First ever translation of the Fine Rolls makes documents of crucial importance for study of the period fully available for the first time. The Fine Rolls were the earliest rolls kept by the English royal chancery. Recording offers of money to the king for all manner of concessions and favours, they are central to the study of political, governmental, legal, social and economic history. The reign of Henry III [1216-1272] is a particularly rich period for surviving documents; there are some 56 rolls preserved in the National Archives, one for each regnal year. However, despite the light they shed on politics, government, and society, they have never previously been properly edited or published, and these fully-indexed volumes - covering the period up to 1248 - will therefore be widely welcomed. The Latin rolls are presented in English translation, with all identifiable place-names modernised, although the original forms are preserved; and each volume includes full person, place and subject indexes. This second volume covers as importantand dramatic a period of English history as does the first. The years between 1224 and 1234 witnessed the issue of the final and definitive version of Magna Carta, the ending of the king's minority, his French campaign of 1230,the fall of the justiciar, Hubert de Burgh in 1232, the subsequent regime of Peter des Roches, bishop of Winchester, the civil war which followed Peter's apparent defiance of Magna Carta, and finally in 1234 the restoration of lawful consensual rule.

The Fine Rolls were the earliest rolls kept by the English royal chancery. Recording offers of money to the king for all manner of concessions and favours, they are central to the study of political, governmental, legal, social and economic history. The reign of Henry III (1216-1272) is a particularly rich period for surviving documents; there are some 56 rolls preserved in the National Archives, one for each regnal year. However, despite the light they shed on politics, government, and society, they have never previously been properly edited or published, and these fully-indexed volumes - covering the period up to 1248 - will therefore be widely welcomed. The Latin rolls are presented in English translation, with all identifiable place-names modernised, although the original forms are preserved; and each volume includes full person, place and subject indexes. This volume covers in some detail the first phase of Henry's personal rule, which began in 1234. The rolls provide key evidence both for the great reform of the realm following Henry's marriage to Eleanor of Provence in 1236 and for the concessions by which Henry encouraged participation in his Poitevin campaign of 1242. In two years when fine rolls are missing the volume prints originalia rolls (copies of the fine rolls sent to the Exchequer) in their place, thus enabling detailed examination of the processes by which the king raised his revenue.

Essays offer a lively snapshot of important topics. The essays presented here draw on a number of different approaches and perspectives to address and illuminate key aspects and issues of the period. Longitudinal studies of king's confessors and corrodies of the crown provide insights into the intersection of political, religious and demographic currents over the longue duree, and are complemented by studies of documentary sources of various kinds - newsletters, chronicles, and municipal archives - to challenge current understandings of important events and processes such as the deposition of Edward II, the evolving identity of the parliamentary peers, and Richard II's vision for the house of Lancaster. Prosopographical and biographical studies of post-plague clerics, and of knights within comital affinities and within their own individual affinity groups, shed light on county communities and gentry society; they also demonstrate the impact of the Black Death on society at large, especially on the question of religious continuity and discontinuity at the parish level. Contributors: Paul Dryburgh, Pierre Gaite, Chris Given-Wilson, Michael Jones, Taylor Kniphfer, Samuel Lane, Jonathan Mackman, Alison McHardy, Matt Raven, David Robinson.

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.

Articles showcasing the fruits of the most recent scholarship in the field of fourteenth-century studies. The wide-ranging studies collected here reflect the latest concerns of and trends in fourteenth-century research, including work on politics, the law, religion, and chronicle writing. The lively (and controversial) debate around the death of Edward II, and the brief but eventful career of John of Eltham, earl of Cornwall, receive detailed treatment, as does the theory and implementation of both the law of treason in England and high status execution in Ireland. There is an investigation of the often overlooked, yet ever present, lesser parish clergy of pre-Black Death England, along with the notable connections between Roman remains and craft guild piety in fourteenth-century York.There are also chapters shedding new light on fourteenth-century chronicles: one examines the St Albans chronicle through the prism of chivalric culture, another analyses the importance of the Chester Annals of 1385-8 in the writing culture of the Midlands. Introduced with this volume is a new section on "Notes and Documents"; re-examined here is an often-cited letter from the reign of Richard II and the problematic, yet crucial, issue of its authorship and dating. James Bothwell is Lecturer in Later Medieval History at the University of Leicester; Gwilym Dodd is Associate Professor of Medieval History at the University of Nottingham Contributors: Paul Dryburgh, Aine Foley, Christopher Guyol, Andy King, Jessica Knowles, E. Amanda McVitty, D.A.L. Morgan, Philip Morgan, David Robinson.

Royal Seals is an introduction to the seals of the kings and queens of England, Scotland and latterly the United Kingdom, as well as the Church and nobility. Ranging from Medieval times to modern day, it uses images of impressive wax seals held at The National Archives to show the historical importance of these beautiful works of art. Included are features on the great seals of famous monarchs like Richard III, Henry VIII, Elizabeth I and twentieth-century monarchs, as well as insights on the role of seals in treaties and foreign policy. With ecclesiastical seals and those of the nobility and lower orders included, this is a comprehensive and lavishly illustrated guide.

A window into the thirteenth century is provided by the publication of these important documents - a crucial source for medieval history. The Fine Rolls were the earliest rolls kept by the English royal chancery. Recording offers of money to the king for all manner of concessions and favours, they are central to the study of political, governmental, legal, social and economic history. This volume is the first in a series which aims to publish the fine rolls of the reign of Henry III [1216-1272], a particularly rich period for surviving documents; there are some 56 rolls preserved in the National Archives, one for each regnal year. However, despite the light they shed on politics, government, and society, they have never previously been properly edited or published, and these fully-indexed volumes - covering the period up to 1248 - will therefore be widely welcomed. The Latin rolls are presented in English translation, with all identifiable place-names modernised, although the original forms are preserved; and each volume includes full person,place and subject indexes. This first volume includes an introduction [by David Carpenter] to the series as a whole and also to developments in the rolls between 1216 and 1234. The period covered here was as dramatic as it was important, witnessing the accession of Henry III at the age of nine in October 1216, the winning of the civil war left by his father King John, the slow re-building of royal authority shattered by hostilities, the rebellion ofFalkes de Breaute in 1224, and the acceptance by the minority government (in new versions) of what John had rejected, namely Magna Carta.

The establishment of English rule in Ireland in the late 12th century involved the introduction not only of foreign settlers, but also of administrative practices based on those of England. In the 13th century a chancery, an exchequer, and courts of law centred on Dublin developed which produced written records of their operations. The fact that the lord of Ireland was also the king of England, and that every English subject in Ireland had the right to appeal directly to the king, meant that Irish affairs were also well represented in the records produced by the English government at Westminster. These three sets of records were created and kept independently by both administrations, but a series of disasters stretching from the 13th century to the 20th means that almost all of the Irish archive has been lost. Fortunately, the National Archives of the United Kingdom, based at Kew in London, continues to hold a wealth of material relating to Ireland in the medieval centuries. This book