Medieval England New Test 3

Early Medieval Designs from Britain–Part III

Marie de Frances’s “Lays” and “Fables”

This manuscript is an important one because it is the only manuscript to contain both the Lays (also known as the Lais) and the Fables. The Fables are short tales based on the fables of the Greek story-teller Aesop (c. 620–564 BCE).

Above: Detail of door surround from Saint Mary and Saint David, Kilpeck, Herefordshire. From the 12th century. Below: Ivory panel, School of Herfordshire, Victoria and Albert Museum. 12th century.

The Anglo-Normans (Norman: Anglo-Normaunds, Old English: Engel-Norðmandisca) were the medieval ruling class in England, composed mainly of a combination of francized ethnic Anglo-Saxons, Normans, Northern French, Flemings, and Bretons, following the Norman conquest. A small number of Normans had earlier befriended future Anglo-Saxon king of England, Edward the Confessor, during his exile in his mother’s homeland of Normandy in northern France. When he returned to England, some of them went with him; as such, there were Normans already settled in England prior to the conquest. Edward’s successor, Harold Godwinson, was defeated by Duke William the Conqueror of Normandy at the Battle of Hastings, leading to William’s accession to the English throne.