Fresh insights into a wide array of topics from political culture and royal policy to ecclesiastical networks and the development of clerical careers.


The essays in this volume deal with an array of fascinating themes, from political culture and royal policy to ecclesiastical networks and the development of clerical careers. Drawing on a rich range of archival records, they demonstrate the ongoing vitality of research into fourteenth-century life and culture. The evolution of political life forms the subject of several chapters, offering insights into the making and breaking of gentry and baronial legacies. Another contribution foregrounds royal policy relating to the duchy of Gascony, where English monarchs heard appeals. There are also contributions on the crucial role of the Church in fourteenth-century society, examining progression through clerical orders as well as the dynamics of political patronage within the episcopacy.