Despite the multidirectional nature of modern research, the interpretation of the political history of thirteenth-century England has remained locked into a traditional framework bequeathed by the mid-twentieth-century historian, R. F. Treharne, and embellished by the emphases and accentuations of his present-day successors. Characterised by its conception of community, its constitutionalism, its ready identification of a national enterprise, and its predilection for idealism and 'progress...

This volume examines the aristocracy in Tuscany and in England across a period of two and a half centuries (1000-1250). It deals first with Tuscany, tracing the history of the aristocracy and illustrating its nature and evolution, and observing aristocratic behaviour and attitudes, and how aristocrats related to other members of society. Peter Coss then examines the history of England in the same periods. It is not, however, a comparative history, but employs Italian insights to look at th...

Chivalry lay at the heart of elite society in the Middle Ages, but it is a nebulous concept which defies an easy definition. More than just a code of ethical behaviour, it shaped literary tastes, art and manners, as well as socialhierarchies, political events and religious practices; its impact is everywhere.This work aims to provide an accessible and holistic survey of the subject. Its chapters, by leading experts in the field, cover a wide range of areas: the tournament, arms and ...