Social

The problems of later life are always with us, writes Steven R. Smith. Among those who have studied them are both a famous philosopher and a renowned physician.

Under Kings John and Henry III the Jews were often heavily taxed. By the reign of Edward I, writes J.J.N. McGurk, they had lost their usefulness to the Crown and were expelled from England.

J.R.S. Whiting recalls an era when tokens were used for propaganda rather than as currency.

Anthony Dent describes how, before the reign of Edward II, the office of ‘royal carter’ did not exist; he was then paid threepence a day for the King’s peregrinations.

The Sheriff’s office under the Norman Kings fulfilled its duties of Saxon times, writes Irene Gladwin, and was awarded to the magnates among the Conqueror’s supporters.

Anthony Dent describes how the last wolves of Yorkshire lived on into the reign of Henry VIII, but by then had almost vanished from England.

Henry Marsh describes how England and Scotland became the first European countries to begin freeing their serfs, towards the close of the twelfth century.

Ronald Webber describes how, from the banks of the Thames, London was supplied with asparagus, melons, artichokes, carrots, beans and berries.

Andrew P. Trout describes how Pelletier sought to improve conditions of everyday life for ordinary people in seventeenth century Paris.

J.J.N. McGurk describes how Jewish settlements in England followed the Norman Conquest, and pogroms began only a century later.