Liberties and Communities in Medieval England
Collected Studies in Local Administration and Topography

Originally published in 1944, this book contains sixteen essays on the history of Cambridge, Oxford and other English communities in the medieval period.

Helen M. Cam (Author)

9781107452770, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 4 December 2014

282 pages
22.9 x 15.2 x 1.6 cm, 0.42 kg

Originally published in 1944, this book contains sixteen essays on the history of Cambridge, Oxford and other English communities in the medieval period, particularly the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. Cam argues in her introduction that 'medieval local government can only be understood through much short range study of particular places and institutions', and uses the rich history of these areas as a microcosm of wider historical change and development. This book will be of value to anyone with an interest in English medieval history and the role of small communities in implementing and creating change.

Prefatory note
Introduction: in defence of the study of local history
1. The origin of the Borough of Cambridge
2. The early burgesses of Cambridge in relation to the surrounding country-side
3. Cambridgeshire sheriffs in the thirteenth century
4. Suitors and scabani
5. Manerium cum hundredo: the hundred and the hundredal manor
6. Early groups of hundreds
7. The hundred outside the north gate of Oxford
8. Pedigrees of villeins and freemen in the thirteenth century
9. The marshalsy of the Eyre
10. The general eyres of 1329–30
11. Some early inquests before custodes pacis
12. The quo warranto proceedings under Edward I
13. The king's government as administered by the greater abbots of East Anglia
14. The decline and fall of English feudalism
15. The relation of English members of parliament to their constituencies in the fourteenth century
16. The community of the shire and the payment of its representatives in parliament
Index of subjects
Index of persons and places.

Subject Areas: British & Irish history [HBJD1]