Lordship, State Formation and Local Authority in Late Medieval and Early Modern England

Shows how lordship and state formation affected local authority in the transition between medieval and early modern England.

Spike Gibbs (Author)

9781009311830, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 27 July 2023

304 pages, 31 b/w illus. 4 maps 11 tables
22.9 x 15.2 x 1.8 cm, 0.586 kg

Providing a new narrative of how local authority and social structures adapted in response to the decline of lordship and the process of state formation, Spike Gibbs uses manorial officeholding – where officials were chosen from among tenants to help run the lord's manorial estate – as a prism through which to examine political and social change in the late medieval and early modern English village. Drawing on micro-studies of previously untapped archival records, the book spans the medieval/early modern divide to examine changes between 1300 and 1650. In doing so, Gibbs demonstrates the vitality of manorial structures across the medieval and early modern era, the active and willing participation of tenants in these frameworks, and the way this created inequalities within communities. This title is part of the Flip it Open Programme and may also be available Open Access. Check our website Cambridge Core for details.

Introduction
1. The changing role of manorial officers and manor courts
2. Manorial officeholding and selection processes: participation or restriction?
3. Manorial officeholding and unfreedom
4. Manorial officeholding and village governance: misconduct and landscape control
5. State formation I: the parish
6. State formation II: vills, quarter sessions and constables
Conclusion
Appendix 1: Categorising presentments
Appendix 2: Identifying individuals
Appendix 3: Population estimates.

Subject Areas: British & Irish history [HBJD1]