James Bothwell & Laura Tompkins 
Ruling Fourteenth-Century England [PDF ebook] 
Essays in Honour of Christopher Given-Wilson

Essays exploring how England was governed during a tumultuous period.


The twin themes of power and authority in fourteenth-century England, a century of transition between the high and late medieval polities, run throughout this volume, reflecting Professor Given-Wilson’s seminal work in the area. Covering the period between Edward I’s final years and the tyranny of Richard II, the volume encompasses political, social, economic and administrative history through four major lens: central governance, aristocratic politics, warfare, and English power abroad. Topics covered include royal administrative efficiency; the machinations of government clerks; the relationship between the crown and market forces; the changing nature of noble titles and lordship;and ideas of court politics, favouritism and loyalty. Military policy is also examined, looking at army composition and definitions of ‘war’ and ‘rebellion’. The book concludes with a detailed study of treasonous English captainsaround Calais and a broader examination of Plantagenet ambitions on the European stage.


REMY AMBUHL is Lecturer in Medieval History at the University of Southampton; JAMES BOTHWELL is Lecturer in Later Medieval Historyat the University of Leicester; LAURA TOMPKINS is Research Manager at Historic Royal Palaces.


Contributors: Andrew Ayton, Michael Bennett, Wendy R. Childs, Gwilym Dodd, David Green, J.S. Hamilton, Andy King, Alison Mc Hardy, Mark Ormrod, Michael Prestwich, Bridget Wells-Furby

Table of Content

Preface – Remy Ambuhl and James Bothwell and W. Mark Ormrod and Laura Tompkins

Introduction – Remy Ambuhl and James Bothwell and W. Mark Ormrod and Laura Tompkins

The Efficiency of English Royal Administration in the Last Years of Edward I – Michael C Prestwich

Government and Market in the Early Fourteenth Century – Wendy Childs

Kings’ Clerks: The Essential Tools of Government – Alison Mc Hardy

Edward II: Favourites, Loyalty, and Kingship – Jeffrey S Hamilton

The Perils of Lordship: The Life and Death of William Tuchet (
c. 1275-1322) – Bridget Wells-Furby

‘War’, ‘Rebellion’ or ‘Perilous Times’? Political Taxonomy and the Conflict in England, 1321-2 – Andy King

The Carlisle Roll of Arms and the Political Fabric of Military Service under Edward III – Andrew Ayton

What’s in a Title? Comital Development, Political Pressures and Questions of Purpose in Fourteenth Century England – James Bothwell

Edward the Black Prince: Lordship and Administration in the Plantagenet Empire – David Green

‘Said the Mistress to the Bishop’: Alice Perrers, William Wykeham and Court Networks in Fourteenth-Century England – Laura Tompkins

The Politics of Surrender: Treason, Trials and Recrimination in the 1370s – Remy Ambuhl and Gwilym Dodd

Richard II in the Mirror of Christendom – Michael J Bennett

List of Christopher Given-Wilson Publications – James Bothwell

About the author

The late W. MARK ORMROD was Professor Emeritus of History at the University of York; he published extensively on later medieval history.