Letters and Papers Illustrative of the Wars of the English in France

This two-volume compilation contains the texts of documents in Latin, Middle French and Middle English (with translations and abstracts) concerning the later phases of the Hundred Years' War, focusing on the period 1423–50. Published between 1861 and 1864, it was edited by Joseph Stevenson (1807–95), a Northumbrian archivist and clergyman who had been instrumental in persuading the British government to sponsor the Rolls Series project. Stevenson transcribed and translated material from archival sources in France and England, including the Registers of the Grants issued by the English government in France from 1420 to 1433 and the Privy Seal collection. The introduction to Volume 1 outlines the political instability and shifting alliances that underlay the hostilities, and the subjects of the texts range from court matters and diplomacy to finance and military logistics. This primary source material reveals fascinating details about a pivotal period in European history.