The Battle of Agincourt
The Battle of Agincourt

Author: Anne Curry

Publisher: Boydell Press

Published: 2000

Total Pages: 494

ISBN-13: 9780851158020

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'Agincourt! Agincourt! Know ye not Agincourt?' So began a ballad of around 1600. Since the event itself (25 October 1415), Agincourt has occupied a special place in both English and French consciousness. Some early French writers could not bring themselves to mention it by name, using instead descriptions such as 'the accursed day'. For the English, it was one of the greatest military successes ever, and thus was celebrated and commemorated in many forms over the centuries which followed. In the First World War, there were stories of angelic Agincourt bowmen giving support and inspiration to the British army. Much ink has been spilt on the battle but do we really know Agincourt? Many historical works have relied on one or two well known sources or even on Shakespeare. Not since Harris Nicolas's History of the Battle of Agincourt was published (1827-33) has there been a full attempt to survey the sources. This book brings together, in translation and with commentary, English and French narrative accounts and literary works of the fifteenth century. It also traces the treatment of the battle in sixteenth -century English histories and in the literary output of, amongst others, Shakespeare and Drayton. After examining how later historians interpreted the battle, it concludes with the first full assessment of the extremely rich administrative records which survive for the armies which fought 'upon Saint Crispin's day'.

The Language of Abuse
The Language of Abuse

Author: Sara Butler

Publisher: BRILL

Published: 2007-03-31

Total Pages: 301

ISBN-13: 9047418956

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The Language of Abuse provides the first comprehensive examination of marital violence in later medieval England. Drawing from a wide variety of legal and literary sources, this book develops a nuanced perspective of the acceptability of marital violence at a time when social expectations of gender and marriage were in transition. As such, Butler’s work contributes to current debates concerning the role of the jury, levels of violence in late medieval England, the power relationship within marriage, and the position of women in medieval society.

The Wills of Our Ancestors
The Wills of Our Ancestors

Author: Stuart A. Raymond

Publisher: Casemate Publishers

Published: 2013-01-19

Total Pages: 217

ISBN-13: 1781594759

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“Almost every book on English research highlights the need to examine the wills of our ancestors. . . . [this book] gives us an easy to read detailed guide.” —FGS Forum What are wills, and how can they be used for family and local history research? How can you interpret them and get as much insight from them as possible? Wills are key documents for exploring the lives of our ancestors, their circumstances, and the world they knew. This practical handbook is the essential guide to understanding wills. Wills expert Stuart Raymond traces the history and purpose of probate records and guides readers through the many pitfalls and possibilities these fascinating documents present. He describes the process of probate, gives a detailed account of the content of the various different types of record, and advises readers on how they can be used to throw light into the past, offering factual evidence that no genealogist or local historian can afford to ignore. In a series of concise, fact-filled chapters, Raymond explains how wills came into being, who made them and how they were made, how the probate system operates, how wills and inventories can be found, and how much can be learned from them. In addition to covering probate records in England and Wales, he includes the Channel Islands, Ireland, the Isle of Man and Scotland. This introduction is aimed primarily at family historians who are interested in the wills of particular individuals who are seeking proof of descent and local historians who are interested in the wealth of local historical information that can be gathered from them.