Border Liberties and Loyalties in North-East England, 1200-1400

Matthew Holford and Keith Stringer

Share |

April, 2010
Cloth, 416 pages,
ISBN: 978-0-7486-3278-7
Edinburgh University Press
$125.00

North-East England in the Middle Ages was honeycombed with autonomous jurisdictions known as 'liberties', which reduced the Crown's direct authority in the region. The greatest of these were: Tynedale, Redesdale, Hexhamshire, Tynemouthshire, and the Palatinate of Durham.

They have never been the subject of comprehensive study - even the Palatinate of Durham has not received a book-length study since 1900 - and Tynedale has hardly been studied at all. Yet the liberties are crucial for understanding: (i) regional and national loyalty and identity; (ii) state formation in peripheral regions; and (iii) regional distinctiveness throughout Britain.

Related Subjects

• European History

About the Author

Matthew Holford is Research Associate at Lancaster University. Keith Stringer is Professor of Medieval British History at Lancaster University.

top of page