Louise J. Wilkinson

The remarkable life of a powerful and fiery woman at the heart of the turbulent Barons' Wars.

A Rebel Countess in Medieval England

Eleanor de Montfort

Paul Dryburgh

Eric Gallagher

Lesley Boatwright

The pipe roll for Michaelmas 1226 is particularly informative as it preserves the accounts for no fewer than twenty-nine English shrievalties, allowing us to analyse the collection of royal revenues in fascinating detail. This volume is the first edition of the Latin pipe roll for 10 Henry III (Michaelmas 1226). It will be invaluable for historians of the reign of King Henry III and for historians interested in medieval royal finance and administration. It is a particularly detailed roll, which preserves the accounts for no fewer than twenty-nine English shrievalties, with only Rutland and Westmorland missing. In addition to these, this pipe roll includes a number of other accounts, including those of Thomas of Cirencester for the earl of Devon's lands and the king's manors in Devon, which will be useful to local historians. Although no new scutages were levied in this accounting year, this pipe roll shows that arrears were still coming in from those of Montgomery (1223) and Bedford (1224), with some particularly detailed entries relating to the honours of Boulogne and Wallingford. The contents of this roll also allow historians interested in taxation and royal revenues to trace the collection of the fifteenth on moveable property, which had been proposed in return for the re-issue of Magna Carta in 1225. There is, similarly, interesting information relating to the business of Hugh de Neville's forest eyre of 1224-5 for Northamptonshire, Nottinghamshire/Derbyshire, Worcestershire and Dorset, offering insights into the implementation of the Forest Charter. The contents of this pipe roll also assist in studying the royal exchequer's continued attempts to recover large, outstanding debts from barons, such as Warin de Munchensy, via a policy of consolidation and attermination. Other business of potential interest to a range of scholars is covered in the pipe roll for 10 Henry III. The staffing and maintenance of royal castles are mentioned regularly, and the roll's contents provide important information about the keepers of royal castles in different counties, payments for crossbowmen in particular locations, details relating to knight service and payments for repairs to castles, such as Bedford which figured in Fawkes de Bréauté's revolt of 1224, and for building works at the Tower of London. Included among other business outlined in this pipe roll are details of the money and equipment transported to Portsmouth and Portchester for despatch to Gascony for the use of Richard, Henry III's brother, who had recently been created count of Poitou, and for the defence of Gascony against Louis VIII.

(Pipe Roll 70)

The Great Roll of the Pipe for the Tenth Year of the Reign of King Henry III Michaelmas 1226

Edition with English translation of a document shedding huge light on one of the most important figures of her time.

The Household Roll of Eleanor de Montfort, Count - British Library, Additional MS. 8877

As sister of Henry III and aunt of the future Edward I, Eleanor de Montfort was at the heart of the bloody conflict between the Crown and the English barons. At Lewes in 1264 Simon de Montfort captured the king and secured control of royal government. A woman of fiery nature, Eleanor worked tirelessly to support her husband's cause. She assumed responsibility for the care of the royal prisoners and she regularly dispatched luxurious gifts to Henry III and the Lord Edward. But the family's political fortunes were shattered at the battle of Evesham in August 1265 where Simon de Montfort was killed. The newly-widowed Eleanor rose to her role as matriarch of her family, sending her surviving sons - and the family treasure - overseas to France, negotiating the surrender of Dover Castle and securing her own safe departure from the realm. The last ten years of her life were spent in the Dominican convent at Montargis. Drawing on chronicles, letters and public records this book reconstructs the narrative of Eleanor's remarkable life.

Paul Dalton

Charles Insley

Cathedrals dominated the ecclesiastical (and physical) landscape of the British Isles and Normandy in the middle ages; yet, in comparison with the history of monasteries, theirs has received significantly less attention. This volume helps to redress the balance by examining major themes in their development between the eleventh and thirteenth centuries. These include the composition, life, corporate identity and memory of cathedral communities; the relationships, sometimes supportive, sometimes conflicting, that they had with kings (e.g. King John), aristocracies, and neighbouring urban and religious communities; the importance of cathedrals as centres of lordship and patronage; their role in promoting and utilizing saints' cults (e.g. that of St Thomas Becket); episcopal relations; and the involvement of cathedrals in religious and political conflicts, and in the settlement of disputes. A critical introduction locates medieval cathedrals in space and time, and against a backdrop of wider ecclesiastical change in the period. Contributors: Paul Dalton, Charles Insley, Louise J. Wilkinson, Ann Williams, C.P. Lewis, Richard Allen, John Reuben Davies, Thomas Roche, Stephen Marritt, Michael Staunton, Sheila Sweetinburgh, Paul Webster, Nicholas Vincent

Louise J. Wilkinson

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