The English Nobility in the Late Middle Ages : The Fourteenth-Century Political Community

chris Given-wilson Provides An Authoritative And Vivid Reconstruction Of The True Nature Of Political Society In Late Medieval England. He Looks At The Social Structure Of The Time, Discussing What Contemporaries Meant When They Talked Of The Nobility, Always Emphasizing The Close Relationship Between Social Status And Political Influence. He Describes The Noble Household And Council, And Examines The Territorial And Familial Policies Of Local And National Affairs. First Published in 2004. Four things dominated the life of the mediaeval noble: warfare, politics, land and family. It is with these central themes that this book is concerned. It encompasses the whole of the upper segment of the late medieval society; examines the relation of social status and political influence; describes the noble household and council; examines in detail the territorial and familial policies pursued by great landholders; emphasises the inter-relationship of local and national affairs; is arranged thematically, making it ideal for student use and has implications for the whole medieval period. Book Cover......Page 1 Title......Page 4 Contents......Page 5 Illustrations......Page 7 Preface......Page 8 Preface to the paperback edition......Page 12 Maps......Page 13 Introduction......Page 24 Kings and the titled nobility......Page 52 The peerage......Page 78 The gentry......Page 92 Households and councils......Page 110 Estates in land......Page 127 Property, the family, and money......Page 147 CONCLUSION: Political society in fourteenth-century England......Page 183 Abbreviations......Page 203 Notes......Page 204 Bibliography......Page 232 Index......Page 239 Before 1337, the only heritable title in England apart from the king's was that of earl, and for the most part English kings had been extremely cautions about creating earldoms. An authoritative and vivid reconstruction of the true nature of political society in late medieval England. Arranged thematically, it is ideal for student use