Social identity is a concept of increasing importance in the social sciences. Here, the concept is applied to the often atheoretical realm of medieval studies. Each contributor focuses on a particular topic of early medieval identity -- ethnicity, national identity, social location, subjectivity/personhood, political organization, kinship, the body, gender, age, proximity/regionality, memory, and ideological systems. The result is a pioneering vision of medieval social identity and a challenge to some of the received general wisdoms about this period.