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This book presents key texts relating to the political as well as to the broader socio-economic history of the reign of Edward II. Drawing on a wide range of narrative sources, especially the extensive chronicle accounts of the reign, the editors also introduce other important material, including parliamentary rolls, charters, court records and accounts. Together this gathering of sources allows the reader to navigate this troubled and eventful period in English medieval history. The volume is organised chronologically, guiding the reader from the moment of Edward II’s accession in 1307 until his removal from office in 1327 and his supposed death in the same year. The editors also introduce more thematic chapters throughout, addressing such key themes as royal finances and the state of the early fourteenth-century economy, the role of parliament, and political and military engagement with Scotland. In an introductory essay, the editors discuss previous historical work directed at the reign of Edward II and also outline the range of source types available to the historian of the reign. Each section of primary source is also introduced by the editors, who offer a contextual analysis in each instance.
in 1318 are seen as moments of considered engagement with the nature of monarchy and attempts to redefine or modernise it. One striking, and now largely rejected, example of this is the rise of a ‘Middle Party’ in the years after Bannockburn, which Davies presents as an attempt to limit Edward’s worst instincts. The later rejection of such an assessment reflects both a shift in the historical view of
between Damory, Pembroke and another of Edward’s newly indentured supporters, Bartholomew Badlesmere, illustrates the precariousness of the situation [ 31a ]. Once seen as an attempt by the three courtiers to create a block or ‘middle party’, and thereby to restore some control to the king’s actions and to thwart the ambitions of Lancaster, the intention behind the indenture has been more recently
after the announcement of the first Ormond Peace. This settlement proved highly unsatisfactory to the clerical party and its supporters for it provided a poor return after five years of fighting. What is perhaps most intriguing about the first Ormond Peace, however, are the actions taken by Nicholas French on the day of its proclamation. French at this time was in Waterford, where the clerical party had gathered to organise opposition to the peace. He was part of the ‘middle party’ within the confederation that sought to bridge the divide between the clerical and
that one female blow, a singleton, lamented to me, ‘How could a local consider marrying me, if he didn’t know my parents and the reputation of my family?’ While some blows do mention a number of very minor problems that they had with a few locals, who were ignorant of hippie ways, the only serious difficulties these incomers have had with the indigenes have almost all centred around land. In most of these cases, good-natured blows were made to play the unwitting role of middle-party in an enduring contest between two neighbours. Few of these difficulties endured more
English counties and small boroughs through rallying around a defence of the Church and state, rather than Peel’s new brand of Conservatism.67 In this light, the absence of Tamworth-style Conservatives from Ryall’s series is significant. For example, moderate reformers who crossed the floor did not Miller_PoliticsPersonified_Printer.indd 65 23/09/2014 11:54 66 Politics personified feature prominently. Although Lord Stanley and Sir James Graham were essentially on the Conservative side after the failure of their attempt to form a middle party of moderate Reformers
: Geoffrey Nuttall. In The holy spirit in puritan faith and experience, first published in 1946, he offered an influential schematic of ‘the parties within Puritanism’: a middle party (with two wings led respectively by Baxter and John Owen); a conservative party of presbyterians; and a radical party of congregationalists.95 This allows Nuttall and other scholars to convey a great deal through the deployment of just one label, but it relies on the assumption that each scholar shares the same understanding of what is meant by each label. This is not necessarily a safe
analysis may help solve this problem in due course (see Laver and Benoit, 2002), at present, elite studies remain expensive and time-consuming. These drawbacks mean that elite studies that cover more than one country are particularly rare. Finally, right-wing extremist parties tend not to be included in most elite studies. Since many of these parties do not have representation in their national legislatures, they do not feature in the studies that examine the attitudes or behaviour of parliamentarians. As for those studies that concentrate on the views of middle-party
participation regularly in ways that demonstrated the difficulties inherent in establishing multiparty democracy and loyal opposition in the Free State. P.J. Little’s New Ireland newspaper frequently condemned such candidates for ruining the pact. Little threatened ‘it will not impress the country favourably if middle parties or Labour parties put up candidates; in fact, it will prejudice Labour interests if