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English Political Culture in the Fifteenth Century is a new and original study of how politics worked in late medieval England, throwing new light on a much-discussed period in English history. Michael Hicks explores the standards, values and principles that motivated contemporary politicians, and the aspirations and interests of both dukes and peasants alike. Hicks argues that the Wars of the Roses did not result from fundamental weaknesses in the political system but from the collision of exceptional circumstances that quickly passed away. Overall, he shows that the era was one of stability and harmony, and that there were effective mechanisms for keeping the peace. Structure and continuities, Hicks argues, were more prominent than change.
Memorable not for his life but his death, Edward V is probably
better known as one of the Princes in the Tower, the supposed
victim of his uncle, Richard III. This work presents to us the
backdrop to this tragically short life - and reveals how he was
both the hope of a dynasty and an integral cause of that dynasty's
collapse.
English Political Culture in the Fifteenth Century is a new and original study of how politics worked in late medieval England, throwing new light on a much-discussed period in English history. Michael Hicks explores the standards, values and principles that motivated contemporary politicians, and the aspirations and interests of both dukes and peasants alike. Hicks argues that the Wars of the Roses did not result from fundamental weaknesses in the political system but from the collision of exceptional circumstances that quickly passed away. Overall, he shows that the era was one of stability and harmony, and that there were effective mechanisms for keeping the peace. Structure and continuities, Hicks argues, were more prominent than change.
Essays exploring the potential of the Inquisitions post mortem to
shed important new light on the medieval world. The Inquisitions
post mortem (IPMs) are a truly wonderful source for many different
aspects of late medieval countryside and rural life. They have
recently been made digitally accessible and interrogatable by the
Mappingthe Medieval Countryside project, and the first fruits of
these developments are presented here. The chapters examine IPMs in
connection with the landscape and topography of England, in
particular markets and fairs and mills;and consider the utility of
proofs of age for everyday life on such topics as the Church,
retaining, and the wine trade. MICHAEL HICKS is Emeritus Professor
of Medieval History at the University of Winchester. Contributors:
Katie A. Clarke, William S. Deller, Paul Dryburgh, Christopher
Dyer, Janette Garrett, Michael Hicks, Matthew Holford, Gordon
McKelvie, Stephen Mileson, Simon Payling, Matthew Tompkins,
Jennifer Ward.
Five centuries have passed since Richard III was King of England.
He reigned for just two years. Then retribution swept away his
throne, his life, his dynasty and, above all, his reputation. He
has been vilified as a murderer and a monster. It is through
Shakespeare's portrayal that subsequent generations knew Richard
III as an evil king. Then, in this century, Richard III has found
his advocates: those who regard him as more sinned against than
sinning. The process of rehabilitation has begun. This study by an
acclaimed scholar of Richard III strips away the legends,
propaganda and the posturing of the centuries and rescues Richard
from his critics and supporters alike and, by revealing
contemporary evidence and attitudes, recreates the world of
Ricardian politics and ideo logical warfare, and seeks to explain
Richard's bewildering transformation in his own lifetime from the
model of nobility, via kingship, to tyrant and monster.
The Wars of the Roses were quarrels within the Plantagenet family,
of which Richard's dynasty, the House of York, was one branch. They
were about family trees - the capacity of family relationships both
to unite and to divide - and notoriously about the slaughter of
cousins, in-laws, brothers, and nephews. The House of York won the
first war, with Richard's elder brother becoming king as Edward IV.
The 1460s are about the explosion of King Edward IV's family - his
brothers (including Richard), his wife and in-laws, and his own
offspring - and end in a trial of strength between them. The 1470s
are about a second explosion of the House of York, its division
into separate nuclear families competing against each other, about
the kings' preferences, and in 1483 a sudden violent resolution
following Edward IV's death. Richard III claimed to be his
brother's heir. The Yorkist establishment refused and shared in
Richard's destruction. With the recent discovery of Richard III's
skeleton, Professor Michael Hicks, described by BBC HISTORY
MAGAZINE as 'the greatest living expert on Richard III', reassesses
the family ties and entrails of his wayward and violent family.
Many thousands of descendants of Richard's siblings survive, some
more interested in their lineage than others, and the book will
conclude with an analysis of Richard's DNA and his 'family' as it
exists today.
Anne Neville was queen to England's most notorious king, Richard
III. She was immortalised by Shakespeare for the remarkable nature
of her marriage, a union which brought together a sorrowing widow
with her husband's murderer. Anne's misfortune did not end there.
In addition to killing her first husband, Richard also helped kill
her father, father-in-law and brother-in-law, imprisoned her
mother, and was suspected of poisoning Anne herself. Dying before
the age of thirty, Anne Neville packed into her short life incident
enough for many adventurous careers, but was always, apparently,
the passive instrument of others' evil intentions. This fascinating
new biography seeks to tell the story of Anne's life in her own
right, and uncovers the real wife of Richard III by charting the
remarkable twists and turns of her fraught and ultimately tragic
life
An "excellent new biography" (Keith Thomas, New York Review of
Books) of the wily and formidable prince who unexpectedly became
monarch-the most infamous king in British history "An intricately
detailed account of Richard's every recorded move on his journey
from younger son of the powerful Duke of York to the last of
England's mediaeval monarchs."-Mark Jones, Albion Magazine The
reign of Richard III, the last Yorkist king and the final monarch
of the Plantagenet dynasty, marked a turning point in British
history. But despite his lasting legacy, Richard only ruled as king
for the final two years of his life. While much attention has been
given to his short reign, Michael Hicks explores the whole of
Richard's fascinating life and traces the unfolding of his
character and career from his early years as the son of a duke to
his violent death at the battle of Bosworth. Hicks explores how
Richard-villainized for his imprisonment and probable killing of
the princes-applied his experience to overcome numerous setbacks
and adversaries. Richard proves a complex, conflicted individual
whose Machiavellian tact and strategic foresight won him a kingdom.
He was a reformer who planned big changes, but lost the opportunity
to fulfill them and to retain his crown.
A valuable resource on the social and economic life of medieval
England Inquisitions post mortem are the single most important
source for the history of medieval English landed society and are
indispensable to social, economic, and political historians of the
later middle ages; they were compiled with the help of jurors from
the area, as a county-by-county record of a deceased individual's
land-holdings and associated rights, where the individual held land
directly of the crown. It is this explicit connection with land and
locality - in economic, social, political, and topographical terms
- that makes these documents of such comprehensive interest. This
volume calendars the inquisitions and related documents from the
short reigns of Edward V and Richard III, from the protectorate to
the battle of Bosworth (1483-1485). It looks at 101 individuals
across 181 inquisitions and includes valuable information and
detailed returns on the estates of the greater aristocracy, among
them Henry Bourchier, earl of Essex and William Lord Hastings [d.
1483], alongside lesser landholders, jurors' names and full
manorial extents. The volume incorporates not only inquisitions
post mortem but also assignments of dower and a proof of age from
across the counties of England and the Marches of Wales. It is
especially rich in inquisitions relating to the lands of the royal
justices and widowed dowagers and documents how many landholders
had conveyed lands to trustees, thus escaping royal wardship and
prompting remedial legislation by Richard's parliament. Standard
information includes medieval descriptions of towns and villages
and the charting of land and its descent at all social levels. The
volume also provides comprehensive indexes of jurors, persons,
places, and subjects.
The Wars of the Roses (1455-85) were a major turning point in
English history. But the underlying causes for the successive
upheavals have been hotly contested by historians ever since. In
this original and stimulating new synthesis, distinguished
historian Michael Hicks examines the difficult economic, military,
and financial crises and explains, for the first time, the real
reasons why the Wars of the Roses began, why they kept recurring,
and why, eventually, they ceased. Alongside fresh assessments of
key personalities, Hicks sheds new light on the significance of the
involvement of the people in politics, the intervention of foreign
powers in English affairs, and a fifteenth-century credit crunch.
Combining a meticulous dissection of competing dynamics with a
clear account of the course of events, this is a definitive and
indispensable history of a compelling, complex period.
The Southampton brokage books are the best source for English
inland trade before modern times . Internal trade always matched
overseas trade. Between 1430 and 1540 the brokage series records
all departures through Southampton's Bargate, the owner, carter,
commodity, quantity, destination and date, and many deliveries too.
Twelve such years make up the database that illuminates
Southampton's trade with its extensive region at the time when the
city was at its most important as the principal point of access to
England for the exotic spices and dyestuffs imported by the
Genoese. If Southampton's international traffic was particularly
important, the town's commerce was representative also of the
commonplace trade that occurred throughout England. Seventeen
papers investigate Southampton's interaction with Salisbury,
London, Winchester, and many other places, long-term trends and
short-term fluctuations. The rise and decline of the Italian trade,
the dominance of Salisbury and emergence of Jack of Newbury, the
recycling of wealth and metals from the dissolved monasteries all
feature here. Underpinning the book are 32 computer-generated maps
and numerous tables, charts, and graphs, with guidance provided as
to how best to exploit and extend this remarkable resource. An
accompanying web-mounted database (http://www.overlandtrade.org)
enables the changing commerce to be mapped and visualised through
maps and trade to be tracked week by week and over a century.
Together the book and database provide a unique resource for
Southampton, its trading partners, traders and carters, freight
traffic and the genealogies of the middling sort.
Most Americans could not fathom how Islamic terrorists could bring
down the World Trade Center or an army psychiatrist could turn on
his own soldiers, taking their lives in the name of his religion.
How could an ex-army veteran blow up a federal building, or a
Jewish doctor gun down Muslims at worship? Or how can one
understand why a meditation guru would put sarin gas in a Tokyo
subway? None of these incidents fit our conceptions of the
benevolence of religion. More importantly, is there something
inherent within religions that justifies the taking of human lives?
In Few Call It War, Dr. Robert Hicks explores these questions and
takes the blinders off illuminating the roots of religious
violence, what religious terrorists have in common, and how they
differ. He focuses on the current administration's struggle to call
ISIS or ISIL what it really is: War. Hicks disagrees with the
administration's slow recognition of this enemy. In reality, this
war is not as unique as some might think. It is a modern explosion
of ancient religious ideologies that masks its historic roots. As
Hicks points out, all major religions have used violence and
terrorist methodologies at some points in their histories. Few Call
It War reveals how the teachings of religious founders and the
sacred writings attributed to them provide rich soil from which
contemporary religious clerics and ideologues gain converts. Hicks
raises the crucial question often asked: "Is there any difference
between a Timothy McVeigh and an Osama bin Laden?" For those making
the moral equivalence arguments between various terrorists, Hicks
dispels the equivalence with a clear understanding of history and
religious ideologies. If one is interested in gaining an answer to
the question, "Of all the religions in the world, which are most
prone to using violence?" Few Call It War provides a well-reasoned
answer that is well worth the read.
Most Americans could not fathom how Islamic terrorists could bring
down the World Trade Center or an army psychiatrist could turn on
his own soldiers, taking their lives in the name of his religion.
How could an ex-army veteran blow up a federal building, or a
Jewish doctor gun down Muslims at worship? Or how can one
understand why a meditation guru would put sarin gas in a Tokyo
subway? None of these incidents fit our conceptions of the
benevolence of religion. More importantly, is there something
inherent within religions that justifies the taking of human lives?
In Few Call It War, Dr. Robert Hicks explores these questions and
takes the blinders off illuminating the roots of religious
violence, what religious terrorists have in common, and how they
differ. He focuses on the current administration's struggle to call
ISIS or ISIL what it really is: War. Hicks disagrees with the
administration's slow recognition of this enemy. In reality, this
war is not as unique as some might think. It is a modern explosion
of ancient religious ideologies that masks its historic roots. As
Hicks points out, all major religions have used violence and
terrorist methodologies at some points in their histories. Few Call
It War reveals how the teachings of religious founders and the
sacred writings attributed to them provide rich soil from which
contemporary religious clerics and ideologues gain converts. Hicks
raises the crucial question often asked: "Is there any difference
between a Timothy McVeigh and an Osama bin Laden?" For those making
the moral equivalence arguments between various terrorists, Hicks
dispels the equivalence with a clear understanding of history and
religious ideologies. If one is interested in gaining an answer to
the question, "Of all the religions in the world, which are most
prone to using violence?" Few Call It War provides a well-reasoned
answer that is well worth the read.
Richard III has been written off in history as one of England's
evil kings. His usurpation of the throne from his nephew Edward V
and then subsequent generations of pro-Tudor historians ensured his
fame as the disfigured murderer portrayed by Shakespeare. In the
twentieth century, Richard found his apologists, those who saw him
as more sinned against than sinning. This biography - by the
leading expert on Richard - strips away the propaganda of the
centuries to rescue Richard from his critics and supporters alike,
providing a balanced and compelling portrait of this most infamous
of kings.
Conspicuous consumption in the 15th century both offers causes for
revolt and allows reconstruction of regional supply and trading
networks. The essays in this volume focus on the sources and
resources of political power, on consumption (royal and lay,
conspicuous and everyday) on political revolution and on economic
regulation in the later middle ages. Topics range from the diet of
the nobility in the fifteenth century to the knightly household of
Richard II and the peace commissions, while particular case
studies, of Middlesex, Cambridge, Durham Cathedral and Winchester,
shed new light on regional economies through an examination of the
patterns of consumption, retailing, and marketing.Professor MICHAEL
HICKS teaches at King Alfred's College at Winchester.Contributors:
CHRISTOPHER WOOLGAR, ALASTAIR DUNN, SHELAGH MITCHELL, ALISON GUNDY,
T.B. PUGH, JESSICA FREEMAN, JOHN HARE, JOHN LEE, MIRANDA
THRELFALL-HOLMES, WINIFRED HARWOOD, PETER FLEMING.
The Wars of the Roses featured sixteen invasions, four successful;
six times kings lost their thrones. This book explores why those
invasions occurred and kept occurring. Destruction and devastation
were minimal, barely affecting the day to day routine of the
civilian population, yet the Wars were lethal for their noble
leaders and, as first hand accounts reveal, blighted the lives of
their women and children. That the Wars ended so abruptly was not
so much because Henry VII won at Bosworth and ruled effectively,
the author concludes, but rather because a feel-good factor removed
popular discontent and continental rivals turned elsewhere.
Essays offering a guide to a vital source for our knowledge of
medieval England. The Inquisitions Post Mortem (IPMs) at the
National Archives have been described as the single most important
source for the study of landed society in later medieval England.
Inquisitions were local enquiries into the lands heldby people of
some status, in order to discover whatever income and rights were
due to the crown on their death, and provide details both of the
lands themselves and whoever held them. This book explores in
detail for the first time the potential of IPMs as sources for
economic, social and political history over the long fifteenth
century, the period covered by this Companion. It looks at how they
were made, how they were used, and their "accuracy",and develops
our understanding of a source that is too often taken for granted;
it answers questions such as what they sought to do, how they were
compiled, and how reliable they are, while also exploring how they
can best be usedfor economic, demographic, place-name, estate and
other kinds of study. Michael Hicks is Professor of Medieval
History, University of Winchester. Contributors: Michael Hicks,
Christine Carpenter, Kate Parkin, Christopher Dyer, Matthew
Holford, Margaret Yates, L.R. Poos, J. Oeppen, R.M. Smith, Sean
Cunningham, Claire Noble, Matthew Holford, Oliver Padel.
This was the story for Karen, a devout mother to her daughter, and
a driven woman who sought some comfort in her love and family life
without having the slightest clue on how fast the world could or
would turn on her. All had come across as smooth and easy until the
first-ever murder, a murder that would make her leave home, abandon
her past and share a dreaded secret with one other person and an
unknown figure. Follow the tale of betrayal, theft, secrets, and
most importantly, the cunning and manipulating works of a being
constantly lurking in the shadows. Double Dare tells the story as
it unfolds for Karen, and ultimately stretches toward her daughter
and college kids all around them. Having moved to a town named Ivy
Waters, a city intended to become a fresh start, and the right
place to root her family anew as she hoped to cast away the secret
she held dangerously close in worry and fear to her heart, she had
no idea just how many secrets the city of Ivy Waters held in its
past.
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