This volume examines the aristocracy in Tuscany and in England across a period of two and a half centuries (1000-1250). It deals first with Tuscany, tracing the history of the aristocracy and illustrating its nature and evolution, and observing aristocratic behaviour and attitudes, and howaristocrats related to other members of society. Peter Coss then examines the history of England in the same periods. It is not, however, a comparative history, but employs Italian insights to look at the aristocracy in England and to move away from the traditional interpretation which revolvesaround Magna Carta and the idea of English exceptionalism. By offering a study of the aristocracy across a wide time-frame and with themes drawn from Italian historiography, Coss offers a new approach to studying aristocracy within its own contexts.