This series [pushes] the boundaries of knowledge and [develops] new trends in approach and understanding. ENGLISH HISTORICAL REVIEWThe focus of this volume may be summed up as "The Word". Its essays examine the contents and provenance of manuscripts which were written for polemical purposes, treasured by the duchess of York, and through the new medium of print introduced to a wider public topics of historical interest and illustrations of the geography of the known world. The essays here also consider official records of forest administration, expressed in arcane language; documents preserved in the papal curia which reveal significant facts about the lives of Scottish bishops; archives produced by the English chancery noting the movements of a royal councillor; and letters, poems and songs exposing the political strategy of a German prince. Nor is the spoken word neglected, whether employed in speeches delivered at the start of parliaments, using as their themes scriptures and classical texts to set a political agenda; or as sermons to open-air congregations gathered at St. Paul's Cross, where the oratory of Bishop Alcock stirred his listeners in different ways. Contributors: Michael Bennett, Julia Boffey, Paul Cavill, J.M. Grussenmeyer, TomJohnson, J.L. Laynesmith, John Milner, Ben Pope, Dan E. Seward, Sarah Thomas

PrefaceThe Libelle of English Policy: The Matter of Ireland - Michael J Bennett'Stories of Divers Regions and Provinces': Some Digests of History and Geography for Late-Medieval English Readers - Julia Boffey'To please ... Dame Cecely that in latyn hath lityll intellect': Books and the Duchess of York - Joanna LaynesmithA Case Study in Lancastrian Service and Personal Survival: the Career of William, Lord Roos of Helmsley (c.1370-1414) - John MilnerIdentity, Discourse and Political Strategy: Margrave Albrecht Achilles (1414-86) and the Rhetoric of Antagonism between Town and Nobility in Upper Germany - Ben PopeThe Redistribution of Forest Law and Administration in Fifteenth-Century England - Tom JohnsonWell-Connected and Qualified Clerics? The Bishops of Dunkeld and Sodor in the Fifteenth Century - Sarah E. ThomasPreaching Politics: Lancastrian Chancellors in Parliament - Jon-Mark GrussenmeyerBishop John Alcock and the Roman Invasion of Parliament: Introducing Renaissance Civic Humanism to Tudor Parliamentary Proceedings - Dan E. SewardPreaching on Magna Carta at the End of the Fifteenth Century: John Alcock's Sermon at Paul's Cross - Paul Cavill