IMC 2015: Sessions

Session 128: Historiographers' Views on Reform and Renewal

Moderator/Chair:	Benjamin Pohl, Vakgroep Geschiedenis, Universiteit Gent
Paper 128-a	Church Reforms in Central Italian Monastic Chronicles (Language: English) Lari Ahokas, Department of Philosophy, History, Culture & Art Studies, University of Helsinki Index terms: Historiography - Medieval, Monasticism
Paper 128-b	Henry II and Wace: Historiography, Memory, and the Politics of Reform (Language: English) Charity Urbanski, Department of History, University of Washington Index terms: Historiography - Medieval, Politics and Diplomacy
Abstract	Paper-a: abstract withheld Paper -b: Henry II self-consciously promoted his restoration of royal authority as a return to the good government of his grandfather's reign, but the king's rhetoric was undermined by the fact that his efforts to curb baronial power in the wake of two decades of civil war actually surpassed those of his grandfather, and by the narratives of contemporary historians. Wace, in particular, used the Roman de Rou (a history of Henry II's Norman ancestors, written at the king's behest) to deliver a critique of Henry II's reforms. Drawing upon his own memories and the narratives of other historians, Wace impugned the public memory of the king's grandfather, Henry I, and reminded his readers that Henry I's reign was not universally regarded as a golden age of peace and stability, and was not necessarily worthy of restoration.