The Cambridge Companion to Late Medieval English Kingship [Paperback]

A comprehensive and accessible introduction to the politics, principles and personalities of late medieval English kingship.This book offers a series of concise and accessible chapters on the workings of English kingship c. 12001500, exploring not only how kings ruled, but also what made their rule more  or less  effective. It is for students, scholars, and interested readers of history and politics in late medieval England.This book offers a series of concise and accessible chapters on the workings of English kingship c. 12001500, exploring not only how kings ruled, but also what made their rule more  or less  effective. It is for students, scholars, and interested readers of history and politics in late medieval England.For over a hundred years scholars have written about late medieval kingship, and a vast body of published work now exists on the subject. However, in all this rich coverage, no accessible introduction to the subject exists. The Cambridge Companion to Late Medieval Kingship addresses this need by bringing together, within a single volume, a series of themed chapters which consider key aspects of the workings of the English monarchy between 1200 and 1500. Featuring leading experts in the field, each chapter provides a concise and accessible guide, offering insights, synthesis and explanation to help readers understand not only how kings ruled, but also what made their rule more  or less  effective. By adopting a holistic approach to kingship, the contributors also consider how kingship impacted on the king's subjects, thereby illuminating the complex interplay of cooperation and conflict that shaped both the monarchy and the wider polity in late medieval England.List of Illustrations; List of Contributors; List of Abbreviations; Preface; Genealogy 1: the English royal family in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries; Genealogy 2: the English royal family in the fifteenth century; Part I. Chronology and Context: 1. Events, personalities and rl#