The Normans and the 'Norman Edge' : Peoples, Polities and Identities on the Frontiers of Medieval Europe

Modern historians of the Normans have tended to treat their enterprises and

achievements as a series of separate and discrete histories. Such treatments are

valid and valuable, but historical understanding of the Normans also depends

as much on broader approaches akin to those adopted in this book. As the

successor volume to Norman Expansion: Connections, Continuities and Contrasts,

it complements and significantly extends its findings to provide a fuller appreciation

of the roles played by the Normans as one of the most dynamic and

transformative forces in the history of medieval ‘Outer Europe’. It includes

panoramic essays that dissect the conceptual and methodological issues concerned,

suggest strategies for avoiding associated pitfalls, and indicate how far

and in what ways the Normans and their legacies served to reshape sociopolitical

landscapes across a vast geography extending from the remoter corners

of the British Isles to the Mediterranean basin. Leading experts in their fields

also provide case-by-case analyses, set within and between different areas, of

themes such as lordship and domination, identities and identification, naming

patterns, marriage policies, saints’ cults, intercultural exchanges, and diaspora–

homeland connections.

The Normans and the ‘Norman Edge’ therefore presents a potent combination

of thought-provoking overviews and fresh insights derived from new

research, and its wide-ranging comparative focus has the advantage of illuminating

aspects of the Norman past that traditional regional or national histories

often do not reveal so clearly. It likewise makes a major contribution

to current Norman scholarship by reconsidering the links between Norman

expansion and ‘state-formation’; the extent to which Norman practices and

priorities were distinctive; the balance between continuity and innovation;

relations between the Normans and the indigenous peoples and cultures they

encountered; and, not least, forms of Norman identity and their resilience over

time. An extensive bibliography is also one of this book’s strengths.