This collection of work studies the often neglected writers of the second half of the twelfth century in England. At this time three languages competed for recognition and prestige and carved out their own spaces, while an English-speaking populace was ruled by a French-speaking aristocracy and administered by a Latin-speaking and writing clergy.

RUTH KENNEDY is a Lecturer at Royal Holloway University of London, UK.SIMON MEECHAM-JONES is a Faculty Member of English at Cambridge University, UK.

Introduction; S.Meecham-Jones& R.Kennedy The Cultivation of History, Legend, and Courtesy at the Court of Henry II; J.Gillingham Latin and French as Languages of the Past in Normandy During the Reign of Henry II: Robert of Torigni, Stephen of Rouen, and Wace; E.van Houts An Intruder at the Feast? Anxiety and Debate in the Letters of Peter of Blois; N.Cartlidge "I Will not Stay Silent": Sovereignty and textual Identity in Walter of Chatillon's "Propter Sion non Tacebo"; S.Meecham-Jones Sex, Ghosts, and Dreams: Walter Map (1135?-1210?) and Gerald of Whales (1146-1223); T.Davenport Old English Textual Activity in the Reign of Henry II; M.Swan The Life of English in the Mid-Twelfth Century: Ralph D'Escures's Homily on the Virgin Mary; E.Treharne English Poetry of the Reign of Henry II; E.Solopova "Gloser La Lettre": Identity and Power in the Poetry of Marie De France; F. Le Saux The Meaning of Suffering: Symbolism an Antisymbolism in the Death of Tristan; L. Ashe Arthur, Emperors, and Architects: The Formation of the Arthurian Biography; J.Weiss Children of Anarchy: Anglo-Norman Romance in the Twelfth Century; R.Field