The rolls of parliament were the official records of the meetings of the English parliament from the reign of Edward I (1272-1307) until the reign of Henry VII (1485-1509), after which they were superseded by the journals of thelords, and, somewhat later, the commons.
This volume covers the years of crisis of Henry VI’s reign. They begin with the unusual assembly at Bury St Edmunds in 1447 during which the king’s uncle, Humphrey, duke of Gloucester,was arrested and died, and end with the parliament of 1460 at which Richard, duke of York, made a formal claim to the throne. In the interim the rolls are vital for assessing the impact of the loss of French lands between 1449 and 53, and for showing how the king’s mental collapse halfway through the parliament of 1453 began a period of political instability which finally led to civil war in 1459.
The rolls from the period are reproduced in their entirely, complemented by a full translation of all the texts from the three languages used by the medieval clerks (Latin, Anglo-Norman and Middle English).

Anne Curry is Professor of History and Dean of the Faculty of Humanities, University of Southampton; Dr Rosemary Horrox is Fellow and Director of Studies in History, Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge.