Rosemary Horrox

I’ve been fascinated by the de la Poles’ history for a long time now. This booklet covers the family’s elevation from obscurity to the wealthiest merchants in England, setting the paving stones for the next generation’s rise to the nobility.

Of the three brothers who started it all, the middle one – William – is the prime mover and main focus of this account. He, like his older brother Richard, were unscrupulous, but they did what they did for their families as much as for show more themselves.

It’s unfortunate that more info hasn’t survived through the years, but what we do have makes for an interesting read.

It would’ve been a shorter read if the author used the active voice, though like most historians she writes in the passive voice, which is my only criticism.

I’ve also lived in Hull for ten years – and East Yorkshire all my life – so this added to my interest in the early de la Poles. show less

This book is comprised of primary source materials on 14th century outbreaks of the plague. Much of the material is English, though Italy, Germany, France and Ireland are also represented. Not light or casual reading, to be sure, but Horrox does a very good job of explaining obscure terms or references. And to be sure, some passages are gruesomely entertaining.

Excellent survey of late medieval social history of England. The essays are all excellent, and the book gives a great general overview of what life was like in late medieval England.

I have several books on the Black Death. This one is set apart because rather than being a discussion of the causes and fall out, it is a collection of reports, diaries, letter, and documentations left by people who lived (or not) through the epidemic.