[No abstract available] / Arts, Faculty of / History, Department of / Graduate

In the mid-1220s, William Marshal, second earl of Pembroke, commissioned the History of William Marshal, a verse history which recounts the life of his father, the first earl of Pembroke. The History has been utilized as a source of information about its titular subject by modern historians, but none have examined the causes behind its commissioning and the significance of the document within the context of the second earl's political career in depth. This thesis seeks to increase understanding of the History by placing it within this context and examining the second earl's influence on its contents. Primary sources, including contemporary letters and court records contained within the Curia Regis Rolls, help reconstruct the political career of the second earl and reveal the reasons why he may have found it expedient to commission the History. An analysis of the History itself indicates that the document reflects the second earl's concerns. The introduction and first chapter of this thesis provide historiographical background for the History, both within its contemporary setting and as a type of work analyzed by modern historians. They indicate the importance of understanding the political and social function of the History and argue that the modern label of biography should not be applied to it. In the second chapter, primary sources and detailed studies of the minority and reign of Henry III are utilized to illustrate the second earl's political career and his conflicts with fellow barons and the crown over property and his unconventional marriage into the royal family. The third chapter offers an interpretation of the History with reference to the earl's career. This thesis concludes that the second earl commissioned the History in response to the objections raised to his marriage.

No description available.

This thesis takes as its starting point the use of extracts from the works of historical authors who wrote in England in the early to mid twelfth-century. It focuses upon the ways in which their works began to be incorporated into three particular texts in the later twelfth and early thirteenth centuries. Through the medium of individual case studies – De Abbatibus (Abingdon), CCCC 139 (Durham) and The London Collection three elements are explored (i) how mediaeval writers used extracts from the works of others in ways which differed from modern practices with their concerns over charges of plagiarism and unoriginality (ii) how the structural and narrative roles which the use of extracts played within the presentation of these texts (iii) how the application of approaches developed in the twentieth century, which transformed how texts are now analysed, enabled a re-evaluation and re-interpretation of their use of source material with greater sensitivity to their original purposes This analysis casts fresh light upon the how and why these texts were produced and the means by which they fulfilled their purposes and reveals that despite their disparate origins and individual perspectives these three texts share two common features: (i) they follow a common three stage pattern of development (ii) they deal with similar issues: factional insecurities and concerns about the quality of those in power over them – using an historical perspective The analysis also reveals the range of techniques which were at the disposal of the composers of these texts, dispelling any notion that they were either unsophisticated or naïve in their handling of their source materials. Together these texts demonstrate how mediaeval authors used combinations of extracts as a means of responding quickly and flexibly to address particular concerns. Such texts were not regarded as being set in stone but rather as fluid entities which could be recombined at will in order to produce new works as required.