Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-fbnjt Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-10-31T23:37:01.311Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Preface

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 July 2022

Francesca Tinti
Affiliation:
University of the Basque Country
D. A. Woodman
Affiliation:
Robinson College, Cambridge
Get access

Summary

We developed the idea for this collection of essays during several conversations about the remarkable historical works which were compiled at Worcester between c. 1050 and c. 1150. In the period following the Norman Conquest of 1066 various ecclesiastical centres in England looked to their past and produced narrative texts which stretched back to the time before the Conquest, while also trying to make sense of that event and its consequences. Such works have naturally attracted the attention of numerous modern historians, but we felt that no one had hitherto attempted to address the distinct features that characterised the Worcester community's initiatives in this area. In particular we were struck by the fact that it was not just the Conquest that triggered them there and that, although the changes that were introduced after 1066 clearly played a major role in the development of the Worcester ‘historical atelier’, Worcester stands out because of the continuity in ‘constructing history’ that can be identified across the whole period. In other words, 1066 was less of a caesura, and this continuity did not just characterise the production of such narrative works as chronicles, but is especially visible in activities like archival organisation and record-keeping. In order to explore this topic in detail, and from a number of complementary angles, we decided to gather a group of scholars, expert on different aspects of the Worcester documentary, literary, artistic and historical production in the eleventh and twelfth centuries, with whom we could collaborate to cast further light on the context and reasons for these specific developments. We have thus been able to produce a volume which examines the strategies and the rationale behind the construction of history at Worcester across the Norman Conquest, while bearing in mind parallel developments at other ecclesiastical centres as well as the connections that the Worcester church established with other contemporary communities.

Type
Chapter
Information
Constructing History across the Norman Conquest
Worcester, c.1050-c.1150
, pp. ix
Publisher: Boydell & Brewer
Print publication year: 2022

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure coreplatform@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×