the condition of society, denouncing the vices of the clergy, knights, peasants, merchants, and lawyers. The Tripartite Chronicle inveighs against Richard II.'s public policy from 1386 to 1399, and defends Henry IV.'s usurpation of the throne. For some of Gower's other historical poems, see No. 2756. See also Karl Meyer, John Gowers Beziehungen zu Chaucer und König Richard II., Bonn, 1889, pp. 73. Macaulay's edition supersedes much previous discussion.

Langland (d. 1400 ?).

2759. The vision of William concerning Piers Plowman [together with Richard the Redeless]. By William Langland, ed. W. W. Skeat. Early English Text Soc. 4 pts. London, 186785. The vision of William concerning Piers the Plowman, together with Richard the Redeless, ed. W. W. Skeat. 2 vols. Oxford, 1886.

The Vision of Piers Plowman, begun about 1362, throws much light on the social condition of England, especially on the life of the lower classes. It defines the political rôle of the commons, with whom the author exhibits sympathy, and attacks abuses in the church. Richard the Redeless, written in 1399, is a valuable poem on the misrule and deposition of Richard II. Other editions, by Thomas Wright: The Deposition of Richard II., Camden Society, 1838; and No. 2756.

See Ernst Günther, Englisches Leben im 14. Jahrhundert, dargestellt nach The Vision of Piers the Plowman, Leipsic, 1889, pp. 62; J. J. Jusserand, Les Anglais au Moyen Age, l'Epopée Mystique de William Langland, Paris, 1893; C. Ziepel, The Reign of Richard II. (No. 2875). Jusserand's work has been translated by 'M. E. R.': Piers Plowman, a Contribution to the History of English Mysticism, London, 1894. The authorship of Piers Plowman has been much discussed: see J. M. Manly, in the Cambridge History of English Literature, ii. 1-42, and in Modern Philology, 1909, vii. 83-144; J. J. Jusserand, in Modern Philology, vi. 271-329, vii. 289–326; and R. W. Chambers, in Modern Language Review, 1910, v. 1-32. The last four papers have been collected and published by the Early English Text Society as The Piers Plowman Controversy, London, etc., 1910. See, farther, Henry Bradley in Modern Language Review, 1910, v. 202-7, and R. W. Chambers, ibid., 1911, vi. 302-23.

Lewis Glyn Cothi.

2760. The poetical works of Lewis Glyn Cothi, a celebrated bard who flourished in the reigns of Henry VI., Edward IV., Richard III., and Henry VII. [ed. John Jones and Walter Davies]. The Cymmrodorion, or Royal Cambrian Institution. Oxford, 1837.

Welsh poems throwing light on the Wars of the Roses, with an introductory essay on those wars. The author, a native of Glyn Cothi in Carmarthenshire, was also called Lewis y Glyn.

Map (d. circa 1210?).

2761. The Latin poems commonly attributed to Walter Mapes, ed. Thomas Wright. Camden Soc. London, 1841. Many of these satirise the clergy, especially the monks. See No. 2251.

Minot (d. 1352 ?).

2762. The poems of Laurence Minot, ed. Joseph Hall. Oxford, 1887; 2nd edition, 1897.-Other editions: by Joseph Ritson, 1795 and 1825; by Wilhelm Scholle, 1884; and in Wright's Political Poems (No. 2756), i. 58-91.

Minot's poems are war-songs dealing with Edward III.'s victories over the French and Scots, A.D. 1333-52. See F. J. Bierbaum, Ueber Laurence Minot und seine Lieder, Leipsic, 1876; and Max Dangel, Laurence Minots Gedichte, in Programm des Städtischen Realgymnasiums, Königsberg, 1888, pp. 1-18.

b. HOUSEHOLD BOOKS AND LETTERS.

For letters of kings, prelates, etc., see $$ 53, 56d. Some valuable collections, like the Paston Letters and the Plumpton Correspondence, are included in § 57. Rogers, History of Agriculture and Prices (No. 1199), ii. 635-47, prints records of expenses for journeys, etc., in 1331 and 1395. For ordinances and accounts of the royal household, see § 50e.

2763. Calendar of letters of Edward, son of Edward I. [1305]. Deputy Keeper's Reports, ix. app. ii. 246-9. London, 1848.

2764. Common-place book (A) of the fifteenth century, ed. L. T. Smith. London, etc., 1886.

Pt. i. Poetry.

Pt. ii. Manorial law: manorial dues and other matters relating to

Stuston, Suffolk, including articles of the court baron and leet. Pt. iii. Private accounts, 1499-1503.

2765. Compota domestica familiarum de Bukingham et d'Angoulême [ed. W. B. D. D. Turnbull]. Abbotsford Club. Edinburgh, 1836.

Three household books, belonging to Humphrey, duke of Buckingham, 1443-44, the earl of Angoulême, 1452, and Anne, widow of the aforesaid Humphrey, 1463-64. To these are added a few fragments of a roll of expenses incurred by an earl in 1273, in a journey from the county of Durham to the south Welsh march.

2766. Expeditions to Prussia and the Holy Land made by Henry, earl of Derby (afterwards king Henry IV.), in 1390-91 and

1392-93 being the accounts kept by his treasurer, ed. L. T. Smith. Camden Soc. [London], 1894.-German edition, by H. G. Prutz: Rechnungen über Heinrich von Derbys Preussenfahrten. Leipsic, 1893.

Contains two wardrobe accounts from the records of the duchy of Lancaster.

2767. Household books of John [Howard], duke of Norfolk, and Thomas, earl of Surrey, 1481-90, ed. J. P. Collier. Roxburghe Club. London, 1844.

Contains domestic accounts.

2768. Letters of royal and illustrious ladies of Great Britain [1103-1558], ed. M. A. E. Wood [afterwards Green]. 3 vols. London, 1846.

2769. Manners and household expenses of England in the thirteenth and fifteenth centuries [ed. T. H. Turner]. Roxburghe Club. London, 1841.

Contains the household roll of Eleanor, countess of Leicester, 1265; accounts of the executors of Queen Eleanor, 1291; accounts, etc., of John Howard, duke of Norfolk, 1462-71. Valuable.

2770. Roll of the household expenses of Richard de Swinfield, bishop of Hereford, 1289-90, ed. John Webb. Camden Soc. 2 vols. [London], 1854-55.

Vol. i. Text and appendix.

Vol. ii. Abstract and illustrations.

c. WILLS AND DEEDS.

Down to 1858 there were in each diocese an episcopal registry or depository of wills, and various minor registries. The most important of the depositories was the prerogative court at Canterbury, the records of which, beginning in 1383, are now in Somerset house, London. Many wills of persons dying within the province of Canterbury, from 1312 onward, are also preserved at Lambeth palace. The archbishop of Canterbury had exclusive right to grant probate of a will if the deceased person had goods in more than one diocese of the province of Canterbury. There was a similar archiepiscopal court of the province of York, the records of which, beginning in 1389, are now at York. Most of the wills formerly preserved in the diocesan courts, which were merged in the court of probate in 1858, are now deposited in the district

registries. The old and the new repositories are clearly indicated in Marshall's Handbook (No. 2774).

The following references are useful for bibliographical purposes: George Gatfield, Guide to Books relating to Heraldry, 1892, pp. 229-31; G. W. Marshall, Notes for a Bibliography of Wills, in the Genealogist, 1887, iv. 49-51, and his Handbook (No. 2774) ; W. P. W. Phillimore, How to Write the History of a Family, 1887, pp. 145-50, and Supplement, 1896, pp. 308-22; Walter Rye, Records and Record Searching, 1897, pp. 103-7; Richard Sims, Manual for the Genealogist, 1856, pp. 343-50. There is a good account of the medieval history of wills in Pollock and Maitland's English Law, bk. ii. ch. vi. See also R. J. R. Goffin, The Testamentary Executor in England and Elsewhere, London, 1901 (bibliography, pp. ix.-xii.).

For printed collections of wills relating to particular counties or districts, see § 57. The oldest of these are the wills enrolled in the court of husting, London, A.D. 1258-1688 (No. 2506).

Round's Calendar of Documents (No. 2114) includes many private deeds preserved in France.

2771. Abstracts of ancient wills [1300-1488]. Collectanea Topog. et Genealogica (No. 820), iii. 99–106. London, 1836.

2771a. A collection of the wills of the kings and queens of England, from William the Conqueror to Henry VII. [ed. John Nichols]. London, 1780.

Valuable.

2772. Descriptive catalogue of ancient deeds in the public record office. Rolls Series. 5 vols. London, 1890-1906.

This valuable catalogue comprises, for the most part, conveyances of land; but it also includes agreements, bonds, acquittances, wills, and other documents concerning private persons, from the 12th to the 16th century. Some of them seem to have been brought into the courts of law as evidence of title, others to have been deposited in the chancery for enrolment on the close rolls.'

་

2773. Fifty earliest English wills (The) in the court of probate, London, 1387-1439, 1454, ed. F. J. Furnivall. Early English Text Soc. London, 1882.

2774. Handbook of the ancient courts of probate and depositories of wills. By G. W. Marshall. London, 1895. pp. 75.

This very useful book gives an alphabetical list of all known courts of probate, with details as to their records and jurisdiction and with

bibliographical notes. For the old repositories, see also N. H. Nicolas, Notitia Historica, 1824, pp. 142-205; Report of the Record Commissioners, 1837 (No. 489), 257-81.

2775. Hebrew deeds of English Jews [1182-1290], ed. M. D. Davis. London, 1888.

2776. Index of wills proved in the prerogative court of Canterbury, 1383-1629, ed. J. C. C. Smith and others. British Record Soc., Index Library, vols. x.-xi., xviii., xxv., xliii.-xliv. 6 vols. London, 1893-1912.

2776a. Indexes to the ancient testamentary records of Westminster. By A. M. Burke. London, 1913. pp. 104.

Covers miscellaneous testamentary records, 1228-1700; wills and administrations in the consistory court of London, 1540-56; and records of the Peculiar court, 1504-1700. Little for the period before 1485.

2777. Testamenta Lambethana: a complete list of wills and testaments recorded in the archiepiscopal registers at Lambeth, 1312-1636. By Dr. [A. C.] Ducarel. Middle Hill Press, 1854.

There is a calendar of Lambeth wills, 1313-1644, in the Genealogist, 1881, v. 211-17, 324-9; 1882, vi. 23-32, 127-35, 217-28. For a calendar of Lambeth administrations, see ibid., 1883, vii. 204-12, 271-84; new series, 1884, i. 80-82. These two calendars have superseded Ducarel's list.

2778. Testamenta vetusta: illustrations, from wills, of manners, customs, etc., from the reign of Henry II. to the accession of Elizabeth, ed. N. H. Nicolas. 2 vols. London, 1826. Mainly translations of wills.

d. UNIVERSITIES AND INNS OF COURT.

For catalogues of MSS. in the libraries of Oxford and Cambridge, see § 13; for the modern literature concerning the universities, etc., § 71. The salient documents relating to the origin and development of educational institutions' are printed by A. F. Leach, Educational Charters and Documents, A.D. 598-1909, Cambridge, 1911. For parliamentary legislation concerning universities and colleges before 1485, see Enactments in Parliament, specially concerning the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge, the Colleges and Halls therein, and the Colleges of Winchester, Eton, and Westminster [37 Edw. III.-2 Geo. IV.], ed. L.. L. Shadwell (Oxford Hist. Soc., 4 vols., Oxford, 1912), i. 1–74.