EBOOK Justice and Grace:Private Petitioning and the English Parliament in the Late Middle

Focussing on the key role of the English medieval parliament in hearing and        determining the requests of the king's subjects, this ground-breaking new study        examines the private petition and its place in the late medieval English parliament        (c.1270-1450). Until now, historians have focussed on the political and financial        significance of the English medieval parliament; this book offers an important        re-evaluation placing the emphasis on parliament as a crucial element in the        provisionof royal government and justice. It looks at the nature of medieval        petitioning, how requests were written and how and why petitioners sought redress        specifically in parliament. It also sheds new light on the concept of royal grace        and its practical application to parliamentary petitions thatrequired the king's        personal intervention.The book traces the development of private petitioning over a        period of almost two hundred years, from a point when parliament was essentially an        instrument of royal administration, to one where it was self-consciously dispatching        petitions as the highest court of the land. Gwilym Dodd considers not only the        detail of the petitionary process, but also broader questions about the government        of late medieval England. His conclusions contribute to our understanding of the        nature of medievalmonarchy, and its ability (or willingness) to address local        difficulties, as well as the nature of local society, and the problems that faced        individuals and communities in medieval society.