Edition and translation of a copy of a vastly significant document for our understanding of fourteenth-century England, long believed lost. In the summer of 1376 a spirit of reform was abroad in the city of London. A number of measures were taken to make those who were elected to govern the city more responsible to its citizens as a whole. A committee was set up to examine the ordinances at the Guildhall and present to the Commonalty those that were "profitables" and those that were not. Two years later, the committee produced a volume known officially as the Liber de Ordinancionibus, but popularly as "The Jubilee book", because it had been initiated in the jubilee year of Edward III's reign. But the reforming measures introduced in the book caused so many controversies and disputes that eventually, in a bid to restore order in the city, in March 1387 the "Jubilee Book" was taken outside the Guildhall and publicly burnt. Historians have long debated the possible contents of this contentious but hugely significant volume, widely believed to be lost. However, recently a fifteenth-century copy of the "Jubilee Book", possibly of an earlier draft put together in the course of the two years, but superseded by the final version, was discovered in a manuscript held at Trinity College Cambridge (Ms O.3.11).

About the Author
Caroline M. Barron is Emeritus Professor of Medieval History, Royal Holloway, University of London. Laura Wright is a Reader in English Language at the University of Cambridge, where she works on the history of English. Caroline M. Barron is Emeritus Professor of Medieval History, Royal Holloway, University of London.

Reviews
[The] Jubilee Book will be of interest to anyone studying medieval local governance as well as those studying medieval London. -- LOCAL HISTORIAN
The Jubilee Book will be valuable to historians and students of medieval politics and institutional structures both within and beyond London [...] This book will prove a highly important source that is sure to be widely used. -- PARLIAMENTARY HISTORY



Book Information
ISBN 9780900952616
Author Caroline M. Barron
Format Hardback
Page Count 150
Imprint London Record Society
Publisher London Record Society