It is well known that political, economic, and social power in the British Isles in the Middle Ages lay in the hands of a small group of lords. In his final book, the late Rees Davies explores the personalities of these magnates, the nature of their lordship, and the ways in which it was expressed in a diverse and divided region in this period.

• Editor's Introduction


• Apologia


• 1: The Higher Aristocracy: Identity and Memory


• 2: Display and Magnificence


• 3: The Lord at Home


• 4: The Lord at War


• 5: Land, Family, and Marriage


• 6: The Sinews of Aristocratic Power


• 7: The Agencies and Agents of Lordship


• 8: Dependence, Service, and Reward


• Bibliography