Peasants and historians is an examination of historical discussion of the medieval English peasantry. In this book, the first such study of its kind, the author traces the development of historical research aimed at exploring the nature of peasant society. In separate chapters, the author examines the three main defining themes which have been applied to the medieval economy in general including change affecting the medieval peasantry. In subsequent chapters debates in relation to demography, family structure, women in rural society, and the nature of village community are each considered in turn. A final chapter on peasant culture also suggests areas of development and, potentially at least, future directions in research and writing. Offering an informed grounding in the main areas of historical writing in this area, it will be of interest to researchers as well as to those coming new to the topic, including undergraduate and postgraduate students. -- .

Fruits of the most recent research into the "long" thirteenth century. The twin themes of authority and resistance are the focus of this volume, explored through topics such as landholding and secular politics, the church and religious orders and contemporary imagery and its reception. Together, thepapers combine to illustrate the variety of ways in which historians of the "long" thirteenth century are able to examine the practices and norms through which individuals and institutions sought to establish their authority, andthe ways in which these were open to challenge. JANET BURTON is Professor of Medieval History at University of Wales: Trinity Saint David; PHILLIPP SCHOFIELD is Professor of Medieval History at Aberystwyth University; BJORN WEILER is Professor of History at Aberystwyth University. Contributors: Helen Birkett, Richard Cassidy, Judith Collard, Peter Coss, Ian Forrest, Philippa Hoskin, Jennifer Jahner, Melissa Julian Jones, Fergus Oakes, John Sabapathy, Sita Steckel.

Edward II’s reign presents the dramatic narrative of a wilful king who faced baronial resistance and suffered military failures in both Scotland and France before losing his throne and his life. At the same time, it is a reign of considerable institutional and ideological interest. This book offers both a concise history and essential primary source materials for students. Featuring a range of translations, some original and others difficult to find, it brings together scattered evidence and allows comparisons to be made between different accounts. Overall, it sheds valuable light on a significant period in English history, during which the position of the king became both stronger, through increased wealth, and weaker, through the greater need for consent and the precedent of the deposition. -- .

This book presents key texts relating to the political and broader socio-economic history of the reign of Edward II. Drawing on a wide range of narrative sources, especially the extensive chronicle accounts of the reign, the editors introduce other important material including parliamentary rolls, charters, court records and accounts. Brought together, this gathering of sources allows the reader to navigate this troubled and eventful period in English medieval history. The reign of Edward II is organised chronologically, guiding the reader from the moment of Edward II's accession in 1307 until his removal from office in 1327 and his supposed death in the same year. Thematic chapters throughout address such key themes as royal finances and the state of the early fourteenth-century economy, the role of parliament, and political and military engagement with Scotland. In the Introduction, the editors survey previous historical work directed at Edward II and outline the range of source types available to the historian of the reign. -- .

Peasants and historians is an examination of historical discussion of the medieval English peasantry. In this book, the first such study of its kind, the author traces the development of historical research aimed at exploring the nature of peasant society. In separate chapters, the author examines the three main defining themes which have been applied to the medieval economy in general including change affecting the medieval peasantry. In subsequent chapters debates in relation to demography, family structure, women in rural society, and the nature of village community are each considered in turn. A final chapter on peasant culture also suggests areas of development and, potentially at least, future directions in research and writing. Offering an informed grounding in the main areas of historical writing in this area, it will be of interest to researchers as well as to those coming new to the topic, including undergraduate and postgraduate students. -- .

[The series is] a necessary addition for any scholar working in this field. NOTTINGHAM MEDIEVAL STUDIES Editors: Janet Burton, Bjoern Weiler, Philipp Schofield, Karen Stoeber The thirteenth century brought the British Isles into ever closer contact with one another, and with medieval Europe as a whole. This international dimensionforms a dominant theme of this collection: it features essays on England's relations with the papal court; the adoption of European cultural norms in Scotland; Welsh society and crusading; English landholding in Ireland; and dealings between the kings of England and Navarre. Other papers, on ritual crucifixion, concepts of office and ethcis, and the English royal itinerary, show that the thirteenth century was also a period of profound political and cultural change, witnessing the transformation of legal and economic structures [represented here by case studies of noblewomen and their burial customs; and a prolonged inheritance dispute in Laxton]. This volume testifies to the continuing vitality and [with contributors from three continents and six countries] international nature of scholarship on medieval Britain; and moves beyond the Channel to make an important contribution to the history of medieval Europes. Contributors: ROBERT STACEY, FREDERIQUE LACHAUD, STEPHEN CHURCH, CHRISTIAN HILLEN, JESSICA NELSON, MATTHEW HAMMOND, KATHRYN HURLOCK, NICHOLAS VINCENT, ADAM DAVIES, HUI LIU, EMMA CAVELL, DAVID CROOK, BETH HARTLAND

Essays reflecting the most recent research on the thirteenth century, with a timely focus on the Treaty of Paris. Additional editors: Karen Stoeber, Bjoern Weiler The articles collected here bear witness to the continued and wide interest in England and its neighbours in the "long" thirteenth century. The volume includes papers on the high politics of the thirteenth century, international relations, the administrative and governmental structures of medieval England and aspects of the wider societal and political context of the period. A particular theme of the papers is Anglo-French political history, and especially the ways in which that relationship was reflected in the diplomatic and dynastic arrangements associated with the Treaty of Paris, the 750th anniversary of which fell during 2009, a fact celebrated in this collection of essays and the Paris conference at which the original papers were first delivered. Contributors: Caroline Burt, Julie E. Kanter, Julia Barrow, Benjamin L. Wild, WilliamMarx, Caroline Dunn, Adrian Jobson, Adrian R. Bell, Chris Brooks, Tony K. Moore, David A. Trotter, William Chester Jordan, Daniel Power, Florent Lenegre

Making History is a comprehensive exploration of the practice of history, historical tradition and the theories which surround it. Encompassing a huge diversity of influences, the book is organised around the following themes:
* Crises and Transformations: An assessment of the most significant movements in historical scholarship in the last century, including the Annales and Bielefeld Schools, and the development of social and economic history
* Theories into History: An investigation into the penetration of theory into historical practice, examining the social movements and ideologies which propelled the change, including Marxism, post-modernism and gender history
* Moving beyond History: An enquiry into the increasingly interdisciplinary trends in scholarship, revealing the interconnections between history, archaeology, psychoanalysis, sociology, anthropology, and literature; scholars from non-historical disciplines have contributed to provide a unique approach to a controversial debate
* Beyond the Academy: An exploration of the changes in historical practice with reference to film, amateur history, heritage, popular culture, and New Labour.

In the twelfth to sixteenth centuries, the exploitation of landownership underwent drastic changes in various parts of Northwestern Europe. In these changes, the emergence of the lease plays a pivotal role. At the end of the Middle Ages, in a number of areas within the North Sea area, the greater part of available land was held at lease for relatively short terms. The competitive and contractual nature of such leasing has caused many to associate it with the emergence of capitalism in the countryside, seeing its rise as a key element in the transformation of the rural economy and society in the last millennium. In view of this, it is surprising that the emergence of leasing has received little systematic attention, particularly where its roots, its early development, its exact arrangements and the social and economic context of its emergence are concerned, let alone the regional and chronological differences in these elements. This volume aims to make a first step in exploring these issues. Bas van Bavel is professor of Economic and Social History of the Middle Ages at Utrecht University, the Netherlands Phillipp (P.R.) Schofield is professor of Medieval History, Aberystwyth University, United Kingdom

Making History is a comprehensive exploration of the practice of history, historical tradition and the theories which surround it. Encompassing a huge diversity of influences, the book is organised around the following themes:
* Crises and Transformations: An assessment of the most significant movements in historical scholarship in the last century, including the Annales and Bielefeld Schools, and the development of social and economic history
* Theories into History: An investigation into the penetration of theory into historical practice, examining the social movements and ideologies which propelled the change, including Marxism, post-modernism and gender history
* Moving beyond History: An enquiry into the increasingly interdisciplinary trends in scholarship, revealing the interconnections between history, archaeology, psychoanalysis, sociology, anthropology, and literature; scholars from non-historical disciplines have contributed to provide a unique approach to a controversial debate
* Beyond the Academy: An exploration of the changes in historical practice with reference to film, amateur history, heritage, popular culture, and New Labour.

Seals and Society arises from a major project investigating seals and their use in medieval Wales, the Welsh March and neighbouring counties in England. The first major study of seals in the context of one part of medieval Western European society, the volume also offers a new perspective on the history of medieval Wales and its periphery by addressing a variety of themes in terms of the insight that seals can offer the historian. Though the present study suggests important regional distinctions in the take-up of seals in medieval Wales, it is also clear that seal usage increased from the later twelfth century and spread widely in Welsh society, especially in those parts of Wales neighbouring England or where there had been an early English incursion. Through a series of chapters, the authors examine the ways in which seals can shed light on the legal, administrative, social and economic history of the period in Wales and its border region. Seals provide unique insights into the choices individuals, men and women, made in representing themselves to the wider world, and this issue is examined closely. Supported by almost 100 images gathered by the project team, the volume is of great interest to those working on seals, their motifs, their use and developments in their usage over the high and later Middle Ages.