Alison K. McHardy - Böcker

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)

Petitions are vital sources for our knowledge of life in the middle ages. A selection is presented here with English summaries, notes, and introduction.Through the petitions which they addressed to the crown the people of medieval England speak to us directly: the human interest stories they reveal are perhaps the nearest thing to local newspapers which the middle ages have leftus. Petitions were the subject's last resort when normal channels of law and government had failed, and offered kings the opportunity to exercise qualities of generosity, compassion, and sound judgment. However, despite their importance, they have not hitherto been recognized as a source for ecclesiastical history, a gap which this volume rectifies. A selection of over 200 cases shows the religious of medieval England taking full advantage of this mechanism, petitioning as landowners, neighbours, citizens, individuals, and religious orders. The subjects covered range from requests for tax rebates, and complaints about royal officials, to disputes with tenants, with townsmen, monastic rivals, and ecclesiastical superiors. National politics and international warfare are also represented, as are coastal erosion, and higher education. English summaries, explanatory notes and an extensive introduction enhance the reader's appreciation of this rich and remarkable resource.Dr Gwilym Dodd is Lecturer in History at the University of Nottingham, where Dr Alison K. McHardy also taught until her retirement.