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Richard III: A Study of Service
Basing her research on a wide range of archival material, Dr. Horrox highlights a crucial feature of royal government in this period--the role of the king's servants. For the years immediately before and during Richard's reign, the book explores fully the practicalities of obedience, the reciprocal nature of service relationships, and the whole structure of late medieval "affinities" or client systems.
372 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1989
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
March 5, 2009
Excellent lecturer as well, Dr. Horrox.
July 27, 2012
I bought this book over ten years ago. I was taking a class with the author, Professor Horrox, about the English nobility in the late middle ages and quite into Ricardian studies at the time - so this book combined the two topics ideally.
Horrox specialises in studying the medieval nobility, and in this book collects and analyses the relationship of the nobility with Richard III (a first chapter looks at the period before 1483, but the main part is about the period of his rule).
She looks at how Richard dealt out his patronage, who received what, and with what effect, to show how Richard tried - and failed - to create a power-base that allowed him to hold the whole of the country as he had so efficiently done as his brother's steward in the north.
Star-rating is a bit difficult here, as 'liking' isn't really a criterion for a scholarly book. The academic merit and quality of the research done here are no doubt five stars, but it's a book you read to study, not for entertainment, and I wouldn't go as far as to say it swept me off my feet, which is my interpretation of 'amazing'. (It also presupposes knowledge of historical background and terminology, and even as a historian myself, I found the medieval legal terms difficult.)
Horrox specialises in studying the medieval nobility, and in this book collects and analyses the relationship of the nobility with Richard III (a first chapter looks at the period before 1483, but the main part is about the period of his rule).
She looks at how Richard dealt out his patronage, who received what, and with what effect, to show how Richard tried - and failed - to create a power-base that allowed him to hold the whole of the country as he had so efficiently done as his brother's steward in the north.
Star-rating is a bit difficult here, as 'liking' isn't really a criterion for a scholarly book. The academic merit and quality of the research done here are no doubt five stars, but it's a book you read to study, not for entertainment, and I wouldn't go as far as to say it swept me off my feet, which is my interpretation of 'amazing'. (It also presupposes knowledge of historical background and terminology, and even as a historian myself, I found the medieval legal terms difficult.)
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews