From the Vikings to the Normans

Book excerpt: This readable and authoritative volume covers the history of the Britain and Ireland between 800 and 1100 A.D. Seven chapters contributed by a team of experts cover key of this period, such as the Vikings, monarchies and other political structures, relationships between lords and labourers, developments in trade and urbanization, the christianization of society, the functions and dissemination of writing and scholarship, and relationships between Britain, Ireland and the Mediterranean civilizations to the south. To create a fully-rounded overview of the period, Wendy Davies, the volume's editor, has provided an Introduction giving a geographical context to the chapter narratives and discussing the available source material, and a Conclusion which pulls together the themes and currents running through the individual chapters.