Course Programme
10:00 Session 1: The local population in the manor
Everyone in medieval England lived in a manor. It was a unit of lordship, based on land, involving legal rights over people within it and it was also a unit of estate administration, which may have lord's residence within it. Some aspects of its administration continued into the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. ‘Domesday Book’, complied in 1086, provides a snap-shot of English manors just before and just after the Norman Conquest. In the centuries after this ‘national’ record was created, many records were generated for individual landlords. This session will consider the characteristics of a manor; various types of documents that it generated; and how these might be used to reconstruct aspects of everyday life.
11:15 Coffee
11:45 Session 2: The local population in the parish
Everyone in medieval England lived in a parish, with the parish church as the focus of religious worship, but the parish was also unit of ecclesiastical administration. After Henry VIII broke with Rome in the 1530s and established a ‘national’ church, the parish also became unit of civil administration. Numerous records generated by local parishes and by the church’s hierarchy survive. This session will consider the characteristics of a parish; the documents that might be available for its study; and how these might be used to reconstruct local parish life in the past.
13:00 Lunch
14:00 Session 3: The local population in the town
This session will firstly consider the definition of a town. Then, using examples from particular towns, it will look at some of the numerous sources that are available for urban history, including archaeological, cartographic and documentary sources. We will consider how these might be used to reconstruct urban life in the past.
15:15 Tea
15:30 Session 4: Counting the local population
It is useful to have an estimate of the number of people in a local community so that we have an idea of scale and change over time. Where suitable records survive, using very basic statistical methods, it is possible to calculate approximate population figures for local communities through time. This session will consider the size of local populations before the national 1801 Census. Sources include ‘Domesday Book’; taxation records, both national and local; parish registers; and religious ‘censuses’.
16:45 Day school ends
Aims:
- To introduce students to the basic administrative units in which people lived in the past
- To introduce them to the methodology of local history research
- To enable them to extract evidence from relevant published sources
Tutor Biography: Dr Heather Falvey
Heather teaches local history at Certificate, Diploma, Advanced Diploma and Masters level at ICE and also at the University of Oxford’s Department of Continuing Education.
Her main historical interests are social unrest and discord in early-modern communities and this is reflected in one of her current research projects, which concerns objections to a disorderly alehouse in Rickmansworth (Herts) in 1588. She is also involved in a number of projects to transcribe and publish editions of historical documents ranging from medieval wills, through eighteenth century recipes, to letters written between members of the family of Humphry Repton, the landscape gardener.
Her course sessions usually comprise a combination of teaching, looking at online resources, and considering samples of documentary evidence from the period. Learning how to analyse such documents gives students an understanding of how historians assemble and interpret evidence and thus helps them to carry out their own historical research.
Accommodation
Although this is a non-residential course, students requiring accommodation may be able to book B&B at Madingley Hall, as availability permits.
Please contact reservations@madingleyhall.co.uk or +44 (0)1223 746222 for availability and booking enquiries.
Dietary requirements
If you have any specific dietary requirements or allergies please inform our Admissions Team on ice.admissions@ice.cam.ac.uk or +44 (0)1223 746262 if you have not already advised us of your requirements.
Additional requirements
ICE is committed to providing equality of opportunity and to a proactive and inclusive approach to equality. We aim to support and encourage under-represented groups, promote an inclusive culture, and value diversity.
Further information about student support.
Course materials
A booklist, course syllabus and detailed timetable are circulated as far as possible in advance of a course. You will receive these documents by email if you have provided us with your email address; please check your spam folder if you have not received these documents. You can also download material from the Documents section at the bottom of this page.
