ABSTRACT
This chapter describes the experiences of three Norman-Edge familie, Soules, Umfraville and Vieuxpont, over the longue duree and, in one case, over the very longue duree. For during the late twelfth and early thirteenth centuries the local importance of old, pre-Norman, families was eroded to such a degree that we must question how far this society was patterned by a culture of common interests and values. Accordingly, when the Vieuxponts arrived on the scene in the 1170s they also mixed with men such as Thomas son of Cospatric, lord of Shap, Torphin grandson of Cospi, lord of Waitby and Warcop, and Torphin son of Uhtred, lord of Crosby Ravensworth and Tebay, not to mention lesser native landholders such as Gamel of Hackthorpe, Gamel of Tebay and Uhtred of Sockbridge. The three lords just named were not only prominent in the region and its affairs; they were also significant figures elsewhere in northern England.
