The Haskins Society Journal 31 ed. by Laura L. Gathagan, William North and Charles C. Rozier

Abstract

Reviewed by: The Haskins Society Journal 31 ed. by Laura L. Gathagan, William North and Charles C. Rozier Lindsay Diggelmann Gathagan, Laura L., William North, and Charles C. Rozier, eds, The Haskins Society Journal 31 (Studies in Medieval History), Woodbridge, The Boydell Press, 2020; hardback; pp. 233; 6 b/w, 3 line illustrations; R.R.P. £50.00; ISBN 9781783275731. Volume 31 of The Haskins Society Journal presents essays from the organization’s 2018 conference, along with other contributions in related fields. The Journal honours the American scholar Charles Homer Haskins and is dedicated to those aspects of the history of the central Middle Ages in which he was prominent. Its ambit is somewhat wider than that of the comparable series Anglo-Norman Studies (see my review of the latest volume elsewhere in this issue of Parergon) but nonetheless takes Norman affairs as its central focus, in line with Haskins’s own interests. Four essays deal with the Crusades. Alheydis Plassmann revisits the much-debated question of Normannitas (Norman identity). By comparing the careers of the most prominent Norman First Crusade leaders from the north (Robert Curthose) and the south (Bohemond of Taranto) Plassmann proposes that contemporaries saw very little that was specifically ‘Norman’ in their character or achievements. While useful, this conclusion does not stray too far from the view of those such as John France who have written on the topic previously. Katherine Allen Smith observes how early crusade narratives are ‘replete with references to Babylon’ (p. 50) in opposition to Jerusalem. This, in Smith’s persuasive view, is a shorthand for a series of powerful dichotomies: Islam and Christianity; pride and humility; sin and righteousness; Augustine’s earthly and heavenly cities. Clerical authors who had been trained in scripture and theology brought this mindset to bear when describing the geopolitical rivalries of their own day. Andrew Buck’s study of women and power in the crusader principality of Antioch draws on recent debates that seek to remove the framework of exceptionalism from accounts of women’s political influence and economic agency in the Middle Ages. Examining both the ruling families and the wider nobility, Buck asserts that ‘the exercise of rulership in the principality was not simply a masculine space’ (p. 117). Theodore Evergates reflects on the creation and reception of the Memoirs of Geoffroy de Villehardouin, marshal of Champagne and later of ‘Romania’, a key figure in the Latin Empire of Constantinople after 1204. The Memoirs provide one of the standard accounts of the Fourth Crusade and the sack of the eastern Christian capital by western forces. Other contributions delve into Anglo-Norman dynastic affairs and their historiography. Alexandra Locking reminds us that the celebrated marriage of Henry I and Matilda of Scotland, so crucial to uniting the Norman and Saxon royal lines, nearly did not happen. Archbishop Anselm initially objected to the match, as Matilda had taken the veil as a child, before relenting. Locking examines the contemporary debate over this controversy and the way Matilda’s reputation was later transformed to position her as a powerful royal figure. Mark Blincoe traces the shifting dynastic identity in Henry II’s charters before and [End Page 238] after he became king in 1154. Having been recognized as Stephen’s heir in 1153, Henry acknowledged this at first, but soon ignored the reality of Stephen as his predecessor in official documents, emphasizing instead continuity with the reign of his grandfather Henry I, who had died in 1135. This much is well known, but Blincoe makes the cogent point that the strategy forced Henry to implicitly deny the legitimacy of earlier claims to power in England or Normandy by his mother, the Empress Matilda, and father, Geoffrey of Anjou. On the basis of the vernacular history known as the Chronique de Normandie, Alex Hurlow argues for the continued importance of Norman identity into the thirteenth century, even if more regional in nature and in competition with the growing power of the centralizing French monarchy. Three further essays discuss social and legal issues ‘from below’. Stuart Pracy examines evidence from witness lists for manumissions in late Saxon and early Norman England to suggest that opportunities for social mobility by...