Alison K. McHardy – författare

The purpose of this work is to make available sources for the study of the church in London during the last quarter of the fourteenth century. It contains three distinct groups of material. The first consists of six documents concerned with the clerical taxes of the years 1379-81. The second is an assessment of ecclesiastical property in the city of London in 1392. The third consists of the acta of William Courtenay, bishop of London 1375-81, collected from the registers of contemporary bishops, the cartularies of religious houses in the diocese and certain classes of Public Records.

These writs, previously largely unstudied, prove a rich source of information on government, law and society, as well as the churchAn extensive introduction places the writs in their historical and archival contexts, and offers suggestions for further lines of research. In English, Latin and Medieval French, the writs represent a vital source for the interaction of royal and ecclesiastical jurisdiction in later medieval England.

These writs, previously largely unstudied, prove a rich source of information on government, law and society, as well as the church.The many commands which the crown addressed to bishops represent a rich source of information about the history of government, law, and lay society, as well as about the church itself. The writs collected in this volume touch on many aspects of life in the later fourteenth century, including tax gathering, political upheaval, property disputes, Lollardy, and foreign warfare. The bishop is seen swearing in local officials, setting up commissions of enquiry,organising the attendance of the clergy in parliament, and consulting episcopal archives to answer queries from the lay courts. It also provides a vivid series of vignettes of family life among the gentry class from Yorkshire toHampshire. An extensive introduction places the writs in their historical and archival contexts, and offers suggestions for further lines of research.Dr A.K. McHARDY is the author of numerous articles about the relationsbetween crown and church in late medieval England, as well as an edition of the Clerical Poll-Taxes of the Diocese of Lincoln 1377-1381 (Lincoln Record Society, 1992)

Edition of a major, previously unpublished, source for the history of England's medieval parliament.In the Middle Ages clergy of all ranks, from archbishops to parochial clergy, sent proctors to parliament, whether as representatives of constituency groups - diocesan clergy and cathedral chapters - or substitutes for those expected to attend in person. The National Archives series SC 10 contains 2,520 surviving letters of appointments by these parliamentarians, both groups and, more especially, individuals, cathedral deans, archdeacons, and many bishops;especially valuable are the letters sent by bishops whose registers have not survived, as in the case of Chichester and of the Welsh dioceses. Most numerous of all are the letters of parliamentary abbots.This second of twovolumes presents the first printed edition of the documents, opening up a level of political activity and interaction which has hitherto been unexplored. It covers the years from the accession of Richard II until the end of the series under Henry VIII; it also includes an analysis of the proctors, and the indices to both volumes.PHIL BRADFORD gained his PhD in medieval history from the University of York and is currently Vicar of St Michael's,Worcester; ALISON K. MCHARDY was formerly Reader in Medieval English History at the University of Nottingham. She has published extensively on the relations between crown and church in late-medieval England, and on the politics of Richard II's reign.