Description

A Franciscan scholar and theologian, John Peckham (c.1230-92) was appointed archbishop of Canterbury by the pope in 1279. His register survives at Lambeth Palace and is the chief source for his archiepiscopacy. This three-volume edition, prepared by Charles Trice Martin (1842-1914) between 1882 and 1885, rearranges the documents from their original thematic order to a chronological one, and omits the purely formal items, published elsewhere. The text is mostly in Latin, with some Anglo-Norman documents, for which a translation is provided in the appendices. Volume 1 contains letters 1-305, up to July 1282. Volume 2 contains letters 306-561, from August 1282 to June 1284. Volume 3 contains letters 562-720, from July 1284 to July 1292. The tables of contents in each volume provide useful summaries of each letter. Topics range from purely ecclesiastical matters, such as excommunications and indulgences, to relations between England and Wales.