Acknowledgments

I would like to thank the REH co-editor Prof. S. Wolcott for her prompt editorial support, and the anonymous peer reviewer for detailed and very constructive suggestions. I owe a particular debt of gratitude to the late Prof. W. M. Ormrod, who encouraged me to write on the 1431 abortive tax and gave generously of his time, reading and commenting on an earlier draft of this piece in full. This article is dedicated to his memory.