Viewing posts by mholford
The extents: a short introduction (CIPM XXII.799)
Posted by: mholford in Economy and society, Featured inquisition 11 years, 4 months ago
The detailed extents found in many IPMs are a key source of information for economic, agrarian, and landscape history. The extent was a kind of survey: that is, a written description of a property. There were several other varieties, including demesne surveys (records of the lands exploited by the lord of the manor), custumals (records of tenants and their rents and services), and rentals (records of tenants and their rents).[1. P. D. A. Harvey, Manorial Records, rev. ed. (1999), ch. 2.] Extents are especially valuable because they describe both the demesne and the rents and services of tenants, providing valuations for each item. They therefore record and value all the constituent elements of an estate – arable, pasture, meadow, mills, fisheries, buildings and so, as well as tenants – providing important evidence of how land and other seigneurial resources were exploited, and of their relative importance and productivity. The extents made for private landlords are generally reliable and authoritative, but they do not survive in great numbers or for all areas of the country. The extents in IPMs are much more numerous, and cover a much wider social and geographical range, but they are not as reliable as those made for private landlords. This article provides a brief survey of the problems and illustrates them with a detailed comparison between the 1427 IPM extent of Stow Bardolph (Norf.) and contemporary accounts.[2. For fuller accounts, see the essays by Dyer and Holford in Companion.]
Unpublished IPMs: Hugh Waterton d. 1409
Posted by: mholford in Unpublished inquisitions 11 years, 4 months ago
The Gloucestershire IPM for Hugh Waterton survives only in the Exchequer archive of IPMs. It was taken ex officio; a writ diem clausit extremum for Gloucestershire was issued, on 12 July 1409 (CFR 1405-13, 124), but does not appear to have been acted on. The apparent reference to a Gloucestershire inquisition in an old inventory of IPMs (Calendarium, iii.332) seems in fact to be a summary of the surviving IPM for Herefordshire (CIPM xix.819)
Appointment of a New Researcher
Posted by: mholford in News and events 11 years, 4 months ago
Dr Matthew Tompkins has been appointed as the second historic researcher for the project. He brings particular expertise in economic history (and especially the late medieval rural economy) to complement the interests of Michael Hicks and Matthew Holford. A graduate of Cambridge and holding a doctorate from Leicester, Dr Tompkins is a highly experienced researcher who has worked on projects dealing with Buckinghamshire towns, the borough of Wallingford, and private law and medieval village society. He will share in the enhancement of the printed volumes, the markup of the digitized text for 1399-1447 , and the preparation of featured IPMs and case studies and other methods of publicising the project. Dr Tompkins takes up his two year appointment with effect from 1 January 2013 and will be based at the University of Winchester.
Landmarks in Life: Vital Events and Vital Statistics from the Proofs of Age
Posted by: mholford in Proofs of age 11 years, 5 months ago
Michael Hicks discusses the rites of passage recorded in the proofs of age.
Unpublished inquisitions: Elizabeth who was the wife of Thomas, duke of Norfolk, ?1400
Posted by: mholford in Unpublished inquisitions 11 years, 5 months ago
This post continues our occasional series of inquisitions omitted from the published calendars for the reigns of Henry IV and Henry V. It is not fully clear why the present document was not included, but it seems to have been added to its current file in the IPM archive from a different series of documents, and this may have taken place after the printed calendar was published. Unfortunately there seems to be no record of when the document was added to the file, or of its earlier provenance.