Social Attitudes and Political Structures in the Fifteenth Century

This volume includes papers on political, religious, social and economic history and the history of ideas during the 15th century. The papers challenge existing conceptions and open new avenues of discussion on longstanding debates. Themes covered include parliaments and their relationships with the monarchs of the period, both in Scotland and England; queens and their role in the 15th century English polity; the ideas that lay behind the English claims to the French throne, and the rituals of peace-making in the Hundred Years War. Debates over the importance of lordship and service are also touched upon, in a paper which examines Lord Hastings' retainers in the defence of Calais, while another chapter discusses the local politics of a small Welsh marcher lordship. The crucial subject of Lancastrian government finances in the 1450s also receives a fresh examination. In religious history, papers examine the activity of monastic propagandists and the religious life of cathedrals through the activity of fraternities based in them. There are also considerations of a noble widow, and of the 15th century rural economy.

Contenu

Postgraduate research in 15th century history, 1919-99, Tim Thornton; selling the holy places - monastic efforts to win back the people in 15th century England, James Clark; fraternities in English cathedrals in the later medieval period, Elisabeth New; fertility rite or authority ritual? The Queen's coronation in England 1445-87, Joanna L. Chamberlayne; Lady-Joan Dinham - a 15th century West-Country matriarch, Hannes Kleineke; the rituals of peace during the Civil War in France, 1409-19 - politics and the public sphere, Nicolas Offenstadt; "I Arest You, Sir, in the Name of the Three Astattes in Perlement": the Scottish parliament and resistance to the crown in th 15th century, Roland Tanner; conflict or consensus - Henry IV and parliament, 1399-1406, Gwilym Dodd; William, Lord Hastings and the defence of Calais, 1471-83, David Grummitt; the financial priorities of Lancastrian government, 1450-51, Bill Smith; watermills in the local economy of a late medieval manor in Berkshire, Margaret Yates; the "Middling Sort" in the Lordship of Blakemere, Shropshire, c.1380-c.1420, Fran Bumpus; Henry VII, Sir Thomas Butler and the Stanley Family - regional politics and the assertion of royal influence in North-Western England, 1471-1521, Sean Cunningham.