CONTENTS

Preface

Acknowledgments

Introduction

Evaluating and Interpreting Primary Documents

Chronology of British History, 500–1500

DOCUMENTS OF MEDIEVAL ENGLAND, SCOTLAND, IRELAND, AND WALES

Domestic Life and the Medieval Household

1.Anglo-Saxon Wills

2.Account Rolls and Domestic Activity

3.Information on Domestic Life from Coroners’ Rolls

4.Household Goods Described in Later Medieval Wills

5.Medieval Cookery

6.Medieval Medical Care

7.Welsh Hospitality (Twelfth Century)

Education and Professional Training

8.The Education of an Anglo-Saxon Prince: Asser, Life of Alfred (ca. 890)

9.The Education of a Scottish Monk: The Life of St. Kentigern (fl. Late Sixth Century)

10.The Education of a Knight: William Marshal (ca. 1144–1219)

11.Learning to Manage Estates and Manors: The “Rules of Saint Robert” (Thirteenth Century)

12.Educating the Gentry and the Urban Elites

Economic Life

13.An Anglo-Saxon Marriage Contract

14.Early Accounting Methods in the Twelfth Century: The Pipe Rolls

15.Finances and the Jews of England

16.Doing Business and Regulating Trade in the City of London

Religious Life and Religious Conflict

17.Tithing in Early Medieval Ireland (ca. 750)

18.Monastic Grant of King Cnut (before 1035)

19.Lay Patronage: Founding Monastic Houses (1204)

20.Conflict in Medieval Ireland: The Cistercians in the Thirteenth Century

21.Christians and Jews in Medieval England: Growing Conflict

22.Christian Orthodoxy, Christian Heresy: Responses to “Lollardy” in the Fifteenth Century

Politics, Law, and Administration

23.Adjudication of Disputes and Other Aspects of Anglo-Saxon Law (Eleventh Century)

24.Two Royal Images: King William II “Rufus” of England and King Malcolm III “Canmore” of Scotland

25.Charters of Liberties before Magna Carta: King John and the Jews (1201)

26.Reforming the Kingdom in the Thirteenth Century: The Parliament of Oxford (1258)

27.Anglo-Irish Relations in the Fourteenth Century: The Remonstrance of the Irish Chiefs against English Rule to Pope John XXII (1317)

28.Anglo-Irish Diplomacy in Aid of Irish Tenants (1319)

29.Anglo-Scottish Relations in the Fourteenth Century: The Declaration of Arbroath (1320)

30.King Robert Bruce and Diplomacy in Scotland (1321)

Warfare, Conquest, and Diplomacy

31.King Alfred, War, and Diplomacy (Ninth Century)

32.King Athelstan and the Battle of Brunanburh (937)

33.Two Views of the Battle of Hastings (1066)

34.The Competing Reigns of King Stephen and Empress Matilda and the Siege of Newbury (1153)

35.Conflict and Consolidation in Scotland (Twelfth Century)

36.King Edward of England and Prince Llywelyn ap Gruffudd of North Wales (1275–1278)

37.Edward I in Scotland, Prisoners of War, and the Countess of Buchan (1306)

Crime, Disorder, and Deviance

38.Crime and Violence in Early and Later Medieval Scotland (Eighth and Thirteenth Centuries)

39.The Development of English Courts of Law in the Thirteenth Century: Courts in Eyre and Local Complaints (1256)

40.Conflicts between and among Welsh and English after the Edwardian Conquest: The Welsh Assize Roll, 1277–1284

41.Examples of Crimes Prosecuted in Local Courts: Gaol Delivery Rolls (Fourteenth Century)

42.Death and Misadventure: Examples from the Coroners’ Rolls (Fourteenth Century)

43.Chronicles of the Great Rising of 1381

Popular Culture and Literature

44.The Irish Claim Earliest Christian Adherence: The Death of Conchobhar (Early Ninth Century)

45.Nationalism and Ancient Tales of Heroism in Ireland

46.Strange Tales about the Welsh (Twelfth Century)

47.Attitudes in Popular Culture about the Sexes and Marriage (Fourteenth Century)

48.Welsh Entertainers, Welsh and English Audiences (Fourteenth to Fifteenth Centuries)

49.Theatrical Drama for a Christian Audience: The Play of Noah (Fifteenth Century)

50.Pessimism in an Age of Anxiety: The Wars of the Roses

Appendix 1: Biographical Sketches of Important Individuals Mentioned in the Text

Appendix 2: Glossary of Terms Mentioned in the Text

Bibliography

Index