After some weeks of distraction it is comforting to be able to open up the next phase in my Bevis research. I know now that there are at least 2 papers to be worked on, and the first will be to explore the reason for the name of Southampton. It is a complicated process, requiring research into areas of history that do not seem to have been investigated before.
The matter of names has already informed my earlier research and resulted in my small article on the name of ‘Boeve’ in Notes and Queries. The name of Southampton has long been accepted as the name of the hero’s patrimony, but the establishment of the reasons for this to be the case do not seem to have been investigated, but once again the research is taking me back to look at the Anglo-Norman Boeve. The reason for its transmission into the Middle English Bevis could be simple, but in fact I believe there is more historical context to be researched in order to understand that transmission in its fullest form, but that is a matter for the second research paper. There is more than enough to be done on phase 1, especially as my research will take me into new areas which will require understanding of matters such as the influence of the Templars.
Sir Bevis of Hampton - Local Hero 