In this thesis, a collective urban sector-consisting, in various different guises, of civic governments, urban merchants, and townspeople-is presented as a vital and distinctive component of later medieval English political society. The dynamics of this urban political sector are reconstructed through the use of a modified version of the 'urban systems' approach found in historical geography and economic history, positing that towns are defined by their evolving relationship with one another. Drawing from the municipal records of twenty-two towns, this thesis charts the composition of the later medieval English 'urban system' and the manner in which urban groups belonging to this 'system' participated in a broader national political sphere over four chronological periods-1413-35, 1435-50, 1450-61, and 1461-71. In 1413-35, the highly authoritative and institutionalised governments of Henry V and the child Henry VI fostered vertical relationships between the Crown and a variety of individual civic governments, leading both national and urban political actors to operate within a shared political culture, but not necessarily encouraging inter-urban political communication. This would change in the periods that followed, as the absence of strong royal authority after 1435 renewed the strength of lateral mercantile networks and facilitated the re-emergence of a semi-autonomous inter-urban political community, which saw little reason to participate in the civil wars of the early 1450s that now seemed divorced from its own interests. In the 1460s, however, the financially extractive policies of Edward IV once again gave civic governments and ordinary townspeople a greater stake in royal government, which was reflected in the high level of urban participation in the dynastic conflicts of 1469-71. The developments occurring in these four phases illustrate both the interdependence of urban and national politics in the later medieval period, and the mutability of their relationship with one another.

A Guerra Gótica é uma narrativa composta em três livros, que fazem parte da coleção História das Guerras, de Procópio de Cesareia (490-562). Estes livros contêm relatos das campanhas enviadas pelo imperador bizantino Justiniano (527-565), com o objetivo de retomar para o Império o domínio sobre seus antigos territórios na Pérsia e no mundo mediterrânico, então sob autoridade de governos bárbaros. Estas guerras ficaram historiograficamente conhecidas como as guerras de Reconquista. As narrativas de Procópio se iniciam com a descrição da gradual perda do poder imperial na Itália em favor dos bárbaros em 476, que a historiografia consagrou como a Queda de Roma. Entretanto, Procópio não descreve esse processo como sendo a queda do Império, tão pouco fala das guerras de Justiniano como uma luta pela Reconquista. Mesmo assim, seus textos foram amplamente utilizados para estruturar e consolidar tais conceitos. Nossa proposta é analisar como o historiador interpretou as disputas pelo poder na Itália, travadas entre romanos e bárbaros, no período da deposição de Rômulo Augusto e no governo de Justiniano, contribuindo, assim, para a discussão de problemas historiográficos como os acima citados. / The Gothic War is a narrative composed in three books, which are part of the collection History of the Wars written by Procopius (490-562). These books contain accounts of the campaigns sent by the Byzantine Emperor Justinian (527-565), with the goal of regaining for the Empire the dominion over its former territories in Persia and the Mediterranean World, then under the authority of barbarian governments. These wars are historiographically known as the wars of \"Reconquest\". The narratives of Procopius begin with the description of the gradual loss of imperial power in Italy in favor of the barbarians in 476, which the historiography has consecrated as \"Fall of Rome\". However, Procopius did not describe this process as the \"fall\" of the Empire, neither wrote about the wars of Justinian as a fight for the \"Reconquest\". Even so, his texts were widely used to structure and consolidate these concepts. Our proposal is to analyze how the historian has interpreted the struggle for power in Italy, fought between romans and barbarians in the period of the deposition of Rômulo Augusto and the government of Justinian, thus contributing to the discussion of historiographical problems as mentioned above.

A Guerra Gótica é uma narrativa composta em três livros, que fazem parte da coleção História das Guerras, de Procópio de Cesareia (490-562). Estes livros contêm relatos das campanhas enviadas pelo imperador bizantino Justiniano (527-565), com o objetivo de retomar para o Império o domínio sobre seus antigos territórios na Pérsia e no mundo mediterrânico, então sob autoridade de governos bárbaros. Estas guerras ficaram historiograficamente conhecidas como as guerras de Reconquista. As narrativas de Procópio se iniciam com a descrição da gradual perda do poder imperial na Itália em favor dos bárbaros em 476, que a historiografia consagrou como a Queda de Roma. Entretanto, Procópio não descreve esse processo como sendo a queda do Império, tão pouco fala das guerras de Justiniano como uma luta pela Reconquista. Mesmo assim, seus textos foram amplamente utilizados para estruturar e consolidar tais conceitos. Nossa proposta é analisar como o historiador interpretou as disputas pelo poder na Itália, travadas entre romanos e bárbaros, no período da deposição de Rômulo Augusto e no governo de Justiniano, contribuindo, assim, para a discussão de problemas historiográficos como os acima citados. / The Gothic War is a narrative composed in three books, which are part of the collection History of the Wars written by Procopius (490-562). These books contain accounts of the campaigns sent by the Byzantine Emperor Justinian (527-565), with the goal of regaining for the Empire the dominion over its former territories in Persia and the Mediterranean World, then under the authority of barbarian governments. These wars are historiographically known as the wars of \"Reconquest\". The narratives of Procopius begin with the description of the gradual loss of imperial power in Italy in favor of the barbarians in 476, which the historiography has consecrated as \"Fall of Rome\". However, Procopius did not describe this process as the \"fall\" of the Empire, neither wrote about the wars of Justinian as a fight for the \"Reconquest\". Even so, his texts were widely used to structure and consolidate these concepts. Our proposal is to analyze how the historian has interpreted the struggle for power in Italy, fought between romans and barbarians in the period of the deposition of Rômulo Augusto and the government of Justinian, thus contributing to the discussion of historiographical problems as mentioned above.