MEDIEVAL

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© 2007 The Author(s). Journal compilation © 2007 The Historical Association and Blackwell Publishing.

eleventh-century changes she considers so well: here, Henry Mayr-Harting’s
discussion of the affective piety displayed in the Otto III prayer book would
have been of help to her discussion of early medieval prayer books. Many too
will no doubt challenge the central importance Fulton attaches to millennial
anxiety as a catalyst for change. And yet, taken as a whole, this is a rich and
stimulating study which stands in its own right and also offers potential avenues
for future work, particularly on the prayers and liturgy of the tenth century.
University of Exeter

SARAH HAMILTON

The English and the Normans: Ethnic Hostility, Assimilation, and Identity 1066 –
c.1220. By Hugh M. Thomas. Oxford University Press. 2003. xii + 462pp. £75.00
(hb); £29.00 (pb).

In this substantial book, Thomas addresses the questions of how and why, in

the aftermath of invasion and conquest, it was assimilation rather than conflict
and resentment that characterized this momentous period in English history.
Thomas accentuates the complex nature and interaction of the many factors
contributing to this process. For this reviewer, the process was not quite so
complex: war, especially against the Celtic and French ‘Others’, and the government’s
responses to it, was the overriding factor in promoting assimilation and national
identity. Thomas does not play down the role of conflict (and rightly gives
it central importance during John’s reign), but sees it as one part of a greater
whole; rather, he thoroughly explores, with equal attention, all the lesser, but still
significant, contributing factors: religion and the ecclesia Anglicana (including
the cult of English saints), immigration, intermarriage, language, law, culture,
employment, contemporary histories, etc. In so doing, he shows how these
accumulatively and collectively also shaped and encouraged the assimilation
process, which he sees as being completed during the reign of Henry II. This
inclusive approach is what makes the book so valuable. In this great assimilation,
Thomas argues that ‘peasants and aristocrats were less important than the
groups in between’ (p. 391) and highlights the central roles of townspeople and
the religious. He reinforces the view that both the English and the Normans had
strong existing identities in the pre-Conquest world; paradoxically, the initial
conflict this ensured helped assimilation in the long run, not least owing to what
Thomas calls the Normans’ ‘pragmatic prejudices’. The ground covered is too
extensive to be given justice here. Although it is comprehensive in its range,
there are two important omissions that Thomas does not consider. The first is
James Holt’s discussion of the Salisbury Oath of 1086, undertaken before Wil-
liam the Conqueror’s invasion of the Vexin and his war against Philip of France:
a ‘nation-building’ moment. The second is Thomas’s engagement with modern
commentators on nations and nationalism. Anderson, Smith and the unconvincing
but influential Gellner are given space; but no mention is made of Breuilly’s
thoughts on factors determining early modern identities, which, as I have argued
elsewhere, are equally applicable to medieval England. At times this exhaustive
book is exhausting to read, not least because of the impressive wealth of detail
and research the author has deployed in support of his arguments. The book
can also occasionally be heavy-going on account of its prose (as in footnote 39
on page 40, where the author describes himself as ‘an ethno-symbolist of the
constructivist variety’). But this is a serious and weighty book which will stimulate

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REVIEWS AND SHORT NOTICES

© 2007 The Author(s). Journal compilation © 2007 The Historical Association and Blackwell Publishing.

a great deal of academic debate and be productively mined for its riches in intel-
ligent analysis and impressive scholarship.
Bath, Somerset

SEAN M

C

GLYNN

The Parliamentary Rolls of Medieval England, 1275 –1504. Volumes vii (Richard
II 1385–1397) and viii (Henry IV 1399–1413). General Editor Chris Given-
Wilson. Boydell and Brewer. 2005. 428pp. and 558pp. Complete set of 16
volumes £1,750.00; £50.00 for CD-ROM of whole text.

Nobody involved in any aspect of medieval research can afford to do without

this publication. The sixteen-volume set – replicated at a remarkably affordable
price in both a single CD-ROM and an online subscription version – is now our
principal source for the activities within parliament in its formative centuries,
both in respect of the formal documents drawn up and the informal narratives
of events conducted in and around the sittings. Replacing the folio volumes of
1783, which are incomplete, potentially misleading and too rare to be borrowed
from a library, it is the most important edition of a medieval primary source to
appear since the calendars of the patent and close rolls in the first half of the last
century.

The manuscripts have been newly transcribed and translated, with an

introduction for each parliament supplied by one of a team of leading scholars.
Those for the particular volumes looked at by this reviewer were written by
Professor Given-Wilson (the general editor of the series). The translations are
highly efficient, in that they are easy to read as well as accurate. As they are
presented in double-column format, cross-referencing between the original text
and the translation is straightforward. The CD-ROM contains a general
introduction detailing the development of the parliamentary rolls as a form and
giving information on other relevant records for the history of parliament.

With regard to the separate introductions to the individual assemblies, these

constitute the best concise overview of the political development of the reigns
of Richard II and Henry IV. The editor’s judgement in supplying sufficient
information to illuminate the full proceedings of each parliament without
clouding that illumination with too many footnotes and historiographical
debate is to be commended. The analyses of the political initiatives and counter-
initiatives are succinct and subtly persuasive, employing a good deal of common
sense. Supporting material from chronicle accounts has been carefully chosen to
complete the picture of parliamentary jostling. In particular, Professor Given-
Wilson’s unrivalled knowledge of the primary sources for the period means that
several essential but difficult-to-obtain narratives are supplied in translation as
appendices.

The low price and search facilities of the CD-ROM version make it by far the

most suitable for the individual researcher, and unlike older styles of primary-
source publication, easier to use than the printed volumes. Indeed, this reviewer
copied the CD onto a laptop at the time of publication and has been carrying
it around as a constantly available reference tool ever since. Opening in a web
browser, an introductory screen allows immediate access to any one of the
reigns, the title page, introduction and lists of images. (One hundred pictures
have been included to illustrate the appearance of the rolls and certain key
aspects of their provenance and development.) Within each parliament frame, a