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New publication: The Post-Mortem Accounts and Inventories of Sir Thomas Charlton (d.1465), ed. Claire Martin

The Yorkist History Trust is delighted to announce the publication of its latest volume, The Post-Mortem Accounts and Inventories of Sir Thomas Charlton (d. 1465), edited by Claire Martin. This important source edition presents in translation the post-mortem accounts and related documentation pertaining to the death of Sir Thomas Charlton, Speaker of the House of Commons in the fifteenth century, for the first time. The edition is accompanied by a critical introduction by the editor.

A scion of one of the wealthiest families in Middlesex, Sir Thomas Charlton (c.1417–1465) could claim relatives among London’s mercantile elite as well as kinship with Alice, countess of Salisbury, and her son, the earl of Warwick. Over the course of his life he served his country diligently. From his position on the Middlesex bench of J.P.s and on local commissions, to years of parliamentary industry and, eventually, the speaker’s chair. In many respects he was an ‘everyman’ for the lives of England’s greater gentry and when he died, following a short illness, in February 1465 his story, like so many others, would have come to an end were it not for the remarkable survival of an extensive collection of inventories and associated post-mortem accounts. In life, Sir Thomas Charlton’s story would have been familiar to many members of medieval gentry society. In death he left behind a collection of documents that would have been equally commonplace in their day but which are remarkable in their survival and, as such, invaluable to the historian.

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