This is an important new study of the impact of the Norman Conquest. It provides the first full explanation of how the English and the Normans merged to become the same people. The author draws on anthropological theory, the latest scholarship on Anglo-Norman England, and sources ranging from legal documents to romances. Abbreviations xi PART I THEORY AND BACKGROUND 1. Introduction 3(17) 2. English Identity before the Norman Conquest 20(12) 3. Normanitas 32(14) 4. Ethnic Identity and Cultural Difference 46(10) 5. A Chronology of Assimilation 56(14) 6. A Chronology of Identity 70(13) 7. Ideology, Prejudice, and Assimilation 83(12) PART II PERSONAL INTERACTION, ASSIMILATION, AND IDENTITY 8. The Interaction of English and Normans: Methodological Considerations 95(10) 9. The Aristocracy 105(33) 10. English Women and Norman Men 138(23) 11. The Peasants and the Middling Sort 161(20) 12. Townspeople 181(19) 13. The Religious 200(36) Epilogue to Part II 236(5) PART III THE RECONSTRUCTION OF ENGLISH IDENTITY 14. The Defence of English Honour 241(20) 15. The Image of England and a Sense of Place 261(13) 16. Royal Government, England, and Englishness 274(9) 17. The English Church, English Saints, England, and the English 283(14) 18. Stereotypes and the Image of the English 297(10) 19. The Image of the Other 307(16) 20. The Intensification and Politicization of English Identity 323(24) PART IV IDENTITY AND CULTURE 21. History and Identity 347(20) 22. High Culture, Religious Culture, and Ethnicity 367(10) 23. Language, Literature, and Ethnic Identity 377(14) 24. Conclusion 391(5) Appendix 1. Native English Landholders in the Cartae Baronum 396(4) Appendix 2. Notable Native Patrilineages and Individuals 400(7) Bibliography 407(38) Index 445