New approaches to the political culture of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, considering its complex relation to monarchy and state.

The essays collected here celebrate mark the distinguished career of Professor W. Mark Ormrod, reflecting the vibrancy and range of his scholarship on the structures, personalities and culture of ruling late medieval England. Encompassing political, administrative, Church and social history, the volume focusses on three main themes: monarchy, state and political culture. For the first, it explores Edward III's reactions to the deaths of his kinfolk and cases of political defamation across the fourteenth century. The workings of the "state" are examined through studies of tax and ecclesiastical records, the Court of Chivalry, fifteenth-century legislation, and the working practicesof the privy seal clerk, Thomas Hoccleve. Finally, separate discussions of collegiate statutes and the household ordinances of Cecily, duchess of York consider the political culture of regulation and code-making.

Contributions by: Anthony Musson, Elizabeth Biggs, Gwilym Dodd, Helen Killick, Helen Lacey, Helen Watt, J. S. Bothwell, Joanna Laynesmith, Jonathan Mackman, Sarah Rees Jones