Settlement and society in north-east Yorkshire A.D. 400 - 1200

Abstract

This thesis is a broadly based study of settlement and society in North-East Yorkshire between the end of the Roman period and cl200, when the long-term effects of the Norman Conquest had became apparent. The work embraces three inter-related disciplines; documentary history, archaeology and historical geography. Chapters 1-7 dealing with settlement, concentrate on historical geography. Chapters 8-17 covering social and political history, on documentary history, archaeology and place-name studies. The history and role of the region’s monasteries (Chapers 18-20) is approached through history and archaeology. The necessity of integrating approaches is stressed throughout. The broad conclusions stress the impossibility of dividing the period into watertight compartments and show that the processes of change are evolutionary rather than catastrophic, political changes tending to alter the pace and direction of development rather than completely destroying which had gone before. The study points to further academic disciplines, particularly study of the environment and 'use in then 'historic period of methods recently developed by Prehistorians.