The king,the church and the Jews: some considerations on the expulsions from England and France

Contemporary sources shorn a clear awareness of the political and economic motives behind the expulsion of Jews in 1290 and 1306, an awareness which actually prevented any wide approval for the anti-Jewish policy of the kings. Furthermore, from the point of view of the clergy at least, the expulsion of Jews appeared as another stage in the centralizing policy of monarchs, one which lowered the clergy's own status and restricted its freedom of action. Thus, the lack of support for the expulsion of Jews in the late middle ages hints at a new awareness of the ways in which the monarchy manipulated the Jews for its own political and f nancial ends.     

The Ordre Des Medecins and the Jews in Vichy France, 1940-1944

This paper examines the way in which the Jewish question washandled by the Ordre des Médecins, a representative institutionfor the medical profession created by the Vichy government.It discusses the historiography of Vichy anti-Semitism generallyand goes on to analyze the background of anti-Semitism in theFrench medical profession in the 1930s, comparing it with anti-Semitismin other professions such as Law. The paper then discusses thereactions of the Ordre des Médecins and its governingbody, the Conseil Supérieur, to the Vichy anti-Semiticlegislation which affected the profession and compares its brandof anti-Semitism with the official Vichy policy. It focuseson the unequal battle between the Conseil Supérieur,whose members were typically traditional nationalistic and protectionistanti-Semites, and the Vichy government, where quasi-racial anti-Semitismwas official policy. It explains the inevitable defeat of theConseil Supérieur.     

The custom of the English Church: parish church maintenance in England before 1300

A division of responsibility for parish church fabric and contents between rector and parishioners first appeared in English ecclesiastical legislation in the early thirteenth century and was to remain in place until the mid-nineteenth century. It is often suggested that this responsibility was forced onto parishioners by a clergy keen to limit their own financial liability and that this marks the point at which parishioners first become involved in their local churches. This article looks at the development of these statutes from their origins in the Anglo-Saxon period through to their full realisation in the later thirteenth century. It argues that there were many among the thirteenth-century ecclesiastical hierarchy who were opposed to this change, and that far from being forced on parishioners, allowing parishioners to take responsibility for part of the church was a pragmatic solution to problems brought about by changes to both parishes and parish churches.     

The custom of the English Church: parish church maintenance in England before 1300

A division of responsibility for parish church fabric and contents between rector and parishioners first appeared in English ecclesiastical legislation in the early thirteenth century and was to remain in place until the mid-nineteenth century. It is often suggested that this responsibility was forced onto parishioners by a clergy keen to limit their own financial liability and that this marks the point at which parishioners first become involved in their local churches. This article looks at the development of these statutes from their origins in the Anglo-Saxon period through to their full realisation in the later thirteenth century. It argues that there were many among the thirteenth-century ecclesiastical hierarchy who were opposed to this change, and that far from being forced on parishioners, allowing parishioners to take responsibility for part of the church was a pragmatic solution to problems brought about by changes to both parishes and parish churches.     

The accuracy of enclosure estimates: some evidence from northern England

Michael Turner's edition of Tate's Domesday draws upon the uneven estimates provided in enclosure acts and awards. For 35 sample acts and awards in Cumberland, Durham, Northumberland and Westmorland estimates of the acreages enclosed are compared with actual acreages of land allotted. Estimates in early acts are less accurate than in later acts, and estimates for parishes where only small areas were enclosed are proportionately less accurate than those for which large areas were enclosed.     

Hosting the king: hospitality and the royal iter in tenth-century England

Traditional studies of royal itinerancy have depended on locating the king’s progress through his kingdom(s) as precisely as possible and it should therefore not surprise that the iter regis in pre-conquest England has received relatively little attention, since Anglo-Saxon diplomas only rarely record their date and place of issue, making the establishment of the royal itinerary all but impossible. However, more recent studies, particularly by German scholars, have moved away from the earlier attention to the concrete details of the royal iter and focus more on the effects of itinerancy as a method of rulership, viewing itinerancy as a central part of royal ritual. This study argues that if we investigate itinerancy in tenth-century England from this standpoint, we can throw new light onto the subject. Contemporary sources reveal that in England as in France and Germany the iter regis was of great importance, with symbolic acts of feasting and gift-giving accompanying royal visits. The attention given to these ritualised acts in contemporary sources suggests, moreover, that Anglo-Saxon kingship possessed an important ‘charismatic’ quality, which deserves further investigation.     

England, France, the papacy and the Flemish succession, 1361-9

International politics in the 1360s were dominated by a diplomatic duel between England and France to secure the marriage of Margaret de Male, only child of the count of Flanders and ‘the richest heiress in christendom’. This struggle ultimately involved every major European power, including the papacy and the Empire, and resulted in wars in areas as far apart as Hainault, Castile and Lombardy. It was eventually won by the French, leaving the English with a bitter resentment both toward the Flemings and, more especially, towards the papacy, which had been instrumental in securing the victory for France.     

England,France, the papacy and the Flemish succession, 1361-9

International politics in the 1360s were dominated by a diplomatic duel between England and France to secure the marriage of Margaret de Male, only child of the count of Flanders and ‘the richest heiress in christendom’. This struggle ultimately involved every major European power, including the papacy and the Empire, and resulted in wars in areas as far apart as Hainault, Castile and Lombardy. It was eventually won by the French, leaving the English with a bitter resentment both toward the Flemings and, more especially, towards the papacy, which had been instrumental in securing the victory for France.     

Medieval village planning in northern England: some evidence from Yorkshire

A village plan comprising regular toft rows facing a street or green is common in lowland Yorkshire north of the river Aire and west of the river Hull, and many such plans are believed to have been established in the late eleventh and early twelfth centuries. The obvious occasion for a settlement reorganisation involving the creation of regular plans was the aftermath of a phase of devastation between 1066 and 1070. Domesday Book data are used to identify the local circumstances that favoured regular plan creation. A two-stage recolonisation is hypothesised: first, local survivors were grouped into “manorial” type communities where pre-Conquest village layouts were usually revived; second, free colonists were attracted from other districts and settled in villages of regular plan. Subsequent population growth was in some cases associated with the addition of regular toft rows to existing settlements, thereby giving rise to the more widely distributed partly-regular plans.