THE UNIVERSITY of EDINBURGH

DEGREE REGULATIONS & PROGRAMMES OF STUDY 2018/2019

University Homepage
DRPS Homepage
DRPS Search
DRPS Contact
DRPS : Course Catalogue : School of History, Classics and Archaeology : Postgraduate (History, Classics and Archaeology)

Postgraduate Course: Normandy and the Normans c. 900-1204 (PGHC11215)

Course Outline
SchoolSchool of History, Classics and Archaeology CollegeCollege of Humanities and Social Science
Credit level (Normal year taken)SCQF Level 11 (Postgraduate) AvailabilityNot available to visiting students
SCQF Credits20 ECTS Credits10
SummaryThe Norman diaspora was one of the most dynamic phenomena of the tenth, eleventh and twelfth centuries. This course studies the pattern of conquest and settlement that took the Northmen from Scandinavia to the Eastern Mediterranean during this period.
Course description This course considers the rise and fall of ducal Normandy through the medium of a remarkable body of source material, especially the narrative sources generated from Normandy, England and Southern Italy, but also including charters and cartularies. The history of the duchy has prompted a number of key historiographical debates: on the fate of public power and authority in France around the year 1000, the nature of lordship, the role of aristocratic diasporas in the expansion of the Latin West, and the characteristics of the resulting conquests and colonisation. The Norman migrations north-west into the British Isles, and south into Italy and the Mediterranean lands, raise issues about acculturation, war and religion. The historical writing inspired by the Normans that flourished in the eleventh and twelfth centuries raises issues about medieval ideas of ethnicity and self-perception. Here a comparative approach is employed in order to try to understand the remarkable series of conquests and settlements that has been called 'The Norman Achievement'.
Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
Pre-requisites Co-requisites
Prohibited Combinations Other requirements None
Course Delivery Information
Not being delivered
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
  1. in the essay and seminar contributions a detailed and critical command of the body of knowledge concerning the Norman diaspora
  2. an ability to analyse and reflect critically upon relevant scholarship concerning the Norman diaspora, primary source materials and conceptual discussions about the Norman diaspora
  3. the ability to develop and sustain original scholarly arguments in oral and written form by independently formulating appropriate questions and utilising relevant evidence considered in the course
  4. originality and independence of mind and initiative; intellectual integrity and maturity; an ability to evaluate the work of others, including peers; and a considerable degree of autonomy
Reading List
Bates, D., The Normans and Empire (Oxford, 2013) e-book via EUL

*Brown, R. Allen, The Normans (London, 1984). R. Allen Brown was the founder of the Battle Conference for Anglo-Norman Studies.

*Chibnall, Marjorie, The Normans (Oxford, 2000). Marjorie Chibnall was one of the leading experts on the history of the Normans and her book is probably the best of these short introductions.

Cohen, Robin, Global Diasporas. An Introduction, Second edition, Routledge: London and New York, 2008

Crouch, D., The Normans. The History of Dynasty (London, 2002). This is a serial biography of the leaders of the Normans.

R.H.C. Davis, The Normans and their Myth (London, 1976)

Douglas, D.C., The Norman Achievement (London, 1969)

Douglas, D.C., The Norman Fate 1100-1154 (Berkeley & Los Angeles, 1976). David Douglas was a leading expert on the reign of William the Conqueror and Professor of Medieval History at Bristol University.

Haskins, C.H., The Normans in European History (Cambridge, MA, 1915). Charles H. Haskins was Professor at Harvard University and one of the pioneers of the study of the Normans in a European context.

Le Patourel, J., The Norman Empire (Oxford, 1976). Le Patourel was a Channel Islander and this may have prompted his interest in the Normans.

F. Neveux, A Brief History of the Normans. The Conquests that changed the face of Europe, trans. H. Curtis (London, 2008)

Rowley, T., The Normans (Stroud, 1999)
Additional Information
Graduate Attributes and Skills Not entered
KeywordsNormandy Normans
Contacts
Course organiserDr William Aird
Tel: (0131 6)50 9968
Email: William.M.Aird@ed.ac.uk
Course secretaryMrs Lindsay Scott
Tel: (0131 6)50 9948
Email: Lindsay.Scott@ed.ac.uk
Navigation
Help & Information
Home
Introduction
Glossary
Search DPTs and Courses
Regulations
Regulations
Degree Programmes
Introduction
Browse DPTs
Courses
Introduction
Humanities and Social Science
Science and Engineering
Medicine and Veterinary Medicine
Other Information
Combined Course Timetable
Prospectuses
Important Information