The Pelican History of England #3: The Early Middle Ages (1066–1307)

The third volume of The Pelican History of England, Doris M. Stenton's English Society in the Early Middle Ages, was originally published in 1951. I have a 1974 printing of the 1965 fourth edition; I don't know if there were any subsequent editions, but judging by other Pelican Histories I've read so far, updates for later editions (the series went out of print in the 1990s) were probably minor at best.

The Pelican History of England: 3. English Society in the Early Middle Ages (1066-1307)
by Doris Mary Stenton

Fourth edition published: 1965
Originally published: 1951
Acquired: April 2013
Read: January 2025

The book covers English history from the Norman Conquest in 1066 up through the death of King Edward I in 1307; like the other Pelican Histories (I am finding), it focuses less on giving a chronological account of its era and more on giving a sketch of how society operated in the era in question. But while volume one covered nine centuries and volume two six, this one covers just three, meaning that you do get a more solid sense of the events of the period, even if they are mostly just sketched in. Additionally, the book has a timeline of key dates in the back, an innovation I found helpful whenever I got a bit lost in the chronology. Chapters here cover topics such as the king's household and government (this is where you get the sketch of the changes in kingship over the centuries); barons and knights; the organization of places such as forests, villages, towns, boroughs, and cities; the church; and the arts.

It's interesting to note how each author of the series has a different prism through which they explore the society of the period. While volume one emphasized (to its detriment, I think) locations and volume two economic power, Stenton mostly focuses on political power: the growth of Parliament, the expansion of the bureaucracy, the creation of limits on the king in the form of Magna Carta. There is a lot of emphasis here on who owed whom allegiance, and whose power was channeled through whom. It's a useful way to understand how England was operating as a state not just a nation.

Unfortunately, this is the longest of the Pelican Histories that I own (I don't have all eight yet as of this writing) and reason is that it sometimes goes into unnecessary detail. For example, that the King's Forests were highly regulated is interesting and a good example of the way the new Norman kings exerted political power... but Stenton provides more detail than a book with this audience and scope actually needs in order to make this point. Moments like this felt more like they belong in a more academic piece. (But Stenton's style is probably the most academic of the three volumes I've read so far, as its extensive end notes attest!) I found that especially as I got closer to the end, I was doing more skimming.

Still, it's reasonably accessible and provides a clear sketch of the time. I particularly found myself fascinated by the so-called "Angevin Empire" (I don't think Stenton herself uses this term) from 1154 to 1214, when the King of England also ruled other parts of Britain as well of chunks of France through various political positions, but without any kind of unified government... and indeed, the King of England was also a duke who owed homage to the King of France! Complicated and kind of fascinating, and now I'd like to read something diving into the Angevin Empire more specifically; each of these books I read makes me want to read another book.