The many commands which the crown addressed to bishops represent a rich source of information about the history of government, law, and lay society, as well as about the church itself. The writs collected in this volume touch on many aspects of life in the later fourteenth century, including tax gathering, political upheaval, property disputes, Lollardy, and foreign warfare. The bishop is seen swearing in local officials, setting up commissions of enquiry, organising the attendance of the clergy in parliament, and consulting episcopal archives to answer queries from the lay courts. It also provides a vivid series of vignettes of family life among the gentry class from Yorkshire to Hampshire. An extensive introduction places the writs in their historical and archival contexts, and offers suggestions for further lines of research.

Dr A.K. McHARDY is the author of numerous articles about the relations between crown and church in late medieval England, as well as an edition of the Clerical Poll-Taxes of the Diocese of Lincoln 1377-1381 (Lincoln Record Society, 1992)