Medieval Intrigue

Resumen del libro

In this important new work Ian Mortimer examines some of the most controversial questions in medieval history, including whether Edward II was murdered, his possible later life in Italy, the weakness of the Lancastrian claim to the throne in 1399 and the origins of the idea of the royal pretender. Central to this book is his ground-breaking approach to medieval evidence. He explains how an information-based method allows a more certain reading of a series of texts. He criticises existing modes of arriving at consensus and outlines a process of historical analysis that ultimately leads to questioning historical doubts as well as historical facts, with profound implications for what we can say about the past with certainty. This is an important work from one of the most original and popular medieval historians writing today.

Table of Contents
Acknowledgements Abbreviations Introduction 1. Objectivity and information: a methodological introduction 2. Sermons of Sodomy: a reconsideration of Edward II's sodomitical reputation 3. The Death of Edward II in Berkeley Castle 4. Twelve angry scholars: reactions to 'The death of Edward II' 5. The Plot of the earl of Kent, 1328-30 6. Edward III, his father and the Fieschi 7. Edward III and the moneylenders 8. Richard II and the succession to the Crown 9. The rules governing succession to the Crown, 1199-1399 10. Regnal legitimacy and the concept of the royal pretender 11. Concluding remarks Full titles of works cited in the notes Index