History Extra podcast - Reform and rebellion in the reign of Henry III
It was a great pleasure to be welcomed on to the History Extra podcast, which is created by the team that gives us BBC History Magazine. I spoke with Emily Briffett about how the political turmoil that unfolded in England from 1258 affected ‘everyday people’.
We discussed how the reform programme implemented by the baronial council sought to address a range of problems in the localities, from the misconduct of sheriffs to people’s access to justice. It was fun, and I hope others find it interesting!
If you’d like to know more about some of the issues I discussed, I provide some further reading below.
For an overview of this period, R. F. Treharne’s ‘Baronial Plan of Reform’ remains essential. More recently, Adrian Jobson’s ‘England’s First Revolution’ and David Carpenter’s ‘Henry III, Volume 2’, are both invaluable.
The case of the beaten thief I talked about, Richard de Glaston, was translated into English by Margaret Hennings in her 1924 book, ‘England Under Henry III’. It has been cited by several historians since, including E. F. Jacob, ‘Studies in the Period of Baronial Reform and Rebellion’ and Sophie Therese Ambler’s ‘Song of Simon de Montfort’. The tragic example of Sarah de Islib is also covered by Jacob and Carpenter.
The example of profiteering at Grimsby is cited, alongside several other interesting cases, in an excellent paper by Andrew Hershey called ‘Baronial Reform, the Justiciar’s Court, and Commercial Legislation: The Case of Grimsby’ which can be found in ‘Baronial Reform and Rebellion in England, 1256-1267’, edited by Adrian Jobson. That volume also includes a paper by Tony Moore, ‘Local Administration during the Period of Reform and Rebellion’, which provides a good overview of the reformers’ focus on the sheriffs.
Most of the reforming documents I discussed, including the Petition of the Barons, the Ordinance of the Sheriffs, and the Provisions of Oxford, are all available in print and translation in ‘Documents of the Baronial Plan for Reform’, selected by R. F. Treharne and edited by J. Sanders.
The positive assessment of Hugh Bigod that I mentioned was written by the continuator of Mathew Paris’s chronicle at St Albans, while critical sentiments of the reforms can be found in the work of the London chronicler, Arnold Fitz Thedmar, and Thomas Wykes, who thought the natural order of things was being overturned.