A Franciscan scholar and theologian, John Peckham (c.1230–92) was appointed archbishop of Canterbury by the pope in 1279. His register survives at Lambeth Palace and is the chief source for his archiepiscopacy. This three-volume edition, prepared by Charles Trice Martin (1842–1914) between 1882 and 1885, rearranges the documents from their original thematic order to a chronological one, and omits the purely formal items, published elsewhere. The text is mostly in Latin, with some Anglo-Norman documents, for which a translation is provided in Appendix 2. Volume 1 contains letters 1–305, up to July 1282, and the table of contents provides a useful summary of each letter. Topics range from purely ecclesiastical matters, such as excommunications and indulgences, to relations between Edward I and Llewellyn, Prince of Wales, as well as taxation of church property. Appendix 1 contains a collection of letters from sources other than the register.
