This is a comprehensive survey of medieval English mortmain legislation from both the point of view of the crown and that of the Church. It examines methods of enforcement and evaluates their success. It traces the emergence of licensing policies and the increasing exploitation of licences for fiscal purposes, while at the same time establishing that this was not their original purpose. The extent to which the Church was acquiring land on a threatening scale by the later thirteenth century is questioned, and the effects of the legislation on subsequent acquisition are assessed against the background of new fashions in ecclesiastical patronage and a more hostile economic climate. The statutes of 1279 and 1391 are well known. What this study shows is how much variation lay behind the apparently straightforward system of licensing and how closely the issue of mortmain tenure was related to wider social, political and economic considerations.

Examinations are deeply embedded in our culture and govern the career prospects of millions of people around the world. The University of Cambridge Local Examinations Syndicate, now Cambridge Assessment, was at the forefront of introducing public examinations for schools with the aim of raising standards in education. Examining the World explains how the organisation, established in 1858, has evolved into a world authority on assessment with three areas of operation: international examinations, home examinations, and English examinations for Speakers of Other Languages. This is the first full-length history of the organisation, describing the development of its examinations from the early days to their present form, by authors associated with Cambridge Assessment and other parts of the University. It sets the history of Cambridge examinations in their context as a department of the University and the immense changes which have taken place in examining in the UK and the widerworld.

Examinations are deeply embedded in our culture and govern the career prospects of millions of people around the world. The University of Cambridge Local Examinations Syndicate, now Cambridge Assessment, was at the forefront of introducing public examinations for schools with the aim of raising standards in education. Examining the World explains how the organisation, established in 1858, has evolved into a world authority on assessment with three areas of operation: international examinations, home examinations, and English examinations for Speakers of Other Languages. This is the first full-length history of the organisation, describing the development of its examinations from the early days to their present form, by authors associated with Cambridge Assessment and other parts of the University. It sets the history of Cambridge examinations in their context as a department of the University and the immense changes which have taken place in examining in the UK and the widerworld.

The 1279-80 hundred rolls are one of the most important sources for later thirteenth century England, yet this is the first comprehensive study of the inquiry which brought them into being. A Second Domesday will be an indispensable working tool for historians and is based on the latest knowledge of the returns. More of these are being discovered all the time and one of the aims of this book is to stimulate the recognition of other surviving texts. The book places the inquiry in its historical context, continental as well as English. This is followed by an examination of its purpose and whether or not it was conceived deliberately as a second Domesday Book. Central to the study is a consideration of the geographical range of the inquiry, how it was conducted and the way in which the returns were compiled. The way in which the inquiry was used, by historians as well as contemporaries, along with the introductory chapters will be particularly helpful to students. The book concludes with a description of all known returns, which, together with the appendices, are designed to assist future users.