Politics and Society in Mid Thirteenth-Century England: The Troubled Realm

Despite the multidirectional nature of modern research, the interpretation of the political history of thirteenth-century England has remained locked into a traditional framework bequeathed by the mid-twentieth-century historian, R. F. Treharne, and embellished by the emphases and accentuations of his present-day successors. Characterised by its conception of community, its constitutionalism, its ready identification of a national enterprise, and its predilection for idealism and 'progressive' thinking, this framework remains close to the Whig interpretation of English history. It is reinforced by the continuation of reverence for the baronial leader, Simon de Montfort. In contrast, Peter Coss offers here an alternative approach to the period which is anchored in social mores and cultural values. More emphasis is placed upon the interests, ambitions, and needs of contemporaries, upon social networks of various kinds, and upon how interests both clashed and cohered as people strove to improve or preserve their situations. This was a crisis born of political instability, but in the context of institutional, administrative, and legal growth, that is to say at a particular point in the evolution of the state. Drawing on a wide range of sources, the book reconsiders the generation of the crisis, the factors which influenced its course, and its (partial) resolution. In short, it explores the anatomy and physiology of a troubled realm. Cover 1 Politics and Society in Mid Thirteenth-Century England 4 Copyright 5 Dedication 6 Preface 8 Acknowledgements 10 Contents 12 List of Abbreviations 16 1: The Whig Interpretation of Thirteenth-Century England 18 2: The Angevin Legacy and the Kingship of Henry III 32 The Minority 32 The System of Government 38 Aspects of Henry III’s Kingship 41 The Royal Finances 44 Henry III and the Public Interest 46 Contemporary Perceptions of Henry III 50 3: The Impact of Royal Policy on the Nobility: Patronage, Appeasement, and Privatization 55 Patronage and the Rewards of Service 55 Appeasement 67 Privatization 70 4: Power and Profit in the Provinces 83 Material Resources 83 Social Pre-eminence: Manpower 88 The Institutional Framework of Control 95 5: Reform and the Knights of 1258 103 Calling on the Knights 103 Who Were the Knights of 1258? 111 Sheriffs and the Royalist Revanche 126 Montfortian, Royalist, and Neutral Knights 136 6: Faction, Party, and Affinity 144 Factions 144 The Savoyards and the Lusignans 145 Simon de Montfort and Richard, Earl of Gloucester, as Leaders of Factions 148 The Royalist Faction 150 Lord Edward and the ‘Marchers’ 151 Party 156 Faction, Party, and Affinity 171 7: Civil War 174 The Genesis of the War 174 The War in Berkshire 182 The Role of Sub-Retinues 183 Instigators 189 The Activities of Castle Garrisons 190 The War in Buckinghamshire 197 The Plunderers 198 Towns and Clergy 203 The Outcome 206 8: Simon de Montfort and His Support 213 Charisma 215 Support Within the Church 220 Support Within the Towns 225 Xenophobia and Populism 235 Martyrdom 240 9: Public Authority and the Provisions of Westminster 246 The Process of Reform 248 Reform and the Deep State 254 10: Resolution and Equilibrium, 1267–90 261 Reconciliation 262 The Restoration of Harmony 266 Reform 272 Equilibrium 275 The English Polity in 1290 280 11: Conclusion 289 Bibliography 294 Unpublished Sources in The National Archives 294 Chancery: 294 Exchequer: 294 Judicial Records: 294 Duchy of Lancaster: 294 Special Collections: 294 Published Sources 294 Secondary Sources 297 Index 308