The Parliament Rolls of Medieval England, 1275

The rolls of parliament were the official records of the meetings of the English parliament from the reign of Edward I (1272-1307) until the reign of Henry VII (1485-1509), after which they were superseded by the journals of the lords, and, somewhat later, the commons. The first three parliaments of Edward IV's reign - 1461, 1463 and 1467 - document the establishment of the new regime, including the new king's efforts to win over former Lancastrians as well as to punish the unreconciled. All three parliaments include acts of resumption deliberately deployed by the crown rather than by its critics. The volume also includes a partial reconstruction of the business of Henry VI's resumption parliament of 1470 for which no roll survives. The rolls from the period are reproduced in their entirely, complemented by a full translation of all the texts from the three languages used by the medieval clerks (Latin, Anglo-Norman and Middle English). Dr Rosemary Horrox is Fellow and Director of Studies in History, Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge.