Spouses, Siblings and Surnames: Reconstructing Families From Medieval Village Court Rolls
From the perspective of a medievalist, this work is clearly essential; most medieval people, quite simply, were peasants, and we shall better understand the histories of medieval parliaments, towns, and universities when we have successfully uncovered their rural underpinnings.
England: One Country, Two Courts
The tension created by the two-court system is an integral part of England’s administrative and constitutional history. Exactly how integral has generated a considerable amount of scholarly work, from explanations of the sources of the conflict, to how the disagreement over jurisdiction was addressed throughout the Middle Ages, to what impact the issue had in shaping England’s overall political development.
Tolling the Rhine in 1254: Complementary Monopoly Revisited
Given a demand for Rhine travel, an Emperor faced a classic complementary monopoly problem: how many toll stations to have, where to site them, and what toll to charge at each.
The Politics of Madness: Government in the Reigns of Charles VI and Henry VI
This approach is further hampered by the continually changing nature of modem psychology. Due to alterations in the criteria used for diagnoses, terms and illnesses become obsolete, thus negating our previous theories.
“Qa’idat al-Mamlakah”: Structural Changes in Taxation and Fiscal Administration during the Reign of al-Nasir Muhammad bin Qalawun
Al-Nasir Muhammad’s reign was defined by his reorganization of the tax system and investment in the agricultural infrastructure of the sultanate in a manner which fundamentally altered the economic structure of the Mamluk state.
The Church in Fourteenth-Century Iceland: Ecclesiastical Administration, Literacy, and the Formation of an Elite Clerical Identity
In what follows, therefore, I provide a detailed study of Icelandic clergy and the institutions of the Icelandic Church in the period from 1300 to 1404.
Comital Authority, Accountability and the Personnel of Comital Administration in Greater Anjou, 1129-51
This paper was part of SESSION VIII:Power & Politics in the Long Twelfth Century. It examined the charters of Geoffrey of
The Coleridge Hundred and its Medieval Court
Where possible, I have given examples of the earliest type of court documented, with examples of the type of case heard, and by whom they were heard, concentrating on the Manorial and Mayor’s Courts, which are the best documented, and whose Rolls nave been translated by the authors of my chief sources of reference.
Anglo-Saxon law and numismatics: A reassessment in the light of Patrick Wormald’s the Making of English Law
In this article, I wish to return to the references to coinage in the Anglo-Saxon laws in the light of Patrick Wormald’s important research on the laws, especially his The Making of English Law: King Alfred to the Twelfth Century, which has made this difficult evidence much more penetrable to the non-specialist.
The Fatimid and Kalbite Governors in Sicily : 909-1044
This is the second part of my investigation on the Muslim governors (or rulers) in Sicily.
Irrigation and taxation in Iraq 6th to 10th Century
Water management was crucial for agriculture in Iraq. The delicate ecological balance that allowed high soil productivity could be seriously threatened by irresponsible land administration.
Messengers in the County of Artois, 1295-1329
One of the problems with which any medieval government had to contend was communications.
Feudal Strength! Henry II and the Struggle for Royal Control in England
Henry II ruled over a vast empire that no English king before could match. Through his inheritance, military success, and political cunning he managed to wield power and influence on a level that no future medieval English monarch would.
A Reevaluation of the Impact of the Hundred Years War On The Rural Economy and Society of England
This paper seeks to examine both the positive and negative impacts of the Hundred Years War on the rural society and economy of England and to demonstrate that the overall impact of the war was not as negative as the majority of historians have previously maintained.
The Geography of the Provincial Administration of the Byzantine Empire (ca 600-1200)
The transition to the medieval thematic system of provincial administration took place at a period of time on which our level of information is extremely low.
Origins and Development of the Notariate at Ravenna (Sixth through Thirteenth Centuries)
Excluding the profession of the sword, that of the notary was among the earliest, the most self-conscious and certainly the largest in the medieval world.
The Baronage in the Reign of Richard II, 1377-1399
The usurpation of Richard II by his cousin Henry Bolingbroke in 1399 was one of the most significant events in later medieval history.
Monks, Lawyers, and the King: The Creation of Bureaucratic Careers in the Medieval English Church
Overall, during the 12th century, the church saw the rise of a bureaucratic career. In an attempt to understand the rise of bureaucratic careers in the medieval church, this chapter examines the shifting patterns of appointments to top positions within local dioceses from 1066 to 1250.
‘Ye shall disturbe noe mans right’: oath-taking and oath-breaking in late medieval and early modern Bristol
The Bristol mayor’s inauguration was commemorated by a display of civic authority and splendour which was extravagantly illustrated and entered into the city’s most famous history, The Maire of Bristowe Is Kalendar, begun by Robert Ricart in 1479. Urban ceremonies and rituals such as this have excited a great deal of scholarly interest.
The personnel of English and Welsh castles, 1272-1422
In England, the role played on the continent by the castellanies would appear to have been performed by the county castle and the sheriff, a post that remained firmly under the king’s control in all but a few counties. Instead, a more subtle link between the castle community and political power will have to be found. It will be searched for in the appointment of constables to royal castles, and in grants of ownership of castles, royal or forfeited. It may be found in the building activity that was so common in this period, or in the marriage alliances that created many of the great castle owning estates.
The fourteenth-century sheriff : English local administration in the late Middle Ages
Sheriffs were a numerically select group, but who were they? Why were they appointed? What qualities, if any, set these men apart from their peers? Prosopography, rather than procedural history, holds the key to these problems and in terms of its methodology this study owes far more to McFarlane than it does to Morris.
The Government of London and its relations with the Crown 1400 – 1450
The Aldermen and civic officials emerge as conservative, but conscientious, men who might press hardly upon minority interests, but had constantly before their eyes the needs of the City as a whole.
The Legal Framework of Divorce ‘a mensa et thoro’ and the Administration of Justice within the Low Countries
This paper discussed the divorce procedures in the Low Countries during the late middle ages and early modern period.
The Norman Conquest and Anglo-Saxon literacy
Michael Clanchy, Emeritus Professor of Medieval History at the IHR, takes a fresh look at the effects of the Norman Conquest
City Orphans and Custody Laws in Medieval England
The extent to which English towns protected children during the Middle Ages is known only in broad outline.