{"title":"Leah Shopkow","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"history-and-community-book-leah-shopkow-9780813208831","title":"History and Community","description":"Norman historians have never been systematically studied, but the tradition of historical writing they created offers valuable insight into the nature of Latin historical writing in the eleventh and twelfth centuries. This book, the first to treat the Norman tradition as a whole, considers not only what the Normans wrote and what methods and models they used, but also how history was used in Normandy and who read it.  Historical writing is one of the ways in which communities create themselves or imagine themselves into being. In the eleventh century, Norman historians wrote Normandy's history as a comedic adventure, in which Normans triumphed at home and abroad. In the twelfth century, their histories took a more pessimistic tone, depicting Norman glory as threatened or eclipsed. Such histories told the Normans who they were or might be by telling them who they had been. The need for cultural reenforcement was strongest just after periods of social disruption--when dukes claimed new powers or the elite attempted to assert their independence of ducal authority or monasteries attempted to preserve their religious autonomy. Consequently, histories were the product of power relations, and were produced where power was at stake.  The histories sponsored by Norman dukes circulated widely, while other histories were locally read or languished without readers. There was, as yet, no spontaneous audience for history, just as there were no agreed-upon conventions or methodologies for its composition. The potential audience, however, grew in the later Middle Ages as great princes and individuals alike found ways to use history, which in turn led to its wider dissemination and to increased methodological development.  Leah Shopkow presents an insightful study of the functions and meanings of history. She makes clear that historical writing is neither simply a source for data on times past nor a form of disinterested literary expression. Medieval histories were complex cultural phenomena. Her study will be of great interest to historiographers and will become a standard work for Normanists and Anglo-Normanists.   Leah Shopkow is associate professor of history at Indiana University.  \"\"By focusing on Latin historical writing in the duchy of Normandy during the apogee of its power in the eleventh and twelfth centuries, Shopkow has managed to span part of the gap between the many broad theoretical treatments of medieval historiography and the narrow examinations of single authors or works.\"\"--Choice  \"\"Necessary reading for anyone working with the historians whom it analyzes and deserves a place on the shelf of recent, exciting dissections of the corpus of medieval works of history.\"\"--Albion  \"\"This impressive work casts fresh light on a topic of the first importance: the contemporary historians of medieval Normandy. Shopkow's scholarship stands out for its interdisciplinary grasp of both historical and literary materials and for its sensitivity to new methodological techniques.\"\"--C. Warren Hollister, University of California, Santa Barbara  Table of Contents  Introduction: Historical Writing and the Norman Community  1. History in the County of Normandy  2. The Norman Comedy  3. The Glorious Norman Past  4. Truth  5. Methods, Models, and Sources  6. The Purpose of History  7. Patrons and Other Readers: The Reception of Norman Histories  Conclusion: The Propagation of Historical Writing in Medieval Europe","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49598886117649,"sku":"GOR004008001","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0813208831.jpg?v=1751296757"},{"product_id":"saint-and-the-count-book-leah-shopkow-9781487525866","title":"The Saint and the Count","description":"In this pedagogical microhistory, Leah Shopkow demonstrates the skills used to present history through the biography of St. Vitalis of Savigny.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"- \/ - \/ -","offer_id":51029434106129,"sku":"","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":51029436530961,"sku":"NIN9781487525866","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":51853525680401,"sku":"GOR014429019","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":51911483883793,"sku":"CIN1487525869G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":52474026524945,"sku":"NLS9781487525866","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/1487525869.jpg?v=1752316555"},{"product_id":"saint-and-the-count-book-leah-shopkow-9781487508432","title":"The Saint and the Count","description":"While historians know that history is about interpreting primary sources, students tend to think of history as a set of facts.   In The Saint and the Count, Leah Shopkow opens up the interpretive world of the historian using the biography of St. Vitalis of Savigny (d. 1122) as a case study. This biography was written around 1174 by Stephen of Fougères and provides a rich stage to demonstrate the kinds of questions historians ask about primary sources and the interpretive and conceptual frameworks they use. What is the nature of medieval sources and what are the interpretive problems they present? How does the positionality of Stephen of Fougères shape his biography of St. Vitalis? How did medieval people respond to stories of miracles? And finally, how does this biography illuminate the problem of violence in medieval society? A translation of the biography is included, so that readers can explore the text on their own.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"- \/ - \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":53491896254737,"sku":null,"price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":53491896287505,"sku":"NIN9781487508432","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/9781487508432.jpg?v=1777768915"}],"url":"https:\/\/www.worldofbooks.com\/de-ch\/collections\/autor-buecher-von-leah-shopkow.oembed","provider":"World of Books ","version":"1.0","type":"link"}