The State and the Left in modern France

French historians have recently begun to pursue the historyof left-wing politics in a manner which suggests that the Marxistframe of reference has begun to disappear, even in this fieldof history. The eminent historian and public intellectual PierreRosanvallon is leading the way in the field of political andintellectual history, through his sustained examination of theState and the ongoing debate about French democracy. The connectionbetween history and current political discourse is important,and it is significant that historians are attempting to revisecommon perceptions of the evolution of French political institutions.Wide areas of new research have been opened out and this articlehopes to offer some reflections on how these new approachesto French political history may be used in future research.     

Recording and curating relics at Westminster Abbey in the late Middle Ages

ABSTRACT

Westminster Abbey’s relics, and objects functionally related to them, were kept in the shrine chapel of St Edward the Confessor, where the kings and queens of England were customarily buried. They constituted a discrete collection, curated by a dedicated monastic officer titled ‘the keeper of St Edward’s shrine and the relics of St Peter’s church’. Inventories of the chapel, made when the office changed hands, survive from 1467, 1479 and 1520. These documents are analysed here for what they reveal of the contents of the collection, monastic interest in it, and the way the relics and related objects were cared for. As an important aspect of the chapel’s spatial configuration, the problem of where precisely the relics were located is also investigated. By examining the routine management of a single, important collection, the article aims to contribute to a more holistic understanding of the cult of relics in the late Middle Ages.     

An English chronicle entry on Robin Hood

This short article introduces a previously unknown pre-Reformation chronicle entry about Robin Hood. Until now, no English chronicle entry has been discovered, and only Scottish authors are thought to have set Robin in a chronological context. The new find places Robin Hood in Edward I's reign, thus supporting the belief that his legend is of thirteenth-century origin. It contains a uniquely negative assessment of the outlaw, and provides rare evidence for monastic attitudes towards him (topical, in light of the outlaw's anti-monastic behaviour). By mentioning Sherwood it buttresses the evidence for a medieval connection between Robin and the Nottinghamshire forest with which he has become so closely associated. It also constitutes more evidence for the strength of West Country Robin Hood traditions in the late middle ages.