A hugely valuable source of information for those interested in the more "everyday" social and economic life of medieval England. ENGLISH HISTORICAL REVIEW Fourth editor, Kate Parkin 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; compiled with the help of jurors from the area, they are 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 covers the period between 1432 and 1437. It containsvaluable information and detailed returns on the estates of the greater aristocracy such as Joan, Lady Abergavenny, John, earl of Arundel, Joan, duchess of York, John, duke of Norfolk, John, duke of Bedford, and Henry IV's formerwife, Joan of Navarre, queen of England, as well as those of lesser landholders and the middling gentry of England and the marches of Wales. Standard information includes medieval descriptions of towns and villages and full manorial extents and the volume also provides comprehensive indexes of jurors, persons, places, and subjects. ACADEMIC DIRECTOR AND GENERAL EDITOR: Professor Christine Carpenter, Faculty of History, University of Cambridge. EDITORS Dr M.L. Holford was a research associate at the Universities of Durham and Cambridge from 2003 to 2008. Dr S.A. Mileson is college lecturer, St Edmund Hall, Oxford. Dr C.V. Noble was a researchassociate at the University of Cambridge from 1999 to 2008. Dr Kate Parkin was a research associate at the University of Cambridge from 1999 to 2005.

Parks were prominent and, indeed, controversial features of the medieval countryside, but they have been unevenly studied and remain only partly understood. Stephen Mileson provides the first full-length study of the subject, examining parks across the country and throughout the Middle Ages in their full social, economic, jurisdictional, and landscape context.
The first half of the book investigates the purpose of these royal and aristocratic reserves, which have been variously claimed as hunting grounds, economic assets, landscape settings for residences, and status symbols. An emphasis on the aristocratic passion for the chase as the key motivation for park-making provides an important challenge to more recent views and allows for a deeper appreciation of the connection between park-making and the expression of power and lordship.
The second part of the book examines the impact of park creation on wider society, from the king and aristocracy to peasants and townsmen. Instead of the traditional emphasis on the importance of royal regulation, greater attention is paid to the effects of lordly park-making on other members of the landed elite and ordinary people. These widespread enclosures interfered with customary uses of woodland and waste, hunting practices, roads and farming; not surprisingly, they could become a focus for aristocratic feud, popular protest and furtive resistance.
Combining historical, archaeological, and landscape evidence this ground-breaking study provides fresh insight into contemporary values and how they helped to shape the medieval landscape.

Parks were prominent and, indeed, controversial features of the medieval countryside, but they have been unevenly studied and remain only partly understood. Stephen Mileson provides the first full-length study of the subject, examining parks across the country and throughout the Middle Ages in their full social, economic, jurisdictional, and landscape context. The first half of the book investigates the purpose of these royal and aristocratic reserves, which have been variously claimed as hunting grounds, economic assets, landscape settings for residences, and status symbols. An emphasis on the aristocratic passion for the chase as the key motivation for park-making provides an important challenge to more recent views and allows for a deeper appreciation of the connection between park-making and the expression of power and lordship. The second part of the volume examines the impact of park creation on wider society, from the king and aristocracy to peasants and townsmen. Instead of the traditional emphasis on the importance of royal regulation, greater attention is paid to the effects of lordly park-making on other members of the landed elite and ordinary people. These widespread enclosures interfered with customary uses of woodland and waste, hunting practices, roads, and farming; not surprisingly, they could become a focus for aristocratic feud, popular protest, and furtive resistance. Combining historical, archaeological, and landscape evidence, this ground-breaking work provides fresh insight into contemporary values and how they helped to shape the medieval landscape.