Overview

First full analysis of the rich records surviving from medieval English town courts. Town courts were the principal institution responsible for the delivery of justice and urban administration within medieval towns. Their records survive in large quantities in archives across England, and they provide an unparalleled insight into the lives and work of thousands of men and women who lived in these towns. The court rolls tell us much about the practice of law at the local level within towns, as well as yielding a broad range of perspectiveson the economy, society and administration of towns. This volume is the first collection dedicated to the analysis of town courts and their records. Through a wide range of approaches, it offers new interpretations of the role that these courts played. It also demonstrates the wide range of uses to which court records can be put to in order to more fully understand medieval urban society. The volume draws on the records of a considerable number of towns and their courts across England, including London, York, Norwich, Lincoln, Nottingham, Lynn, Chester, Bromsgrove and Shipston-on-Stour. RICHARD GODDARD is Associate Professor in the Department of History at the University of Nottingham; TERESA PHIPPS is Honorary Research Fellow in the Department of History at Swansea University. Contributors: Christopher Dyer, Richard Goddard, Jeremy Goldberg, Alan Kissane, Maryanne Kowaleski, JaneLaughton, Esther Liberman Cuenca, Susan Maddock, Teresa Phipps, Samantha Sagui

Full Product Details

Author:   Richard Goddard ,  Teresa Phipps ,  Alan Kissane (Royalty Account) ,  Christopher Dyer
Publisher:   Boydell & Brewer Ltd
Imprint:   The Boydell Press
Dimensions:   Width: 15.60cm , Height: 2.00cm , Length: 23.40cm
Weight:   0.590kg
ISBN:  

9781783274253

ISBN 10:   1783274255
Pages:   277
Publication Date:   16 August 2019
Audience:   Professional and scholarly ,  Professional & Vocational
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   In Print  
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Table of Contents

Introduction - Richard Goddard and Teresa Phipps Town Courts in Medieval England: An Introduction - Maryanne Kowaleski Borough Court Cases as Legal Precedent in English Town Custumals - Esther Liberman Cuenca The Priest of Nottingham and the Holy Household of Ousegate: Telling Tales in Court - Jeremy Goldberg Female Litigants and the Borough Court: Status and Strategy in the Case of Agnes Halum of Nottingham - Teresa Phipps Courts and Urbanisation: Jurisdiction in Late Medieval Seigneurial Boroughs and Towns - Christopher Dyer The Business of the Leet Courts in Medieval Norwich, 1288-1391 - Samantha Sagui The Black Death and the Borough Court: The Changing Pattern of Social and Judicial Representation in Late Medieval Lincoln - Alan Kissane Justice and Jurisdictions in Late Medieval Chester - J W Laughton Trust: Business Networks and the Borough Court - Richard Goddard Society, Status and the Leet Court in Margery Kempe's Lynn - Susan Maddock Appendix: An Annotated List of Printed or Online Transcriptions and Translations of Medieval Town Courts in Britain to 1500 Bibliography Index

Reviews

Goddard and Phipps set out to provide researchers with an understanding of a type of source that has been underused in history, and this book successfully provides a valuable guide.--Joe Chick Journal of British Studies

Fills a major gap in the scholarly literature and provides a wide-ranging and coherent overview alongside exemplary case studies. * MEDIEVAL ARCHAEOLOGY * This is an important book. * NORTHERN HISTORY * Goddard and Phipps set out to provide researchers with an understanding of a type of source that has been underused in history, and this book successfully provides a valuable guide. -- Joe Chick * Journal of British Studies * [This] volume should certainly inspire such study in future, and should find a place on the shelves of all late medieval urban historians -- Urban History

Author Information

Christopher Dyer is Emeritus Professor of History at the University of Leicester. He has written, edited, co-authored and co-edited many books, including William Dugdale, Historian, 1605-1686: His Life, his Writings and His County (Boydell, 2009).

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