Stories of injustice, feuding, chicanery and natural disasters told through the words of Lincolnshire people in the Middle Ages. When the normal channels for righting wrongs or asking favours were unavailable, the people of medieval England petitioned their kings - in parliament, council, or chancery. Lincolnshire's inhabitants took full advantage of these opportunities, and their stories are told now through their petitions drawn from The National Archives, edited here. Throughout the county, over three centuries, Lincolnshire's petitioners sought redress for their wrongs or requested special favours. Petitions were presented by all sections of society: men and women, aristocrats, peasants, merchants, townsmen, bishops, abbots, and other clergy. Their stories illuminate political turmoil, religious and economic change, and the influence of geography. They also show vividly how Lincolnshire's experience was part of the national, and even international, story. The introduction to this volume sets the documents within England's administrative, legal, political, economic and social framework, and is followed by the texts of almost 200 petitions. These were selected from a much greater possible number for their interest and variety; and each is enhanced by extensive notes

The Cartulary of Beauchief Abbey, here published for the first time with a full historical introduction and English summaries of all the Latin and French charters, is an invaluable resource for the study of relationships between a small community of regular canons with a large outreach in the English Midlands in the late Middle Ages. Over two hundred charters and a wide range of other sources show in considerable and valuable detail how the canons of Beauchief, although they belonged to a monastic order and led a life of withdrawal from the world, nonetheless engaged successfully with numerous benefactors in contributing, by active management of properties and parishes, to the promotion of religious life in town and country as well as to long-lasting developments in farming and industry. This book underlines the increasing recognition of the historical importance of regular canons in late medieval England.