The moral economy of the countryside: Anglo‐Saxon to Anglo‐Norman England. By RosamondFaith. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 2020. xi + 235 pp. £19.99. ISBN 978 1 108 72006 9.

Book review

Identity, gender and history in Wace's Roman de Rou and Roman de Brut

This chapter uses a gendered lens to examine how individuals' identity changed over the course of their life-cycle in two of Wace's poems: the Roman de Brut - his retelling of Geoffrey of Monmouth's Historia Brittonum_ - and the Roman de Brut - his verse history of the Normans. Following Patricia Skinner's challenge to consider the potential for rupture and repetition in the life-cycle, the chapter examines the following themes evident in both poems: the uncertainty surrounding succession, the conduct of rulers, the effects of old age, the order of marriage and children, and the importance of otherwise anonymous groups (peasants, old women) at moments of crisis

Magnificent entrances and undignified exits: chronicling the symbolism of castle space in Normandy

Recent years have seen an increase in the number of studies on the symbolism of the castle, particularly in relation to lordship. Such studies are interdisciplinary in nature and often employ the language of the use of space in order to determine how castles functioned and how they were perceived. This article considers what the chroniclers of eleventh- and twelfth-century Normandy meant by castle space. This analysis can help us to determine how space was used, its connection to ideas about social relationships, including gender, and the chroniclers' purpose in including the events they described in their narratives. Many of the episodes described by the chroniclers relate to ideas about the authority and legitimacy of both men and women. As such the spatial setting of the castle is a means of holding up good examples of how authority should be exercised as well as illustrations of what happens when people either fail to uphold that authority or appropriate it in an illegitimate manner

Religious life in Normandy, 1050-1300: space, gender and social pressure

The religious life was central to Norman society in the middle ages. Professed religious and the clergy did not and could not live in isolation; the support of the laity was vital to their existence. How these different groups used sacred space was central to this relationship.Here, fascinating new light is shed on the reality of religious life in Normandy. The author uses ideas about space and gender to examine the social pressures arising from such interaction around four main themes: display, reception and intrusion, enclosure and the family. The study is grounded in the discussion of a wide range of sources, including architecture, chronicles and visitation records, from communities of monks and nuns, hospitals and the parish, allowing the people, rather than the institutions, to come to the fore. Contents: Introduction 1) Display 2) Reception and Intrusion 3) Enclosure 4) Family 5) Conclusio

Society and culture in medieval Rouen, 911-1300

Studies in the Early Middle Ages, 39International audienc