Law in Late Medieval England

Paper Summary:

The paper examines Shannon McSheffrey's article "Feature Questions of Evidence, Detective Fiction in the Archives: Court Records and the Uses of Law in Late Medieval England" that shows how late medieval Londoners used the legal system to their advantage and how using archives as historical agents can change the way historians interpret the past. The paper demonstrates how McSheffrey's article has brought an obscure divorce court case to life with exhaustive research. The paper posits that McSheffrey's arguments are well founded and supported by the records she uncovered, making the history of late medieval London interesting.

From the Paper:

"England in the Late Medieval period was a time of great social and political change, which many historians believe marked the beginning of modern English history. The Kings of this period were some of the more well known; Henry V, Henry VI, Edward IV, and Richard III. It was a period of many conflicts, both in England and across the channel. Henry V restarted the Hundred Years War with France in 1415 to reclaim England's lost territories in the region, and to take the French crown; he spent the rest of his life in fighting in France and died from dysentery. His son, Henry VI, ascended the throne when he was 9 months old, a Council governed until his maturity, however, he proved to be a weak King and his reign marked the decline of the monarchy. During Henry VI's reign, civil war broke out amongst factions of noblemen seeking power in the court, and was called the War of the Roses."

Sample of Sources Used:

• McSheffrey, Shannon. "Feature Questions of Evidence, Detective Fiction in the Archives: Court Records and the Uses of Law in Late Medieval England," History Workshop Journal 65 (Spring, 2008):65-78
• Roberts, Clayton; Roberts, David; Bisson, Douglass R. A History of England Volume I: Prehistory to 1714 (Upper Saddle River: Pearson Education, Inc. 2002), 191.

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