Adolphus Ballard (1867 1915) was an English historian specialising in the medieval history of the borough. This volume, first published in 1913, was the first major examination of borough charters from the early medieval period. Ballard analyses an extensive collection of municipal documents and charters dating from before 1216 to understand the stages in the origin and development of boroughs, their mercantile and jurisdictional privileges and the relationship of burgage privileges and finances to those in other boroughs. The first half of the book discusses these topics in detail, with...

This volume is a continuation of Adolphus Ballard's study of medieval borough charters, British Borough Charters 1042 1216. After Ballard's death in 1915, completion of his work was undertaken by Professor James Tait, (1862 1944) and first published in 1923. Tait follows Ballard's structure from his previous work and divides this volume into two parts. In the first part Tait analyses a comprehensive collection of borough documents and charters dating from between 1216 and 1307 to examine changes in the development of boroughs, burgage and mercantile privileges, and the effect of the growth in...

First published in 1914, The English Borough in the Twelfth Century was based on two lectures delivered in Oxford in 1913 by Adolphus Ballard. The first lecture deals with the subject of the borough from the point of view of the burgess and of the lord, considering the advantages and the responsibilities of each role. The second lecture focuses on the place of the borough in the national organisation, arguing that the character of the oldest boroughs suggest were always part of the royal or national scheme. Published together with appendices and an index, these lectures form a valuable study...