A study of wills and will-making in the period 1500-1533, with special reference to the copy wills in the probate registers of the Archdeacon of Bedford, 1489-1533
Historians sometimes use information derived from sources the nature and function of which they do not fully understand. Wills and testaments from the medieval and early modem periods provide a notable example of this practice; they have been used by historians for the information which they provide on a variety of subjects but have rarely been studied as documents in their own right. As a result, an understanding of the character of wills and testaments and of their utility for the historian has remained limited, and information derived from wills has not always been interpreted satisfactorily. This study involves the detailed examination of a group of Bedfordshire wills made over a thirty-three year period during the early sixteenth century with the intention of promoting a better understanding of this popular source of historical evidence. The seven hundred and eighty wills which form the nucleus of the study are recorded in the first three surviving registers of the court of the Archdeacon of Bedford. The information provided by the wills themselves will be evaluated in the context of the work of historians who have used information derived from wills, both from Bedfordshire and elsewhere, and in the context
Ford, Judith
History
A study of wills and will-making in the period 1500-1533, with special reference to the copy wills in the probate registers of the Archdeacon of Bedford, 1489-1533. Historians sometimes use information derived from sources the nature and function of which they do not fully understand. Wills and testaments from the medieval and early modem periods provide a notable example of this practice; they have been used by historians for the information which they provide on a variety of subjects but have rarely been studied as documents in their own right. As a result, an understanding of the character of wills and testaments and of their utility for the historian has remained limited, and information derived from wills has not always been interpreted satisfactorily. This study involves the detailed examination of a group of Bedfordshire wills made over a thirty-three year period during the early sixteenth century with the intention of promoting a better understanding of this popular source of historical evidence. The seven hundred and eighty wills which form the nucleus of the study are recorded in the first three surviving registers of the court of the Archdeacon of Bedford. The information provided by the wills themselves will be evaluated in the context of the work of historians who have used information derived from wills, both from Bedfordshire and elsewhere, and in the context
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