English Episcopal Acta. London: 1189-1228 (review)

This is the second volume for London and the twenty-sixth in the series of episcopal acta which began publication under the auspices of the British Academy in 1980. The earlier volume, edited by Falko Neininger in 1999, dealt with the seven bishops from 1075 to 1187, while this one is concerned with only three, Richard of Ely, William de Ste. Mère Eglise, and Eustace de Fauconberg, from 1189 to 1228. Each of the collections contains about 250 charters, so that the same number for fewer bishops probably indicates both a greater loss of documents in the earlier period and a greater chancery production in the later.

The format here is similar to the other volumes, beginning with a bibliography of manuscript and printed sources, followed by a general introduction to the bishops and their households, a note on the diplomatic of the acta, the critical catalogue of the printed texts, a set of episcopal itineraries, appendices, and indices. The chronological framework, which is based on pontifical years, rather than regnal years, offers a slightly different and useful perspective on the course of events in this important period. The bishops of London were prominent players, and their acta serve to illustrate some of the ways in which they were affected by such pressing questions as the controversy over the succession to Canterbury on the death of Archbishop Hubert Walter, and the consequences of the papal interdict under John. On the local scene, we learn something of the problems involved in the management of parish churches, the role of the bishops as judges in legal cases, and the development of episcopal property on a revenue-producing commercial scale. A section on the role of the bishop of London as dean of the province of Canterbury underscores the sense of hierarchy and the definition of rights fundamental to the exercise of authority at the time, but the lack of sufficient evidence leaves his precise status still obscure. For the same reason, there is not much information on the relation of bishop to chapter, either with regard to the issue of residency or to the division of church property. Nor is it clear to what extent the bishops promoted their own relatives to positions of importance. Since capitular independence was a growing concern for both sides in the cathedral church, it is surprising that the acta do not provide us with a better picture of the development. With regard to the knotty problem of dating, the editor discusses the use of witness lists and touches on the traps for the unwary in the inconsistent use of titles, such as archdeacon, canon, or treasurer, for those who attest, and on the perennial problem of determining whether the people whose names are cited were actually present or not. Some of the dates proposed by Marion Gibbs in her 1939 catalogue of the London charters are here revised.

The ideal edition, of course, would include a photographic reproduction of each actum from the manuscript for its palaeographical and diplomatic interest, and for comparison with the printed text. But a gesture in this direction is made by the inclusion of six plates of three charters and three seals, one for each of the bishops. Beyond that, we should be content that we have in hand a comprehensive and well-edited scholarly edition of fundamental importance for a much broader movement of English history in this period than the title of the book would suggest.