"This series [pushes] the boundaries of knowledge and [develops] new trends in approach and understanding." ENGLISH HISTORICAL REVIEW The essays in this volume explore relationships in all their different guises and expressions. Hostility between England and France cast a long shadow over the fifteenth century and beyond. While warfare at sea and the composition of the army which invaded Normandy in 1417 left extensive administrative records, sources of a different nature highlight the experiences of the French and Burgundians. The experience of the incursion of Henry VIII's forces in 1513 found expression in widely-distributed poems; while verses celebrating the births of heirs to the Hapsburg duke of Burgundy sought to allay fears over a change of regime by stressing the benefits of their multinational heritage. Portraits of rulers of Italian states emphasised the emergence of a shared courtly culture between England and Italy by commemorating their election as Knights of the Garter, while the records of Bishop's Lynn testify to the harmonious integration of immigrants from the Low Countries and Baltic regions. The Magna Carta of 1215 - intended to place the relationship between ruler and ruled on a new footing - had a long after-life, providing a blue-print for practices adopted by the Appellants of 1388 and being cited at the deposition of Richard II, only to be eclipsed in the late fifteenth century when depositions focused instead on challenges to the monarch's title. Poor records of the meetings of convocations have led to undue emphasis on their role in granting subsidies, but a register at Canterbury presents a different picture by revealing business of the southern convocation of 1462.

A definitive look at the early history of St George's Chapel, one of the most important medieval buildings in England. Developed and improved by Edward III, the Chapel became the spiritual home of his newly-instigated Order of theGarter and, in the process, a new Camelot for the English monarchy. St George's Chapel, Windsor, is one of the most famous ecclesiastical foundations in Britain. Established in 1348, its origins are closely bound up with those of the Order of the Garter, which was founded by Edward III at the sametime. The collection of essays in this volume sets Windsor in its context, at the forefront of the political and cultural developments of mid-fourteenth-century England. They examine the early history of the Chapel, its tieswith Edward III's chivalric ambitions, the community of canons who served it, and its place in the institutional development of the English Church. Major themes are the role of the Chapel in the early history of the Order and itsinfluence on other collegiate foundations of the late middle ages; and much attention is devoted to the mighty building campaign at the Castle started by Edward III which made Windsor the grandest royal residence of its day.

The fourteenth century was, for the English, a century which witnessed dramatic and not always easily explicable changes of fortune. In 1300, England's population was around seven million, and Edward I seemed to be on the verge of turning the British Isles into an English Empire. By 1400, its population was between three and four million (due mainly to the Black Death), dreams of a 'British' empire had all but crumbled, and instead England had become embroiled in a war - the Hundred Years' War - which was not only ultimately disastrous, but which also established the French as the 'national enemy' for many centuries to come. In addition, despite the fact that before 1300 no reigning English monarch had ever been deposed, by 1400 two had: Edward II in 1327, and Richard II in 1399. Sandwiched between these two turbulent reigns, however, came that of Edward III, one of the most successful, both politically and militarily, in English history. It is against the background of these remarkable fluctuations that the articles in this volume, the second in the Fourteenth Century England series, have been written. The range of subjects which they cover is wide: from princely education to popular heresy, from national propaganda to the familial and territorial power politics which occasioned the downfall of kings. Taken together, they reinforce the view that, whether viewed as calamitous or heroic, the fourteenth century was never less than interesting.CHRIS GIVEN-WILSON is Professor of Late Medieval History, University of St Andrews. Contributors: MARTIN ALLEN, JOHN ARNOLD, PAULETTE BARTON, TOM BEAUMONT-JAMES, ALASTAIR DUNN, JEFFREY HAMILTON, JILL C. HAVENS, ANDY KING, CARLA LORD, SHELAGHMITCHELL, MICHAEL PRESTWICH, ARND REITMEIER, NIGEL SAUL.

Richard II is one of the most enigmatic of English kings. Shakespeare depicted him as a tragic figure, an irresponsible, cruel monarch who nevertheless rose in stature as the substance of power slipped from him. By later writers he has been variously portrayed as a half-crazed autocrat or a conventional ruler whose principal errors were the mismanagement of his nobility and disregard for the political conventions of his age. This book-the first full-length biography of Richard in more than fifty years-offers a radical reinterpretation of the king. Nigel Saul paints a picture of Richard as a highly assertive and determined ruler, one whose key aim was to exalt and dignify the crown. In Richard's view, the crown was threatened by the factiousness of the nobility and the assertiveness of the common people. The king met these challenges by exacting obedience, encouraging lofty new forms of address, and constructing an elaborate system of rule by bonds and oaths. Saul traces the sources of Richard's political ideas and finds that he was influenced by a deeply felt orthodox piety and by the ideas of the civil lawyers. He shows that, although Richard's kingship resembled that of other rulers of the period, unlike theirs, his reign ended in failure because of tactical errors and contradictions in his policies. For all that he promoted the image of a distant, all-powerful monarch, Richard II's rule was in practice characterized by faction and feud. The king was obsessed by the search for personal security: in his subjects, however, he bred only insecurity and fear. A revealing portrait of a complex and fascinating figure, the book is essential reading for anyone with an interest in the politics and culture of the English middle ages.

Biennial volumes of new research on an eventful century coloured by the Plantagenet dynasty. The fourteenth century is one of the most turbulent and compelling periods of English history, reflected in the vitality of the current scholarship devoted to it. This new series provides a forum for the most recent research intothe political, social, and ecclesiastical history of the century, and complements earlier series from Boydell & Brewer, Anglo-Norman Studies and Thirteenth Century England, which taken together offer a complete overview of debate on the middle ages. The substantial and significant studies in this volume have a particular focus on political history, including examinations of Edward II's charter witness lists and the consolidation of HenryIV's power in his early years; other topics include the Black Death and law-making, castle-building and memorials, war and chivalry in the Scalacronica, and architecture in the courts of Edward III and Charles V of France. Contributors: JEFFREY HAMILTON, ANDY KING, ROY M. HAINES, ANTHONY MUSSON, GLORIA J. BETCHER, CYNTHIA J. NEVILLE, CHRISTOPHER PHILPOTTS, CHARLES COULSON, MARY WHITELEY, NICHOLAS ROGERS, LYNDA DENNISON, DOUGLAS BIGGS NIGEL SAUL is Professor of Medieval History, Royal Holloway and Bedford New College, University of London.

The three Richards who ruled England in the Middle Ages were among the most controversial and celebrated of its rulers. Richard I ('Coeur de Lion', 1189-99) was a great crusading hero; Richard II (1377-99) was an authoritarian aesthete deposed by his cousin, Henry IV, and murdered; while Richard III (1483-85), as the murderer of his nephews, The Princes in the Tower, was the most notorious villain in English history. This highly readable joint biography shows how much the three kings had in common, apart from their names. All were younger sons, not expected to come to the throne; all failed to leave a legitimate heir, causing instability on their deaths; all were cultured and pious; and all died violently. All have attracted accusations but also fascination. In comparing them, Nigel Saul tells three gripping stories and shows what it took to be a medieval king.

In this compelling book Nigel Saul opens up the world of medieval gentry families, using the magnificent brasses and monuments of the Cobham family as a window on to the social and religious culture of the middle ages.