
4. Boundary-making in the Beneventano in the early Twelfth Century
Aron Kecskes
PART II: Ecclesiastical Borders
5. Alexander II and the Normans: Borders as Instruments of Dialogue
and Compromise
Maria Vezzoni
6. Gregory VII, Lanfranc, and Ireland: Papal Relations at the Periphery
Dan Armstrong
7. "... a mari Barensi usque ad mare Bononiense": Crossing Borders. The Travels of Archbishop Anselm of Canterbury, libertas ecclesiae, and the Uses of Clerical Mobility in an Age of Reform
William M. Aird
8. Temporal and Spiritual Power in Norman Sicily: An Unreal Border?
Ignazio Alessi
9. The Crossing of Borders: The Legations of John of Crema, 1124-1125
Callum A. Jamieson
PART III: Conceptual Boundaries
10. The Very Idea of a Border in Britain
Emily A. Winkler and Nia Wyn Jones
11. Norman Borders in the Work of William of Jumieges and Orderic Vitalis, c. 1057-1141
Mark Hagger
12. Is there a 'Norman' Historiography of the Conquest of Southern Italy?
Marie-Agnes Lucas-Avenel
13. The Lion, the Camel, and the Cassa of Terracina: Transfer and Exchange on the Borders of Norman Italy
John Aspinwall
Afterword: Borders, Landscapes, and Seascapes
Leonie V. Hicks
Select Bibliography
Index