Plantagenet England, 1225-1360

✍ Scribed by Michael Prestwich

• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Year: 2007
• Tongue: English
• Leaves: 663
• Category: Library

✦ Synopsis

In this thorough and illuminating work, Michael Prestwich provides a comprehensive study of Plantagenet England, a dramatic and turbulent period which saw many changes. In politics it saw Simon de Montfort's challenge to the crown in Henry II's reign and it witnessed the deposition of Edward I. In contrast, it also saw the highly successful rules of Edward I and his grandson, Edward III. Political institutions were transformed with the development of parliament and war was a dominant theme: Wales was conquered and the Scottish Wars of Independence started in Edward I's reign, and under Edward III there were triumphs at Cr�cy and Poitiers. Outside of politics, English society was developing a structure, 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 century, culminating in the greatest demographic disaster of historical times, the Black Death. In this volume in the New Oxford History of England Michael Prestwich brings this fascinating century to life.

✦ Table of Contents

Contents
List of Plates
List of Tables and Maps
List of Abbreviations
Note on Money
PART I: INTRODUCTORY
1. THE ENVIRONMENT
The Climate
The People and Their Health
The Landscape
Animals
Buildings
Technology and Transport
Conclusion
2. THE CROWN AND KINGSHIP
The Coronation and Sacred Kingship
Secular Kingship and the Crown
Symbols and Ceremonies
Buildings
Court and Household
3. GOVERNMENT
The Structure of Government
Careers in Royal Administration
Government in the Localities
The Church
Corruption
Conclusion
PART II: POLITICS AND WARS
4. POLITICS UNDER HENRY III
Henry III
The Early Years
Foreigners
Parliament
The Church
Politics in Crisis, 1258–1264
The Civil War and Montfort’s Rule
Armies of the Civil War
Conclusion
5. RECONSTRUCTION AND REFORM, 1266–1294
The Settlement of England
The New King
Financial Reorganization
Church and State
Parliament and Legislation
Politics and Patronage, 1289–1294
Conclusion
6. WALES
Wales and the Marches
Henry III and Wales
Llywelyn ap Gruffudd
The Edwardian Conquest
The Organization of War
Settlement and Rebellion
English Armies
The Aftermath
7. POLITICAL CRISES, 1294–1311
The Demands of War
The Crisis of 1297
The Aftermath of Crisis
Edward II and the Ordinances
Parliament
8. TIMES OF TROUBLE, 1311–1330
The Death of Gaveston
Lancaster and the Lincoln Parliament
New Favourites
The Civil War of 1321–1322
The Rule of the Despensers
Deposition
Isabella and Mortimer
Appendix: The Modus Tenendi Parliamentum
9. SCOTLAND
England and Scotland in the Thirteenth Century
Edward I’s Intervention in Scotland
Edward I’s Scottish War
Edward II’s Scottish War
Edward III’s Scottish War
Land and Patronage
The Organization of War
Casualties and Ransoms
The Scots and the North of England
Conclusion
10. ENGLAND UNDER EDWARD III
The Restoration of Royal Authority
The Demands of War
The Crisis of 1340–1341
Stability, Statutes, and Parliament
Legislation and the Church
The Government and the Economy
Conclusion: Edward III
11. ENGLAND AND FRANCE
The Causes of War
Henry III and France
England and France under Edward I and Edward II
The Origins of War in 1337
Edward III’s War Aims
The Grand Strategy
Years of Triumph
The Black Prince’s War
Diplomacy and War
12. THE ARMIES OF EDWARD III’S FRENCH WAR
Recruitment
The Navy
Supplies
Command and Tactics
Chivalry and Propaganda
War and the Economy
PART III: SOCIETY AND PEOPLE
13. THE GREAT LORDS
The Earls
Royal Policy
Countesses
Barons
The Higher Clergy
Households and Retinues
Castles
Death
Conclusion
14. THE KNIGHTS AND THE GENTRY
Counting Knights
Falling Numbers
Successful Knights
Maintaining Numbers
Esquires
Community
Symbols of Knighthood
15. LANDOWNERSHIP AND THE LAW
The Acquisition of Land
Legislation
Entails, Jointures, and Uses
16. THE MANAGEMENT OF LAND
High Farming
Farming Methods
The Fourteenth Century
17. THE PEASANTRY
Free and Unfree
The Land Market, Women, and the Landless
Living Standards
Resistance
Village Life
War and Politics
18. THE TOWNS
Numbers and Characteristics
Townspeople
Urban Government
Conflict
Economy
Guilds and Fraternities
Urban Life
19. TRADE AND MERCHANTS
Trade and Government
Italian Companies
English Merchants
20. CRIME AND PUNISHMENT
The Extent of Crime
Crime, Politics, and War
Gentry, Clergy, and Women
The Mechanisms of the Law
The Keepers of the Peace
Conviction and Punishment
21. POPULATION AND THE BLACK DEATH
Overall Totals
Local Evidence
The Black Death
The Course of the Epidemic
The Consequences for Economy and Government
Church and Culture
22. CONCLUSION
National Identity
Englishness and the Law
Myth and War
Art and Architecture
Intellectual Life
Conclusion
Chronology
Genealogical Tables
Bibliography
Index
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
J
K
L
M
N
O
P
Q
R
S
T
U
V
W
Y
Z