The Letters and Charters of the Anglo-Norman Kings of England, 1066 to 1135

Project status
Ongoing

Dr Nicholas Vincent

Co-Applicant: Professor George Garnett

University of Oxford

The letters and charters of the Anglo-Norman kings of England, 1066 to 1135, constitute one of our principal sources for the history both of England and of northern France. Laboriously reassembled from upwards of 200 individual archives, they are as central to our understanding of Anglo-Norman politics, law and society as that great collection of data known as the Domesday survey. The charters of William the Conqueror (1066-87) are now available in a reliable modern edition. The charters of his two successors, William Rufus (1087-1100) and Henry I (1100-1135) were listed and summarized in two volumes of a series (Regesta Regum AngloNormannorum, vols 1-2) published between 1913 and 1956. But these in no way constitute an edition of full texts, and are riddled with errors and omissions. They cry out for replacement. Our project, initiated by the late Professor Richard Sharpe, is intended to plug this gap.

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