This book provides a ‘how to’ guide to studying eleventh-century Norman charters, to enable readers to develop a confident command of this material, inviting them to explore the possibilities these documents have for their historical studies.

The first part introduces these documents and how they developed, including the different types of charters. It describes the sub-disciplines used to examine and analyse charters, how these specialties have developed, with modern technology transforming the level of knowledge that can be gained. The second part takes readers through two case studies showing how charter information can be used to study society from local community level and regional level spatial perspectives. The case studies are designed to demonstrate how charters can be analysed to show the interconnectedness of people and places, from the elite to the local dimension of everyday small community life, bringing to light multi-layered connections, networks and unexpected associations to make sense of the past.

Approaching Norman Charters stands as an essential reference point for students and scholars of medieval Norman history, particularly those working with original charter material/archival sources from this period for the first time.