Publisher Description

'The Struggle for Mastery is a work of mature scholarship, which wears its learning lightly. Written with verve for specialist and non-specialist alike, it is a study that will last.' The Times Literary SupplementThe two-and-a-half centuries after 1066 were momentous ones in the history of Britain. In 1066, England was conquered for the last time. The Anglo-Saxon ruling class was destroyed and and the English became a subject race, dominated by a Norman-French dynasty and aristocracy. This book shows how the English domination of the kingdom was by no means a foregone conclusion.The struggle for mastery in the book's title is in reality the struggle for different masteries within Great Britain. The book weaves together the histories of England, Scotland and Wales in a new way and argues that all three, in their different fashions, were competing for domination

Notes

Weaves together the histories of England, Scotland and Wales in a new way, describing fascinating moments and characters.

Author Biography

David Carpenter is Professor of Medieval History at King's College London. He is the author of THE BATTLES OF LEWES AND EVESHAM and THE REIGN OF HENRY III.

Table of Contents

The Struggle for MasteryList of Maps and Genealogical Tables
Preface
Maps
Money, Technical Terms, and Names of People and Places
1. The Peoples of Britain
2. The Economies of Britain
3. The Norman Conquest of England, 1066-87
4. Wales, Scotland and the Normans, 1058-94
5. Britain and the Anglo-Norman Realm, 1087-1135
6. Britain Remodelled: King Stephen, 1135-54, King David, 1124-53, and the Welsh Rulers
7. King Henry II, Britain and Ireland, 1154-89
8. Richard the Lionheart, 1189-99, and William the Lion, 1165-1214
9. The Reign of King John, 1199-1216
10. The Minority of Henry III and its Sequel, 1216-34, Llywelyn the Great, 1194-1240, and Alexander II, 1214-49
11. Britain During the Personal Rule of King Henry III, 1234-58
12. The Tribulations of Henry III, the Triumphs of Alexander III and Llywelyn, Prince of Wales, 1255-72
13. Structures of Society
14. Church, Religion, Literacy and Learning
15. King Edward I: The Parliamentary State
16. Wales and Scotland: Conquest and Coexistence
Genealogical Tables
Bibliography
Index

Review

"This is a fine, up-to-date synthesis of a grand subject, now suitably enlarged." —T.N. Bisson, Henry Charles Lea Professor of Medieval History, Harvard University

Review Quote

"This is a fine, up-to-date synthesis of a grand subject, now suitably enlarged."

Details