English Episcopal Acta ─ Hereford 1234-1275

This edition of over 140 charters sheds light on one of Henry III's most important administrators--Peter of Aigueblanche, bishop of Hereford 1240-68.

Many of the charters issued by the 3 bishops of Hereford between 1234 and 1275 cover matters of parochial organization, monastic houses and their revenues, and ecclesiastical discipline. However, the acta issued by Peter are far more varied in scope, both administratively and geographically. The collection includes a treaty between Henry III and Alfonso X of Castile, a letter about a treaty between Henry III and the count of Savoy, letters to Henry III about political unrest in the Welsh Marches, and the statutes for a collegiate church Peter founded in Savoy.

The introduction provides the first full biographical study of Peter of Aigueblanche for over a century. The appendices include the episcopal itineraries and 18 charters omitted from English Episcopal Acta, vii: Hereford 1079-1234, to which this current volume is a complement.

Julia Barrow is Reader in Medieval Church History at the University of Nottingham.