Category: 15th Century History

Medieval, 15th Century History, Legal history, Military history, Parliamentary Life

Medieval MP of the Month: Sir Christopher Talbot

Here’s the next installment in our series ‘Medieval MP of the Month’. Today we here from Senior Research Fellow, Dr Simon Payling about the suspicious circumstances surrounding the death of Sir Christopher Talbot… THE HISTORY OF PARLIAMENT: THE HOUSE OF COMMONS 1422-1461, edited by Linda Clark, is out now. For further details about the volumes, including purchasing information, visit the Cambridge University Press website, here. Sir Christopher Talbot (1415-43) … Continue reading Medieval MP of the Month: Sir Christopher Talbot

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Medieval, 15th Century History, Parliamentary Life

Medieval MP of the Month: Robert Hill (c.1391-1444) of Shilston, Devon.

Today’s blog is the second installment from our ‘Medieval MP of the Month’ series. In this post we hear from Senior Research Fellow Dr Hannes Kleineke about landed gentleman Robert Hill… THE HISTORY OF PARLIAMENT: THE HOUSE OF COMMONS 1422-1461, edited by Linda Clark, is out now. For further details about the volumes, including purchasing information, visit the Cambridge University Press website, here. While clashes over fishing stocks in … Continue reading Medieval MP of the Month: Robert Hill (c.1391-1444) of Shilston, Devon.

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Medieval, 15th Century History, Legal history, Parliamentary Life

Violent times? MPs as victims of murder in the mid-fifteenth century

Today Dr Simon Payling of the 1422-1504 Section explores the murders of MPs in the mid-fifteenth century… The completion of a set of History of Parliament volumes, in this case those for the reign of Henry VI (1422-61), provides an opportunity to answer some statistical questions.  How often, for example, did MPs fall victim to murder?  In the modern era, such murders, whether of sitting … Continue reading Violent times? MPs as victims of murder in the mid-fifteenth century

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Medieval, 15th Century History, 16th Century history, Constituencies, Elections, Local History

House of Commons 1422-1504: MP of the Month, William Holbeck

In our Medieval MP of the Month series we’ll be exploring some of the characters who feature in our Commons 1422-1504 volumes, which were published in April 2020. Today we hear from Senior Research Fellow, Dr Hannes Kleineke about William Holbeck, MP for York in the Parliament of 1450-1… THE HISTORY OF PARLIAMENT: THE HOUSE OF COMMONS 1422-1461, edited by Linda Clark, is out now. … Continue reading House of Commons 1422-1504: MP of the Month, William Holbeck

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Medieval, 15th Century History, Local History, Parliamentary Life, Social history

St Piran’s Day: Tin, Tricks and Terror in 15th-century Cornwall

Continuing with our patron saint series, today we hear from Dr Hannes Kleineke  of the Commons 1422-1504 Section about the patron saint of Cornwall, St Piran. Also see Part One and Two of  Dr Stephen Roberts’ blogs on Parliament and the Welsh language in honour of St David’s Day… With recent news of the possible reopening of the South Crofty tin mine in Camborne, on the feast day … Continue reading St Piran’s Day: Tin, Tricks and Terror in 15th-century Cornwall

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Medieval, 15th Century History, Parliamentary Life, Social history, Women and Parliament

A medieval MP’s Valentine’s Day Letters

Dr Hannes Kleineke of the 1422-1504 Commons explains how the commercial holiday we now recognise as St Valentine’s Day was observed by a young lover in the fifteenth century… It is a little known fact that the earliest known Valentine’s letter was in fact addressed to an MP, albeit a future one. In February 1477 Margery Brewes, soon to be married to the Norfolk gentleman John … Continue reading A medieval MP’s Valentine’s Day Letters

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Medieval, 15th Century History, Elections, Women and Parliament

Women and Parliament in the Fifteenth Century

2018 is the centennial anniversary of the Representation of the People Act 1918 under the terms of which, for the first time in the history of the British Politics, some women were permitted to vote in Parliamentary elections. In order to mark this step in the progression of equality for women in our country’s political system we will be publishing a series of blogs about … Continue reading Women and Parliament in the Fifteenth Century

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The Commons in the Wars of the Roses, 15th Century History, Medieval, Parliamentary Life

Reporting Parliament in the Later Middle Ages

Today’s post is the first in our special series of blogs for this year’s Parliament Week: Reporting Parliament throughout the ages. Dr Hannes Kleineke, Senior Research Fellow in our Commons 1422-1504 project, describes how medieval constituents kept up to date with parliamentary business… The evidence for the medieval English parliament, more limited than for other periods of its existence, can give it a somewhat unreal … Continue reading Reporting Parliament in the Later Middle Ages

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The Commons in the Wars of the Roses, 15th Century History, 16th Century history, Medieval, Parliamentary Life

Knock, knock. Who’s there? Black Rod: the Early Centuries

Last week Parliament announced they are advertising for a new Black Rod. In today’s blog, as Dr Hannes Kleineke, Senior Research Fellow in our Commons 1422-1504 project, discusses the medieval origins of the post… To most people taking an interest in the work and procedures of the British Parliament, the Gentleman Usher of the Black Rod (or ‘Black Rod’ as he is known in popular … Continue reading Knock, knock. Who’s there? Black Rod: the Early Centuries

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Medieval, 15th Century History, Legal history, Religious history, Social history

MPs as law enforcers in Late Medieval England

In today’s guest blog, from Dr Gordon McKelvie from the University of Winchester discusses whether the MPs who passed legislation in medieval England were actually that keen on enforcing them… A common debate about criminality is the reliability of criminal statistics – i.e. do changes in such statistics reveal actual changes in levels of crime or simply changes in the recording of crimes. Most historians … Continue reading MPs as law enforcers in Late Medieval England

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