Fourteenth-Century History

The clothes sported by young Italian men in the 1340s—tunics cropped at the pelvis, slouchy hoods, large bags hanging from metallic belts—were as daring as their emergence was sudden and mysterious. Scholars have generally associated their appearance with Italy’s rampant mercantilism and even regarded them as the first occurrence of fashion; yet, as this essay notices, their descriptions mostly draw from the language of size, thus encouraging the exploration of fashion as a metric construct. Reading chronicles of late medieval tailoring through measuring practices help us identify the “new look” of the 1340s as a product of the communes, the governments of the Italian city-states, which carefully controlled both the production of clothes and the application of standards. By inserting tailoring within the cities' disciplinary procedures and discourses, this essay reveals the overlooked activism of the preaching orders who, in their roles as chroniclers, moral arbiters, advisors to law-makers and, especially, measurement checkers, established size as the perceptual filter for determining the respectability of clothing.

This thesis ultimately seeks to understand how and why the London armourers came to be so closely associated with the politics and uprisings of London’s controversial mayor, John Northampton (1381-1383). However, because the armourers were not incorporated as a combined guild until 1453, this thesis must first analyse how the armourers developed as an industry, and how their workshop, household, and socio-industrial networks and organisations developed and helped to inform their political identities. This is the first time that the fourteenth-century London armourers have been rigorously examined as a collective of constituent specialist industries, and this thesis contributes to an understanding of how late medieval small crafts developed outside of guilds.

Through examining armourers’ workshops, households, and socio-industrial networks, this thesis arrives at several important conclusions about the nature of the English industry in the fourteenth century which challenge existing scholarship. It finds evidence to explode scholarly myths that English armour was cheap and poorly made through lack of skill, that women did not participate in the industry, and that regulation of the industry was entirely imposed from outside. Finally, this study shows that the armourers were the most significant participants in the 1384 Mayoralty Riots because their workshop, household, and socio-industrial networks had all contributed to the development of a shared political identity, because Northampton’s opponent Nicholas Brembre attacked that identity, and because the Crown and City’s draconian policies towards the local armour market had grown increasingly severe prior to the riots. This thesis argues that the armourers’ political identity developed as an extension of their workshop, household, and socioindustrial identities and networks, and that each of these contributed to their overall organisational development outside of a guild structure.

This paper was submitted as my undergraduate dissertation in April 2014. The paper examines the armies raised by John of Gaunt, first duke of Lancaster, in 1373 and 1378. In particular, this work looks at the identifiable individuals who served directly under Gaunt.

"""Bodiam Castle, one of the most visually striking medieval castles in England, is situated in East Sussex on the river Rother, near Robertsbridge. In 1385 Sir Edward Dallingridge (c.1364-1393) was licensed to ‘strengthen with a wall of stone and lime and crenellate and construct and make into a castle his manor house at Bodyham [Bodiam], near the sea in the county of Sussex, for defence of the adjacent county and resistance to our enemies’.  This licence was issued at a particularly turbulent time in English history. England faced the threat of invasion from France and internal conflict during the reign of Richard II. However, interpretations of the function and purpose of the castle have been deeply divisive in the field of castle studies over the course of the last two decades. In the absence of documentary sources, with the exception of the licence to crenellate, attention has focused on the architectural evidence for the castle. The traditional view, as characterised by Thompson, is that Bodiam Castle was built to provide protection for the nearby coastal towns of Rye and New Winchelsea, which were navigable from Bodiam via the river Rother. 

However, since the 1990s, a new consensus on castle studies, particularly following from the work of Charles Coulson, using the evidence of licences to crenellate, claims that castle architecture in the Late Medieval Period was primarily motivated by symbolism and status.  In his view, Bodiam has weak defensive features, such as an easy-to-drain moat, badly situated gun-ports, and thin walls, with the military themed architecture intended to convey a ‘message of power and deterrence’ through the studied exaggeration of features of defensive origin.  In Coulson’s opinion, Dallingridge was a newcomer to the area, who needed to compensate for his lack of pedigree; by constructing a magnificent looking castle he was able to promote his wealth and social standing.  This interpretation is contested by Platt, who stresses that Bodiam Castle was intended to serve a military purpose, but other authors, such as Creighton and Liddiard, have sought to move away from the ‘war or status’ debate. 

The most contentious issue regarding Bodiam Castle has centred on Dallingridge’s motivation in building the castle. Why would a member of the gentry build such an impressive castle at this particular time in Southern England?  In the absence of other evidence, the study of Dallingridge’s life is important in understanding why Bodiam Castle was built. Previous studies on Bodiam Castle have been rather superficial in their treatment of Dallingridge, which has tended to reflect their views on the motivation for its construction; for instance, by laying emphasis on his social aspirations or his military career. This article will examine Dallingridge’s life to see what insights it provides into the circumstances in which Bodiam was built in the late fourteenth century. By looking at his family background, military career, political career and his financial holdings, it will show that the motivation for the construction of Bodiam Castle was influenced by the turbulent events of 1385, and served as a visual demonstration of Dallingridge’s social standing in east Sussex."""

The cases under the mid fourteenth-century labour legislation in Cheshire have been largely overlooked, partly because Cheshire was governed separately from the rest of England - at this time by Edward, the Black Prince, as earl of Chester. The other reason for this is that the records relating to this topic, in the Palatinate of Chester series (CHES) in the Public Record Office/National Archives, have been catalogued in a way that conceals their significance. This article lists all surviving sessions that contain indictments and presentments in the Cheshire courts, and attempts to show how in a county that lacked JPs the enforcement of this legislation came to differ markedly from the norm elsewhere.

This thesis is a prosopographical study of the English baronage during the reign of Richard II.  It considers the role of barons within the political community and attempts to characterise them, both in terms of their engagement with institutions and by exploring private power relations.  In the tradition of the political culture framework within which the study is situated, it seeks ultimately to determine the group’s motives. 

The first section explores structures, defining the baronage and tracing the historical development of the class.  The stresses and concepts that moulded and distinguished the political culture are also set out.  Three broad themes - politics, land and lordship - are then discussed in the second section.  These endeavour to quantify and qualify the power and authority that were exercised by the 66 baronial families from the reign.  In the political arena barons’ engagement with the apparatus of royal government, administration and justice are investigated, along with political favour and its rewards.  The size and distribution of their landholding is then assessed and the strategies they employed for putting their estates together determined.  The service they performed and received is afterwards discussed and the reasons for and benefits of it analysed.  These broader themes are then enriched by a demonstration of the differences on the ground.  In this third section two case studies, of the Gloucestershire and Sussex barons, revisit the same themes, but look in more detail at just the handful of resident barons in those counties.  Finally, the different situations in the two sample localities are reconciled by deciphering the barons’ motives.

Studi musicali» pubblica articoli riguardanti tutti i campi della ricerca musicologica in italiano, inglese, francese, tedesco e spagnolo. Gli articoli proposti per una eventuale pubblicazione possono essere inviati in copia cartacea al seguente indirizzo: Agostino Ziino, Via Giovanni Antonelli, 21, 00197 Roma, e, in allegato a una e-mail, all'indirizzo [email protected]. La pubblicazione è subordinata al parere di due studiosi specializzati cui l'articolo sarà sottoposto in forma anonima. Una volta accettato, l'articolo dovrà essere redatto secondo le norme editoriali della rivista disponibili in italiano e in inglese al seguente indirizzo: https://studimusicali.santacecilia.it.

Editing key texts of the Later Middle and Early Modern Periods of Islamicate Intellectual History This call for applications pursues a novel approach to one of the fundamental problems of Islamicate History, and Islamicate intellectual history in particular: With the support of the Alexander von Humboldt Kolleg of the Islamicate Intellectual History of the Later Middle and Early Modern Periods at the University of Bonn, scholars are invited to submit a proposal for the critical edition and/or translation into English of a key text of this period. With an estimated 85% of the texts of the Later Middle and Early Modern periods remaining unpublished, basic research ('Grundlagenforschung') is required to make accessible key texts. In the case of Islamic Studies such basic research means indeed preparing critical editions of primary texts based on a careful selection and comparison of the extant manuscript witnesses of relevant texts. In a time and world where critical editions are not the stuff that attract financial support, this is a unique opportunity for those scholars for whom solid philological work means something. Applications for the completion of an edition that has already been begun are also welcome. With this, first, call for applications, we invite scholars to apply for two different strands of residential fellowships, one (i) for an already identified work that we believe deserves publication, and one (ii) bottom-up proposal for the preparation and publication of a critical edition of a text freely chosen and proposed by the applicant. The texts should pertain to the period 1200-1600 and can be written in Arabic, Persian, or Ottoman or Chagatay Turkish. (i) Call for applications to prepare a critical edition of one of the unpublished parts of Ṣadr al-Sharīʿa's (d. 747/1347) Taʿdīl al-ʿulūm. Applications are particularly encouraged from such scholars who have previously worked on Ṣadr al-Sharīʿa and/or have already started preparing a (partial) edition, though entirely new projects are equally welcome. The length of the fellowship depends on the reasoned timeline proposed in the application. (ii) Call for applications to prepare a critical edition and/or English translation of a relevant text freely chosen and suggested by the applicant.

Durante el siglo XIV comienzan a producirse en la Corona de Castilla una serie de cambios y transformaciones profundas en sus estructuras organizativas que conducen a un incremento de los recursos fiscales, logísticos y militares disponibles. Este proceso, contemporáneo a otros territorios peninsulares y europeos, llevó a un aumento de las capacidades de reunión y sostenimiento de fuerzas militares en el tiempo y el espacio, a un cambio en la organización y conducción de la guerra, cuyas dimensiones espaciotemporales crecen, y en definitiva a un proceso evolutivo a largo plazo que conducirá a lo largo de la baja Edad Media a la aparición del ejército permanente como instrumento de poder del naciente estado moderno.

A German paper that gives examples of reuse of XIIIth century Papal letters at the French royal Chancery during the XIVth century. Models were taken from the summae dictaminis of Thomas of Capua and Riccardo of Pofi, and were reworked to form new preambles, using patchwork techniques, or more subtile techniques. Thus the French royal ideology had a lot to do with Papal phraseology during that time...

A woman named Alice was born about the year 1300.  She married a Ralph St.Owen, and their descendants can be traced in various lines to the present day, including to Elizabeth [1900-2002], late Queen Mother, and to early New England immigrants John Davenport [1597-1670] and Thomas Thompson [1610-1655].  A critical review of the documentary evidence, from contemporary IPMs to heraldic visitations, an analysis of modern studies, and a comparison of the alternatives, leads to the conclusion that Alice's father was very probably named Peter Brewes, and is probably identical with the well known Peter/Piers de Braose/Brewose, who was born 1271-2 and died by 1312 April 7, and descended from the famous family of marcher lords.

L'università in tempo di crisi. Revisioni e novità dei saperi e delle istituzioni nel Trecento, da Bologna all'Europa a cura di Berardo Pio Riccardo Parmeggiani © 2016, CLUEB Casa editrice, Bologna CLUEB srl Via Marsala, 31 -40126 Bologna 051 0950400 -www.clueb.it Finito di stampare nel mese di novembre 2016 da Studio Rabbi -Bologna L'università in tempo di crisi. Revisioni e novità dei saperi e delle istituzioni nel Trecento, da Bologna all'Europa / a cura di Berardo Pio, Riccardo Parmeggiani. Bologna : Clueb, 2016 xIII, 248 p. ; 27 cm. (Centro interuniversitario per la storia delle università italiane : Studi / 30) ISBN 978-88-491-5515-0 Le fotocopie per uso personale del lettore possono essere effettuate nei limiti del 15% di ciascun volume/fascicolo di periodico dietro pagamento alla SIAE del compenso previsto dall'art. 68, commi 4 e 5, della legge 22 aprile 1941 n. 633. Le fotocopie effettuate per finalità di carattere professionale, economico o commerciale o comunque per uso diverso da quello personale possono essere effettuate a seguito di specifica autorizzazione rilasciata da CLEARedi, Centro Licenze e Autorizzazioni per le Riproduzioni Editoriali, Corso di Porta Romana 108, 20122 Milano, e-mail [email protected] e sito web www.clearedi.org. Tutti i volumi pubblicati in questa collana sono stati sottoposti a referaggio anonimo da parte di due esperti, selezionati -sulla base delle loro competenze -nell'ambito di un Comitato internazionale di referee. Redazione a cura di Ilaria Maggiulli INDICE 1 BERARDo PIo, Un secolo in chiaroscuro: il Trecento tra crisi e rinnovamento 15 MARIo ASCHERI, I giuristi: come primeggiare nonostante la crisi 27 ANDREA PADoVANI, Sette orationes pavesi pro doctoratu di Baldo degli Ubaldi 63 ANDREA BARToCCI, Giovanni di Pietro Fantuzzi e la canonistica bolognese alla fine del Trecento 81 ToMMASo DURANTI, La scuola medica e l'insegnamento della medicina a Bologna nel xIV secolo 95 RICCARDo PARMEGGIANI, L'arcidiacono bolognese tra Chiesa, città e Studium 113 RoBERTo LAMBERTINI, Intersezioni: ancora su Studia mendicanti e facoltà di teologia a Bologna 123 PAoLo NARDI, La migratio delle scuole universitarie da Bologna a Siena: il problema della continuità istituzionale 135 DANIELA RANDo, Lo Studium di Pavia nel secondo Trecento: una rivisitazione 159 STEFANIA ZUCCHINI, L'età dell'oro dello Studio perugino tra epidemie, guerre e sconvolgimenti politici: maestri e dottori dell'università nella Perugia del secondo Trecento 177 ANDREAS REHBERG, Spigolature per la storia dello Studium Urbis nel Trecento 193 BRIGIDE SCHwARZ, who studied (and taught) at the university of the Roman Curia and why? A prosopographic approach 205 FULVIo DELLE DoNNE, Strutture e organizzazione dello Studio di Napoli nel Trecento 215 JACQUES VERGER, Le quatorzième siècle: siècle d'apogée ou siècle de crise pour l'université de Paris? 227 MARTIN KINTZINGER, Temps de crise, temps du début. Fondation et développement des universités de l'Empire Romain Germanique de Prague à Erfurt 235 PATRICK GILLI, L'università di diritto di Montpellier nella prima metà del xIV secolo: vantaggi e punti deboli di un'istituzione, tra papato, monarchia/e e città Un secolo in chiaroscuro: il Trecento tra crisi e rinnovamento Berardo Pio La storia europea del Trecento è segnata da una serie di crisi di diversa natura che, osservate nel loro complesso, danno l'idea di una crisi generale che investe l'intera società cristiana occidentale e determina profondi rivolgimenti e trasformazioni, non necessariamente negative, di natura politica, economica e culturale 1 .

A key strand of research for social and economic historians of the pre-industrial period is the relationship between city and countryside. Sometimes urban and rural environments enjoyed mutually beneficial relationships, though in other cases cities reduced their rural hinterlands to poverty and decay – the question is, why? By focusing on late-medieval Florence and Tuscany, this paper moves away from approaching this question through an ‘urban bias’, and suggests the answers can be found within the structural configuration of rural societies themselves. Essentially, some rural regions were well set up to repel urban predatory tendencies, while other societies were susceptible to exploitation.

ABSTRACT
On the night of the 13th of February 1308, exactly four months after the general arrest of the Knights Templars in France on the order of King Philip IV the Fair, Giacomo da Montecucco, the master of the Templar province of northern Italy and a cubicularius of Pope Clement V, escaped from the papal Curia. A direct source provides us with a detailed account of Clement’s special frustration and great wrath after Giacomo’s flight. The master of Lombardy’s defection, it is suggested here, could hardly have come at a worse time, because it thwarted the strategy recently adopted by the pope in what had become a trial of strength with the king of France. This paper examines the meaning of this episode in the light of a general interpretation of the Templar affair.

Keywords: Templar Order - Trial of the Templars - Clement V - Philip the Fair of France

From the late Middle Ages onwards, many regions of Western Europe experienced heightened levels of inequality in the distribution of land, caused in many cases by the consolidation of property in the hands of various interest groups.What happened to those unfortunate rural groups (often impoverished) who lost their land to wealthier or more powerful interest groups? The aim of this paper is to explore then the demographic and settlement effects of land consolidation on pre-industrial rural communities.In the literature, a common connection has been drawn between land accumulation and strong population decline or stagnation in the countryside. Features associated with this downward demographic trend include high unemployment and a paucity of opportunity for work, impoverishment, settlement collapse, and a general trend of movement (permanent or temporary) towards the city in search of work. However, this outcome was not always inevitable as demonstrated in this paper. In that sense, while land consolidation may in many cases have been the motor which set in motion outward migration towards the cities, depopulation could have been avoided or limited within certain pre-industrial societies; as some societies may have been inherently more resilient than others. Thus, in this paper, a basic hypothesis is tested that land consolidation may have had a divergent impact on population trends in the countryside, which was closely dependant on the arrangement of rural societies themselves. Here two cases of peasant expropriation, land consolidation and a transition to a rural economy dominated by large farms are contrasted, and the divergent impact on population trends is analysed. In other words, this paper considers the capacity of different rural economies to maintain and retain its labouring (and now landless) population – a test performed by comparing two historical cases in the Northern part of the Low Countries.

This article examines the knightly population of Brabant around the middle of the fourteenth century. Recent historiography on the nobility of the Burgundian Low Countries treats knighthood as simply one of the traits of the nobility. However, this article argues that in fourteenth-century Brabant, the knights can be considered a distinct estate, while the nobility as such was not similarly visible. A summons of the year 1356 provides the research population, and the focus is on two Brabantine districts: Antwerp and ’s-Hertogenbosch. Through a prospography, the knights are compared on the basis of lordship, office-holding, and military activity. It thus becomes clear that none of these elements on their own were the decisive characteristic of the Brabantine knightly estate. Rather, juridical authority, both contained in lordship and in certain offices, was the most common denominator.

In this paper, I shall inquire into the story of the distinction between God's absolute and ordered power (‘potentia Dei absoluta’ and ‘potentia Dei ordinata’) in the fourteenth century. This period saw the emergence of orientations that would prove decisive for the fate of modernity. In my analysis, I will try to explain the reasons, both historical and doctrinal, for the success of such a distinction as a specifically legal question during this key period. I shall dwell, in particular, on the years from 1316 to the 1330s, under John XXII’s pontificate, explaining the relevant religious and political issues of those times. To this end, I will examine the perspective of John XXII himself in relation to his two great doctrinal rivals Meister Eckhart (†c.1328) and William of Ockham (†1347), and pay special attention to the dispute between the pope and the Franciscans over evangelical poverty.

The aim of this article is to trace the evolution of the textile industries in the Lombard cities during the 14th century. The first part analyzes the international market for woolen cloths in the second half of the century, a phase which can be investigated through exceptionally rich, mainly Tuscan, sources. This research corrects the idea, proposed by John H. Munro in many papers and generally accepted by historiography, that during the 14th century European wool industries reorientated themselves towards the production of high-quality, or even luxury, cloths. In reality, most European production concentrated on the market segment of medium and medium-low quality cloths. Milan and Como, however, are, together with Florence, the only Italian exceptions to this general trend. These two Lombard cities, in fact, specialized in the production of medium-high quality cloths. The second part of the article tries to trace, within the limits of an unfavourable documentary situation, how and when Milan and Como chose this path, which, in contrast, was not the same one chosen by the two other relevant industrial cities in Lombardy at the time, Monza and Brescia. More limited attention will be paid to the fustian industry, which has been considered much less by national and international historiography. In this case too, however, some hypotheses will be made on the production trends of the 14th century.

Italians began moving to work as mint masters in Central Europe in the fourteenth century.  Rulers sought their management expertise while the masters were enticed to these positions by the extensive profits which could be made from a productive mint. Yet, of the fifty-six identified mint masters active at the main Polish mint between 1300–1500, there are only three who can be firmly identified as Italians and their combined stays in office amounted to no more than six years.  This is a tiny number compared to neighboring Hungary and Bohemia who employed far larger numbers of Italians.  This article explores the biographies of those Italians who did take up work in the Polish mints and explores why Poland was a less tempting work location than its neighbors.

The author analyzes (in the perspective of ritual liminality) the iconography of the fragmentary frescoes found at the archeological site of the church in Derven (Kruja, uncovered in 2007 and lost in 2008). Once the scarcity of the apse's theme is verified (Deesis: Mary Kyriotissa and Child in her arms between Saints Peter and Paul), the author evaluates mid-fourteenth century stylistic comparisons in the Balkan area, as well as details of west-Adriatic influence. The proposed interpretation is linked to a progressive orientation of Albanian feudal lords towards Roman obedience, in light of the documents and the renewed worship of apostolic princes Peter and Paul's relics (holy heads) translated in 1369 in the papal cathedral of St. John Lateran in Rome. Pope Urban V promoted such worship-coinciding with the progressive return of the papal Holy See from Avignon to Rome-in an effort to strengthen the prestige of Petrine primacy.

Jean Duns Scot (1266-1308), théologien franciscain actif de la fin du XIIIe siècle au début du XIVe siècle, a proposé un traitement de la notion de foi dans la distinction 23 du livre III de son commentaire des Sentences, ci-après dénommée distinction 23 1 . Assez peu connu 2 , il est pourtant d'un intérêt historique et philosophique non négligeable. En effet, Duns Scot emploie dans 1. Les textes cités sont tirés du troisième livre du commentaire des Sentences de Jean Duns Scot dans les trois versions existantes : la Lectura (Lect.), l'Ordinatio (Ord.) et les Reportata Parisiensia (Rep.), ainsi que des questions quodlibétales (Quodl.). Les trois versions du commentaire sont tout à fait en accord sur le plan doctrinal. Nous citerons donc en général la Lectura, qui a fait l'objet d'une édition critique récente, nous bornant à citer les autres lorsqu'une formulation alternative nous paraît éclairante.

The Second Scottish War of Independence began in 1332, only four years after the previous conflict had ended. Fought once more for the continued freedom of Scotland from English conquest, the war also witnessed a revival of Scottish civil conflict as the Bruce-Balliol fight for the Scottish crown recommenced once more. Breaking out sporadically until peace was agreed in 1357, the Second Scottish War is a conflict that resides still in the shadow of that which preceded it: compared to the wars of William Wallace and Robert Bruce, Edward I and Edward II, this second phase of Anglo-Scottish warfare is neither well-known nor well-understood.

This book sets out to examine in detail the military campaigns of this period, to uncover the histories of those who fought in the war, and to analyse the behaviour of combatants from both sides during ongoing periods of both civil war and Anglo-Scottish conflict. It analyses contemporary records and literary evidence in order to reconstruct the history of this conflict and reconsiders current debates regarding: the capabilities of the Scottish military; the nature of contemporary combat; the ambitions and abilities of fourteenth-century military leaders; and the place of chivalry on the medieval battlefield.

This book tells the history of Cambridge from the earliest Roman and Anglo Saxon inhabitants through to the notorious Cambridge Spies, who actively spied for the Soviet Union in the 1950s. Told in an accessible manner, and illustrated throughout, the contents are:
1. Etheldreda: Born a Princess, Died a Saint
2. Vanquished by the Vikings: the sacking of Cambridge
3. Fire, Death and Murder at the Fairs: Stourbridge and Midsummer Fairs
4. Jousting Tournaments: history of jousts at Cambridge
5. The Black Death: death in Cambridge
6. Peasants' Revolt: attacks on Cambridge colleges during the revolt
7. Bloody Mary's Revenge on Cambridge
8. Burnt at the Stake: John Hullier, the Protestant Martyr
9. Bear-Baiting: cruel sport in Cambridge
10. Witches and Witchcraft: women killed for being witches
11. Bull-Baiting: more cruel Cambridge sports
12. The English Civil War: the fortification of Cambridge
13. Oliver Cromwell's Missing Head
14. Pressed for an Answer: Peine Forte et Dure
15. One in the Eye for Sir Isaac Newton
16. Highway Robbery: highway men in Cambridge
17. Branding: punishment for crimes
18. Bloody Burwell Fire: the death of 70 innocent people
19. Dick Turpin: his time hiding in Cambridge
20. Cockfighting: history of cockfighting at Cambridge
21. The Resurrection of Tristram Shandy - death of Laurence Stearne: grave robbers steal his body for dissection in the university
22. Cambridge Gallows: the tragedy of those hung at Cambridge
23. The Tragical Death of the Revd Samuel Reeve
24. The Chimneysweep Burglars: thefts from colleges
25. Elizabeth Woodcock and the Curse of the Three Tuns Inn
26. General Tom Thumb Causes a Riot
27. Sister Act: The Cambridge Arsenic Poisoners
28. The Three Tuns Inn: Den of Thieves
29. Burned Alive
30. Bloody Students: The Battle of Town and Gown
31. Fatal Bumps: death on the river Cam
32. Suffragette's Protest
33. The Great War: the role the university played in WWI
34. The Judases Who Betrayed from Within: the story of the Cambridge spies: Blunt, Burgess, Philby, MacLean, and others
35. The Enigma of the Second World War: the role Cambridge played in cracking the German enigma codes at Bletchley Park

Also attached are reviews of the book in the Cambridge News by Emma Higginbotham and a piece about Oliver Cromwell's Head, taken from the book.

This conference paper examines the multifaceted nature of Edward III's campaigns in Scotland in 1336 and what lay behind this complex series of invasions. It also considers the Bruce Scottish response, and the extent to which this year involved the last big push by the English to achieve something out of his increasingly expensive and futile efforts in Scotland.

This study investigates one of the curious incidents noted in Rotha Mary Clay’s The Hermits and Anchorites of England (1914): the seeming usurpation of the role of a hermit by a layman in Fisherton and the condemnation of this occurrence by the nearby Salisbury Bishop in 1352. The study, in addition to examining the relationship of the 'pseudo-hermit' to his community (and seeing how such a claim could be regarded as acceptable), provides a transcription of Bishop's condemning Latin mandate (WSA D1/2/3 v. 1, f.210v)

On 3 August 1460, King James II of Scotland was killed by a gun whilst besieging the English-held castle of Roxburgh. He did not die as a result of gunfire by the defenders of Roxburgh however.  Instead he was killed by a fragment of his own bombard, a Flemish gun called ‘The Lion’, which burst under the strain of firing.  In the words of the sixteenth century Scottish chronicler, Robert Lindsay of Pitscottie, the arrival of Scottish reinforcements:

The friaries of medieval London formed an important part of the city's physical and spiritual landscape between the thirteenth and sixteenth centuries. These urban monasteries housed 300 or more preacher-monks who lived an enclosed religious life and went out into the city to preach. The most important orders were the Dominican Black friars and the Franciscan Grey friars but London also had houses of Augustine, Carmelite and Crossed friars, and, in the thirteenth century, Sack and Pied friars.
This book offers an illustrated interdisciplinary study of these religious houses, combining archaeological, documentary, cartographic and architectural evidence to reconstruct the layout and organisation of nine priories. After analysing and describing the great churches and cloisters, and their precincts with burial grounds and gardens, it moves on to examine more general historical themes, including the spiritual life of the friars, their links to living and dead Londoners, and the role of the urban monastery. The closure of these friaries in the 1530s is also discussed, along with a brief revival of one friary in the reign of Mary.