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Of all the activities of the most neglected century in English
History, England's tradce has received the least attention in
proportion to its importance. It was obviously in the course of the
later Middle Ages, and more particularly in the fifteenth century,
that there took place the great transformation from medieval
England, isolated and intensely local, to the England of the Tudor
and Stuart age, with its world-wide connections and imperial
designs. It was during the same period that most of the forms of
international trade characteristic of the Middle Ages were replaced
by new methods of commercial organization and regulation, national
in scope and at times definitely nationalistic in object, and that
a marked movement towards capitalist methods and principles took
place in the sphere of domestic trade. Yet little has been written
concerning English trade in this period.
First published in 1933, this classic volume goes a long way to
fills this gap superbly. There is an abundance of material, and the
writers have compiled a statistical analysis of the Enrolled
Customs Account from 1377-1482, which provides an essential measure
of the nature, volume, and movement of English foreign commerce
during the period.
First published between 1926-1931, with the invaluable addition of
introductions and explanatory notes, maps and appendices, this
series makes available in English inaccessible texts of travel from
around the globe. 'The variety of the Broadway Travellers becomes
more remarkable and refreshing with every new addition to the
series. It is possible to range from Bristol to Darien, from China
to Peru and to pick a Puritan, a Moslem, a Jesuit or a footman for
one's guide. The English denounce the Spanish, the Spanish watch
the French, and the Portuguese fight the Dutch. The drama of the
three great centuries of discovery - the fifteenth, sixteenth and
seventeenth - are revealed by the shrewdest of observers' - The New
Statesman.
Of all the activities of the most neglected century in English
History, England's trade has received the least attention in
proportion to its importance. It was obviously in the course of the
later Middle Ages, and more particularly in the fifteenth century,
that there took place the great transformation from medieval
England, isolated and intensely local, to the England of the Tudor
and Stuart age, with its world-wide connections and imperial
designs. It was during the same period that most of the forms of
international trade characteristic of the Middle Ages were replaced
by new methods of commercial organization and regulation, national
in scope and at times definitely nationalistic in object, and that
a marked movement towards capitalist methods and principles took
place in the sphere of domestic trade. Yet little has been written
concerning English trade in this period. First published in 1933,
this classic volume goes a long way to fills this gap superbly.
There is an abundance of material, and the writers have compiled a
statistical analysis of the Enrolled Customs Account from
1377-1482, which provides an essential measure of the nature,
volume, and movement of English foreign commerce during the period.
First published in 1928, the studies in this book illustrate the
lives of children within various different times and social
contexts. Created following the enthusiastic response which greeted
the original Boys and Girls of History, this volume concentrates on
the period subsequent to the Middle Ages in the history of Britain
and home and overseas. As with the original, reconstructions of
daily life are used as a means of avoiding the generalised tone
employed in many historical accounts, the aim being to develop the
young reader's knowledge through a sense of empathy with the
figures being described. Highly readable, and containing a large
number of beautiful illustrations, the text was again co-authored
by the renowned historian Eileen Power, together with her sister
Rhoda Power. It will be of value to anyone with an interest in
early twentieth-century history books for young readers.
A first-hand view of life in medieval France, as seen through the
eyes of an elderly man instructing his young wife. The Goodman of
Paris (Le Menagier de Paris) wrote this book for the instruction of
his young wife around 1393. He was a wealthy and learned man, a
member of that enlightened haute bourgeoisie upon which the French
monarchy was coming to lean with increasing confidence. When he
wrote his Treatise he was at least sixty but had recently married a
young wife some forty years his junior. It fell to her to make his
declining years comfortable,but it was his task to make it easy for
her to do so. The first part deals with her religious and moral
duties: as well as giving a unique picture of the medieval view of
wifely behaviour it is illustrated by a series of storiesdrawn from
the Goodman's extensive reading and personal experience. In the
second part he turns from theory to practice and from soul to body,
compiling the most exhaustive treatise on household management
which has come downto us from the middle ages. Gardening, hiring of
servants, the purchase and preparation of food are all covered,
culminating in a detailed and elaborate cookery book. Sadly the
author died before he could complete the third section on hawking,
games and riddles. This unique glimpse of medieval domestic life
presents a worldly, dignified and compelling picture in the words
of a man of sensibility and substance. The distinguished historian
EILEEN POWER was Professor of Economic History at the University of
Cambridge.
Originally published in 1926, the studies in this book illustrate
the lives of English children in different historical periods and
social contexts. Reconstructions of daily life are used as a means
of avoiding the generalised tone employed in many historical
accounts, the aim being to develop the young reader's knowledge
through a sense of empathy with the figures being described. These
figures are a mixture of fictional and real, but all have the basic
function of conveying the atmosphere of their age. Highly readable,
and containing a large number of beautiful illustrations, the text
was co-authored by the renowned medieval historian Eileen Power,
together with her sister Rhoda Power. It will be of value to anyone
with an interest in early twentieth-century history books for young
readers.
Eileen Power, best known for her posthumously published Medieval
Women, was one of the foremost scholars of medieval economic and
social history in the first half of the twentieth century. This
1922 work is a substantial study of medieval English nunneries
between 1275 and 1535. Power examines in depth who entered the
convents, how they were organised, their finances, activities and
problems. Although medieval nunneries were significantly poorer and
less well documented than the monastic houses, Power uses the
available sources to build up a multifaceted picture of medieval
life. Her arguments are firmly rooted in documentary evidence, but
are presented in an extremely accessible and engaging style. The
book reveals that convent life was not particularly ascetic or
learned, and that in poorer houses the nuns had to find additional
sources of income. Power's account of their methods of coping makes
fascinating reading.
Throughout her career as a medieval historian, Eileen Power was
engaged on a book about women in the Middle Ages. She did not live
to write the book but some of the material she collected found its
way into her popular lectures on medieval women. These lectures
were brought together and edited by M. M. Postan. They reveal the
world in which women lived, were educated, worked and worshipped.
Power gives a vivid account of the worlds of the lady, the peasant,
the townswoman and the nun. The result is a historical yet intimate
picture of a period gone by yet with resonances for today. An
intimate portrait of the writer and social historian, by Maxine
Berg, is also included.
There is only too much truth in the frequent complaint that
history, as compared with the physical sciences, is neglected by
the modern public. But historians have the remedy in their own
hands; choosing problems of equal importance to those of the
scientist, and treating them with equal accuracy, they will command
equal attention. Those who insist that the proportion of accurately
ascertainable facts is smaller in history, and therefore the room
for speculation wider, do not thereby establish any essential
distinction between truth-seeking in history and truth-seeking in
chemistry. The historian, whatever be his subject, is as definitely
bound as the chemist "to proclaim certainties as certain,
falsehoods as false, and uncertainties as dubious." Those are the
words, not of a modern scientist, but of the seventeenth century
monk, Jean Mabillon; they sum up his literary profession of faith.
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