The social & political networks of the Anglo-Norman aristocracy: the Clare, Giffard & Tosny Kin-groups, c.940 to c.1200

Traill, Vanessa Josephine (2013) The social & political networks of the Anglo-Norman aristocracy: the Clare, Giffard & Tosny Kin-groups, c.940 to c.1200. PhD thesis, University of Glasgow.

Abstract

Over the last twenty years, the analysis of social networks has become an increasingly significant tool for sociologists, anthropologists and historians alike. Network analysis has not yet, however, been adopted extensively by
historians of ducal Normandy or the Anglo-Norman realm. Although there has been some useful work on specific families or political groups, these have tended to artificially isolate networks from one another and from their broader social milieux.
It has become clear that these problems can only be addressed by both inter and intra network analysis over a broader time frame, and that those networks themselves must also be conceived in broad terms. This thesis therefore considers three aristocratic kin-groups of significant contemporary and subsequent importance; the Clares, Giffards, and Tosnys, and includes both their cadet branches and their in-laws. All three groups are examined in
terms of their kinship structures, their roles as lords and vassals, and their relationships to the church. While much of the material is Anglo-Norman, the chronological range extends from c.940 to c.1200. The aim has been to
produce a fuller picture of how all three great family enterprises were constituted, developed, interacted with one another and were embedded within society, and to acknowledge that no man, and indeed, no kin-group, is
an island entire of itself.

• Item Type: Thesis (PhD)
• Qualification Level: Doctoral
• Keywords: Anglo-Norman, aristocracy, social network theory, kinship, lordship, church
• Subjects: D History General and Old World > D History (General) > D111 Medieval History; D History General and Old World > DA Great Britain; D History General and Old World > DC France; H Social Sciences > HQ The family. Marriage. Woman
• Colleges/Schools: College of Arts & Humanities > School of Humanities > History
• Supervisor's Name: Marritt, Dr. Stephen
• Date of Award: 2013
• Depositing User: Vanessa J. Traill
• Unique ID: glathesis:2013-4341
• Copyright: Copyright of this thesis is held by the author.
• Date Deposited: 04 Jun 2013 11:31
• Last Modified: 04 Jun 2013 11:31
• URI: https://theses.gla.ac.uk/id/eprint/4341