The March of Ewyas. The Story of Longtown Castle and the de Lacy Dynasty

Abstract

and lengthy accounts of the de Berminghams in Ireland. There are two pages on the friars, though there was no friary in the town, and five illustrations of peasant life in rural Lincolnshire which have no Birmingham connection. At the same time important sources are omitted, such as the early wills, which were published initially before 1902, and in full in 2016; the Old Crown House in Deritend, the only complete medieval building to survive, is not discussed or illustrated; and the town plan could have been interpreted using the methodology devised by the historical geographers. The many errors are to be regretted, such as the belief that twelfth-century kings signed documents, or that aristocratic households employed cleaners, or that Jewish people were living in the town after 1290. More seriously, the term ‘borough’ should have been carefully explained. The late medieval Priory was surely not as large and important as is implied, while the Holy Cross fraternity, like similar institutions in places such as Stratford-upon-Avon and Walsall, came to play an active role in the social life and government of the town. The author has adopted some fruitful approaches, and more could have emerged if like other academic books at an early stage it had been given an expert critical appraisal, and later had gone through a process of thorough editing.