Was there more continuity than change in the Anglo- Norman world between c. 1066 and c. 1225?
- HIH-287 – Abigail Miller
The Norman conquest has been of particular significance to the
historiography of eleventh and twelfth century women in its – now refuted –
portrayal as the end of a ‘golden age’. The supposed privileges of Anglo-Saxon
women, coloured by lone-archetypes, have constituted an idea that 1066 was the point at which women’s position declined. 115 However, what has become evident from more recent scholarship, is that the greatest changes for women occurred over the course of the twelfth century. 116 Moreover, that these developments were primarily associated with the changes within the Christian church. 117
In line with Ward’s assertion, this essay will assess twelfth century Anglo-
Norman women’s relationship with Western Christianity. The religious reform
that characterises the period will provide an overarching theme of development to accompany the church’s unmovable presence within women’s lives. 118 Various
aspects of how religion intertwined with women’s lives will henceforth be
studied in order to evaluate the continuities of the period against the major
influence such reforms had within the Anglo-Norman realm. With attention to
women both inside and outside monastic houses, the scope of female
interaction with religious ideas and roles will aim to provide an overview of
continuity and change within the nuanced twelfth century female experience.
115 Pauline Stafford, ‘Women and the Norman Conquest’, Transactions of the Royal Historical Society, 4 (1994), 221-249 (p.222-3. See also, p. 241. See also, p. 249. 116 Jennifer Ward, Women in England in the Middle Ages (London: Bloomsbury Publishing, 2006), p. 5. 117 Ward, p. 5. See also 7, p. 361. 118 A Companion to the Anglo-Norman World , ed. by Christopher Harper-Bill and Elizabeth Van Houts (Woodbridge: Boydell & Brewer Ltd, 2002), p. 165.
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