Day 2: The Royal Forests of Medieval England

 

The Royal Forests of Medieval England was published by Charles Young in 1979. This book is the catalyst for my research on English forest law. In short, forest as term is not just treed woodland. In medieval England, Forest had a specific legal meaning. It meants areas set aside by the king in which he governed the use of land and game, the vert and the venison. As with anything in history, its really way more complex than that. My research encompasses both the legal and cultural impacts of forest law on thirteen-century English society. 

For me, this is the type of book you keep within arm's reach and refer to often. My copy is marked and underlined. Since this was one of the first books I read on royal forests, the bibliography was a great source of further research. I've seen a disturbing trend in some scholarly history books to forego the bibliography - although I've not seen an academic MEDIEVAL book do this. I know that's a publisher's decision, not the author's, but still. Footnotes and endnotes are not a great way to get a sense of what the author has read or not, bibliographies are where it's at. I even found out recently that Ibid. is falling out of use (insert dramatic sigh!). I understand why - I think - glaring at you Chicago Manual of Style, 17th edition!!!! Anyway, before I get on my soap box about "Save Ibid.," I'll comment on the book a bit more. It's readable for the non-specialist although there is assumed knowledge about the chronology of medieval England.