Henry Summerson
Biographic Data
| ID | 1711948 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Henry Summerson |
| GIVEN NAMES | Henry |
| FAMILY NAME | Summerson |
| SIGNATURE | SUMMERSON H |
| AFFILIATIONS | Oxford Dictionary of National Biography |
| VERIFIED | No |
| TOTAL WORKS | 20 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 5 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 17 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 3 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1979 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 2 |
Thirteenth Century England XIX
Lives at Stake
This article attempts to explain when, and why, it came to be thought appropriate to hang men but to burn women. Concentrating on wives who slew their husbands, it aims to answer these questions, focussing less on the crime than on the punishment, investigating its origins and outlining the form it took. But it also aspires to go beyond these fundamental issues, by employing burning as a kind of prism through which light can be shed on some of th…
Hanging Matters
This article discusses an important aspect of the law relating to theft in thirteenth-century England, and one of the ways in which that law developed. Central to it is the argument that the treatise The Mirror of Justices and references in court records and reports show that a short statute enacted early in the reign of Edward I, probably in 1278, categorically defined 12d. as the amount, whether in goods or money, at which larceny became a capi…
Fire and Sword at Little Busby
This article is a study of lordship, conflict and some very unpleasant people, based on the record of a shocking crime presented at the 1293/4 Yorkshire eyre ‒ the murder of four members of the Mowbray family of Little Busby on the orders of a local magnate, Sir Nicholas Meynil of Whorlton. A fortunate wealth of sources, mainly in the form of court records, illuminates both the personalities involved and the issues that linked some and divided ot…
Trials by Ordeal in a Kentish Court in the Early Thirteenth Century
The document presented here, one which has gone almost entirely unnoticed by historians, contains the record of three trials by ordeal undergone by suspected thieves, almost certainly in the first decade of the thirteenth century. It has a special interest in that it illustrates procedure not in a royal but in a private court, that of the bishop of Rochester at Southfleet. In various ways, it illuminates the charges against the accused and their …
Repercussions from the Barons' Wars
The primary purpose of this short article is to make available a record which has gone largely unnoticed, describing a brawl in 1264 between two youths calling themselves respectively ‘Simon de Montfort’ and ‘Edward’. A commentary, largely based on primary sources, places those involved in their social context and assesses the extent of their political awareness, in order to elucidate the issue of how far the lower orders of English society felt …
Peacekeepers and Lawbreakers in London, 1276–1321
The Genesis of the Two Editions
"The Chronicles of England, Scotland and Ireland (1577, 1587), issued under the name of Raphael Holinshed, was the crowning achievement of Tudor historiography, and became the principal source for the historical writings of Spenser, Daniel and, above all, Shakespeare. While scholars have long been drawn to Holinshed for its qualities as a source, they typically dismissed it as a baggy collection of materials, lacking coherent form and analytical …
Visiting the Past
Sources
This chapter focuses on the historical sources of the 1587 edition of Holinshed's Chronicles. With Holinshed's death, a massive programme of historical amplification and extension was directed by Abraham Fleming, with substantial additions made by John Hooker, William Patten, John Stow, and Francis Thynne. Although Holinshed's original text was often masked by an overlay of extra material, the narrative framework he provided in the first edition …
Thirteenth Century England XII
Thirteenth Century England XII
Tudor antiquaries and the Vita Ædwardi regis
Recent investigations into the sources of Holinshed's Chronicles , both in the latter's text and in the collections of the late-sixteenth-century antiquaries responsible for its compilation, have brought to light a number of passages derived from the eleventh-century Vita Ædwardi regis , some in Latin and others translated into English. In most cases, corresponding passages occur in the single surviving manuscript of the Vita , but this is not in…
Expectations of the Law in the Middle Ages
Suicide and the Fear of the Gallows
The law of suicide as set out in Bracton gives an important place to those who kill themselves to escape conviction for felony. Such cases were in fact few. There are interesting similarities between the way the courts treated suicides and their attitude towards suspects who stood silent in court, preferring to die under peine forte et dure; in both cases there was stress upon the deliberate nature of the act, and consequently forfeiture of chatt…
Shorter note. English Episcopal Acta. Vol XIV
Journal Article Shorter note. English Episcopal Acta. Vol XIV: Coventry and Lichfield, 1072-1159. M J Franklin (ed) Get access H Summerson H Summerson New Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford, UK Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar The English Historical Review, Volume 114, Issue 457, June 1999, Pages 682–683, https://doi.org/10.1093/ehr/114.457.682 Published: 01 June 1999
The criminal underworld of Medieval England
(1996). The criminal underworld of Medieval England. The Journal of Legal History: Vol. 17, No. 3, pp. 197-224
The enforcement of the statute of Winchester, 1285–1327
(1992). The enforcement of the statute of Winchester, 1285–1327. The Journal of Legal History: Vol. 13, No. 3, pp. 232-250
Law-Making and Law-Makers in British History
Journal Article Law-making and Law-makers in British History Get access Harding Alan, ed., Law-making and Law-makers in British History. Studies in History no. 22. London: Royal Historical Society, 1980. viii, 223 pp. £15.25, £9.50 to members. Henry Summerson Henry Summerson Historian to the City of Carlisle Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar American Journal of Legal History, Volume 27, Issue 4, October 1983…
The Structure of Law Enforcement in Thirteenth Century England
Journal Article The Structure of Law Enforcement in Thirteenth Century England Get access H. R. T. Summerson H. R. T. Summerson Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar American Journal of Legal History, Volume 23, Issue 4, October 1979, Pages 313–327, https://doi.org/10.2307/844686 Published: 01 October 1979
The enforcement of the statute of Winchester, 1285–1327
(1992). The enforcement of the statute of Winchester, 1285–1327. The Journal of Legal History: Vol. 13, No. 3, pp. 232-250
The Structure of Law Enforcement in Thirteenth Century England
Journal Article The Structure of Law Enforcement in Thirteenth Century England Get access H. R. T. Summerson H. R. T. Summerson Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar American Journal of Legal History, Volume 23, Issue 4, October 1979, Pages 313–327, https://doi.org/10.2307/844686 Published: 01 October 1979
The criminal underworld of Medieval England
(1996). The criminal underworld of Medieval England. The Journal of Legal History: Vol. 17, No. 3, pp. 197-224
The Structure of Law Enforcement in Thirteenth Century England
Journal Article The Structure of Law Enforcement in Thirteenth Century England Get access H. R. T. Summerson H. R. T. Summerson Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar American Journal of Legal History, Volume 23, Issue 4, October 1979, Pages 313–327, https://doi.org/10.2307/844686 Published: 01 October 1979
Law-Making and Law-Makers in British History
Journal Article Law-making and Law-makers in British History Get access Harding Alan, ed., Law-making and Law-makers in British History. Studies in History no. 22. London: Royal Historical Society, 1980. viii, 223 pp. £15.25, £9.50 to members. Henry Summerson Henry Summerson Historian to the City of Carlisle Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar American Journal of Legal History, Volume 27, Issue 4, October 1983…
The enforcement of the statute of Winchester, 1285–1327
(1992). The enforcement of the statute of Winchester, 1285–1327. The Journal of Legal History: Vol. 13, No. 3, pp. 232-250
The criminal underworld of Medieval England
(1996). The criminal underworld of Medieval England. The Journal of Legal History: Vol. 17, No. 3, pp. 197-224
Shorter note. English Episcopal Acta. Vol XIV
Journal Article Shorter note. English Episcopal Acta. Vol XIV: Coventry and Lichfield, 1072-1159. M J Franklin (ed) Get access H Summerson H Summerson New Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford, UK Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar The English Historical Review, Volume 114, Issue 457, June 1999, Pages 682–683, https://doi.org/10.1093/ehr/114.457.682 Published: 01 June 1999
Suicide and the Fear of the Gallows
The law of suicide as set out in Bracton gives an important place to those who kill themselves to escape conviction for felony. Such cases were in fact few. There are interesting similarities between the way the courts treated suicides and their attitude towards suspects who stood silent in court, preferring to die under peine forte et dure; in both cases there was stress upon the deliberate nature of the act, and consequently forfeiture of chatt…
Expectations of the Law in the Middle Ages
Thirteenth Century England XII
Thirteenth Century England XII
Tudor antiquaries and the Vita Ædwardi regis
Recent investigations into the sources of Holinshed's Chronicles , both in the latter's text and in the collections of the late-sixteenth-century antiquaries responsible for its compilation, have brought to light a number of passages derived from the eleventh-century Vita Ædwardi regis , some in Latin and others translated into English. In most cases, corresponding passages occur in the single surviving manuscript of the Vita , but this is not in…
Peacekeepers and Lawbreakers in London, 1276–1321
The Genesis of the Two Editions
"The Chronicles of England, Scotland and Ireland (1577, 1587), issued under the name of Raphael Holinshed, was the crowning achievement of Tudor historiography, and became the principal source for the historical writings of Spenser, Daniel and, above all, Shakespeare. While scholars have long been drawn to Holinshed for its qualities as a source, they typically dismissed it as a baggy collection of materials, lacking coherent form and analytical …
Visiting the Past
Sources
This chapter focuses on the historical sources of the 1587 edition of Holinshed's Chronicles. With Holinshed's death, a massive programme of historical amplification and extension was directed by Abraham Fleming, with substantial additions made by John Hooker, William Patten, John Stow, and Francis Thynne. Although Holinshed's original text was often masked by an overlay of extra material, the narrative framework he provided in the first edition …
Repercussions from the Barons' Wars
The primary purpose of this short article is to make available a record which has gone largely unnoticed, describing a brawl in 1264 between two youths calling themselves respectively ‘Simon de Montfort’ and ‘Edward’. A commentary, largely based on primary sources, places those involved in their social context and assesses the extent of their political awareness, in order to elucidate the issue of how far the lower orders of English society felt …
Trials by Ordeal in a Kentish Court in the Early Thirteenth Century
The document presented here, one which has gone almost entirely unnoticed by historians, contains the record of three trials by ordeal undergone by suspected thieves, almost certainly in the first decade of the thirteenth century. It has a special interest in that it illustrates procedure not in a royal but in a private court, that of the bishop of Rochester at Southfleet. In various ways, it illuminates the charges against the accused and their …
Fire and Sword at Little Busby
This article is a study of lordship, conflict and some very unpleasant people, based on the record of a shocking crime presented at the 1293/4 Yorkshire eyre ‒ the murder of four members of the Mowbray family of Little Busby on the orders of a local magnate, Sir Nicholas Meynil of Whorlton. A fortunate wealth of sources, mainly in the form of court records, illuminates both the personalities involved and the issues that linked some and divided ot…
Hanging Matters
This article discusses an important aspect of the law relating to theft in thirteenth-century England, and one of the ways in which that law developed. Central to it is the argument that the treatise The Mirror of Justices and references in court records and reports show that a short statute enacted early in the reign of Edward I, probably in 1278, categorically defined 12d. as the amount, whether in goods or money, at which larceny became a capi…
Lives at Stake
This article attempts to explain when, and why, it came to be thought appropriate to hang men but to burn women. Concentrating on wives who slew their husbands, it aims to answer these questions, focussing less on the crime than on the punishment, investigating its origins and outlining the form it took. But it also aspires to go beyond these fundamental issues, by employing burning as a kind of prism through which light can be shed on some of th…
Thirteenth Century England XIX
History (16 works) · Medieval Literature and History (12 works) · Law (10 works) · Political science (10 works) · History (9 works) · Law (7 works) · Medieval and Early Modern Justice (5 works) · Historical Economic and Social Studies (4 works) · Historical Legal Studies and Society (4 works) · Classics (3 works)