This introductory text details the process of colonization that followed the Norman Conquest, an event which defined much of the history of England over the next 150 years, structurally altering the distribution of land and power in society.

The process of colonisation that followed the Norman Conquest defined much of the history of England over the next 150 years, structurally altering the distribution of land and power in society. This theme is defined in a previously unpublished lecture on Colonial England, given in 1994, but it runs through all the sixteen essays in this collection. J.C. Holt's subjects include Domesday Book, the establishment of knight-service, aristocratic structures and nomenclature, the relation of family to property, security of title and inheritance, among other matters. He comments on the work of Maitland, Round and Stenton and ends with studies of the treaty of Winchester (1153), the rasus regis, and Magna Carta.