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IMC 2005: Sessions

Session 502: Origins and Identity in the Expanding Anglo-Norman World

Tuesday 12 July 2005, 09.00-10.30

Moderator/Chair:Heather Tanner, Department of History, Ohio State University, Mansfield
Paper 502-aHugh de Grandmesnil and his Family, c. 1040-1098
(Language: English)
Mark Hagger, Faculty of Modern History, University of Oxford
Paper 502-bThe Strange Career of Roger the Poitevin in England and Poitou, 1080s-1110s
(Language: English)
Chris Lewis, Victoria County History (Sussex), Institute of Historical Research, University of London
Abstract

Abstract -a:
No abstract provided.
Abstract -b:
No abstract provided.
Abstract -c:
John de Courcy conquered much of Ulster during the last two decades of the twelfth century yet his origins remain obscure. This problem is approached from the perspective of John’s family, the Courcys of England and Normandy.
Untangling their complex geneaology and placing it within the context of family land acquisitions and broader political developments provides reasons for John’s extensive knowledge of the geopolitics of the Irish Sea region and the timing of his successful invasion.
It suggests that far from ‘the act of a madman’, as Orpen suggested, his triumph resulted from hard headed pragmatic opportunism – and his Courcy heritage.