Ruling England 1042–1227

Richard Huscroft teaches History at Westminster School, London. He is the author of several books on British and European medieval history, including Tales from the Long Twelfth Century (2017), Making England, 796–1042 (2018), Power and Faith: Politics and Religion in Western Europe from the Tenth to the Thirteenth Century (2023) and Expulsion (2023).

• Part I. Late Anglo-Saxon England, 1042–1066 1. The reigns, 1042–1066 Edward the Confessor, 1042–1066 Harold II, January–October 1066 The interregnum, 14 October–25 December 1066 2. Ruling the kingdom, 1042–1066 King and nobility The crisis of 1051–1052 Royal government Local government Royal wealth Military organisationWomen and political power Conclusion 3. The kings and the law, 1042–1066 Codes and cases Courts and communities Trial and punishment Conclusion 4. The kings and the Church, 1042–1066 The late Anglo-Saxon Church Royal government and the Church England and the papacy A backward Church in need of reform? Part II. Anglo-Norman England, 1066–1154 5. The reigns, 1066–1154 William I ‘the Conqueror’, 1066–1087 William II ‘Rufus’, 1087–1100 Henry I, 1100–1135 1109–11131116–11201123–1124Stephen, 1135–1154 6. Ruling the kingdom, 1066–1154 King and nobility Cross-Channel government The royal householdLocal government Royal wealth Military organisationGovernment in writing The reign of StephenWomen and political power Conclusion 7. The kings and the law, 1066–1154 Continuity and change The principal courts The criminal law Civil cases Women, land and the law Conclusion 8. The kings and the Church, 1066–1154 The Church in Normandy Controlling the English Church Other reformsKings, archbishops and popes Canterbury and York The reign of StephenThe king’s Jews Conclusion Part III. Angevin England, 1154–1227 9. The reigns, 1154–1227 Henry II, 1154–1189 Richard I, 1189–1199John, 1199–1216 The minority of Henry III, 1216–1227 10. Ruling the kingdom, 1154–1227 The Angevin Empire The restoration of royal authority King and nobility Royal government Women and political power Local government Royal wealth Military organisationThe road to Runnymede The minority of Henry III 11. The kings and the law, 1154–1227 The background to the reforms The operation of the system The reforms The effects of the reforms Magna Carta and the common law Conclusion 12. The kings and the Church, 1154–1227 The papacy and canon law Royal expectations Henry II and Thomas Becket John and Innocent IIIEngland’s Jews: Murder and massacre The minority of Henry III The principal narrative sources and their authors, 1042–1227 Suggestions for further reading