14th Century 1300-1399

Edward II King of England

This entry is part 7 of 7 in the series Plantagenet Monarchs

Edward II King of England 1284-1327 Edward II King of England’s mother sought to depose her own son. It cannot be the sign of a strong kingship surely? Judge for yourself with this brief summary timeline, family trees and short narrative of the life of Edward II, king of England. Acceding to the throne in 1307 Edward II’s reign…

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Hampshire ‘Feet of Fines’

‘Feet of Fines’ documents for Hampshire date back to 1199 and give surnames and placenames of people living in Hampshire in the Medieval period. These are important resources for Hampshire History and help to build a picture of community and settlement…

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Copyhold Tenure what does it mean?

Copyhold document
This entry is part 1 of 1 in the series Property Law

If you were a Serf, you had no rights of appeal to a court outside that of your Manor, where your elied upon the biased and often harsh law of your particular lord, who might only be goverened by local custom. Copyhold tenure lifted you out of such servitude and established increased legal rights which were only abolished in 1926. Whilst the Land Registry was established in 1862, it did not record all transactions, find out how you can explore copyholders relevant to you and your history project for connections and insights that date back well before the 1837 BMD Registers…

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Temple Church London 1185-2012

Temple Church london

The spirtual centre in the UK for the Knights Templar, how much is fable and what are the facts? From Temple to the Inns of Court, the significance of the Round, the importance of the effigies and a most extraordinary knight William Marshall together with the reason and consequence for Heraclius’s presence in London…

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Statute of Labourers 1351

This entry is part 1 of 5 in the series Reforming Women
This entry is part 4 of 6 in the series Reform
This entry is part 4 of 15 in the series Reformers and Radicals
This entry is part 4 of 7 in the series Poor Law through the Ages

In 1351 following Plague and pestilence there was a shortage of Labour and the ruling elite were not happy to have to ‘suffer’ the inflationary costs that resulted as workers for the first time had the power to refuse to work for low wages. Was this the distant start of organised labour in Britain and a capsule that reflects the uneasy relationship between the monarch, parliament and the people…Will the Peasants Revolt?

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The Peasants Revolt Summer 1381

The peasants revolt took place in June in 1381 but a better name for it is probably the peoples revolt. It was the beginning of the end for the feudal system and a pivotal episode in English history.

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Statute of Cambridge 1388

Statute of Cambridge
This entry is part 1 of 8 in the series Law - Poor Law

The starting point the putting down by Richard II of the Peasants Revolt of imposing order and punitive conditions on the poor in what was to become known and codified as the Old Poor Law…follow this chronology and the related law provides a great source of information and the reason why our welffare state in the UK evolves as it does…

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Old Poor Law

This entry is part 3 of 7 in the series Poor Law through the Ages

The Old Poor Law was the codified series of statutes that predated the draconian Poor Law Amendment Act of 1834, the timeline of this law casts some light on the origins of welfare and the plight of the poor in England for many years. If you have any reason to want to better understand the basis of society during the 19th century then some reference to these legal orgins will be helpful.

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