The Register of Walter Langton, Bishop of Coventry and Lichfield, 1296-1321: I

The earliest extant register for Coventry and Lichfield reveals important detail on Langton, a key political figure, treasurer of Edward I and briefly of Edward II, suspended from episcopal office by Pope Boniface VIII and twice imprisoned.This book is volume one of a calendar of the episcopal register of Bishop Walter Langton (1296-1321). Langton's register is important for two reasons: it is the earliest extant register for the medieval diocese of Coventry and Lichfield, and it has shed new light on the life of one of the period's key political figures.The register contains some folios from an earlier working register, only some entries of which have been duplicated in the definitivecopy. These have been tabulated in the introduction, which discusses the arrangement of the whole register in detail. The register contains hitherto unknown information concerning both the local and central diocesan administration, including details of the work of the papal administrators when Langton was suspended from episcopal office by Pope Boniface VIII in 1302-3. Moreover, the register has confirmed that Langton was an efficient and conscientious bishop who conducted diocesan business himself whenever possible, despite his personal vicissitudes including two terms of imprisonment, and he successfully juxtaposed his episcopal and political duties when he was Treasurer of Edward I, and later briefly Treasurer of Edward II.JILL HUGHES is a Research Fellow at the University of St Andrews.