In the mid-1220s, William Marshal, second earl of Pembroke, commissioned the History of William Marshal, a verse history which recounts the life of his father, the first earl of Pembroke. The History has been utilized as a source of information about its titular subject by modern historians, but none have examined the causes behind its commissioning and the significance of the document within the context of the second earl's political career in depth. This thesis seeks to increase understanding of the History by placing it within this context and examining the second earl's influence on its contents. Primary sources, including contemporary letters and court records contained within the Curia Regis Rolls, help reconstruct the political career of the second earl and reveal the reasons why he may have found it expedient to commission the History. An analysis of the History itself indicates that the document reflects the second earl's concerns. The introduction and first chapter of this thesis provide historiographical background for the History, both within its contemporary setting and as a type of work analyzed by modern historians. They indicate the importance of understanding the political and social function of the History and argue that the modern label of biography should not be applied to it. In the second chapter, primary sources and detailed studies of the minority and reign of Henry III are utilized to illustrate the second earl's political career and his conflicts with fellow barons and the crown over property and his unconventional marriage into the royal family. The third chapter offers an interpretation of the History with reference to the earl's career. This thesis concludes that the second earl commissioned the History in response to the objections raised to his marriage.

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Multiple sections at 13 localities in West Virginia and Virginia, that expose the Early Carboniferous (Late Mississippian) Bluefield, Hinton, and Bluestone Formations, were measured. Geological structures and paleontological occurrences were recorded. In situ rooted plants were compared with transported plant and animal assemblages from fluvially dominated terrestrial beds and interdistributary channel-dominated, bay-fill, marine beds in order to interpret the paleoecology of this subtropical Early Carboniferous coastal landscape. Interdistributary wetlands of the Bluefield, Hinton and Bluestone Formations resemble earlier swamps more than those of the younger Pennsylvanian. In both Hampshire (Late Devonian, Famennian) and Price Formation (Early Carboniferous, Toumaisian) coal swamps, diversity is so low that only one taxon of plant is present: Rhacophyton ceratangium in the Late Devonian and Lepidodendropsis vandergrachtii in the Early Mississippian. The presence of Lepidodendron veltheimii as the apparent sole occupant of these younger Early Carboniferous plant communities makes them most similar to the arborescent lycopod-dominated Price Formation swamps. Although many Pennsylvanian (Late Carboniferous) swamps were also dominated by tree lycopods, including species of Lepidodendron sensu lato, other plants were present as well. Thus, these Late Mississippian communities incorporate some features of both younger and older swamps and can be considered ecologically transitional between them. Swamps have been stressful environments for plant growth for as long as they have existed. This is manifested by their low diversity since the Paleozoic and continues to be true today. / Ph. D.

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In the late 18th century and the first two decades of the 19th, Spanish seapower in the Pacific was in a state of decline, though it remained strong enough to contribute to the overthrow of the first attempt of the Chileans to liberate their colony from Spain, in 1814. By the time of the second, successful, emancipation of Chile in 1817, the patriots had realised the need for seapower. In that year they took into their service Lord Cochrane, a noted British naval officer then unemployed. Lord Cochrane arrived in Chile at the end of 1818. The squadron at that time is described. With this squadron Lord Cochrane made his first cruise, a reconnaissance in force of the royalist-held Peruvian coast during which Callao was attacked without success. Arising from this reconnaissance, the physical environment of the Mar del Sur is reviewed, together with the state of navigational knowledge. The intention of Lord Cochrane's second cruise, which began in September 1819, was to stage a major attack on Callao. This object was not achieved because of the' squadron's inadequate means and the viceroy's defensive measures, so in December 1819 Lord Cochrane sailed to Valdivia, a fortified city in the south of Chile still in Spanish hands, and captured it by assault in February 1820. There has been same debate about his intentions when he sailed for Valdivia. By early 1820 some of the basic social characteristics of the Chilean navy had emerged and these are examined, firstly from the point of view of the manning of the ships and secondly from the point of view of the problems of discipline and morale that arose. At the same time, the system of naval administration should be examined as its defects and malfunctioning had serious effects on the operating of the squadron, and its efficiency. This data forms the background to the squadron's participation in the liberation of Peru. Initially it played a significant role, firstly by shipping the expedition to Peru and secondly by boarding and taking out of Callao harbour the principal Spanish warship there. These successes were in 1820; in 1821 the squadron's role became less important as the relations between Lord Cochrane and San Martin, the commander-in-chief, deteriorated as a result of the refusal or inability of the latter to pay the squadron. In September 1821 Lord Cochrane seized the Peruvian public funds, allegedly to indemnify the expenses of the squadron, and left Peru. His last cruise, from October 1821 to May 1822, had the object of hunting down the remaining Spanish warships in the Pacific. This cruise here receives its first full account. The cruise completed, though not as successfully as he had hoped, Lord Cochrane returned to Chile. His brief remaining stay in that country was disturbed by difficulties in paying off the ships, disputes with San Martin, and the deteriorating political position of the government. When he received an invitation in November 1822 to take command of the Brazilian navy he accepted, resigned from the Chilean service, and left the country at the beginning of 1823. The dissertation is supplemented by the inventory of the papers in the Dundonald collection which relate to the period of Lord Cochrane's service with Chile. These amount to 2286 items.

In the summer of 1611, Sir George Carew, the Irish Elizabethan military commander and former president of Munster, was commissioned by the king and his royal council in London to conduct an enquiry into all aspects of the Castle administration. Included in that wide mandate was an investigation into the existing practices and procedures of the Irish exchequer and judiciary, the two most important divisions of the Dublin government. This thesis is concerned with these two aspects of the commission of Sir George Carew. Since it is requisite for an understanding of the terms of reference handed to Sir George Carew in 1611, the study includes an analysis of the exchequer and judiciary between 1603 and 1611. In addition, there is an examination of the fiscal and judicial reforms that the king and his councillors commanded Irish officials to implement between 1613 and 1616. As is shown, these reformist measures were a direct outgrowth of recommendations submitted by Sir George Carew to the English privy council following the conclusion of his commission in 1611.

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