This thesis addresses the governance of Nottinghamshire during the first thirty three years of the reign of Edward III. The time-frame is significant as it seeks to re-dress an imbalance in the study of provincial societies during the later Middle Ages, which hitherto have largely concentrated on the second half of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. The most important belief to be addressed is that those who were engaged in the governance of Nottinghamshire were drawn from a considerably wider section of society than is apparent from previous county or regional gentry-based studies. It will also demonstrate the close nature of the relationship between the shire and the crown, which manifested itself in a wide variety of channels of communication. Chapters one and two look at the formal structures of government in Nottinghamshire. The focus for these chapters will be upon the whole of the county, as this reflects the crown's approach to governance. Chapter one will address the offices of local government, and chapter two will look at the pivotal relationship between the locality and the crown, concentrating upon parliamentary representatives and petitions. These chapters will also assess the impact of war and the Black Death upon Nottinghamshire. For subsequent chapters, the geographical focus of the study will be reduced to that of south Nottinghamshire, which will facilitate a more in-depth analysis of law and order in chapter three, and landholding in chapter four. The study will then -conclude with a case-study upon a smaller area within south Nottinghamshire. Throughout, this thesis will address significant historiographical debates. The most important of which relates to the impact upon provincial societies and local government of bastard feudalism, and to the related debates over the vertical and horizontal ties of lordship, and to the existence or otherwise of an 'independent gentry', and of 'county communities'.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:518759 |
| Date | January 2007 |
| Creators | Russell, Peter David |
| Publisher | University of Nottingham |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Source | http://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/12349/ |
Page generated in 0.3677 seconds