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This article is a study of the life of Gunhild (d. 1087), sister of King Harold, who, together with her mother Gytha, sought exile in Flanders after the Norman Conquest; it is set in the wider context of the fate of high-status elite or royal women in post-Conquest England. Gunhild's lead burial plaque with inscription (found in her tomb in the church of St Donatian in Bruges) constitutes a unique testimony to the fate of a royal sister in the aftermath of the Norman Conquest. Her Latin obituary, the longest known on a lead plaque for an eleventh-century woman, consists of a biographical sketch of her and her family, including her brother's death, and her itinerary in exile, while the second half is a near-hagiographical account of her as a woman religious; a new edition and English translation are included in an appendix. The article analyses the historical, literary and material aspects of Gunhild's life, including evidence from the archive of St Donatian as to the considerable wealth she bequeathed to the canons in return for her burial in the church's wall. It is suggested that as a woman religious she lived a penitential life on foreign soil not least to pay for the sins of the English defeated by the Normans. Comparison with other English royal or high-status elite women (and men) suggests that, defiantly and uniquely, Gunhild and her mother Gytha rejected accommodation with the Conqueror and instead followed the path of exile abroad, more commonly chosen by men. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Harold Godwineson's journey to France, depicted on the Bayeux Tapestry, is nowadays mostly regarded as rather reckless attempt to free two hostages in Normandy. It is a curious incident, interrupting Harold's ascent to power in his homeland. William of Malmesbury's description of it as a fishing party has always been dismissed as a silly explanation. This article connects Malmesbury's phrase 'commentum' ('pretext') with other sources on the expedition. This comparison shows that Harold's boat trip and his intended diplomacy in France were not an interlude in his policy, but formed a continuation of his cautious, calculated manoeuvres towards possession of the English throne. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines how Roger II, who in 1130 became the first king of Sicily, articulated the culture of a new monarchy to his subjects. It does so through extensive analysis and contextualization of a crucial, yet undervalued, royal charter issued to the city of Bari in 1132 (and here translated into English for the first time). Previous scholarship has overlooked key evidence within the charter and tended to emphasize conflict in royal-urban relations. Instead, it will be argued here that the monarchy promoted and upheld negotiation and reciprocity as an integral facet of this new kingdom. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article traces the adoption and ideological uses of the image of the pious Norman dukes in four consecutive hagiographical texts written in twelfth-century England. While this is a well-known topos of the earlier Norman tradition, its reception in England has been neglected in the existing scholarship. The article also examines further evidence of an interest in pious Norman dukes under Henry II, focusing on the translation of the remains of Richard I and Richard II at Fécamp in Normandy in 1162 and discussing whether the dukes' official cult could have been established. The conclusion situates the material in the general context of the development of the cults of lay rulers in twelfth-century Europe and sheds light on the interplay between hagiography, historical memory and politics at the time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the oldest ideas about the Norman conquest is that William the Conqueror introduced into England from Normandy the legal concept of 'foresta', land where hunting and the environment in which it took place were protected by draconian laws. The laws were not imposed on a blank canvas, and a combination of different factors, such as earlier extensive royal hunting rights, the king's will, the application of forest law to land 'outside' that organized in manors and assessed for geld, and the status of escheated land as temporary royal demesne, all worked towards a great expansion of the afforested area. In England a great deal of non-royal demesne was under forest law, whereas in Normandy ducal forests were broadly speaking ducal demesne. In England the competing interests of royal sport and revenue and those of the political elite combined with population pressure to make the forests a toxic political issue in a way not paralleled in Normandy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Catalogus Baronum has long been overlooked in the corpus of texts relating to the Norman period of south Italy due to its chaotic nature and the difficulties of obtaining information from it. Seeking to rectify this situation, this article re-evaluates the current conclusions drawn from the Catalogus by academics such as Jamison using data derived from a statistical analysis of the document. By abandoning a rigidly 'feudal' interpretation of the document new areas of research are opened up. Additionally, it offers new theories on the use and nature of the Catalogus, informed by this research and approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses some arguments about proper names and language. The Normans' introduction of a system of surnames is outlined. The approach in personal naming during the 16th century is described. It discusses the similar arrays of names offered by English literature, particularly in the allegorical houses of dream-vision. The importance of groups of names in late modernist and postmodernist fiction is emphasized. The significance of naming consequently warrants more concentrated attention than it has generally received.

An essay is presented on the aspects of America's attitude towards England during the 1840s and 1850s in connection with the book "English Traits," by Ralph Waldo Emerson. The issue of race is also given attention in the article with a focus on the Saxons and the Normans from the North and South. Slavery is also briefly discussed as well as the developments of English history within the transatlantic culture of the 1840s and 1850s.