A Franciscan scholar and theologian, John Peckham (c.1230-92) was appointed archbishop of Canterbury by the pope in 1279. His register survives at Lambeth Palace and is the chief source for his archiepiscopacy. This three-volume edition, prepared by Charles Trice Martin (1842-1914) between 1882 and 1885, rearranges the documents from their original thematic order to a chronological one, and omits the purely formal items, published elsewhere. The text is mostly in Latin, with some Anglo-Norman documents, for which a translation is provided in Appendix 2. Volume 1 contains letters 1-305, up to July 1282, and the table of contents provides a useful summary of each letter. Topics range from purely ecclesiastical matters, such as excommunications and indulgences, to relations between Edward I and Llewellyn, Prince of Wales, as well as taxation of church property. Appendix 1 contains a collection of letters from sources other than the register.
