Richard Mortimer – författare

Richard Mortimer's book covers the reigns of Henry II, his sons Richard the Lionheart and John, and much of that of his gradson Henry III. The period was beset by constant wars with France, frequent troubles with the popes, and baronial rebellions culminating in Magna Carta. But Angevin rule also witnessed the re-establishment of a strengthened royal authority and administration, a burgeoning prosperity, the beginnings of the common law, and the foundations of universities at Oxford and Cambridge. This is not only a history of the politics of the period but of society and culture, and the interactions of the three.

Title first published in 2003. Westminster Abbey occupies a unique position in the religious and royal landscape of the United Kingdom and Commonwealth. As the scene of coronations and other great public occasions, it has been the continuing focus of the nation's religious life for half the Christian era. Yet the building itself would not have survived the upheavals of the Protestant Reformation had the institution running it not been itself 'reformed' from monastery into collegiate church. These nine studies discuss ways in which Westminster's new corporate structure evolved in the first century of its existence, and look at some of the personalities who played a part in that process. New research, much of it in the Abbey's own rich archive, opens up previously unseen views of this great church's internal affairs, its relationship with the Crown, and its place in its own locality.

Title first published in 2003. Westminster Abbey occupies a unique position in the religious and royal landscape of the United Kingdom and Commonwealth. As the scene of coronations and other great public occasions, it has been the continuing focus of the nation's religious life for half the Christian era. Yet the building itself would not have survived the upheavals of the Protestant Reformation had the institution running it not been itself 'reformed' from monastery into collegiate church. These nine studies discuss ways in which Westminster's new corporate structure evolved in the first century of its existence, and look at some of the personalities who played a part in that process. New research, much of it in the Abbey's own rich archive, opens up previously unseen views of this great church's internal affairs, its relationship with the Crown, and its place in its own locality.

The life and cult of Edward the Confessor are here fully reappraised.The millennium of Edward the Confessor's birth presents an appropriate occasion for a full-scale, up-to-date reassessment of his life, reign and cult, a reappraisal which is provided in the essays here. After an introduction to the many views of Edward's life, and a reinterpretation of the development of his cult, the volume considers his childhood in England and its influence upon his later life; the time he spent in Normandy and the relationships that developed there; and his later life, including an examination of the role played by Edith, his queen. There is also a particular focus upon Westminster Abbey, and the major new discoveries which have recently been made there. Incorporating both broad surveys and the fruits of detailed new work, this book is essential reading for all those interested in late Saxon and Norman England.CONTRIBUTORS: RICHARD MORTIMER, SIMON KEYNES, ELISABETH VAN HOUTS,STEPHEN BAXTER, PAULINE STAFFORD, ERIC FERNIE, WARWICK RODWELL, RICHARD GEM, EDINA BOZOKY

This volume focuses on remains of the Beaker period to Late Bronze Age/Early Iron Age (c. 2400–350 BC) from three multi-period developer-funded excavations on the clay uplands of Suffolk, within which four burnt mounds were investigated. The sites were excavated by Cotswold Archaeology (CA) and Suffolk Archaeology Community Interest Company (CIC) (now Cotswold Archaeology). At Marham Park (Fornham All Saints), overlooking the valley of the River Lark, features included a Beaker period burnt mound complex, a Beaker roundhouse, Beaker pits, an Early Bronze Age burnt mound complex, Middle Bronze Age field systems/enclosures and probable Late Bronze Age/Early Iron Age land division boundaries. At Laxfield, above a tributary of the River Blyth, a burnt mound site of earlier Bronze Age date was located in the vicinity of subsequent Middle Bronze Age enclosures. At Hepworth, a fragmentary Beaker period/Early Bronze Age burnt mound site was recorded on higher land above tributaries of the River Dove.

The first two volumes make available all the existing pre-Reformation charter material, the third consists of an introduction and index. Taken together the three volumes illuminate the social and economic as well as the ecclesiastical organisation of the Suffolk-Essex border in the 12th and 13th Centuries.