Broken Lines

The essays in this important and fascinating collection explore the genealogical literature of medieval Britain and France in relation to issues of identity, the transmission of power, and cultural, socio-political, and economic developments. By analyzing the mechanics of cultural and political inheritance and the processes of shaping a sense of identity and descent, the essays in this volume direct the reader towards a complex understanding of genealogical literature and its relationships with other genres, one which will further debate and research in these areas. The present collection presents an interdisciplinary approach to the genealogical literature of the late-medieval period, and brings together specialists in the fields of history, cultural history and literature to raise questions of gender, genre, and theoretical approaches. Broken Lines is also the first book-length study of genealogical literature to date, an exciting intervention into this emerging field of interest.

Introduction - Raluca L. Radulescu and Edward Donald Kennedy

Genealogy in Insular Romance - Raluca L. Radulescu

Prophecy, Genealogy, and History in Medieval English Political Discourse - Lesley Coote

A New Pattern for English History: The First Genealogical Rolls of the Kings of England - Olivier de Laborderie

Genealogies of Noble Families in Anglo-Norman - John Spence

Genealogies in Medieval France - Marigold Anne Norbye

Genealogy in Monastic Chronicles in England - Emilia Jamroziak

Genealogy Rewritten: Inheriting the Legendary in Insular Historiography - Matthew Fisher

Genealogy and Gentility: Social Status in Provincial England - Jon Denton

The Antiquity of Scottish Civilization: King-lists and Genealogical Chronicles - Edward Donald Kennedy

Genealogical Narratives and Kingship in Medieval Wales - Nia M. W. Powell

Narrative, Lineage, and Succession in the Anglo-Norman Prose Brut Chronicle - Julia Marvin

Genealogy and Women in the Prose Brut, Especially the Middle English Common Version and its Continuations - Lister M. Matheson

Genealogy and John Hardyng’s Verse Chronicle - Sarah L. Peverley