The Fifteenth Century XIX: Enmity and Amity

The essays in this volume explore relationships in all their different guises and expressions. Hostility between England and France cast a long shadow over the fifteenth century and beyond. While warfare at sea and the composition of the army which invaded Normandy in 1417 left extensive administrative records, sources of a different nature highlight the experiences of the French and Burgundians. The experience of the incursion of Henry VIII’s forces in 1513 found expression in widely-distributed poems; while verses celebrating the births of heirs to the Hapsburg duke of Burgundy sought to allay fears over a change of regime by stressing the benefits of their multinational heritage. Portraits of rulers of Italian states emphasised the emergence of a shared courtly culture between England and Italy by commemorating their election as Knights of the Garter, while the records of Bishop’s Lynn testify to the harmonious integration of immigrants from the Low Countries and Baltic regions. The Magna Carta of 1215 - intended to place the relationship between ruler and ruled on a new footing - had a long after-life, providing a blue-print for practices adopted by the Appellants of 1388 and being cited at the deposition of Richard II, only to be eclipsed in the late fifteenth century when depositions focused instead on challenges to the monarch’s title. Poor records of the meetings of convocations have led to undue emphasis on their role in granting subsidies, but a register at Canterbury presents a different picture by revealing business of the southern convocation of 1462.