This is an invaluable survey of the most influential theoretical approaches adopted for the study of medieval economy and society. It offers a readily intelligible introduction to medieval economic history, an up-to-date critique of established models, and a succinct treatise on historiographical method, and will be essential reading for graduate students and historians of medieval and early modern England.

Suffolk was one of the most important regions of England in the middle ages. Even by 1200 it was wealthy, densely populated, highly commercialised and urbanised; and it survived the impact of three of the most tumultuous events of the last millennium, the Great Famine (1315-22), the Black Death (1349) and the Peasants' Revolt (1381), to become by 1500 one of the richest and most industrialised regions of England, based on cloth manufacture, fishing and tanning. This first volume in a series which will become the definitive History of Suffolk describes, documents and analyses these events. It combines an accessible and readable summary of the current state of knowledge with fresh insights drawn from extensive investigations of primary sources. Overall, it offers a guide to and re-evaluation of the history of late medieval Suffolk. MARK BAILEY is Senior Visiting Lecturer at the University of Leeds and Headmaster of The Grammar School at Leeds.

John Gower's poetry offers an important and immediate response to the turbulent events of his day. The essays here examine his life and his works from an historical angle, bringing out fresh new insights. The late fourteenth century was the age of the Black Death, the Peasants' Revolt, the Hundred Years War, the deposition of Richard II, the papal schism and the emergence of the heretical doctrines of John Wyclif and the Lollards. These social, political and religious crises and conflicts were addressed not only by preachers and by those involved in public affairs but also by poets, including Chaucer and Langland. Above all, though, it is in the verse of John Gower that we find the most direct engagement with contemporary events. Yet, surprisingly, few historians have examined Gower's responses to these events or have studied the broader moral and philosophical outlook which he used to make sense of them. Here, a number of eminent medievalists seek to demonstrate what historians can add to our understanding of Gower's poetry and his ideas about society (the nobility and chivalry, the peasants and the 1381 revolt, urban life and the law), the Church (the clergy, papacy, Lollardy, monasticism, and the friars) gender (masculinity and women and power), politics (political theory and the deposition of Richard II) and science and astronomy. The book also offers an important reassessment of Gower's biography based on newly-discovered primary sources. STEPHEN RIGBY is Emeritus Professor of Medieval Social and Economic History at the University of Manchester; SIAN ECHARD is Professor of English, University of British Columbia. Contributors: Mark Bailey, Michael Bennett, Martha Carlin, James Davis, Seb Falk, Christopher Fletcher, David Green, David Lepine, Martin Heale, Katherine Lewis, Anthony Musson, Stephen Rigby, Jens Röhrkasten.

Provides a comprehensive introduction and essential guide to one of the most important institutions in medieval England and to its substantial archive. This is the first book to offer a detailed explanation of the form, structure and evolution of the manor and its records. Offers translations of, and commentaries upon, each category of document to illustrate their main features. Examples of each category of record are provided in translation, followed by shorter extracts selected to illustrate interesting, commonly occurring, or complex features. A valuable source of reference for undergraduates wishing to understand the sources which underpin the majority of research on the medieval economy and society. -- .

The 650th anniversary of the foundation of Wingfield College was the occasion for a special two-day symposium marking the culmination of a three-year UEA-funded research project into the college and castle. The building projects of the late medieval aristocracy focused on their homes and the monasteries, churches or chantry foundations under their patronage where their family were buried and commemorated. This commemoration allowed a visual celebration of their achievements, status and lineage, the scale and prestige of which reflected on the fortunes of the family as a whole. Wingfield is explored in the context of both the actual building of the castle, chantry chapel and the college, and that of the symbolic function of these as a demonstration ion of aristocratic status. The contributions to this book examine many topics which have hitherto been neglected, such as the archaeology of the castle, which had never been excavated, the complex history of the college's architecture, and the detailed study of the monuments in the church. The latest techniques are used to reconstruct the college and castle, with a DVD to demonstrate these. And the context of the family and its fortunes are explored in chapters on the place of the de la Poles in fifteenth century history, as soldiers, administrators and potential claimants to the throne.

An exciting, fresh look at one of the most important questions of medieval scholarship - the decline of serfdom and its implications. Scholars from various disciplines have long debated why western Europe in general, and England in particular, led the transition from feudalism to capitalism. The decline of serfdom between c.1300 and c.1500 in England is centralto this "Transition Debate", because it transformed the lives of ordinary people and opened up the markets in land and labour. Yet, despite its historical importance, there has been no major survey or reassessment of decline of serfdom for decades. Consequently, the debate over its causes, and its legacy to early modern England, remains unresolved. This dazzling study provides an accessible and up-to-date survey of the decline of serfdom in England, applying a new methodology for establishing both its chronology and causes to thousands of court rolls from 38 manors located across the south Midlands and East Anglia. It presents a ground-breaking reassessment, challenging many of the traditional interpretations of the economy and society of late-medieval England, and, indeed, of the very nature of serfdom itself. Mark Bailey is High Master of St Paul's School, and Professor of Later Medieval History at the University of East Anglia. He has published extensively on the economic and social history of England between c.1200 and c.1500, including Medieval Suffolk (2007).

An exciting, fresh look at one of the most important questions of medieval scholarship - the decline of serfdom and its implications. Scholars from various disciplines have long debated why western Europe in general, and England in particular, led the transition from feudalism to capitalism. The decline of serfdom between c.1300 and c.1500 in England is centralto this "Transition Debate", because it transformed the lives of ordinary people and opened up the markets in land and labour. Yet, despite its historical importance, there has been no major survey or reassessment of decline of serfdom for decades. Consequently, the debate over its causes, and its legacy to early modern England, remains unresolved. This dazzling study provides an accessible and up-to-date survey of the decline of serfdom in England, applying a new methodology for establishing both its chronology and causes to thousands of court rolls from 38 manors located across the south Midlands and East Anglia. It presents a ground-breaking reassessment, challenging many of the traditional interpretations of the economy and society of late-medieval England, and, indeed, of the very nature of serfdom itself. Mark Bailey is High Master of St Paul's School, and Professor of Later Medieval History at the University of East Anglia. He has published extensively on the economic and social history of England between c.1200 and c.1500, including Medieval Suffolk (2007).

John Gower's poetry offers an important and immediate response to the turbulent events of his day. The essays here examine his life and his works from an historical angle, bringing out fresh new insights. The late fourteenth century was the age of the Black Death, the Peasants' Revolt, the Hundred Years War, the deposition of Richard II, the papal schism and the emergence of the heretical doctrines of John Wyclif and the Lollards. These social, political and religious crises and conflicts were addressed not only by preachers and by those involved in public affairs but also by poets, including Chaucer and Langland. Above all, though, it is in the verse of John Gower that we find the most direct engagement with contemporary events. Yet, surprisingly, few historians have examined Gower's responses to these events or have studied the broader moral and philosophical outlook which he used to make sense of them. Here, a number of eminent medievalists seek to demonstrate what historians can add to our understanding of Gower's poetry and his ideas about society (the nobility and chivalry, the peasants and the 1381 revolt, urban life and the law), the Church (the clergy, papacy, Lollardy, monasticism, and the friars) gender (masculinity and women and power), politics (political theory and the deposition of Richard II) and science and astronomy. The book also offers an important reassessment of Gower's biography based on newly-discovered primary sources. STEPHEN RIGBY is Emeritus Professor of Medieval Social and Economic History at the University of Manchester; SIAN ECHARD is Professor of English, University of British Columbia. Contributors: Mark Bailey, Michael Bennett, Martha Carlin, James Davis, Seb Falk, Christopher Fletcher, David Green, David Lepine, Martin Heale, Katherine Lewis, Anthony Musson, Stephen Rigby, Jens Roehrkasten.

The first volume in what will become the definitive history of Suffolk looks at how the county survived the three most tumultuous events of the period, the Great Famine, the Black Death and the Peasants' Revolt, to emerge as one of the richest English regions. The late middle ages were without doubt the most interesting period in Suffolk's history. By the end of the eleventh century Suffolk was wealthy, densely populated, highly commercialised and urbanised; in the fourteenth century its people faced three of the most tumultuous events of the last millennium, the Great Famine (1315-22), the Black Death (1349) and the Peasants' Revolt (1381). Their response was flexible and innovative, because by 1500 Suffolk was one of the richest and most industrialised regions of England, with a strong economy based on cloth manufacture, fishing, dairying and tanning.

The Black Death of 1348-9 is the most catastrophic event and worst pandemic in recorded history. After the Black Death offers a major reinterpretation of its immediate impact and longer-term consequences in England. After the Black Death reassesses the established scholarship on the impact of plague on fourteenth-century England and draws upon original research into primary sources to offer a major re-interpretation of the subject. It studies how the government reacted to the crisis, and how communities adapted in its wake. It places the pandemic within the wider context of extreme weather and epidemiological events, the institutional framework of markets and serfdom, and the role of law in reducing risks and conditioning behaviour. The government's response to the Black Death is reconsidered in order to cast new light on the Peasants' Revolt of 1381. By 1400, the effects of plague had resulted in major changes to the structure of society and the economy, creating the pre-conditions for England's role in the Little Divergence (whereby economic performance in parts of north western Europe began to move decisively ahead of the rest of the continent). After the Black Death explores in detail how a major pandemic transformed society, and, in doing so, elevates the third quarter of the fourteenth century from a little-understood paradox to a critical period of profound and irreversible change in English and global history.

A theory of the margin has long featured in the work of medieval historians. Marginal regions are taken to be those of poor soil or geographical remoteness, where farmers experienced particular difficulties in grain production. It is argued that such regions were cultivated only when demographic pressure intensified in the thirteenth century, but that a combination of soil exhaustion and demographic decline resulted in severe economic contraction by the end of the fourteenth century. Marginal regions are seen not just as sensitive barometers of economic change but as important catalysts in that change. Despite the importance placed by historians on the general theory of the margin, this book represents the first detailed study of a 'marginal region'. It focuses upon East Anglian Breckland, whose blowing sands are among the most barren soils in lowland England. Drawing upon a wide range of sources, this study reconstructs Breckland's late medieval economy, and shows it to be more diversified and resilient than the stereotype depicted in marginal theory.

In the spirit of David McCullough's Brave Companions, this anthology of popular American history presents the stories of nine incredible Irish immigrants as written by nine contemporary Irish Americans. Rosie O'Donnell, for instance, the adoptive mother of five, tells the story of Margaret Haughery, known as "Mother of the Orphans"; filmmaker and activist Michael Moore writes about the original muckraking journalist, Samuel McClure; and celebrated actor Pierce Brosnan writes about silent film director Rex Ingram. Some of the figures profiled are well known, others have stories that are less often told; all are inspiring. Compelling history mixed with moving and personal reflection, this collection of portraits is at once uniquely intimate and surprisingly immediate. More than one in ten Americans claims Irish ancestry and, with its celebrity contributors, Nine Irish Lives will have strong appeal for those readers. It is also, though, a timely portrait of shared humanity. These are stories about immigrants - and in the tales of revolutionaries and visionaries, caretakers and unsung heroes, Nine Irish Lives reminds us of the values and the people that have shaped America.

This is an invaluable survey of the most influential theoretical approaches adopted for the study of medieval economy and society. It offers a readily intelligible introduction to medieval economic history, an up-to-date critique of established models, and a succinct treatise on historiographical method, and will be essential reading for graduate students and historians of medieval and early modern England.

All aerial plant surfaces, including leaves, stems and flowers are inhabited by diverse assemblages of microorganisms, including filamentous fungi, yeasts, bacteria, and bacteriophages. These organisms have profound effects on plant health and thus impact on ecosystem and agricultural functions. This book is based on proceedings from the 8th International Symposium on the mircobiology of aerial plant surfaces, held in Oxford 2005. This is a five-yearly conference which brings together international scientists and provides a unique opportunity to discuss developments in this field.