Feminine and Effeminate: Perception of gender norms in 12th-century Anglo-Norman Historical Writing

The article examines how Anglo-Norman chroniclers of the first half of the 12th century wrote about condemned male and female behavior. The subject of study is the works of the most significant historians of the era – William of Malmesbury, John of Worcester, Henry of Huntingdon and Orderic Vitalis. The author of the article comes to the conclusion that vivid stories involving heroes whose behavior does not correspond to the normative masculine and feminine, within the framework of the historical narrative, had the purpose not only to instruct, warn and entertain readers, but also served as an important tool for explaining the turning points of the English past.