The dynamics of medieval societies in England and beyond form the focus of these essays on the Anglo-Norman world.Over the last fifty years Ann Williams has transformed our understanding of Anglo-Saxon and Norman society in her studies of personalities and elites. In this collection, leading scholars in the field revisit themes that have beencentral to her work, and open up new insights into the workings of the multi-cultural communities of the realm of England in the early Middle Ages. There are detailed discussions of local and regional elites and the interplay between them that fashioned the distinctive institutions of local government in the pre-Conquest period; radical new readings of key events such as the crisis of 1051 and a reassessment of the Bayeux Tapestry as the beginnings of theHistoria Anglorum; studies of the impact of the Norman Conquest and the survival of the English; and explorations of the social, political, and administrative cultures in post-Conquest England and Normandy. The individualessays are united overall by the articulation of the local, regional, and national identities that that shaped the societies of the period. Contributors: S.D. Church, William Aird, Lucy Marten, Hirokazu Tsurushima, Valentine Fallan, Judith Everard, Vanessa King, Pamela Taylor, Charles Insley, Simon Keynes, Sally Harvey, K.S.B. Keats-Rohan, David Bates, Emma Mason, David Roffe, Mark Hagger.

Ann Williams: A Personal Appreciation - Stephen D. ChurchLife Writing and the Anglo-Saxons - William M. AirdMeet the Swarts: Tracing a Thegnly Family in Late Anglo-Saxon England - Lucy MartenThe Moneyers of Kent in the Long Eleventh Century - Hirokazu TsurushimaMaster Wace: a cross-Channel Prosopographer for the Twelfth Century? - Valentine FallanCharter Attestations by Canon Wace - Judith EverardFrom Minster to Manor: the Early History of Bredon - Vanessa KingEadulfingtun, Edmonton and their Contexts - Pamela TaylorThe Family of Wulfric Spott: an Anglo-Saxon Mercian Marcher Dynasty? - Charles InsleyThe Burial of King Æthelred the Unready at St Paul's - Simon KeynesEustace II of Boulogne, the Crises of 1051-2 and the English Coinage - Sally HarveyThrough the Eye of the Needle: Stigand, the Bayeux Tapestry and the Beginnings of the Historia Anglorum - K. S. B Keats-RohanRobert of Torigni and the Historia Anglorum - David BatesInvoking Earl Waltheof - Emma MasonHidden Lives: English Lords in post-Conquest Lincolnshire and Beyond - David RoffeLordship and Lunching: Interpretations of Eating and Food in the Anglo-Norman World, 1050-1200, with Reference to the Bayeux Tapestry - Mark HaggerThe Exchequer Cloth, c. 1176-1832: the Calculator, the Game of Chess, and the Process of Photozincography - Stephen D. ChurchAnn Williams: a Bibliography 1969-2011