This study takes as its primary data the medieval portable fmds from eight excavated sites in the south Midland region, with a date range from the c. lOth to c. 16th/l7th century. The finds within historical archaeology present us with a number of fundamental problems ranging from the quality of the surviving evidence and method of excavation to the post-excavation analysis and interpretation. The purpose of this research is to critically review how we deal with fmds from medieval sites and to explore new ways of approaching and using site evidence. In this explicitly archaeological approach the finds data is drawn from both rural and urban sites, and includes four deserted villages in Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire, two Oxford suburbs and two moated manor house sites. Working as far as possible with the whole finds assemblage, a critical reassessment of each site challenges certain methodological issues and assumptions that are reoccurring and significantly affect site interpretation. A strong correlation was noted between the stratified and the unstratified finds when compared by category confirming the value of unstratified material to site interpretation. The three Buckinghamshire sites present the opportunity to compare the fmds assemblages of near neighbours. Contextual issues are debated including new interpretations of residual artefacts, and the contrasting use of single objects and whole assemblages. This intra-site critique is followed by inter- site comparisons of objects. Some distinctions are drawn between security and horse equipment items that may imply a rural/urban divide. The decorated objects provided an opportunity to examine the social conventions ofthe time embedded in the imagery on objects made for display. The changing social status of objects that appear to have been reused in a secondary capacity is highlighted and it is argued that the disposal of some 'rubbish' reflects cultural practices beyond the purely functional or practical.

This thesis represents the first detailed study of the evolution of a medieval county border in south-midland England. It explores when and how the border between Buckinghamshire and Northamptonshire might have been drawn and considers the impact it had on the societies located on either side. The findings are then related to Phythian-Adams’ idea of cultural provinces and his proposal of defining their boundaries by reference to culturally imposed county borders. Evidence from documents, archaeology, place-names and the landscape is used to suggest how both counties evolved from earlier Anglo-Saxon schemes of territorial organisation and how they developed as social, political and jurisdictional units in the period before the mid-fourteenth century. Counties were not the only possible foci for social cohesion, however, and the boundaries of other institutions - honours, religious houses and the church – are investigated to establish their relationship to those of the shires. The influence of the county border on the society and economy of the surrounding area is studied through a wide range of primary and secondary records which help shed light on the behaviour and mentality of border people. Numerical and statistical methods are frequently employed in analysing the data and results are presented making extensive use of maps of the border area. The accumulated evidence suggests that the eastern and western parts of the border evolved at different times and in different ways and, subsequently, had materially differing impacts on their localities. It is further concluded that, before c.1350, the findings are not wholly consistent either with the cultural provinces proposed, or with their detailed delimitation by the current county boundary. The precise reasons for those conclusions differ in respect of each side of the border but, ultimately arise from the varying speeds at which peripheral areas became fully integrated into the counties.

No description available.

The research I describe in this thesis was under taken in the years from 1959 to 1963 with the aim of elucidating the physiographic history of central Leicestershire during the Pleistocene period. I have directed relatively little attention to the phases of erosion, albeit of the Pleistocene age, which preceded the deposition of the earliest drift, for to have done so adequately would have involved study of a much wider area than is now encompassed. Instead attention has been concentrated on the events leading firstly to the accumulation of the drifts and secondly to their dissection. These are the two major themes of the thesis, but they are preceded by a brief introductory chapter outlining the present physique of the area, its solid geology, and the history of previous research. Such is the complexity of the glacial drifts that I can lay no claim to have made either an exhaustive or a definitive study; "the balance of probability" is liable to be an over-worked phrase. It is believed that much of the value of the thesis lies in bringing together descriptions of a large number of sections in the Pleistocene deposits. To this end Chapter two is largely descriptive, and as far as possible interpretation has here been eschewed. A further aspect of the thesis stemming from this is that the area considered in Chapters two, three and four is sharply circumscribed. The boundaries are artificial, and certain topics are discussed in two parts; considerable cross referencing is the result, and for inconvenience to the reader I apologize. The justification lies in the obvious risks arising from not differentiating clearly between areas known in vastly different detail.

No description available.

No description available.

Female Enterprise in Georgian Derbyshire, c.1780-c.1830 analyses quantitatively and qualitatively the continuing and increasing presence of middle-ranking women in the commercial environment of late-eighteenth and early-nineteenth century England. It challenges an older and more pessimistic interpretation of decline, narrowing opportunities and withdrawal from business in response to intensifying separate spheres ideology. Instead, alongside significant levels of continuity in opportunities within a narrow range of 'feminine' economic sectors, it demonstrates the increasing presence of women as owner-managers of enterprise, and the ability of women to enter and survive in 'masculine' business environments. Whilst never more than a significant minority, women are, nevertheless, regarded as material, rather than peripheral players, in the development of the late-Georgian economy. Despite the less regulated spaces and greater dynamism of more rapidly developing industrial towns (which provided women with opportunities to engage in business), emphasis is placed on a woman's ability to enter and remain in business being contingent upon her continued utilisation and reinforcement of familial, business and social connections. Whilst businesswomen were more constrained than men by legal, moral and social codes of conduct, it is evident throughout the research that the marketing, managing and organisation of their enterprises was comparable to their male counterparts. In a predominantly rural county like Derbyshire, proportionately more women were to be found engaged in enterprise than they were in towns and cities undergoing significantly greater industrial expansion and urban growth. For those women who out of necessity or choice took the decision to enter the business arena, their status and reputations as middle­ranking women were not compromised, but forged by their experiences.

This dissertation places a medieval manuscript of the late fourteenth or early fifteenth centuries in a new historical context. Lincoln Cathedral Manuscript MS 114 has, previously, been understudied and where it has been noticed it has been misidentified. Formally, used only for a few studies focusing on St Bridget of Sweden, it has been considered to be of English provenance, perhaps linked to one of the Birgittine monasteries in England.1 By noting the manuscript’s Dutch provenance and exploring its probable connection to the devotio moderna movement, this thesis will consider how MS 114 might have been used in the early years of the movement. It will examine key themes of different explorations of chastity for lay women, and in particular, the nature of female obedience, as portrayed within the manuscript. This devotional manuscript is made up of nineteen different pieces or extracts from larger medieval works of theology and philosophy. The nineteen articles of the manuscript are arranged in two nearly equal parts. The manuscript’s division into two parts is significant to our thinking about how it was intended to be used and read. The first half, which contains Articles 1 through 10, is made up largely of documents relating to St Bridget of Sweden, exploring her life and arguments concerning the legitimacy of her sanctity. The second part of the manuscript is apparently less unified: no individual figure, like Bridget, ties together its apparently disparate pieces. It is made up of extracts from the works of the Church fathers, anonymous theological guidance and sermons from works of the fourth to the fourteenth century. However, that does not mean that it has no cohesion. Rather, its different articles are linked by a thematic approach, with themes it picks up on ideas expressed in the manuscript’s first part. These two parts are further distinguished by the use of two different scribes. It is both important and interesting to note that these two scribes were working on the manuscript simultaneously, as its second half contains marginal notes, usually corrections of errors in the text, written in the hand of the first scribe. Overall, the nineteen articles contained in MS 114, both those focused around Bridget and those which make no mention of her, emphasize the value of the same virtues: those of humility, chastity, and, particularly, of spiritual obedience in general. These virtues are those of the monastic movements. Claire L. Sahlin has, specifically, labelled Bridget as a ‘fountainhead’ who led the way for later prophetic reformers, including Catherine of Siena, Constance of Rabastens, Marie Robine, Jeanne-Marie of Maille, and Joan of Arc. For several reasons, largely the political upheaval of the Papal Schism but also the social catastrophe of the Black Death, St Bridget of Sweden was the only woman canonized in the fourteenth century, and the only fourteenth century saint canonized in Rome—all others were canonized in Avignon. This will be discussed in greater depth in Chapter Two. Many of these articles are attributed to Early Church Fathers, however, we now know many of these articles are actually Pseudo-written articles from the fourteenth century, Middle Ages, but in a lay setting. Especially when focused upon lay women, these virtues were espoused by the devotio moderna movement. This religious movement emphasized the use of literature and, in particular, the examples of holy, female lay lives. Whereas more popular, and later, devotio moderna manuscripts, known as sister books, used devotio moderna sisters as these examples for the movement’s female lay followers. MS 114 was compiled at a time too early in the movement’s history to have deceased sisterly examples. St Bridget is used in MS 114 in a similar fashion to the later sisters of the sister books. Furthermore, the beginning of the devotio moderna movement coincides with the canonization of Bridget, therefore showing how devotio moderna valued contemporary events within their devotion. The articles in this manuscript, complied in the Netherlands during the early fifteenth century, were, therefore, chosen with precise care and purpose to form a single compilation meant to be read as part of a whole and intended as an enhancement of devotion and of individual devotional practice. This thesis takes two of those themes, chastity and obedience, both of which were rooted in the virtue of humility. It will principally consider these through Article 10, the vita (saint’s life) of St Bridget of Sweden. Bridget’s vita makes up both the physical and the intellectual centre of MS 114. As a saint’s life, Article 10 is also most similar to the later centrepiece of teaching and exempla of the devotio moderna movement: the sister book. Like those manuscripts and later printed books, the saint’s life in general provides stories and anecdotes of the life of a pious individual. Wybren Scheepsma analyses both the physical and literary contents of devotio moderna sister books as well as the sisters themselves. In a manuscript, too large for close study within just one doctorate, the vita also stands out for the way in which it has been adapted for inclusion in this manuscript. More than one vita of St Bridget existed in the early fifteenth century, with the longest, most detailed and best attested being that produced as part of her canonization dossier for the papal curia. The version of the vita found in MS 114 is recognizably a version of that canonization vita: it shares its shape and all the stories told about St Bridget. Yet it is a much-abbreviated version of that work, and the anecdotes considered particularly worthy of inclusion within it are those which emphasise the values of MS 114 as a whole. Additionally, the vita has been altered to focus more closely upon Bridget herself, rather than placing her in the general context of her life and society. The majority of names, for example, have been removed, leaving only Bridget and one or two saints specified as named individuals. This reshaping – or chosen reshaped version, for we cannot be certain whose hand made the alterations here – of the vita makes it a particularly clear demonstration of the purpose of the manuscript’s compilers. Bridget’s canonical vita remains the most popular amongst modern scholars. However, several, significantly, different versions of her life exist in various languages including a popular Middle English vita which was particularly popular amongst English Birgittines such as Margery Kempe. Discussions in this thesis of the manuscript’s themes will, therefore, focus around the vita, whilst also putting it in the context of the other texts found within the manuscript. Overall the thesis aims to consider what it meant in the religious movements of the early fifteenth-century Low Countries to be obedient and to whom obedience was owed, at different stages in the female lifecycle, considering in particular the nature of control and how this was to be expressed by women.

At Papplewick, Nottinghamshire, there is physical evidence of 18th century industry. This study focuses on George Robinson and Sons, who were cotton-spinners between 1778 and 1830. The firm’s records have not survived, so detail of their operation has been re-constructed using alternative sources. The thesis investigates some accepted ideas about the concept of industrialisation, and attempts to address the question of when, where and what constituted the Industrial Revolution in this particular locality. The study adopts a transdisciplinary approach, viewing physical evidence from the landscape alongside documentary sources. Evidence from archaeological exploration is presented. The historic landscape is viewed in the context of biographical and socio-economic data relating to people and events. These water-powered mills were the first in the world to apply steam to cotton-spinning. The study considers the evolution of the water-system, and the introduction of steam to this pioneer site. It also examines transport networks, delivery of raw materials and capital expenditure. Personnel associated with the mills are identified, charting their employment and migration. Cartographic sources of different ages are used to provide a spatial framework for the description. The principles of reverse engineering are applied - attempting to understand, on one hand, the function of the mills and water-system, and on the other to de-construct the factors which influenced this innovative undertaking. It is generally accepted that three key attributes of the Industrial Revolution were adoption of new technology, introduction of centralised production, and socio-economic changes, accompanied by urbanisation. The Robinson mills could be perceived as the beginning of the Industrial Revolution in the Leen valley. However, when the company was wound up (in 1830) industrial activity in the valley reverted to manufacture of hosiery and bobbin-net lace, both of which were, at that time, cottage industries.

This thesis investigates the minor and field-names of twenty-two parishes in Thurgarton Wapentake, a historic division of Nottinghamshire. It investigates the agricultural history of the region, and explores the usage of Old English and Old Norse-derived place-name elements in the late medieval period. The parishes studied are Averham, Bleasby (with Gibsmere and Goverton), Bulcote and Burton Joyce, Carlton on Trent, Colwick, Cromwell, Fiskerton and Morton, Fledborough, Gedling with Carlton and Stoke Bardolph, Gonalston, Grassthorpe, Lowdham with Caythorpe and Gunthorpe, Hoveringham, Kelham, Marnham, Normanton on Trent, North Muskham (with Bathley and Holme), Norwell (with Norwell Woodhouse and Willoughby), Rolleston, South Muskham (with Little Carlton), Staythorpe, Sutton on Trent and Ossington, and Thurgarton. The thesis presents a new collection of minor names for this area, collated from both unpublished and published documentary sources, supplementing the English Place-Name Society’s survey for Nottinghamshire. The collection is presented as a survey, and forms a significant part of the thesis. The data collected are selectively analysed in two case studies of place-name elements, and in an examination of the names from a single parish. It is shown that place-name elements have precise technical meanings, and that loan words form a significant part of the onomasticon, selected for a particular semantic purpose. The development and longevity of microtoponyms is also explored, and it is shown that field-names in Nottinghamshire frequently survive across a number of centuries. The thesis contributes significantly to the available corpus of English minor and field-names, and demonstrates the ability of this material to address questions of land use, language contact, and agricultural and economic change.