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This thesis examines the historia works of Bede in the light of the influence of genre and rhetoric on the construction of their narratives. To do this it reflects upon the importance of understanding and differentiating between Bede's immediate monastic audience and the wider Anglo-Saxon one. It also proposes that the motivation behind Bede's writing was multifaceted and included monastic competition as well as a desire to present Late Antique and Patristic models in a manner readily accessible to his Northumbrian compatriots. To show the extent of influence of genre boundaries and rhetorical devices this thesis examines his well known historia texts, such as the Historia Ecclesiastica, as well as those which have received relatively less attention from historians, particularly the Historia Abbatum, the Chronica Maiora and the Martyrologium. The thesis also illustrates the extent of the use of rhetorical devices and textual constructions through the discussion of two case studies. The first looks at Bede's Northumbrian Saintly Kings; the second, at his Northumbrian Holy Women. The case studies indicate that historical accuracy was of secondary importance to Bede. Rather, they suggest that the dissemination of Christian convention (at the expense of historical accuracy) within an apparently Anglo-Saxon historical framework was Bede's primary aim.

Summary Geoffrey de Montbray was one of the most important men in Normandy and England during the second half of the eleventh century. As bishop of Coutances, Geoffrey made a significant contribution to the restoration of ecclesiastical life in western Normandy. In post-Conquest England, where Geoffrey became a great landholder, he played a pivotal role in the consolidation of the Conqueror’s victory. Geoffrey’s role in the conquest and settlement of England, and in particular his association with warfare, has overshadowed his achievements as a diocesan bishop. In modern historiography he has been presented as an example of an old-fashioned type of bishop that was gradually being superseded in Normandy by more reform-minded prelates. This thesis will assess the validity of this interpretation by providing a detailed examination of his career. But it will also consider his activities as a diocesan bishop and his participation in the settlement of England in the context of the development of his personal relationship with the Conqueror. In particular, it will examine the significance of charismatic elements of lordship and the importance of acquiring ‘closeness’ to a ruler as a means of self-advancement. By approaching Geoffrey’s career from his perspective, the intention of this thesis is to gain a better understanding of the mindset of an eleventh-century Norman bishop. This thesis uses a range of sources that includes charters and narrative sources, architectural evidence, the evidence of Domesday Book, and manuscript sources.

<p> Historians of the Middle Ages have long reflected on the chronicles and archival sources of Western Europe, seeking to find the birth of the modern state. This thesis represents one such contribution to this historical problem, exploring the question of political centralization in the kingdom of France during the reigns of Capetian kings between 1151 and 1247. Focusing on the county of Anjou, this thesis contends that local aristocrats not only constructed their own political community but also used local customs to shape the contours of centralization in Anjou. Angevin sources suggest that state-building in France emerged less from conquest and occupation than as the result of cooperation between the political center and peripheral communities. The kings of France benefited from the loyalty of the Angevin political community, while local elites used royal concessions to define and defend their political and legal rights as Angevins.</p>

This dissertation examines the socio-economic and socio-cultural dynamics of medieval Famagusta from the thirteenth to the fifteenth centuries. Contrary to the traditional historiography suggesting that Famagusta enjoyed commercial privilege after the fall of Acre in 1291 and lost its importance with the Genoese occupation of the city in 1374, this work offers more detailed analysis of economic and social dynamics of the late medieval Famagusta by examining wide-range of archival evidence and argues that Famagusta maintained its commercial importance until the late fifteenth century. In late medieval ages, Famagusta enjoyed economic prosperity due to its crucial role in Levant trade as a supplier and distributor of agricultural and luxury merchandise. It hosted nearly all prominent Genoese, Venetian, and Tuscan merchant companies and become one of the most important part of the Levantine trade policy of Venice and Genoa. Moreover, beside the economic growth Famagusta also witnessed social and cultural prosperity which enabled it to bear the title 'emporium'. People from almost every nation lived, visited, co-operated, and enjoyed the cultural wealth where the cultural differences were far from being social disintegration factor. By analysing notarial, fiscal, ecclesiastical and visual evidence from the period under examination, the main elements that are necessary to understand the evolution of medieval 'emporium', such as economic, social, cultural, administrative and urban dynamics, are scrutinized in order to draw more consistent conclusions. Regarding the lack of any monograph on this subject, this dissertation provides the first comprehensive analysis of economic and socio-cultural dynamics of late medieval Famagusta.

Status and gender studies are now well established paradigms of Byzantine social history. But academic enquiry has, so far, overlooked the significance of age. This is perhaps because most biographical accounts open with conception and birth, and move forwards to death, which seems so logical to us that the Life Course trajectory has not stood out as a defining characteristic of Byzantine biographical narratives. However, Byzantine authors do not present their characters as stagnant; characters are often shown to develop in persona across their lives. The study of age and life-stage is crucial to understanding the Byzantines’ evolving familial roles and societal responsibilities. This thesis deconstructs the Life Course patterns as presented to us by authors writing AD 518 to 1204, a critical period in the development of Byzantine culture. The start point is 518, the year that the Justinian dynasty commenced, a period characterised by a rich and abundant supply of evidence. The end point is 1204, the year that the Latins captured Constantinople and the sources distinctly change in style and influence. This thesis draws upon several types of evidence including literature, coins and tombstones in order to expose this hitherto unexploited but fundamental facet of Byzantine identity

The main purpose of this thesis is to expound the notion that the fourteenth-century poet John Barbour used a loose framework of standard chivalric ideals and tropes to explain and in some cases legitimise the actions of his heroes and that Blind Hary adopted a similar approach when composing The Wallace around a century later. It will explore the idea that both writers did this in order to present their heroes in a way that their audiences would recognise and also to influence the behaviour of these audiences, insofar as the audience of these works in their immediate historical context can be reconstructed. This thesis will not attempt to deal with whether or not they were successful in affecting change in the behaviour of the audiences, as this would require a significant broadening of the scope of this study and it is doubtful whether this may even be possible to assess even in a much wider study. However, in addressing the major themes of both poems with regards to chivalry, this thesis will draw on the historic a l contexts in which each source was written in order to better explain why these authors adopted the attitudes they did and why the notions they espouse might have been apposite at the time of writing. In particular, it will consider the way each author explores themes of prudence, friendship and loyalty as expressed through oath-making for what these themes tell us about Barbour and Hary’s engagement with chivalry. These themes will then be drawn together in a final chapter on what constitutes ‘acceptable’ behaviour for each of these writers.

This thesis examines literary and cultural influences upon descriptions of warfare in Byzantine historiography, focusing on events of the ninth to twelfth centuries. Its main aim is twofold: to account for the appearance in historiography of more ‘heroic’ accounts of battle from the late tenth century, and to identify the sources Middle Byzantine historians employed for military events, particularly since this material appears to have had a significant role in the aforementioned development. Study of Middle Byzantine historical works grants insight into general features of war writing. Moreover, it also reveals much about the working methods of historians and the written sources they employed for military episodes. These sources, now lost to us, are determined to have primarily been campaign reports and biographical compositions. Once an understanding of the nature of such texts is reached, one may demonstrate that they presented their military subject according to contemporary ideals of valour and generalship. It is suggested that the appearance of promotional literature of the military aristocracy in the tenth century was instrumental in the development of a more ‘heroic’ form of war writing, with Homeric-style descriptions of battle, cunning military stratagems, and courageous displays more evident in historiography from this time.

This thesis presents a cultural history of families and family roles in the post-Imperial west, here defined as AD 400-700. This thesis questions the ‘tri-partite’ influences of Roman heritage, ‘Germanic’ culture and Christianisation in the post-Imperial west, and identifies the prime driver of change in the construction of families as the development and implementation of Christian thought. This thesis is in two parts. The first considers families in the legal context of the post-Imperial law codes, and provides a systematic overview of the laws using the Theodosian and Justinian codes as a point of comparison. This section concludes that the post-Imperial codes are Roman in nature and that much of the legislation which concerns the family is very similar to the late Roman law of the Theodosian Code. This section considers legal stipulations concerning betrothal, marriage, adultery, divorce, widowhood, and parenthood. Part two considers the issues raised in part one within the literary context of the post-Imperial west, drawing on a wide geographical and chronological range of genres and texts to provide a diachronic analysis. This section considers many of the same concerns which are raised part one, but highlights different perspectives. In particular, part two argues that the development of Christian thought concerning families, and the increasing power of Christian Churches underlies much change that is seen in the literary texts within and throughout this period. These two sections come together to present a broad analysis of families and family roles throughout the lifecycle of the traditional families in the post-Imperial west, highlighting new cultural and religious landscapes as drivers for change rather than ethnic values.

The complex phenomena ‘court’ and ‘court society’ have received increasing interest in academic research over recent years. The court of late Byzantium, however, has been overlooked, despite the fact that assumptions have been made about the influence of Byzantine court ceremonial on ceremonies in the late Medieval and Early Modern West and about the imitation of the Byzantine court as an institution in the early Ottoman empire. In the discussion of these influences late Byzantine sources were left untouched, a neglect that underlines the need for a comprehensive study of the court in this period. The aim of the present thesis is to fill a part of this gap in our knowledge through an examination of the core of the court in early Palaiologan Byzantium (1261-1354). The methodology used is inspired by studies of Western royal and princely courts and approaches the early Palaiologan court in an interdisciplinary way. It aims to investigate the main palace of the Palaiologan emperors and the residents of this palace (the imperial family, their servants and their guards), or in other words the imperial household. The court is therefore seen from a spatially and socially restricted viewpoint, while social interaction is used as the main differentiating tool. On a larger scale the present thesis aims to address questions about the interrelation between space and social interaction. Although the absence of an actual surviving palace and of imperial household ordinances makes it hard to investigate the late Byzantine court, this thesis presents a picture of the core of the early Palaiologan court by combining various late Byzantine sources, each of which provides us with snippets of information about the palace and (individual) members of the imperial household.