This authoritative guide and survey of Britain in the later middle ages comprises 28 chapters dealing with the cultural, political, religious, social, and economic history of England, Wales, Ireland, and Scotland from 1100 to 1500. It is an extensive overview of late medieval Britain, providing different perspectives by a number of respected authorities and specialists, as well as new material to examine current debates being discussed in this area. The book is part of the Blackwell Companions to History series, a sophisticated and well‐researched group of scholarship on various themes, topics, and periods written to elaborate on the current state of research from a variety of historical perspectives.
According to the editor’s introduction, one of the biggest decisions to make with this volume was whether the British Isles should be considered as an entity, or whether separate chapters for England, Scotland, Ireland, and Wales should be done. The decision to incorporate separate chapters for each country was precipitated by the facts that much of Ireland and Wales were not under English control until after Edward I, and that Scotland was a separate nation for most of the late medieval period.
The book is divided into four parts. Part 1 “Economy and society in town and country”, contains eight essays, five of which deal with England, while there is one each for Ireland, Scotland, and Wales on economy and society. Part 2 “Politics, government, and law”, has nine chapters. England has five chapters dealing with various historical aspects of the monarchy, law and society, and the nobility and the gentry. Scotland, Ireland, and Wales each have a chapter dealing with politics, government, and the law. A short introductory essay by Sean Duffy helps to provide perspective and tie together the essays within this section. Part 3 “The church and piety”, comprises five essays, with England having two and each of the other countries having one apiece. Finally, part 4 “Education and culture”, consists of six chapters, with England having three dealing with education, art, and literature within society, and each of the other countries again having one each on culture and society. Each essay ends with footnotes, a bibliography, and a further reading section. Some authors list primary and secondary resources. A large bibliography of secondary resources is provided for the reader at the end of the volume, as well as an index.
This book is written for upper‐level undergraduate students and graduate students seeking an overview of the later medieval period in the British Isles, as well as specific information and opinion regarding the impact of specific events, personalities, and politics on the culture of Wales, Ireland, Scotland, and England. Since many of the essays address questions at the leading edge of current scholarship in this area, this book will also be of interest to advanced researchers in the field. The editor has been fairly lenient regarding consistency of approach in the essays, admitting as much in the introduction, allowing each contributor to direct and record their research, opinions, and thoughts as much as possible. In this way, the reader is provided with a fairly diverse group of essays, some very authoritative, others more challenging and questioning in their approach. I agree with the editor’s decision to have separate essays for Ireland, Wales, and Scotland; I often have difficulty with scholarly books that treat each of these countries as offshoots or subjugated nations under England during the medieval period. Each has a rich historical, cultural, social, and economic past that needs more research and study, separate from England, just as England has a rich history prior to the Norman invasion. The editor’s approach allows a student the opportunity to view these countries’ histories separately from the English one, and provides a striking contrast to some common misconceptions and falsehoods portrayed in earlier historical accounts of this time period where the entire British Isles are considered as one nation or country. Overall, I found this volume well within the high scholarly traditions of previous books within this Blackwell series, and highly recommend it.
