Bastard feudalism, English society and the law : the Statutes of Livery, 1390-1520 /

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Bibliographic Details
Author / Creator:McKelvie, Gordon, author.
Imprint:Woodbridge, Suffolk ; Rochester, NY : Boydell Press, 2020.
©2020
Description:xii, 249 pages ; 24 cm
Language:English
Subject:
Format: Print Book
URL for this record:http://pi.lib.uchicago.edu/1001/cat/bib/12721781
Hidden Bibliographic Details
Varying Form of Title:Statutes of Livery, 1390-1520
ISBN:1783274778
9781783274772
Notes:"The Boydell Press is an imprint of Boydell & Brewer Ltd, "--Title page verso
Includes bibliographical references (pages 217-236) and index.
Summary:Regulation of the distribution of liveries and the practice of retaining, which underpinned the so-called system of bastard feudalism in late medieval England, are the subject of this book. Rather than relying primarily on the records of noble estates, as much previous scholarship has done, it draws on the records of the court of King's Bench, covering all 336 known cases of illegal livery and retaining over 130 years. The author examines the political events and legal processes surrounding illegal livery, by exploring the nature of the legislation and its enforcement, particularly the relationship between law-making in parliament and law-enforcement in the localities. The wider social and cultural contexts in which the statutes operated are also investigated, along with the legal processes and outcomes of the cases. Finally, the book considers the importance of retaining in the numerous acts of magnate violence during the fifteenth century, how they shaped the Wars of the Roses and the ways in which Henry VII accepted most noble retaining, save the most extreme cases.
Table of Contents:
  • The System : Liveries and Retaining
  • The Early Years, 1390 to 1449
  • The Later Years, 1449 to 1520
  • Outcomes and Enforcement
  • The Identity of the Indicted
  • The Geography of the Cases
  • Networks and Localities
  • Livery and Disorder
  • The Urban Experience
  • Appendix 1. Number of Cases by Reign
  • Appendix 2. Number of Cases in each County
  • Appendix 3. List of Letters to Towns and Lordships
  • Appendix 4. List of Local Ordinances
  • Appendix 5. Letters from Henry VII to Duchy of Lancaster Officials.