The dark ages of English history between the collapse of Roman rule in the early fifth century and the emergence of the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms in the seventh century are examined in this study, which draws attention to political and social factors linking Roman Britain to Anglo-Saxon England.

"England of the Plantagenet kings was a turbulent place. In politics it saw Simon de Montfort's challenge to the crown in Henry III's reign and it witnessed the deposition of Edward II. By contrast, and as relief, it also experienced the highly successful rules of Edward I and his grandson, Edward III. Political institutions were transformed with the development of parliament, and war, the stimulus for some of that change, was never far away. Wales was conquered and the Scottish Wars of Independence started in Edward I's reign, while Crecy and Poitiers were English triumphs under Edward III." "Beyond politics, the structure of English society was developing, from the great magnates at the top to the peasantry at the bottom. Economic changes were also significant, from the expansionary period of the thirteenth century to years of difficulty in the fourteenth, culminating in the greatest demographic disaster of historical times, the Black Death." "Embracing politics and government, kingship, the structure of society, France, Scotland, and Wales, as well as areas such as the environment, the management of the land, crime and punishment, Michael Prestwich's survey casts the Plantagenet past in a new and revealing light."--BOOK JACKET.

This classic volume in the renowned Oxford History of England series examines the birth of a nation-state from the death throes of the Middle Ages in North-West Europe. John D. Mackie describes the establishment of a stable monarchy by the very competent Henry VII, examines the means employed by him, and considers how far his monarchy can be described as "new." He also discusses the machinery by which the royal power was exercised and traces the effect of the concentration of lay and eccleciastical authority in the person of Wolsey, whose soaring ambition helped make possible the Caesaro-Papalism of Henry VIII.

This wide-ranging study of language and cultural change in fourteenth-century England argues that the influence of oral tradition is much more important to the advance of literacy than previously supposed. In contrast to the view of orality and literacy as opposing forces, the book maintains that the power of language consists in displacement, the capacity of one channel of language to take the place of the other, to make the source disappear into the copy. Appreciating the interplay between oral and written language makes possible for the first time a way of understanding the high literate achievements of this century in relation to momentous developments in social and political life. Part I reasseses the "nominalism" of Ockham and the "realism" of Wyclif through discussions of their major treatises on language and government. Part II argues that the chronicle histories of this century are tied specifically to oral customs, and Part III shows how Sir Gawain and the Green Knight and Chaucer's Knight's Tale confront outright the displacement of language and dominion. Informed by recent discussions in critical theory, philosophy, and anthropology, the book offers a new synoptic view of fourteenth-century culture. As a critique of the social context of medieval literacy, it speaks directly to postmodern debate about the politics of historicism today.

A study of the careers of over 1200 sheriffs appointed in England during the fourteenth century.

This book offers an analysis of the role played by Adam Orleton, promoted successively Bishop of Hereford, Worcester and Winchester.

This series provides a forum for the most recent research into the political, social and ecclesiastical history of the 14th century.

Barbara Bombi examines diplomacy between England and the papal curia during the first phase of the Anglo-French conflict known as the Hundred Years' War (1305-1360), exploring the development of diplomatic systems, and how they were impacted by conflict and political change.