IMC 2006: Sessions

Abstract paper -a: A pool of patronage from which the king could grant rewards was the Duchy of Cornwall, the landed estate inherited by the eldest son of the monarch. The governance of the Duchy was a microcosm of the governance of the realm, and highlights the contrasts between the patronage of Edward IV and Richard III. Edward established successive favourites as regional governors of south-west England, and marginalised long-serving Duchy administrators in preference for Woodville associates. While Richard initially used patronage to gather support, ultimately he encouraged his supporters to either desert, or to fail to defend his kingship.

Abstract paper -b: When describing Henry II as an individual as well as a monarch, the term pious is not one often used by scholars. Henry was a king well known for the machinery of his government, his troubled family life and his involvement in the murder of his archbishop. However, Henry's patronage of the church can be used to examine his political goals and to gain insight into his own beliefs and religious preferences. This talk aims to examine Henry's patronage through the evidence of the contemporary chronicles, the Pipe Rolls and surviving charters.

Abstract paper -c: Textual constitutions for hospitals did not appear until the late-12th century, and even then these were not statutes, but charters that recorded the endowment and its use. These in turn appear mid-way through the period of most prolific hospital foundation, and record an older, customary constitution. Drawing from charters, memoranda, and inquisitions, this paper examines distinctive hospital endowment whose regular income, often in kind, drew from local agricultural and commercial routines. This customary income not only distinguished a hospital from contemporary religious houses, but codified its form and meaning, and proclaimed - through regularised alms - its ties to its patron.