Acester (known as Ayster) is one of England's oldest cathedrals. It is also home to a startling assortment of ghosts. They include a bishop's skeleton, a mischievous imp, a Jacobean actor, an eighteenth-century murderer, a woman in a mirror, a legless and an eyeless ghost, a mysterious chorister, and an ugly spider. Meanwhile, alongside the ghosts, the busy life of a modern cathedral goes on, spiced by the sparrings between a rather vague Dean and a very acerbic Canon. This is a book for all who love stories of ghosts and clergy life in the Church of England.

The first English hospitals appeared soon after the Norman Conquest. By the year 1300 they numbered over 500, caring for the sick and needy at every level of society - from the gentry and clergy to pilgrims, travellers, beggars and lepers. Excluded from towns, but placed by main highways where they could gather alms, they had a complex relationship with medieval society: cherished yet marginalised, self-contained yet also parasitic. This book - the first general history of medieval and Tudor hospitals in eighty-five years - traces when and why they originated and follows their development through the crisis periods of the Black Death and the English Reformation when many disappeared. Nicholas Orme and Margaret Webster explore the hospitals' religious, charitable and medical functions, examine their buildings, staffing and finances, and analyse their inmates in terms of social background and medical needs. They reconstruct the daily life of hospitals, from worship to living conditions, food and care. The general survey is complemented by a regional study of hospitals in the south-west of England, including detailed histories of all the recorded institutions in Cornwall and Devon.

An engaging, richly illustrated account of parish churches and churchgoers in England, from the Anglo-Saxons to the mid-sixteenth century Parish churches were at the heart of English religious and social life in the Middle Ages and the sixteenth century. In this comprehensive study, Nicholas Orme shows how they came into existence, who staffed them, and how their buildings were used. He explains who went to church, who did not attend, how people behaved there, and how they-not merely the clergy-affected how worship was staged. The book provides an accessible account of what happened in the daily and weekly services, and how churches marked the seasons of Christmas, Lent, Easter, and summer. It describes how they celebrated the great events of life: birth, coming of age, and marriage, and gave comfort in sickness and death. A final chapter covers the English Reformation in the sixteenth century and shows how, alongside its changes, much that went on in parish churches remained as before.

Originally published in 1984, this is a study of the kings and the aristocracy who ruled England between the Conquest and the Reformation. Not, as usual, about their adult lives, but how they became the people they were through childhood and education. The first such study of its kind, it follows noble boys and girls from birth through the care of their nurses, masters and mistresses, until they left home for further training in noble households, monasteries and universities. The author examines the theories and treatises on noble education, again for the first time. The rest of the book broadens into a wide cultural survey as Dr Orme describes the skills and ideas which noble children learnt. He explains how they mastered speech and literacy; worship and behaviour; dancing, music and applied art; athletics and training for war. This part of the study is a handbook of noble pursuits in medieval times. In his final chapter the author considers the nature of noble education in the middles ages, and examines how and whether it changed at the Renaissance. Nicholas Orme has written a comprehensive study, spanning 450 years of English history and making a major contribution to social and cultural history, as well as the history of education. His book will be invaluable to historians and medievalists of all disciplines, and essential reading from those who study the Renaissance.

Originally published in 1984, this is a study of the kings and the aristocracy who ruled England between the Conquest and the Reformation. Not, as usual, about their adult lives, but how they became the people they were through childhood and education. The first such study of its kind, it follows noble boys and girls from birth through the care of their nurses, masters and mistresses, until they left home for further training in noble households, monasteries and universities. The author examines the theories and treatises on noble education, again for the first time. The rest of the book broadens into a wide cultural survey as Dr Orme describes the skills and ideas which noble children learnt. He explains how they mastered speech and literacy; worship and behaviour; dancing, music and applied art; athletics and training for war. This part of the study is a handbook of noble pursuits in medieval times. In his final chapter the author considers the nature of noble education in the middles ages, and examines how and whether it changed at the Renaissance. Nicholas Orme has written a comprehensive study, spanning 450 years of English history and making a major contribution to social and cultural history, as well as the history of education. His book will be invaluable to historians and medievalists of all disciplines, and essential reading from those who study the Renaissance.

Cornwall is famous for its saintly place-names: St Austell, St Germans, St Ives, and St Michael's Mount. This book explains why the Cornish honoured so many saints - some famous, some obscure - and how studying saints uncovers the history of the county in medieval times. It provides an account of every saint who was venerated in Cornwall up to the Reformation - the first time this has ever been done for an English county. Every relevant church, chapel, altar, image, and holy well is listed, together with every relevant writing, folk-story and festival, from the earliest times to the present day.

A collaborative history of the Church in a large, diverse and interesting region of England by six historians, ranging from Celtic and Saxon times, through the middle ages, Reformation, rise of Nonconformity and the Victorian era, down to the present day and encompassing all the main Christian denominations.

Church dedications are as widely used as they are little studied, yet their histories are often obscure and complicated. Frequently forgotten after the Reformation, they were revived on the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries with many guesses and mistakes, resulting in numerous alterations. Church history cannot safely be based on the dedication in use today. Part One of the book surveys their history in England from roman ties to the present day. Part Two is detailed list of all 800 ancient parish churches and religious houses in Cornwall and Devon. It shows when their dedications first occur, the changes and misunderstandings that have happened, and the dates of parish feast days. Cornwall is a country of Celtic church dedication, whilst Devon's resemble this of the rest of England, so the book will be helpful in understanding dedications in both traditions.

In 1857 Everard Digby, an extrovert Cambridge scholar, published the first scientific treatise on swimming - and one of the first on any modern sport. Six months later he was expelled from his college, and died in obscurity as a country parson. Nicholas Orme rehabilitates Digby as a great pioneer of the history of sport.

The book opens with a detailed history of swimming in Britain from the Romans to the sixteenth century, which is followed by an account of Digby's life and work and its impact on swimming down to the eighteenth century.

The book also includes the first modern edition of Digby's treatise, in the English version of 1595, with the 43 original illustrations.

The first history of childhood in Tudor England What was it like to grow up in England under the Tudors? How were children cared for, what did they play with, and what dangers did they face? In this beautifully illustrated and characteristically lively account, leading historian Nicholas Orme provides a rich survey of childhood in the period. Beginning with birth and infancy, he explores all aspects of children's experiences, including the games they played, such as Blind Man's Bluff and Mumble-the-Peg, and the songs they sang, such as "Three Blind Mice" and "Jack Boy, Ho Boy." He shows how social status determined everything from the food children ate and the clothes they wore to the education they received and the work they undertook. Although childhood and adolescence could be challenging and even hazardous, it was also, as Nicholas Orme shows, a treasured time of learning and development. By looking at the lives of Tudor children we can gain a richer understanding of the era as a whole.

What was childhood like for medieval boys and girls in England? How were children named and brought up, what hazards faced them, what games did they play, and how were they prepared for adulthood? This richly detailed book provides for the first time a complete history of childhood in England from about the year 1000 to the sixteenth century. Leading medieval historian Nicholas Orme draws together a vast range of sources and disciplines-history, literature, religion, and art-to create a picture of medieval childhood more comprehensive than ever before. Beginning with pregnancy and childbirth, Orme explores the succeeding stages of a child's growth to adulthood. He discusses baptism, the significance of birthdays and ages, and family life, including upbringing, food, clothes, sleep, and the plight of the poor. He also chronicles the misfortunes of childhood, from disablement, abuse, and accidents to illness and death. In a fascinating review of the special culture of children, the author describes their rhymes, toys, and games; their religion and relationship to the Church; and their learning to read the literature for children. The final chapter of the book explains how adolescents grew up and entered the adult world. In this vivid recreation of childhood in the middle ages, Orme underscores the importance medieval society attached to childhood. Childhood was clearly regarded as a distinct cultural period in life, and children were considered both special and different from adults.

Medieval children lived in a world rich in poetry, from lullabies, nursery rhymes, and songs to riddles, tongue twisters, and nonsensical verses. They read or listened to stories in verse: ballads of Robin Hood, romances, and comic tales. Poems were composed to teach them how to behave, eat at meals, hunt game, and even learn Latin and French. In Fleas, Flies, and Friars, Nicholas Orme, an expert on childhood in the Middle Ages, has gathered a wide variety of children's verse that circulated in England beginning in the 1400s, providing a way for modern readers of all ages to experience the medieval world through the eyes of its children.

In his delightful treasury of medieval children's verse, Orme does a masterful job of recovering a lively and largely unknown tradition, preserving the playfulness of the originals while clearly explaining their meaning, significance, or context. Poems written in Latin or French have been translated into English, and Middle English has been modernized. Fleas, Flies, and Friars has five parts. The first two contain short lyrical pieces and fragments, together with excerpts from essays in verse that address childhood or were written for children. The third part presents poems for young people about behavior. The fourth contains three long stories and the fifth brings together verse relating to education and school life.

Medieval children lived in a world rich in poetry, from lullabies, nursery rhymes, and songs to riddles, tongue twisters, and nonsensical verses. They read or listened to stories in verse: ballads of Robin Hood, romances, and comic tales. Poems were composed to teach them how to behave, eat at meals, hunt game, and even learn Latin and French. In Fleas, Flies, and Friars, Nicholas Orme, an expert on childhood in the Middle Ages, has gathered a wide variety of children's verse that circulated in England beginning in the 1400s, providing a way for modern readers of all ages to experience the medieval world through the eyes of its children.

In his delightful treasury of medieval children's verse, Orme does a masterful job of recovering a lively and largely unknown tradition, preserving the playfulness of the originals while clearly explaining their meaning, significance, or context. Poems written in Latin or French have been translated into English, and Middle English has been modernized. Fleas, Flies, and Friars has five parts. The first two contain short lyrical pieces and fragments, together with excerpts from essays in verse that address childhood or were written for children. The third part presents poems for young people about behavior. The fourth contains three long stories and the fifth brings together verse relating to education and school life.