Edinburgh University Press, 2010 - 416 p. ISBN10: 0748632786
ISBN13: 9780748632787
North-East England in the Middle Ages was honeycombed with autonomous jurisdictions known as 'liberties', which reduced the Crown's direct authority in the region. The greatest of these were: Tynedale, Redesdale, Hexhamshire, Tynemouthshire, and the Palatinate of Durham.
They have never been the subject of comprehensive study - even the Palatinate of Durham has not received a book-length study since 1900 - and Tynedale has hardly been studied at all. Yet the liberties are crucial for understanding: (I) regional and national loyalty and identity; (II) state formation in peripheral regions; and (III) regional distinctiveness throughout Britain.
North-East England in the Middle Ages was honeycombed with autonomous jurisdictions known as 'liberties', which reduced the Crown's direct authority in the region. The greatest of these were: Tynedale, Redesdale, Hexhamshire, Tynemouthshire, and the Palatinate of Durham.
They have never been the subject of comprehensive study - even the Palatinate of Durham has not received a book-length study since 1900 - and Tynedale has hardly been studied at all. Yet the liberties are crucial for understanding: (I) regional and national loyalty and identity; (II) state formation in peripheral regions; and (III) regional distinctiveness throughout Britain.