Kerrith Davies

Christ Church

Supervisor: Dr. George Garnett

D.Phil. Title:
The Impact of the Norman-Breton Border on the Development of Post-Conquest England and Normandy

Research Interests

My doctoral topic represents a core and periphery study that combines my love of Anglo-Norman frontiers in general with my desire to set those same border zones into the broader historical context. My efforts to chart the varied impact of my chosen region throughout the post-Conquest world give me licence to pursue several lines of research, including administrative, political, prosopographical and demographical studies, all of which appeal to my sadly somewhat antiquarian nature! I’m particularly interested in considering the more unusual edges of the Anglo-Norman regnum, e.g. my Masters projects focused on the frontier aspects of south-western England in the immediate aftermath of the Norman Conquest.

Projects and Publications

My current work focuses on completing my doctoral thesis, to which end I have presented in Oxford on some of the case studies that form part of my research, e.g. the emergence of Mortain fees in England. Similarly, I am speaking at the 28th Haskins Society Conference this November in Boston on another part of my thesis, in a paper entitled “The Count of the Cotentin: Western Normandy, William of Mortain and the Career of Henry I”, which I hope may result in a publication in the coming year.