Nicholas Karn. Kings, Lords and Courts in Anglo-Norman England.

Abstract

The Anglo-Norman period, which stretches from the Norman Conquest of 1066 to the accession of Henry II in 1154, occupies a difficult place in English legal history. It is unhelpful that its source base is more intractable than those of either the preceding or the following eras, not providing even the semblance of a clear account of how law worked. Yet the period’s unyielding sources have pressing questions to answer because profound differences between the periods show that Anglo-Norman England witnessed fundamental legal change. It is not fair to say that the Anglo-Norman legal world has been neglected, but it is rare for a book-length study to take England’s early medieval legal inheritance seriously and wrestle with the problem of how it transformed to produce the more familiar world of the late twelfth century. This is what Nicholas Karn’s Kings, Lords and Courts in Anglo-Norman England does with remarkable success. It is one of those rare books that appreciably advances historical knowledge on a well-worn topic.