Social

The Sheriff’s office under the Norman Kings fulfilled its duties of Saxon times, writes Irene Gladwin, and was awarded to the magnates among the Conqueror’s supporters.

Anthony Dent describes how the last wolves of Yorkshire lived on into the reign of Henry VIII, but by then had almost vanished from England.

Henry Marsh describes how England and Scotland became the first European countries to begin freeing their serfs, towards the close of the twelfth century.

Ronald Webber describes how, from the banks of the Thames, London was supplied with asparagus, melons, artichokes, carrots, beans and berries.

Andrew P. Trout describes how Pelletier sought to improve conditions of everyday life for ordinary people in seventeenth century Paris.

J.J.N. McGurk describes how Jewish settlements in England followed the Norman Conquest, and pogroms began only a century later.

Alan R. Young describes how, in sixteenth and seventeenth century England, village witches were prosecuted as the scapegoats for local anxiety.

Bruce Chatwin describes how the dispute between Abel and Cain, the nomadic shepherd and the city-dwelling planter, has continued throughout history.

John Nowell introduces and translates a contemporary portrait of the eighteenth-century actor at work, originally penned by G.C. Lichtenberg.

Norman Lloyd Williams analyses the observations of Etienne Perlin during his visit in 1553.