The White Book (Liber Albus) of Southwell
Title Details

941 Pages

24.2 x 14.6 cm

2 colour. 10 b/w. 4 line.

Series: Publications of the Pipe Roll Society New Series

Series Vol. Number: 61

Imprint: Pipe Roll Society

The White Book (Liber Albus) of Southwell

2 volume set

Edited by Michael Jones, Julia Barrow, Trevor Foulds and David Crook

  • Description
  • Contents
  • Author
  • Reviews
First complete edition of an invaluable and extensive collection of medieval documents.

with contributions from Neil Bettridge, Jean Cameron, Paul Cavill and Teresa Webber.

The White Book of Southwell derives its name from its white vellum cover. Compiled between c.1350 and 1460, with a few later additions, its 500 pages record 620 individual documents from c.1100 onwards. They range widely from papal bulls and royal charters, quo warranto inquiries, privileges granted by many archbishops of York to the Chapter at Southwell,individual canons (or prebendaries) and the parishes where the Minster held lands or controlled livings. The majority date from c.1200-1460 and concern properties which the Chapter owned and administered through its courts, for which some rare proceedings are preserved. Because of their variety, the documents it contains are important not simply for ecclesiastical history but for broader social and economic trends in medieval Nottinghamshire either side of the Black Death. The volume also furnishes a remarkable amount of little-studied onomastic and linguistic evidence in medieval Latin, Anglo-Norman French and Middle English as well as strong traces of earlier Anglo-Scandinavianinfluences on Nottinghamshire.
First brought to attention by the pioneering county historian Robert Thoroton (d. 1677), the White Book has been consulted in all subsequent generations. However, while some of its contents havebeen published in their original language or in translation, this is the first systematic, complete scholarly edition. A substantial introduction sets the White Book in context, describing its structure and content. Extensive commentary helps to date many undated individual documents and identify persons and places named, a detailed Fasti provides details on the personnel of the Minster and its appendant churches, while detailed indexes assist consultation.
Introduction
The White Book of Southwell
Appendix A: Additional documents relating to the privileges and administration of the Collegiate church of St Mary's, Southwell, not found in the White Book
Appendix B: Check-list of documents in chronological order to 1540 illustrating the privileges and administration of the Collegiate church of St Mary's, Southwell, and its estates not included in the White Book, the 'Second Cartulary' or Appendix A
Appendix C: Summary Fasti of Canons and Prebendaries of Southwell to 1540

DAVID CROOK, now retired, spent his working life in The National Archives, where he became immersed in the extensive surviving early records of the English royal administration and common law. From those sources have emerged important findings which may identify a real criminal as the original of the legendary English outlaw Robin Hood.

"These volumes deserve to be widely used and plundered, and doubtless will be." ENGLISH HISTORICAL REVIEW
"This is an exemplary edition.It is very satisfactory that at last there is an authoritative source for historians wishing to check a point of detail concerning the history or constitution of the Southwell chapter." THE RICARDIAN
"Editing this manuscript has been an important, and challenging undertaking, in terms of size, date and range of documentation. The expertise of the several editors here is very much apparent." Northern History

Hardcover

9780901134677

May 2018

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Title Details

941 Pages

2.42 x 1.46 cm

2 colour. 10 b/w. 4 line.

Series: Publications of the Pipe Roll Society New Series

Series Vol. Number: 61

Imprint: Pipe Roll Society