This volume contains fifteen articles addressing various problems and approaches relating to a somewhat "long" thirteenth century--as the final four articles are set in the reigns of Edward II and Edward III--in which readers will find much of value.
The volume begins with a lengthy and insightful study of "The Meetings of Kings Henry III and Louis IX" in which David Carpenter presents a detailed analysis of Henry's visit to Paris in November 1259-April 1260, making extensive use of the extant household roll. The cost of Henry's lavish expenditures on extravagant gestures--on 6 December 1259, for example, when he hosted a feast in Saint-Germain-des-Pres--can be juxtaposed against his equally remarkable outlay on almsgiving, in which, Carpenter argues, Henry outdid St. Louis himself. The examination of the religious activity of both kings, as well as Henry's general comportment throughout the visit leads to the conclusion that Henry "measured up perfectly to the standard required of le prud-homme." Just as Louis was driven by his desire "pour être l'incarnation du roi Chrétien ideal," so was Henry: yet the latter's inability to achieve his political goals has resulted in the diminution of his reputation even in the personal sphere in which he compares so favorable with his French rival.
The next two articles discuss intersections of economics and politics. In "Counting the Cost: The Financial Implications of the Loss of Normandy," Nick Baratt provides an overview of English state finance from 1190 to 1307 in the context of the loss of Normandy. After briefly surveying the reigns of John and Henry III, Barratt makes extensive use of the jornalia rolls for the last ten years of the reign of Edward I which illustrate a transition from a cash-rich to a credit -based system. The evidence for this is presented in a series of graphs illustrating the recorded treasury balances for 1295-6, 1302-3, and 1306-7. Emilia Jamroziak is concerned with another, perhaps related, economic phenomenon of the thirteenth century, the proliferation of markets and fairs in "Networks of Markets and Networks of Patronage in Thirteenth-Century England." By examining grants made in the 1250s and immediately after the Barons War in 1267-8 she is able to place the granting of markets into a broader network of patronage that extended beyond the strictly economic value of the grants themselves.
Michael Ray presents a comparative study of "Three Alien Royal Stewards in Thirteenth-Century England: The Careers and Legacy of Mathias Bezill, Imbert Pugeys and Peter de Champvent." His goal is to assess the extent to which these three individuals, and their families, overcame the xenophobic attitudes associated with this period and assimilated into English society. All three began their careers as household knights, and all three were later in their careers rewarded with lands from the terra Normannorum. Ray looks at their marriages and families to assess their assimilation, but there is no common conclusion to be drawn from the diverse results.
Susan Stewart provides a detailed examination of "The Eyre de terris datis, 1267-72," based upon the surviving plea rolls of the eyre. She provides a number of cases to illustrate the co-operation of the justices de teries datis with the court coram rege, and the overall effort at reconciliation in the aftermath of the Dictum of Kenilworth.
Louise J. Wilkerson seeks to contextualize the life of "Joan, Wife of Llywelyn the Great," in light of other recent work on royal mothers, wives, and daughters. Joan, illegitimate daughter of King John is, unsurprisingly, most visible as a negotiator between father, brother, and husband. She is perhaps best known for her adulterous affair in 1230 with William de Braose the younger, but Wilkerson stresses how quickly her incarceration was ended (1231), arguing that her importance to her son's future was too great to allow Llywelyn to put her aside.
The next two articles are concerned with English interests in medieval Ireland. Seán Duffy examines "Town and Crown: The Kings of England and their City of Dublin," while Beth Hartland discusses "English Landholding in Ireland." Duffy examines the integration of Dublin into English rule following the conquest of the city in 1170. He stresses the importance of the charter of liberties granted the citizens of Dublin by King John in 1192 and the citizens' concern to maintain the boundaries set out in it. In July 1215 the citizens also received the fee-farm of the city, while in 1229 Henry III granted them the right to elect their own mayor. Duffy goes on to examine relations between town and crown through to the granting of the last great charter of liberties for Dulbin in 1363. Hartland's article is a report on an ambitious AHRB research project at the University of Durham aimed at producing a comprehensive record of property-holding in Ireland by those who also held property elsewhere in Britain. A relational database is being created that will provide online access to the data. Hartland uses the example of the de Cogan family and its several branches to demonstrate how detailed study of landholders can illuminate not only individual examples of landholding in Ireland, but also broader family strategies which can in turn answer questions about and the overall structures of relations between Ireland and the rest of Britain.
Fran?oise Le Saux considers "The Reception of the Matter of Britain in Thirteenth-Century England: A Study of Some Anglo-Norman Manuscripts of Wace's Roman de Brut." She suggests that the texts copied alongside the Roman de Brut indicate that it was received as a work of history by its early Anglo-Norman readers. She then goes on to present a detailed analysis of the layout and marginal inscriptions in extant manuscripts. Distribution patterns of features such as colored capitals in thirteenth-century manuscripts indicate an emphasis on British history rather than Arthuriana. The same pattern holds true for marginalia. This pattern is contrary to that found on the continent and points, Le Saux argues, to a growing Anglicization of Anglo-Normans, even among French speakers, a trend that would accelerate in the following century.
Henry Summerson examines the intersection of church and state in "Fearing God, Honouring the King: The Episcopate of Robert de Chaury, Bishop of Carlisle, 1258-1278," while Janet Burton examines the intersection of male and female roles in "Cloistered Women and Male Authority: Power and Authority in Yorkshire Nunneries in the Later Middle Ages." From a very humble background, Chaury rose through the royal administration. Indeed, as bishop he continued to serve the crown whether traveling abroad with the king, attending parliament or serving as sheriff of Cumberland. But if Chaury was "utilis regno et regi," he was also concerned with his episcopal responsibilities, issuing diocesan statutes soon after arriving in Carlisle.
Burton is most concerned to answer the question of how much actual authority a prioress would have had in the aftermath of the papal bull Periculosa. In examining the "startling" number of resignations and disputed elections of prioresses in late thirteenth century Yorkshire, Burton considers the economic difficulties of the period as well as the assertiveness of the archbishops of the period. In examining several case studies, she finds that, contrary to the assumptions of Eileen Power, female religious communities were not always relieved to receive male assistance, but rather strove vigorously to maintain as much power as they could for themselves, often with surprisingly successful results.
Harold Fox presents a study of "Taxation and Settlement in Medieval Devon." Building upon earlier work by A.M. Erskine and R.E. Glasscock on the 1332 and 1334 lay subsidies respectively, Fox provides a very thorough and convincing argument for how lay subsidies were assessed/collected in late thirteenth and early fourteenth century Devon and why the returns from the county were so consistently low. The figures illustrating the itineraries of the sub-assessors and particularly helpful in illuminating both the process and the difficulties involved.
David Crook, revising a study of Clipstone Park and Peel published in 1976 examines "Clipstone Peel: Fortification and Politics from Bannockburn to the Treaty of Leake, 1314-1318." The first insight Crook provides is that the two peels built at Thundersley and Hadleigh in Essex in 1315 and 1316 respectively, were in fact pre-fabricated constructions designed for transport to the north. That leaves only Clipstone Peel, near Nottingham, as an outlier that cannot be associated with the Scottish threat in the north. Crook argues convincingly that Clipstone fits into Edward II's attempt at a reassertion of his position in relation to Thomas of Lancaster.
Alistair Tebbit analyzes "Royal Patronage and Political Allegiance: The Household Knights of Edward II, 1314-1321," with an eye to explaining the apparently high level of turnover and disloyalty among the king's inner military circle. Tebbitt notes that the resumption of grants made in contravention of the Ordinances in March 1315 was particularly significant for the household knights, who accounted for nearly 25% of these gifts. Perhaps more significant, he suggests, is the level of patronage extended to Damory, Audley and Montague. And yet the figures for the household between 1315 and 1320 seem somewhat to belie Tebbit's argument. The real crisis of loyalty in the household comes only in 1320-21 with the distortion of patronage by the Despensers.
The final article in the collection, by Seymour Phillips, studies "'Edward II' in Italy: English and Welsh Political Exiles and Fugitives in Continental Europe, 1322-1364." In examining the traditions associated with the survival of Edward II after the announcement of his death in 1327, Phillips finds the Fieschi letter to be "plausible, but ultimately unbelievable." He convincingly connects William le Galys, the imposter who met with Edward III at Koblenz in 1338, with the Fieschi letter, but his tentative identification of this imposter with William le Walsh of Woolstrop and Llanwern is speculative at best. Although much has been written about the "death" of Edward II in recent years, uncertainty continues to shroud the final end of this unfortunate king.
This review has touched on only selected points raised and discussed in the various articles, all of which are well researched and well written. Specialists in various aspects of the history of thirteenth century England will be grateful for the excellent contributions contained in this fine volume.