'Ottonians with Pipe Rolls'? Political Culture and Performance in the Kingdom of the English, c.900- c.1050.

An essay which explores how ritual and performance were an integral part of the political culture of the English kingdom and highlights the ritual dimension of Anglo-Saxon charters of the 10th and 11th centuries in terms of their use and in the circumstances surrounding their production, is presented. Topics covered include the importance of staged occasions which symbolically presented English royal power and the element of ritual in the structuring of English kingship.