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The Archaeology of the Medieval English Monarchy

`What a fascinating and little known world is revealed in this survey of the monarchy from William I to Henry VIII.' - Archaeology Education Supplement

'This book provides a well written general survey of the material, much of it difficult to access. It is very useful in summarising the present state of knowledge and provides a basis for further work in this fascinating area of medieval archaeology.' - John Cherry, Minerva

`Steane is master of the printed written sources and entirely at home with upstanding buildings and museum objects. It is indeed the ease with which he moves from buildings to objects and back again that constitutes one of the most attractive features of the book...In this very wide field Steane is on top of his subject and has a concise and lucid style, so that it is very easy to understand his descriptions. The present reviewer certainly felt a much wiser man after reading the book.' - Medieval Archaeology 1993

'An excellent archaeological survey of kinship...The details of monarch's daily lives are brought out, and the powerful effects the crown had on religion and education as patrons of monasteries, hospitals and schools is examined.' - Oxbow Book News No 41

'The Archaeology of the Medieval English Monarchy is a useful window onto the rich and varied material world of English monarchs and makes accessible to historians and a general readership the technical work of archaeologists and art historians.' - Speculum: A Journal of Medieval Studies

Many aspects of medieval monarchy can only be recovered through archaeology. This archaeological survey of kingship in the period from the reign of William the Conqueror to that of Henry VIII brings together the physical evidence for the Kings and their courts in the form of a great variety of objects and buildings.

John Steane looks at the changing perceptions of the cult of medieval kingship through symbols of power and regalia including crowns, seals and thrones, such as the Coronation Chair of Edward I. He traces the development of royal houses and palaces no longer surviving above ground, such as Sheen and Nonsuch, and the great programmes of royal building at Westminster and Windsor that transformed those places. He looks at royal burials and tombs - mirrors of evolving medieval ideas about the nature and impact of death - ranging from the heart burial of Richard I to the magnificent monuments of later kings and queens. The details of monarchs' daily lives are brought out in the evidence for royal feasts, ceremonial costume, hunting, jousting and other material aspects of court life. Finally the powerful effect the crown had on religion and education as patron of monasteries, hospitals and schools is examined.

The result is a synthesis of current knowledge of the physical remains of medieval kingship that has not previously been attempted. This book restores many details of the lives and deaths of the great and powerful monarchs of the Middle Ages and reveals past public splendours as well as more private insights.

Contents:

List of illustrations Foreword by HRH Prince Richard of Gloucester Preface Acknowledgements 1. Symbols of power 2. Burials of medieval royal family 3. Royal accommodation 4. Palace and castle gardens 5. The peaceful activities of court life 6. Formalized violence: hunting, hawking and jousting 7. The monarchy, religion and education Refernces Index

Author Biography:

John Steane is part-time tutor at Oxford University's Department of Continuing Education. He is also a consultant archaeologist and is both a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries and a member of the Institute of Field Archaeologists. Previously he was Headmaster at Kettering Grammar School and then the County Archaeologist of Oxfordshire. He has undertaken research into may aspects of the historic language and is the author of The Northampton Landscape (1974) and The Archaeology of Medieval England and Wales (1984)

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