Who wrote about the past in the Middle Ages, who read about it, and how were these works disseminated and used?

History was a subject popular with authors and readers in the Anglo-Norman world. The volume and richness of historical writing in the lands controlled by the kings of England, particularly from the 12th century, has long attracted the attention of historians and literary scholars. This collection of essays returns to the processes involved in writing history, and in particular to the medieval manuscript sources in which the works of such historians survive. It explores the motivations of those writing about the past in the Middle Ages (such as Orderic Vitalis, John of Worcester, Symeon of Durham, William of Malmesbury, Gerald of Wales, Roger of Howden, and Matthew Paris), and the evidence provided by manuscripts for the circumstances in which copies were made.

Contributions by: Michael Staunton, Andrea Worm, Anne Lawrence-Mathers, Gleb Schmidt, Laura Cleaver, Laura Pani, Charles C. Rozier, Stephen D. Church, Kathryn Gerry, Laura Slater, Caoimhe Whelan