The Aristocracy in England and Tuscany, 1000 - 1250

This volume examines the aristocracy in Tuscany and in England across a period of two and a half centuries (1000-1250). It deals first with Tuscany, tracing the history of the aristocracy and illustrating its nature and evolution, and observing aristocratic behaviour and attitudes, and how aristocrats related to other members of society. Peter Coss then examines the history of England in the same periods. It is not, however, a comparative history, but employs Italian insights to look at the aristocracy in England and to move away from the traditional interpretation which revolves around Magna Carta and the idea of English exceptionalism. By offering a study of the aristocracy across a wide time-frame and with themes drawn from Italian historiography, Coss offers a new approach to studying aristocracy within its own contexts.

About the Author

Peter Coss studied for his doctorate at the University of Birmingham under the guidance of Rodney Hilton. His major posts were at the University of Northumbria, where he gained a personal chair, and at Cardiff where he held the established chair of medieval history from 1995 to 2013. He was head of the school of history, archaeology, and religion there from 2006 to 2011. From 1984 to 2017 he was a member of the editorial board of Past and Present . Among his areas of expertise is the English gentry on which he has written five monographs. He is also the editor of three volumes of medieval documents and of ten books of essays.