Medieval Flanders and England
For my Swiss matriculate I have to write a kind of thesis of about 4000 words. I always wanted my subject to be about the Anarchy, however, no subject I could think of was precise enough to allow me to comfortably complete the 4000 word limit. Then, when having a conversation with a Belgian friend of mine about Flemish history, it struck me. I have decided to write my thesis on "Mercenaries, merchants and moneylenders: Flemish involvement in the crown lands of the Kingdom of England in the mid-twelfth century (1130-1160)". I was therefore wondering if anyone, especially in our Belgian members, could point to any books related to the subject, namely a history of Flanders in the Middle Ages, the textile industry in Flanders during that time, links with England, and generally anything to do with Flemish "mercenaries, merchants and moneylenders" in the twelfth century.
Thank you.
Re: Medieval Flanders and England
Surely you can write 4,000 words on the Anarchy. There are whole tomes dedicated to it. But if you're going to write something about Flanders and England it seems to me that you would find it easier if you picked a different period, chiefly the Hundred Years War, if that isn't too cliche for you.
Re: Medieval Flanders and England
I wrote an essay (3600 words, could easily have been more) last year on a related subject; namely, how large was influence of English woolsanctions on the balance of power inside Flanders between 1336 and 1338 (Wool and Peace...)? It's outside your timeperiod, focusing on the period just before the Hundred Years' War and Edwards efforts to get the Low Countries on his side, so I'll just post the more general sources I used:
Allmand, C., The Hundred Years’ War, England and France at war c. 1300-c.1450 (Cambridge 1988).
Hugenholtz, F.W.N., Ridderkrijg en burgervrede, West-Europa aan de vooravond van de Honderdjarige-Oorlog (Haarlem 1978).
Lopez, R.S., The commercial revolution of the Middle Ages, 950-1350 (Cambridge 1976).
Lucas, H.S., The Low Countries and the Hundred Years’ War, 1326-1347 (Philadelphia 1976).
Miskimin, H.A., The economy of early Renaissance Europe, 1300-1460 (Cambridge 1975).
Pounds, N.J.G., An economic history of Medieval Europe (London 1994).
TeBrake, W., A plague of insurrection: popular politics and peasant revolt in Flanders, 1323-1328 (Philadelphia 1993).
I think there's quite a large amount of literature in the uni library I could access quite easily, so let me know if you need assistence.