The Parliament Rolls of Medieval England, 1275-1504: XIV: Edward IV. 1472-1483

The rolls of parliament were the official records of the meetings of the English parliament from the reign of Edward I (1272-1307) until the reign of Henry VII (1485-1509), after which they were superseded by the journals of thelords, and, somewhat later, the commons.
The three parliaments of Edward IV’s second reign are strikingly unbalanced. The first, which lasted from 1472-75, was from the king’s point of view mainly concerned with financing theprojected war against France, but also sees the final settlement of the Yorkist regime with former Lancastrians making their peace and a further act of resumption reconsidering earlier royal grants. The last two parliaments weremuch briefer and, again from the king’s perspective, mono-causal. That of January 1478 was called to try Edward’s brother the duke of Clarence, although this is barely reflected in the roll itself. Five years later Edward was in search of funding for his Scottish war.
The rolls from the period are reproduced in their entirely, complemented by a full translation of all the texts from the three languages used by the medieval clerks (Latin, Anglo-Normanand Middle English).

Dr Rosemary Horrox is Fellow and Director of Studies in History, Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge.