The Medieval March of Wales The Creation and Perception of a Frontier, 1066–1283

This book examines the making of the March of Wales and the crucial role its lords played in the politics of medieval Britain between the Norman conquest of England of 1066 and the English conquest of Wales in 1283. Max Lieberman argues that the Welsh borders of Shropshire, which were first, from c.1165, referred to as Marchia Wallie, provide a paradigm for the creation of the March. He reassesses the role of William the Conqueror's tenurial settlement in the making of the March and sheds new light on the ways in which seigneurial administrations worked in a cross-cultural context. Finally, he explains why, from c.1300, the March of Wales included the conquest territories in south Wales as well as the highly autonomous border lordships. This book makes a significant and original contribution to frontier studies, investigating both the creation and the changing perception of a medieval borderland.

Introduction; 1. A border region?; 2. The making of a border aristocracy; 3. Warfare and diplomacy; 4. The extent and nature of the military frontier; 5. The militarization of society; 6. The shaping of administrative territories; 7. The border lordships and the English state; Conclusion.

Max Lieberman is a Research Fellow in Medieval History at Wolfson College, Cambridge, and an Honorary Research Associate at the Department of Anglo-Saxon, Norse and Celtic in the University of Cambridge.