Name: The Classicist Writings of Thomas Walsingham
Brand: Sylvia Federico
Price: 120.0 USD
Availability: InStock

Sylvia Federico

The Classicist Writings of Thomas Walsingham

$120.00

A comparative reading of the "literary" works of Thomas Walsingham, highlighting his reaction to contemporary historical events.

The literary career of Thomas Walsingham, a significant figure in late fourteenth-century classicist letters in England and an overlooked contemporary of Chaucer, has been neglected - which this book remedies. Following the texts,rather than individuals or institutions, it demonstrates both authors' participation in a previously unrecognized discursive field that spans Latinate clerical prose and secular vernacular poetry, opening for reexamination the "idea" of public literature in the late Middle Ages and recalibrating the terms of the conversation about the advent of humanistic textual practice in England. Providing a connected and comparative reading of Walsingham's works, alongside those of Chaucer, and taking both historical and literary approaches, the book extends our understanding of Chaucer through the exploration of his relationship to the clerical constituencies of London, Oxford, and monasteries in the South-East, and inserts Walsingham into the modern study of the reception of the Latin classics among the vernacular authors of his period.

Sylvia Federico is Professor of English and member of the Classical and Medieval Studies Program at Bates College.

The Classicist Writings of Thomas Walsingham

Julia Marvin

The Construction of Vernacular History in the Anglo-Norman Prose Brut Chronicle

$130.00

First full-length interpretive study of the prose Brut tradition, setting its manuscript context alongside textual analysis.

The prose Brut chronicle was the most popular vernacular work of the late Middle Ages in England, setting a standard for vernacular historical writing well into the age of print, but until recently it has attracted little scholarly attention. This book combines a study of the chronicle's sources, content, and methods of composition, with its manuscript contexts. Using the Anglo-Norman Oldest Version as a touchstone, it investigates the chronicle's social ideals, its representation of women, and its distinctive versions of such elements of British history as the Trojan foundation myth, the ruin of the Britons, the Norman Conquest, and Arthur and Merlin, arguing that its humane, populist vision demands reassessment of medieval popular understandings of British history, and of the presumed dominance of imperialism, next-worldly piety, misogyny, and a taste for violence in late-medieval culture. The book also analyses evidence for the production of the Anglo-Norman Brut, and examines the ways in which its makers and users reconstructed British history through manuscript context, ordinatio and apparatus, annotationand illustration.

Julia Marvin is a Fellow of the Medieval Institute and Associate Professor in the Program of Liberal Studies at the University of Notre Dame.

The Construction of Vernacular History in the Anglo-Norman Prose <I>Brut</I> Chronicle

Richard D. Wragg

The Guild Book of the Barbers and Surgeons of York (British Library, Egerton MS 2572)

$170.00

A new exploration of the secular manuscripts and medieval medical texts associated with the York Guild and its members.

Produced in 1486 and subsequently augmented, the Guild Book of the Barbers and Surgeons of York (British Library Egerton MS 2572) is a unique record of the knowledge, ambitions, activities and civic relationships maintained by the Barbers and Surgeons Guild over a period of 300 years. The manuscript's earliest folios contain images, astrological tracts, a plague treatise and a bloodletting poem. To these were added early modern ordinances and oaths, a series of royal portraits, and the names of the Guild's masters and apprentices. It is a rare survival of late medieval medical knowledge placed within a civic context.

This new multi-disciplinary examination of the York Guild Book presents a comprehensive edition of its content and a detailed study of the creation and use of this fascinating manuscript. The York Guild Book was not owned by any one person but was intended to be representative of the types of manuscripts the Guild's members might have individually possessed. The Guild's commission elevated their manuscript's functional content into something which could be proudly owned and displayed, as is demonstrated by the stylishly executed pen and ink drawings, two of which are possibly unique. Through a contextualisation of the form and content of the manuscript, the book articulates ideas about material culture and the ceremonial role of secular manuscripts whilst shedding new light on the dissemination and status of medieval medical texts.

The Guild Book of the Barbers and Surgeons of York (British Library, Egerton MS 2572)

Abigail Wheatley

The Idea of the Castle in Medieval England

$36.95

A new way of looking at the medieval castle - as a cultural reflection of the society that produced it, seen through art and literature.

Medieval castles have traditionally been explained as feats of military engineering and tools of feudal control, but Abigail Wheatley takes a different approach, looking at a range of sources usually neglected in castle studies. Evidence from contemporary literature and art reveals the castle's place at the heart of medieval culture, as an architecture of ideas every bit as sophisticated as the church architecture of the period.
This study offers a genuinely fresh perspective. Most castle scholars confine themselves to historical documents, but Wheatley examines literary and artistic evidence for its influence on and response to contemporary castle architecture. Sermons, sealsand ivory caskets, local legends and Roman ruins all have their part to play. What emerges is a fascinating web of cultural resonances: the castle is implicated in every aspect of medieval consciousness, from private religious contemplation to the creation of national mythologies. This book makes a compelling case for a new, interdisciplinary approach to castle studies.

ABIGAIL WHEATLEY gained her PhD at the Centre for Medieval Studies, University of York.

The Idea of the Castle in Medieval England

Fiona S. Dunlop

The Late Medieval Interlude

$95.00

Sensitive study of the 15/16 century interlude, focussing on one of its major concerns, the depiction of male aristocracy and the development to maturity.

The commercial theatre of the late sixteenth century is often credited with introducing its audiences to new modes of thought about the self, society and the nation, making them conscious that the self is performed, as an actor performs a role. Yet the earlier interlude drama, originally performed in households and other institutions of the late fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, indicates that the late medieval period was fully aware of the theatricalityof identity.
This book argues that ideas of performance inform the concepts of aristocratic masculinity developed in the plays Nature, Fulgens and Lucres, The Worlde and the Chylde, The Interlude of Youth and Calisto and Melebea. It examines how the depiction of young male aristocrats in these texts is shaped by ideas of male youth constituted in the middle ages, and shows them as failing or succeeding to perform anadult noble masculinity in the aristocratic body and in aristocratic household. The book also suggests ways in which the plays offer discreet praise and censure of the manner in which their noble patrons performed as aristocrats.Throughout, it brings out the subtle qualities of the interludes, which, the author shows, have been unjustly neglected.

Dr FIONA S. DUNLOP is Research Associate of the Centre for Medieval Studies, University of York

Professor Graham A Loud

The Making of Medieval History

$29.99

Essays on the discipline of medieval history and its practitioners, from the late eighteenth century onwards.

A hugely interesting set of essays, reflecting on a variety of ways in which medieval history has developed to the present time. Scholarship of the highest standard, deeply thought-provoking and deeply engaged with the inheritances and future tasks of medieval academic history. The collection will be essential reading for all medievalists. John Arnold, Professor of Medieval History, University of Cambridge.

Medieval history is present in manyforms in our world. Monuments from the Middle Ages or inspired by them are a familiar feature of landscapes across Europe and beyond; the period between the end of the Roman Empire in Western Europe and the Reformation and European expansion is an essential part of our imagination, be it conveyed through literature, the arts, science fiction or even video games; it is also commonly invoked in political debates. Specialists in the field have played a majorrole in shaping modern perceptions of the era. But little is known about the factors that have influenced them and their work.
The essays in this volume provide original insights into the fabric and dissemination of medieval history as a scholarly discipline from the late eighteenth century onwards. The case-studies range from the creation of specific images of the Middle Ages to the ways in which medievalists have dealt with European identity, contributed to making and deconstructing myths and, more specifically, addressed questions relating to land and frontiers as well as to religion.

GRAHAM A. LOUD is Professor of Medieval History at the University of Leeds;MARTIAL STAUB is Professor of Medieval History at the University of Sheffield.

Contributors: Christine Caldwell Ames, Peter Biller, Michael Borgolte, Patrick Geary, Richard Hitchcock, Bernhard Jussen, Joep Leerssen, G.A. Loud, Christian Lübke, Jinty Nelson, Bastian Schlüter, Martial Staub, Ian Wood.

Peter Murray Jones

The Medicine of the Friars in Medieval England

$85.00

Drawing upon a surprising wealth of evidence found in surviving manuscripts, this book restores friars to their rightful place in the history of English health care.

Friars are often overlooked in the picture of health care in late medieval England. Physicians, surgeons, apothecaries, barbers, midwives - these are the people we think of immediately as agents of healing; whilst we identify university teachers as authorities on medical writings. Yet from their first appearance in England in the 1220s to the dispersal of the friaries in the 1530s, four orders of friars were active as healers of every type. Their care extended beyond the circle of their own brethren: patients included royalty, nobles and bishops, and they also provided charitable aid and relief to the poor. They wrote about medicine too. Bartholomew the Englishman and Roger Bacon were arguably the most influential authors, alongside the Dominican Henry Daniel. Nor should we forget the anonymous Franciscan compilers of the Tabula medicine, a handbook of cures, which, amongst other items, contains case histories of friars practising medicine. Even after the Reformation, these texts continued to circulate and find new readers amongst practitioners and householders.

This book restores friars to their rightful place in the history of English health care, exploring the complex, productive entanglement between care of the soul and healing of the body, in both theoretical and practical terms. Drawing upon the surprising wealth of evidence found in the surviving manuscripts, it brings to light individuals such as William Holme (c. 1400), and his patient the duke of York (d. 1402), who suffered from swollen legs. Holme also wrote about medicinal simples and gave instructions for dealing with eye and voice problems experienced by his brother Franciscans. Friars from the thirteenth century onwards wrote their medicine differently, reflecting their religious vocation as preachers and confessors.

The Medicine of the Friars in Medieval England

Martin Heale

The Prelate in England and Europe, 1300-1560

$130.00

An investigation into the role of the high-ranking churchman in this period - who they were, what they did, and how they perceived themselves.

High ecclesiastical office in the Middle Ages inevitably brought power, wealth and patronage. The essays in this volume examine how late medieval and Renaissance prelates deployed the income and influence of their offices, how they understood their role, and how they were viewed by others. Focusing primarily on but not exclusively confined to England, this collection explores the considerable common ground between cardinals, bishops and monastic superiors.Leading authorities on the late medieval and sixteenth-century Church analyse the political, cultural and pastoral activities of high-ranking churchmen, and consider how episcopal and abbatial expenditure was directed, justifiedand perceived. Overall, the collection enhances our understanding of ecclesiastical wealth and power in an era when the concept and role of the prelate were increasingly contested.

Dr Martin Heale is Senior Lecturer inLate Medieval History, University of Liverpool.

Contributors: Martin Heale, Michael Carter, James G. Clark, Gwilym Dodd, Felicity Heal, Anne Hudson, Emilia Jamroziak, Cédric Michon, Elizabeth A. New, Wendy Scase, Benjamin Thompson, C.M. Woolgar

The Prelate in England and Europe, 1300-1560

James Bothwell

The Problem of Labour in Fourteenth-Century England

$95.00

Attitudes towards `labour', in the wake of the Black Death, shown to range from early protest literature to repressive authoritarianism.

At the very moment that the image of the honest labourer seemed to reach its apogee in the Luttrell Psalter or, a few decades later, in Piers Plowman, the dominant culture of the landed interests was increasingly suspiciousof what it described as the idleness, greed and arrogance of the lower orders. Labour was one of the central issues during the fourteenth century: the natural disasters and profound social changes of the period created not merelya "problem" of labour, but also new ways of discussing and (supposedly) solving that problem. These studies engage with the contrasting and often competing discourses which emerged, ranging from the critical social awareness of some of the early fourteenth-century protest literature to the repressive authoritarianism of the new national employment laws that were enforced in the wake of the Black Death, and were expressed in counter-cultures of resistanceand dissent.

JAMES BOTHWELL and P.J.P. GOLDBERG lecture in history, and W.M. ORMROD is Professor of History, at the University of York.

Contributors: CORDELIA BEATTIE, CHRISTOPHER DYER, RICHARD K. EMMERSON,P.J.P. GOLDBERG, KATE GILES, CHRIS GIVEN-WILSON, STEPHEN KNIGHT, DEREK PEARSALL, SARAH REES JONES.

The Problem of Labour in Fourteenth-Century England

Jaclyn Rajsic, Erik Kooper, Dominique Hoche

The Prose Brut and Other Late Medieval Chronicles

$130.00

Essays on the medieval chronicle tradition, shedding light on history writing, manuscript studies and the history of the book, and the post-medieval reception of such texts.

The histories of chronicles composed in England during the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries and onwards, with a focus on texts belonging to or engaging with the Prose Brut tradition, are the focus of this volume. The contributors examine the composition, dissemination and reception of historical texts written in Anglo-Norman, Latin and English, including the Prose Brut chronicle (c. 1300 and later), Castleford's Chronicle (c. 1327),and Nicholas Trevet's Les Cronicles (c. 1334), looking at questions of the processes of writing, rewriting, printing and editing history. They cross traditional boundaries of subject and period, taking multi-disciplinary approaches to their studies in order to underscore the (shifting) historical, social and political contexts in which medieval English chronicles were used and read from the fourteenth century through to the present day.
As such, the volume honours the pioneering work of the late Professor Lister M. Matheson, whose research in this area demonstrated that a full understanding of medieval historical literature demands attention to both the content of theworks in question and to the material circumstances of producing those works.

JACLYN RAJSIC is a Lecturer in Medieval Literature in the School of English and Drama at Queen Mary University of London; ERIK KOOPER taughtOld and Middle English at Utrecht University until his retirement in 2007; DOMINIQUE HOCHE Is an Associate Professor at West Liberty University in West Virginia.

Contributors: Elizabeth J. Bryan, Caroline D. Eckhardt,A.S.G. Edwards, Dan Embree, Alexander L. Kaufman, Edward Donald Kennedy, Erik Kooper, Julia Marvin, William Marx, Krista A. Murchison, Heather Pagan, Jaclyn Rajsic, Christine M. Rose, Neil Weijer

The Prose <I>Brut</I> and Other Late Medieval Chronicles

Conan Doyle

The Reception of Latin Medicine in Early Medieval England

$130.00

Uses Old English medical texts - ranging from recipe collections and illustrated herbals to the therapeutics of ancient authorities - to reconstruct the diffusion and reception of Classical medical knowledge in early medieval England.

Direct evidence for the earlier Latin sources and transmission of early medieval medical texts in England is sorely lacking - which has led to scholarly neglect. This is a gap this book address, via a close examination of the Old English medical corpus, including the Lacnunga and Bald's Leechbook, to shed light on the diffusion and reception of this knowledge. It considers exactly which Latin medical texts were used in the compilation of the Old English versions, showing that they were, in many cases, translations of Greek medical texts. From this, it argues that the Old English corpus as a whole was a creative endeavor to synthesize the best medical knowledge available at the time, from the various Latin works of Soranus of Ephesus to the sixth- or seventh-century Latin traditions of Galen of Pergamum, Oribasius of Pergamum and Alexander of Tralles. Covering over eight centuries of the textual tradition of medicine, it demonstrates that the dissemination of medical knowledge in pre-Conquest England was far wider than previously believed.

Cover image for The Reception of Latin Medicine in Early Medieval England, isbn: 9781914049163

Gwilym Dodd

The Reign of Edward II

$120.00

A new review of the most significant issues of Edward II's reign.

Edward II presided over a turbulent and politically charged period of English history, but to date he has been relatively neglected in comparison to other fourteenth and fifteenth-century kings. This book offers a significant re-appraisal of a much maligned monarch and his historical importance, making use of the latest empirical research and revisionist theories, and concentrating on people and personalities, perceptions and expectations, rather than dry constitutional analysis. Papers consider both the institutional and the personal facets of Edward II's life and rule: his sexual reputation, the royal court, the role of the king's household knights, the nature of law and parliament in the reign, and England's relations with Ireland and Europe.

Contributors: J.S. HAMILTON, W.M. ORMROD, IAN MORTIMER, MICHAEL PRESTWICH, ALISTAIR TEBBIT, W.R. CHILDS, PAUL DRYBURGH, ANTHONY MUSSON, GWILYM DODD, ALISON MARSHALL, MARTYN LAWRENCE, SEYMOUR PHILLIPS.

Alicia Marchant

The Revolt of Owain Glyndwr in Medieval English Chronicles

$130.00

An examination of the portrayal of one of the most important uprisings in the middle ages in subsequent history writing.

The revolt of Owain Glyndwr (1400-c.1415) was a remarkable event in both English and Welsh contexts, and as such was narrated by a number of chroniclers, including Adam Usk, John Capgrave, Thomas Walsingham and Edward Halle. Theyoffer a range of perspectives on the events, as well as portrayals of the main characters (especially, of course, Glyndwr himself), the communities involved, and Wales.
This book studies the representations of the revolt in English chronicles, from 1400 up to1580. It focuses on the narrative strategies employed, offers a new reading of the texts as literary constructs, and explores the information they present.

Alicia Marchant is a ResearchAssociate in the ARC Centre of Excellence for the History of Emotions at the University of Western Australia.

The Revolt of Owain Glyndwr in Medieval English Chronicles

Helen Lacey

The Royal Pardon: Access to Mercy in Fourteenth-Century England

$130.00

Pioneering investigation of the royal pardon, at a time of major change in the system of English justice, showing the important part it continued to play.

The letter of pardon was a document familiar to the king's subjects in the middle ages; imbued with symbolic resonance as the judgement of the monarch, it also served a practical purpose, offering a last hope of reprieve from thedeath sentence or life as an outlaw. The fourteenth century in particular was a pivotal time of change for the system of English justice, and saw the evolution of a legal structure still recognisable today, yet the role of the royal pardon adapted and endured.
This book offers the first comprehensive study of the royal pardon in fourteenth-century England, using evidence drawn from legal and literary texts, parliamentary records, yearbooks, and plea rolls to examine the full influence of royal mercy. Its implications go well beyond legal history, encompassing the major political and constitutional debates of the period, the theological underpinnings of royal mercy, and the social context of the law. Chapters analyse the procedures of pardoning, the role of royal mercy at moments of political upheaval (such as at the Peasants' Revolt), and the range of views expressed by legal theorists, parliamentary representatives, and by the diverse range of people who at one time or another had reason to seek royal mercy. The appendices provide full lists of all those who acted as "intercessors" for mercy; comprising over 1000 names, they reveal the role of women and personal servants of the crown, alongside the great nobles of the realm, in providing access to royal grace.

Dr HELEN LACEY is Lecturer in Late Medieval History at Mansfield College, University of Oxford.

The Royal Pardon: Access to Mercy in Fourteenth-Century England

Helen Birkett

The Saints' Lives of Jocelin of Furness

$130.00

First comprehensive study of four important medieval saints' lives, setting them in their political and ecclesiastical context.

Jocelin of Furness (fl.1175x1214), the Cistercian hagiographer, composed four substantial and significant saints' lives; varying widely in both subject and patron, they offer a rich corpus of medieval hagiographical writing. Jocelin's Vita S. Patricii and Vita S. Kentegerni provide updated versions of each saint's legend and are carefully adapted to reflect the interests of their respective patrons in Ireland and Scotland. The Vita S. Helenae was probably commissioned by a female community in England; it represents an idealized narrative mirror of its early thirteenth-century context. In contrast, the Vita S. Waldevi was written to promote the formal canonization of a new saint, Waltheof (d.1159), abbot of the Cistercian house of Melrose in the Scottish borders.
This is the first full-length study of the Lives. It combines detailed analyses of the composition of the texts with study of their patronage, audiences, and contemporary contexts; and it provides new insights into Jocelin's works and the writing of hagiography in the period.

Dr HELEN BIRKETT is Lecturer in Medieval History, University of Exeter.

Andrew Taylor

The Songs and Travels of a Tudor Minstrel: Richard Sheale of Tamworth

$105.00

A reconstruction of the life and works of a sixteenth-century minstrel, showing the tradition to be flourishing well into the Tudor period.

Richard Sheale, a harper and balladeer from Tamworth, is virtually the only English minstrel whose life story is known to us in any detail. It had been thought that by the sixteenth century minstrels had generally been downgradedto the role of mere jesters. However, through a careful examination of the manuscript which Sheale almost certainly "wrote" (Bodleian Ashmole 48) and other records, the author argues that the oral tradition remained vibrant at this period, contrary to the common idea that print had by this stage destroyed traditional minstrelsy. The author shows that under the patronage of Edward Stanley, earl of Derby, and his son, from one of the most important aristocratic families in England, Sheale recited and collected ballads and travelled to and from London to market them. Amongst his repertoire was the famous Chevy Chase, which Sir Philip Sidney said moved his heart "more than witha trumpet". Sheale also composed his own verse, including a lament on being robbed of 60 on his way to London; the poem is reproduced in this volume.

ANDREW TAYLOR lectures in the Department of English, University of Ottawa.

The Songs and Travels of a Tudor Minstrel: Richard Sheale of Tamworth

Ralph Hanna

The Wollaton Medieval Manuscripts

$120.00

A survey of the history, holdings, decoration, and conservation of one of England's finest medieval libraries, with full catalogue.

The Willoughby family, from Wollaton, Nottinghamshire, built up an extensive medieval library, including the notable Wollaton Antiphonal; theirs is the largest surviving library gathered by a gentry family of the period, the product of a single acquisitive burst, beginning around 1460 and mainly completed at about the time of the Dissolution in 1540. The manuscripts remain unique because of the very substantial core which survives more or less in situ, together with a huge collection of family archives, at the University of Nottingham, just a few miles from their original home.
This book focuses upon the ten manuscripts now in the Wollaton Library Collection as well asthe famous Antiphonal. Essays explore the history of the library and the Willoughby family, the books of Sir Thomas Chaworth, the art and function of the Antiphonal, the works of pastoral instruction, the decoration of the Frenchmanuscripts (including the earliest fully illustrated manuscript of romances), the Confessio Amantis, and the conservation of the collection. The essays are followed by a full catalogue of the Wollaton Library Collection aswell as of manuscripts and early printed books now dispersed as far afield as Tokyo and New York.

Contributors: Alixe Bovey, Gavin Cole, Ralph Hanna, Dorothy Johnston, Rob Lutton, Derek Pearsall, Alison Stones, Thorlac Turville-Petre.

Chris Humphrey

Time in the Medieval World

$95.00

A look at the competing notions of time in the middle ages, from the spiritual - death, the Last Judgement - to the practical - lawyers' calculations, clocks and calendars.

By exploring some of the more important senses of time which were in circulation in the medieval world, scholars from a wide range of disciplines trace competing definitions and modes of temporality in the middle ages, explainingtheir influence upon life and culture. The issues explored include anachronism as a feature in earlier senses of time, perceptions of death and of the Last Judgement, time in literary narratives and in music, constructions of timeas used in the professions, and original work on the particular systems and technologies which were used for the keeping of time, such as clocks and calendars.

Contributors: PAUL BRAND, PETER BURKE, MARY J. CARRUTHERS, DEBORAH DELIYANNIS, CHRISTOPHER HUMPHREY, ROBERT MARKUS, AD PUTTER, HOWARD WILLIAMS.

Michele Campopiano

Universal Chronicles in the High Middle Ages

$130.00

New perspectives on and interpretations of the popular medieval genre of the universal chronicle.

Found in pre-modern cultures of every era and across the world, from the ancient Near East to medieval Latin Christendom, the universal chronicle is simultaneously one of the most ubiquitous pre-modern cultural forms and one of the most overlooked. Universal chronicles narrate the history of the whole world from the time of its creation up to the then present day, treating the world's affairs as though they were part of a single organic reality, and uniting various strands of history into a unifed, coherent story. They reveal a great deal about how the societies that produced them understood their world and how historical narrative itself can work to produce that understanding.
The essays here offer new perspectives on the genre, from a number of different disciplines, demonstrating their vitality, flexibility and cultural importance, They reveal them to be deeply political texts, which allowed history-writers and their audiences to locate themselves in space, time and in the created universe. Several chapters address the manuscript context, looking at the innovative techniques of compilation, structure and layout that placed them at the cutting edge of medieval book technology. Others analyse the background of universal chronicles, and identify their circulation amongst different social groups; there are also investigations into their literary discourse, patronage, authorship and diffusion.

Michele Campopiano is Senior Lecturer in Medieval Latin Literature at the University of York; Henry Bainton is Lecturer in High Medieval Literature at the University of York.

Contributors:Tobias Andersson, Michele Campopiano, Cornelia Dreer, Catherine Gaullier-Bougassas, Elena Koroleva, Keith Lilley, Andrew Marsham, Rosa M. Rodriguez Porto, Christophe Thierry, Elizabeth M. Tyler, Steven Vanderputten, Bjorn Weiler, Claudia Wittig.

Universal Chronicles in the High Middle Ages

Linda Tollerton

Wills and Will-Making in Anglo-Saxon England

$130.00

A study of the implications and practices of wills and will-making in Anglo-Saxon society, and of the varieties of inheritance strategies and commemorative arrangements adopted.

A remarkable series of Anglo-Saxon wills have survived, spanning the period from the beginning of the ninth century to the years immediately following the Norman Conquest. Written in Old English, they reflect the significance of the vernacular, not only in royal administration during this period, but in the recording of a range of individual transactions. They show wealthy laymen and women, and clerics, from kings and bishops to those of thegnly status, disposing of land and chattels, and recognising ties of kinship, friendship, lordship and service through their bequests; and whilst land is of prime importance, the mention in some wills of such valuable items as tableware, furnishings, clothing, jewellery and weapons provides an insight into lifestyle at the time.
Despite their importance, no study has hitherto been specifically devoted to Anglo-Saxon wills in their social and historical context, a gap which this book aims to fill. While the wills themselves can be vague and allusive, by establishing patterns of bequeathing, and by drawing on other resources, the author sheds light on the factors which influenced men and womenin making appropriate provision for their property.

Linda Tollerton gained her PhD from the University of York.

Wills and Will-Making in Anglo-Saxon England

Prof Anne Lawrence-Mathers

Women and Writing, c.1340-c.1650

$120.00

Essays offering a gendered approach to the study of the move from manuscript to early printed book show how much women were involved in the process.

The transition from medieval manuscript to early printed book is currently a major topic of academic interest, but has received very little attention in terms of women's involvement, a gap which the essays in this volume address.They add female names to the list of authors who participated in the creation of English literature, and examine women's responses to authoritative and traditional texts in revealing detail. Taking its cue from the advances made by recent work on manuscript culture and book history, this volume also includes studies of material evidence, looking at women's participation in the making of books, and the traces they left when they encountered actual volumes.Finally, studies of women's roles in relation to apparently ephemeral texts, such as letters, pamphlets and almanacs, challenge traditional divisions between public and private spheres as well as between manuscript and print.

Dr Anne Lawrence-Mathers is Lecturer in History, University of Reading; Phillipa Hardman is Senior Lecturer in English, University of Reading.

Contributors: Gemma Allen, Anna Bayman, James Daybell, Alice Eardley, Christopher Hardman, Phillipa Hardman, Elizabeth Heale, Anne Lawrence-Mathers, Adam Smyth, Alison Wiggins, Graham Williams

Laura Cleaver

Writing History in the Anglo-Norman World

$36.95

The contexts for the works of eleventh and twelfth-century historians are here brought to the fore.

History was a subject popular with authors and readers in the Anglo-Norman world. The volume and richness of historical writing in the lands controlled by the kings of England, particularly from the twelfth century, has long attracted the attention of historians and literary scholars, whilst editions of works by such writers as Orderic Vitalis, John of Worcester, Symeon of Durham, William of Malmesbury, Gerald of Wales, Roger of Howden, and Matthew Paris has made them well known. Yet the easy availability of modern editions obscures both the creation and circulation of histories in the Middle Ages.
This collection of essays returns to the processes involved in writing history, and in particular to the medieval manuscript sources in which the works of such historians survive. It explores the motivations of those writing about the past in the Middle Ages, and the evidence provided by manuscripts for the circumstances in which copies were made. It also addresses the selection of material for copying, combinations of text and imagery, and the demand for copies of particular works, shedding new light on how and why history was being read, reproduced, discussed, adapted, and written.

LAURA CLEAVER is Senior Lecturer in Manuscript Studies, Institute of English Studies, University of London; ANDREA WORM is Professor of Art History. Kunsthistorischen Institut, Eberhard Karls University, Tubingen.

Contributors: Stephen Church, Kathryn Gerry, Anne Lawrence-Mathers, Laura Pani, Charles C. Rozier, Gleb Schmidt, Laura Slater, Michael Staunton, Caoimhe Whelan, Andrea Worm

Laura Cleaver

Writing History in the Anglo-Norman World

$130.00

The contexts for the works of eleventh and twelfth-century historians are here brought to the fore.

History was a subject popular with authors and readers in the Anglo-Norman world. The volume and richness of historical writing in the lands controlled by the kings of England, particularly from the twelfth century, has long attracted the attention of historians and literary scholars, whilst editions of works by such writers as Orderic Vitalis, John of Worcester, Symeon of Durham, William of Malmesbury, Gerald of Wales, Roger of Howden, and Matthew Paris has made them well known. Yet the easy availability of modern editions obscures both the creation and circulation of histories in the Middle Ages.
This collection of essays returns to the processes involved in writing history, and in particular to the medieval manuscript sources in which the works of such historians survive. It explores the motivations of those writing about the past in the Middle Ages, and the evidence provided by manuscripts for the circumstances in which copies were made. It also addresses the selection of material for copying, combinations of text and imagery, and the demand for copies of particular works, shedding new light on how and why history was being read, reproduced, discussed, adapted, and written.

LAURA CLEAVER is Senior Lecturer in Manuscript Studies, Institute of English Studies, University of London; ANDREA WORM is Professor of Art History. Kunsthistorischen Institut, Eberhard Karls University, Tubingen.

Contributors: Stephen Church, Kathryn Gerry, Anne Lawrence-Mathers, Laura Pani, Charles C. Rozier, Gleb Schmidt, Laura Slater, Michael Staunton, Caoimhe Whelan, Andrea Worm

Charles C. Rozier

Writing History in the Community of St Cuthbert, c.700-1130

$120.00

An examination of the extraordinary texts produced by the community of St Cuthbert, showing how they were used to construct and define an identity.

Historical texts of all kinds were written in the community of St Cuthbert c.700-1130, from short annals to extended narrative history, political tracts and works on the lives and miracles of saints.At the same time, scribes in the community worked to copy and procure notable classics of historiography, from Classical Antiquity down to the Norman Conquest of England. But what did these various forms of writing about past events mean to their original authors and readers? What were these texts for?
This book offers a narrative of historiographical production within St Cuthbert's community from the time of its foundation on the island of Lindisfarne, through subsequent translations to Chester-le-Street and Durham, down to the vibrant intellectual revival of the Anglo-Norman period. Focusing on several watershed moments in the story of this community, it identifies political, religious, intellectual andcultural triggers for historical writing, and argues that knowledge of past events gave successive guardians of Cuthbert's cult their single most valuable tool in the continuous effort to define who they were, where they had comefrom, and what they hoped to continue to be.

Writing History in the Community of St Cuthbert, c.700-1130

P J P Goldberg

Youth in the Middle Ages

$95.00

Evidence for childhood and youth from the sixth century to the sixteenth, but with particular emphasis on later medieval England.

Moving on from the legacy of Ariès, these essays address evidence for childhood and youth from the sixth century to the sixteenth, but with particular emphasis on later medieval England. The contents include the idea of childhoodin the writing of Gregory of Tours, skaldic verse narratives and their implications for the understanding of kingship, Jewish communities of Northern Europe for whom children represented the continuity of a persecuted faith, children in the records of the northern Italian Humiliati, the meaning of romance narratives centred around the departure of the hero or heroine from the natal hearth, the age at which later medieval English youngsters left home, how far they travelled and where they went, literary sources revealing the politicisation of the idea of the child, and the response of young, affluent females to homiletic literature and the iconography of the virgin martyrs in the later middle ages.

Contributors: FRANCES E. ANDREWS, HELEN COOPER, P.J.P.GOLDBERG, SIMCHA GOLDIN, EDWARD F. JAMES, JUDITH JESCH, KIM M. PHILLIPS, MIKE TYLER, ROSALYNN VOADEN.