Vinogradoff, Sir Paul. English Society in the Eleventh Century: Essays in English Mediaeval History. Oxford: At the Clarendon Press, 1908. xii, 599 pp. Reprint available February, 2005 by the Lawbook Exchange, Ltd. ISBN 1-58477-476-2. Cloth. $95. * One of the principal studies by the eminent legal scholar, it is commended by Holdsworth in The Historians of English Law as "a most valuable historical analysis of the forces which were creating mediaeval society in England" (86-87). Vinogradoff [1854-1925] considers the Old English, Danish and Norman elements that shaped English society during one of its most dynamic phases. Careful attention is paid to the influence of political factors and public law on social life and how innovations in husbandry and other economic factors influenced the development of private law.

Vinogradoff, Sir Paul. English Society in the Eleventh Century: Essays in English Mediaeval History. Oxford: At the Clarendon Press, 1908. xii, 599 pp. Reprint available February, 2005 by the Lawbook Exchange, Ltd. ISBN 1-58477-476-2. Cloth. $95. * One of the principal studies by the eminent legal scholar, it is commended by Holdsworth in The Historians of English Law as "a most valuable historical analysis of the forces which were creating mediaeval society in England" (86-87). Vinogradoff [1854-1925] considers the Old English, Danish and Norman elements that shaped English society during one of its most dynamic phases. Careful attention is paid to the influence of political factors and public law on social life and how innovations in husbandry and other economic factors influenced the development of private law.

The cataclysmic conquests of the eleventh century are here set together for the first time.

Written primarily for undergraduates, this book weighs the evidence for and against the various theories relating to the position of women at different time periods. Professor Mate examines the major issues deciding the position of women in medieval English society, asking questions such as, did women enjoy a rough equality in the Anglo-Saxon period that they subsequently lost? Did queens at certain periods exercise real political clout or was their power limited to questions of patronage? Did women's participation in the economy grant them considerable independence and allow them to postpone or delay marriage? Professor Mate also demonstrates that class, as well as gender, was very important in determining age at marriage and opportunities for power and influence. Although some women at certain times did make short-term gains, Professor Mate challenges the dominant view that major transformations in women's position occurred in the century after the Black Death.

This book, first published in 2000, is a pioneering study of politics and society in the early Middle Ages. Whereas it is widely believed that the source materials for early medieval Europe are too sparse to allow sustained study of the workings of social and political relationships on the ground, this book focuses on a uniquely well-documented area to investigate the basis of power. Topics covered include the foundation of monasteries, their relationship with the laity, and their role as social centres; the significance of urbanism; the control of land, the development of property rights and the organization of states; community, kinship and lordship; justice and dispute settlement; the uses of the written word; violence and the feud; and the development of political structures from the Roman empire to the high Middle Ages.

First published as part of the best-selling The Oxford Illustrated History of Britain, John Gillingham and Ralph A. Griffiths' Very Short Introduction to Medieval Britain covers the establishment of the Anglo-Norman monarchy in the early Middle Ages, through to England's failure to dominate the British Isles and France in the later Middle Ages. Out of the turbulence came stronger senses of identity in Scotland, Wales, and Ireland. Yet this was an age, too, of growing definition of Englishness and of a distinctive English cultural tradition. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.