Britain and Ireland, 900-1300 Insular Responses to Medieval European Change

There is a growing interest in the history of relations between the English, Scottish, Welsh and Irish as the United Kingdom and Ireland begin to construct new political arrangements and to become more fully integrated into Europe. This book brings together work on how these relations developed between 900 and 1300, a period crucial for the formation of national identities. The conquest of England by the Normans and the subsequent growth in English power required the inhabitants of Britain and Ireland to reassess their dealings with each other. Old ties were broken and new ones formed. Economic change, the influence of chivalry, the transmission of literary motifs, and questions of aristocratic identity are among the topics tackled here by leading scholars from Britain, Ireland and North America. Little has been published hitherto on this subject, and the book marks a major contribution to a topic of lasting interest.

Contributors; Preface; 1. The effect of Scandinavian raiders on the English and Irish churches: a preliminary reassessment Alfred P. Smyth; 2. The changing economy of the Irish sea province Benjamin T. Hudson; 3. Cults of Irish, Scottish and Welsh saints in twelfth-century England Robert Bartlett; 4. Sea-divided Gaels? constructing relationships between Irish and Scots c.800–1169 Màire Herbert; 5. The 1169 as a turning-point in Irish-Welsh relations Seàn Duffy; 6. Killing and mutilating political enemies in the British Isles from the late twelfth to the early fourteenth century: a comparative study John Gillingham; 7. Anglo-French acculturation and the Irish element in Scottish identity Dauvit Broun; 8. John de Courcy, the first Ulster plantation and Irish church men Marie Therese Flanagan; 9. Coming in from the margins: the descendants of Somerled and cultural accommodation in the Hebrides 1164–1317 R. Andrew McDonald; 10. Nobility and identity in medieval Britain and Ireland: the de Vescy family, c.1120–1314 Keith J. Stringer; Bibliography; Index.

There is a growing interest in the history of relations between the English, Scottish, Welsh and Irish as the United Kingdom and Ireland begin to construct new political arrangements. This book brings together the latest work on how these relations developed in the Middle Ages.