Normandy and its Neighbours, 900-1250: Essays for David Bates

One of the most important aspects of David Bates’s distinguished career has been his readiness to engage–as few of his predecessors did–with the world of modern French scholarship. The outcome of this engagement and of his familiarity with French archives has been the reshaping of our understanding of the Anglo-Norman realm founded by William the Conqueror. The Norman Conquest has always been seen as a defining event in medieval English history, and David’s work has enabled us to place it in its broader European context. He has also welcomed insights from other disciplines, including archaeology, architectural history, and numismatics. His impact as a scholar has been profound. His writings have made academic debate accessible to the general public and the scholar alike, and he has conveyed his enthusiasm and commitment to both. He has brought together a generation of academics of various nationalities and from a broad range of disciplines to forge a new understanding of the relationship of England and Normandy in the central Middle Ages. This collection–offered in recognition of his contribution–acknowledges the many strands of his scholarship. It brings together specialist studies of Anglo-French culture, law, gender, and historiography.