Archdeacons were the most senior officers in the secular church after the archbishops and bishops, and played a crucial role in diocesan administration. This book brings together for the first time the 285 surviving acta of English archdeacons in the twelfth century, representing forty-five of the fifty-one medieval archdeaconries of the English church; also included are twenty-one acta of vice-archdeacons, the main deputies of archdeacons at this time. These documents reveal archdeacons at work in various aspects of their responsibilities, such as presiding in archdeacons' synods or rural...

This volume is concerned with two bishops whose pontificates differed hugely in length: Jocelin of Wells, 1206-1242, and Roger of Salisbury, 1244-1247. Bishop Jocelin's 36-year pontificate was among the longest in England in the thirteenth century, being exceeded only by those of Roger Longespee at Coventry and Lichfield (37 years) and of Walter de Gray at York (nearly 40 years). By contrast, that of his successor, Bishop Roger, was very short, lasting for a little over three years. Jocelin was the last bishop of Bath, Roger the first bishop of Bath and Wells. This volume provides for the...