“With the funds that I received from the Leahey Fellowship in 2023, I traveled to the United Kingdom to visit the Hampshire Archives, where I conducted research on the Winchester Pipe Rolls, some of the most extensive records of English manorial estate management because they survive in a nearly unbroken series from 1208/09 to 1710/11. These rolls provide detailed insights into the economic and agricultural history of the estates of the bishop of Winchester, as well as offering a glimpse into the lives of the diocese’s medieval residents and their relationship with the bishops. The bishops of Winchester were some of the wealthiest landlords in medieval England, overseeing massive estates throughout Hampshire and Surrey. My interest in the Pipe Rolls is directly related to my research into Bishop Henry of Blois (d. 1171), who is the subject of my dissertation.
While Henry died some thirty-seven years before the creation of the earliest surviving rolls, he was known for his administrative genius. Appointed abbot of Glastonbury Abbey in 1126, he restored the monastery’s finances and was fondly remembered by later members of his community, such as the thirteenth-century chronicler Adam of Damerham. Elevated to the bishopric of Winchester in 1129, Henry became one of the richest and most influential prelates in the country. In 1148 He oversaw the creation of the Winton Domesday, a survey of episcopal properties in Winchester. He similarly reformed the finances of Cluny, the Burgundian abbey where he first became a monk, when he spent several years in exile there during the 1150s Henry’s flare for administration was well attested. The author of the Dialogue of the Exchequer, Bishop Richard FitzNigel, claimed to have heard the story of the Domesday Book’s creation from Henry himself. While his reputation for administrative prowess is legendary, no records from his time provide the level of detail that the Pipe Rolls give regarding the financial management of the diocese.
For this reason, I spent two weeks at the Hampshire County Records Office examining the Pipe Rolls. My goal was to acquire a better understanding of the realities of life in Winchester during the reign of Henry’s successors and to gain a frame of reference for the challenges that Henry faced during his career. Examining the rolls stretched my paleographical skills as I became better acquainted with the thirteenth-century script and format of these financial records. I made extensive use of Hubert Hall’s edition of the first roll from 1208-1209 to make sense of the abbreviations which the bishops’ scribes employed, allowing me to decipher the contents of later rolls that relied on similar language. I also explored the rest of the archive’s collection to inspect other materials relevant for Henry’s life and career. I studied a copy of the St. Swithun’s Cartulary, which included a number of charters issued by the bishop to the cathedral priory, including his final bequest to them. I also stumbled upon a nineteenth-century lecture given by Rev. W. A. Fearon to the students at Winchester College on “The Life and Times of Henry de Blois,” which provided some fascinating insights into the bishop’s long legacy. At the end of my research at the Hampshire County Records Office, I had made a strong start in my work on the rolls and used the generous funding of the Leahey Fellowship to purchase digital copies of relevant rolls for future consideration.
Because the Hampshire Archive is only open for a portion of the week, I used the rest of my time to explore other aspects of Henry of Blois’ episcopal career in Winchester. The librarian and archivist at Winchester College were kind enough to allow me to access their collections, and I examined manuscripts copied at Winchester during Henry’s episcopacy and charters that provided insight into his administration of the diocese. I walked up St. Giles’ hill, where the bishops held a yearly fair that brought merchants in from across Europe, to look over the city and imagine it as it had been during Henry’s time. I also visited Wolvesey Palace, an episcopal residence that Henry built up through extensive construction projects during his career. While only ruins survive today, they communicate something of the grandeur of the structure that archaeologist Martin Biddle called a “mirror to [Henry’s] own ecclesiastical and essentially political aspirations.” I visited the final resting place of Henry before the altar at Winchester Cathedral in a tomb of Purbeck marble, a material whose use he popularized in his many buildings. These experiences enriched my understanding of Henry and his career, providing me with a fuller understanding of his impact upon the city and diocese of Winchester, knowledge that will help me profoundly as I continue to work on my dissertation.”
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The History Department’s Leahey Fellowship and O’Connell Initiative Graduate Travel Grant as well as a Student Support Grant from the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences and travel aide from the Yad Izhak Ben-Zvi Institute allowed PhD Candidate Michael J. Sanders to spend most of July 2023 abroad in Israel and Spain. In Israel, Michael presented a paper in Jerusalem at the Ben-Zvi Institute’s international conference, “Jerusalem: From Umbilicus Mundi to the Four Corners of the Earth and Back.” Encouraged to apply by one of the New York Public Library-Fordham Fellows in Jewish Studies, Prof. Eyal Ben-Eliyahu, Michael was one of the few graduate students chosen to participate in the conference. Michael’s paper, “From Santiago to the Holy Land: Itinera per Hispaniam to Jerusalem in Iberian Political Culture (1100–1300),” examined the origins of the Spanish Route—various itineraries proposed throughout the Middle Ages and Early Modern Period that took crusaders from the Iberian Peninsula (modern-day Spain and Portugal) across North Africa or the Mediterranean Sea to Jerusalem. This little-known idea initially arose from the minds of Santiago de Compostela’s first archbishop, Diego Gelmírez, and the Aragonese king, Alfonso the Battler. Michael’s presentation, available to watch at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TK7mKRMojL0, argued the translation story of the Arca Santa, a famous chest of relics, from the Holy Land to Iberia by Bishop Pelayo of Oviedo, a contemporary of Gelmírez and Alfonso, attested to the Spanish Route’s proliferation throughout twelfth-century Iberia.
Michael Sanders atop Tower of David in Jerusalem
The Spanish Route forms an important part of Michael’s dissertation, “Forgotten Roads: Jerusalem in Iberian Political and Religious Culture from Medieval to Modern Times.” This project explores the significance of the city, especially regarding identity, kingship, and empire, for Iberians, chiefly in the kingdoms of León-Castile and Catalonia-Aragon, from 1123 until 1516. After the conference in Israel, Michael traveled to Spain to conduct research for this project, which had been delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. First, he visited the city of Valencia to examine medieval and modern material culture that featured bat heraldry. During the Middle Ages, the bat became an apocalyptic symbol for an Iberian king who would usher in the end times by conquering Jerusalem. Second, Michael traveled to Córdoba and looked at manuscripts within the library of the city’s beautiful Mosque-Cathedral. In particular, he was interested in a manuscript compiled by Pedro de Casis, a royal agent at the papal court in Avignon, which demonstrated Castilian designs on Jerusalem during the early fourteenth century. Finally, Michael ended his trip in Madrid, where he analyzed a little-known chronicle by Bishop Gonzalo de Hinojosa at the Royal Library of the Monastery of El Escorial, viewed more bat heraldry in the Royal Armory of Madrid, and consulted some of the holdings in the National Library. Such a wonderful trip, which will help him to complete his dissertation next year and has already enhanced his teaching (as his students last year in UHC: Renaissance to Revolution in Europe and Between Conquest and Convivencia: The Spanish Kingdoms will attest) would not have been possible without the Leahey, O’Connell, Student Support, and Ben-Zvi grants. Michael would like to thank the History Department, GSAS, and Ben-Zvi Institute for all of their support.
Bat Heraldry in Mercat de Colom
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With funding from the History Department’s 2023-2024 Leahey fellowship, Maria Carriere spent two weeks in France visiting departmental archives in Blois and Chartres. The visit was part of preliminary research for Maria’s dissertation, which focuses on the activities of Alix of Brittany, the countess of Blois, who gathered a large number of troops and traveled to the Holy Land after her husband Jean’s death in the late thirteenth century. There, Alix erected two towers at Acre and was involved in the commissioning of a Histoire Universelle, a “history of the world.” Maria spent a week in Blois, gathering archival material related to activities of Alix and her husband Jean, including evidence of Alix’s burial from the cartulary of a house of Poor Clares. She spent an additional week in Charters, where she gathered further archival evidence for Alix and Jean’s administration of their county and their religious patronage. While in France, she made time to visit the famous Chartres cathedral, tour Saint-Denis, and view the Tour de France parade. Maria now has collected seventy-seven archival documents from which she can begin to reconstruct the movements of Alix and Jean during their time as the counts of Blois and upon which portions of her dissertation will be based. She looks forward to cataloging, organizing, and translating the material she gathered.
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Roger Panetta, a former Visiting Professor of History at Fordham, curator of Fordham’s Hudson River Collection, and graduate of the Fordham History M.A. program, has launched a Digital Humanities project, “Shadows on Stone: Identifying Sing Sing’s Incarcerated.” This project, an outgrowth of research that Dr. Panetta conducted in collaboration with Fordham undergraduates, invites the public to participate in a crowdsourcing project to study the Admission Registers of Sing Sing Prison.
To learn more, read this article by Patrick Verel in Fordham News, and visit the “Shadows on Stone” website.
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Will Hogue – History department PhD Candidate (Cohort 2018-2019) working with Dr. Chris Dietrich – is currently working on his dissertation, the working title of which is: “From Neo-Christendom to Neoliberalism: The Thirty Years War Over Cold War Christianity.” In this week’s From the Archives, Will shares some of his experiences while researching at the Library of Congress and the Catholic University of America Archives in Washington, DC.
What is your current research on?
My current research is on how religion shaped politics in the mid-20th century, and how religious thinkers and politicians grappled with the Cold War. In particular, my focus is on the shift from developmentalist and Center-Left Christian Democratic global politics in the ‘development decade,’ to an increasingly polarized Christian politics by the mid 1970s. Just many prominent global Christian institutions begin to reconcile with decolonization and accept, for example, the model of the Cuban Revolution, a burgeoning neoconservative religious movement resurrects hard-line anticommunism and makes strange bedfellows with neoliberals and right-wing reactionaries.
What archive(s) did you visit and can you describe the archive a little?
In a trip to Washington DC last semester, I went to the Library of Congress and to the Catholic University of America Archives. This was a great example of how different archives can be. Of course, the Library of Congress (LOC) has distinct rules and regulations governing how to maneuver the archives, and it is a massive facility (I got lost more than once). You are required to have a LOC Reader Card which will be made for you on-site. Also, be sure to book an appointment in advance – as you can imagine there is a great demand to get access to the LOC archives.
Catholic University of America, however, had their archives in a tiny room way in the back of campus. I found myself crowded around one library table with a couple other scholars and our piles of (very large!) file boxes. While LOC (and most Presidential Library) file boxes are relatively small, these were large copy paper boxes – so I had plenty of material to cover. Still, the staff was very friendly, and the USCCB papers were very helpful in shaping my research.
What was the purpose of your trip? What type of documents did you plan to look at? What makes those documents important for your research?
The purpose was for dissertation research. I was looking at the papers of Reinhold Niebhur, Richard John Neuhaus, and the Catholic Bishops Conference. The Catholic Bishops had a Peace Corps Desk and were highly involved in recruiting new members. Most interesting here were a series of letters between Fr. Ivan Illich, who ran a training program for missionaries/peace corps people, and the Bishops. Illich became one of the foremost critics of the Alliance for Progress, the Peace Corps, and American development plans in Latin America, so it was exciting to see his (sometimes incendiary) letters.
What was a challenge you encountered during your research? How did you overcome it?
I found what would probably be a very revelatory series of letters between Pope John Paul II and Zbigniew Brzeziński, but unfortunately, these are restricted by family request – so I cannot access them via FOIA. That’s part of the job I suppose – I just have to find as many meetings and letters between the two from other places as I can.
Was there anything surprising you found in your research?
I found a lot more letters from Donald Rumsfeld than I was expecting – defense industry people apparently really care about religion it seems.
Did you receive any funding to support your research?
What advice would you give to someone interested in pursuing historical research?
Look for published primary sources! Especially if you are working with policymakers, political leaders, social reformers, etc. chances are they wrote copiously and you’ll have tons of material in these books/articles to corroborate with archival materials.
Some images from the National Museum of the American Indian which Will visited after working at the Library of Congress. Will notes that they have an excellent and detailed exhibit on the fight for indigenous sovereignty. Will definitely recommends it if you’re in DC!
From the Archives is a special series for the Fordham History blog which highlights the research experiences of members of the history department in an effort to bothshowcase their work and provide insight for future researchers preparing for their own archival projects.
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Emily Horihan – History department PhD Candidate (Cohort 2019-20) working with Dr. Daniel Soyer – is currently working on her dissertation, the working title of which is: “Suburb in the City: Negotiating Change in Staten Island after the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge.” In this week’s From the Archives, Emily shares some of her experiences while researching at the Archives & Special Collections at the College of Staten Island.
What is your current research on?
My dissertation research looks at how Staten Island residents responded to rising development – in the form of housing, highways, commercial spaces, and industrial facilities – in the borough following the opening of the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge in 1964. I’ve been looking at collections organized by local officials and citizen groups during this period.
What archive(s) did you visit and can you describe the archive a little?
Most of my archival research has been done at Archives & Special Collections at the College of Staten Island (CSI). The archive is housed within CSI’s library in Staten Island. The archivist and a college assistant helped me to schedule research appointments,; made sure I was cleared to visit campus (which requires proof of vaccination and a recent negative COVID-19 test); and prepared materials requested for each of my research trips. The archive has limited hours – it’s open Tuesdays and Wednesdays from 9:00 am – 5:00 pm and Thursdays from 9:00 am – 2:00 pm.
What was an average day in the archives like?
Since I work full-time, I always plan to take vacation time and spend a full day at the archive (which is only possible on Tuesdays and Wednesdays). I email archives@csi.cuny.edu to request an appointment in advance – noting how long I plan to spend in the archive and which materials I plan to look at for the day. I also make sure that I am still cleared to enter campus before each appointment.
I take public transportation to the CSI campus from Brooklyn (along with a bunch of students that commute there from around the city). The bus drops passengers off at the front entrance and the library is a leisurely 15-minute walk to the back of the campus. Once at the archive, I check in with the staff, who set me up with a cart of research materials and a workspace. On most days, I’m the only researcher at the archive.
The research room is pretty cold, so I always bring a sweatshirt to keep warm. To maximize research time, I usually pack a quick lunch to eat outside while the archivist and archive assistant take their lunch break. Unless you want to grab lunch at an on-campus eatery, most places are a short drive away. I connect to the guest wifi and spend much of the day taking photos and to upload and catalog for each collection (taking limited notes as needed along the way). I usually wrap up around 4:30 pm to give the archive assistant enough time to put away any materials taken out for the day.
Was there anything surprising you found in your research?
The Staten Island Advance, a local newspaper that is important to my research, is only available on microfilm. In my archival research, I was surprised to find how many collections contained newspaper clippings from the Staten Island Advance, which helped me to save time sorting through microfilm. If you do need to use microfilm, you can also request it from Fordham’s Interlibrary Loan Office to use during business hours in Walsh Library.
What advice would you give for anyone interested in visiting the archive you went to?
As with any archival trip, come prepared! Schedule an appointment in advance. Set goals. Bring what you need. And have a system for organizing your photos and/or notes.
What advice would you give to someone interested in pursuing historical research?
Start your research online. Many collections are digitized and you should do as much research online as possible before heading to the archives.
Pen dispensers at the College of Staten Island Library.
From the Archives is a special series for the Fordham History blog which highlights the research experiences of members of the history department in an effort to bothshowcase their work and provide insight for future researchers preparing for their own archival projects.
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Jordyn May – History department PhD Candidate (Cohort 2017-18) working with Dr. Kirsten Swinth – is currently completing his dissertation, entitled: “‘A campaign so splendid could not fail’: Reexamining the Woman Suffrage Movement through Interrelationships between the Eastern and Western Branches.” In this week’s From the Archives, Jordyn hares some of her experiences while researching at the Huntington Library in California.
What is your current research on?
My research for the dissertation currently examines the California and New York woman suffrage state campaigns from 1890 to 1920, specifically looking at how suffragists from the East and West influenced each other’s strategies, methods, and tactics. My research also delves into how tensions developed between Eastern and Western suffragists and how that influenced the national movement.
What archive did you visit and can you describe the archive a little?
I visited the Huntington Library in San Marino, California in July 2022. The Huntington is gorgeous as it is also a famous botanical garden. The library and reading room was situated close to the entrance of the garden, but after the end of the day, I was able to wander the whole area. The sunshine and fresh air was definitely nice after being in a freezing archive all day! The reading room was very nice and all of the archivists were incredibly helpful. I spoke to a curator who knew the collections inside and out and who was able to give me great advice on what collections to look at.
What was the purpose of your trip? What type of documents did you plan to look at? What makes those documents unique for your research?
The purpose of my trip was to find crucial primary source information about how the state campaigns operated in Southern California as I had done a previous research trip to Northern California. I looked at a lot of correspondence between suffragists, organizational records, speeches and essays written by suffragists, suffrage newspapers, biographies of a couple suffragists, and histories of other organizations in California that helped with the campaigns. Reading the correspondence between various suffragists has been the most enlightening. These women were very sassy and did not hold back when discussing their views of other women and the tactics of the movement. These letters give me the best, unfiltered, view of the tensions between Eastern and Western suffragists.
What was a challenge you encountered during your research? How did you overcome it?
No one tells you how exhausting it actually is to sit in a reading room and look through documents all day. I had a month long fellowship at the Huntington which meant I was in the reading room Monday through Friday from 9am to 4pm with a short break for lunch and I often went Saturday mornings as well. Research can be very exciting when you are finding documents that you need or find something you didn’t know existed, but the rest of the time is sorting through boxes and folders and can be incredibly mentally taxing, especially when you are trying to decipher handwritten documents! When I got too tired and mentally strained, I tried to change tasks or take more breaks to rest a little.
The organization of the collections was also not standardized, so there were some collections that had no finding aids. I would have to request every box in the collection just to see if it was even worth looking at. It was frustrating, but I also found interesting material that I might not have requested in the first place.
Did you receive any funding to support your research?
I applied for and received a short-term fellowship from the Huntington to support my research. The application was due in November and was fairly simple. The application consisted of a 1,500 word project description, current CV, and two letters of recommendation. I received the award letter in March and spent my month in California in July. The grant was for $3,500 which helped cover travel and living expenses for the month, but the award money is paid out after you have already been there for a few weeks. Affordable housing was a little difficult to find within walking distance of the Huntington which was my only qualm with the award amount.
What advice would you give to someone interested in pursuing historical research?
It may sound weird, but do your research before you do your research. You want to be fully prepared before you go into the archive. That means looking at all the finding aids for each collection you want to view and marking exactly which boxes and folders you need to see. One of the collections I investigated at the Huntington was over 100 boxes. I couldn’t feasibly look at all of them so I made a spreadsheet detailing what I absolutely had to look at to help narrow it down. You also need to prioritize your research. Make sure you are viewing the documents you know you need and then looking at documents that might be just interesting afterwards. Time goes by quickly in the reading room and you want to make sure your time is well spent, especially if you are only there for a few days.
The Yellow Ribbon was a short-lived suffrage newspaper specifically for the West Coast. The Huntington had all of the issues, and I think they are one of the only archives to have a complete collection.
From the Archives is a special series for the Fordham History blog which highlights the research experiences of members of the history department in an effort to bothshowcase their work and provide insight for future researchers preparing for their own archival projects.
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Patrick DeBrosse – History department PhD Candidate (Cohort 2017-18) working with Dr. Nicholas L. Paul – is currently working on his dissertation, entitled: “Adorned with the Ring of St. Valerie”: History, Lyric, and Political Culture in the Limousin under Angevin Rule, 1154-1215.” In this week’s From the Archives, Patrick shares some of his experiences while researching at the
What is your current research on?
My doctoral dissertation examines the political culture of the Limousin region of France (around Limoges) in the aftermath of the region’s annexation into the Angevin Empire, a polity ruled by the kings of England during the late twelfth and early thirteenth centuries. I attempt to use the writings of monks and the songs of troubadours to understand how medieval imperialism worked at a local level. I am particularly interested in the effect that living in a large empire had on Limousin expressions of identity, constructions of history, and perceptions of the wider world.
My research in the summer of 2022 focused on my chapter which explores the construction of history within the Limousin. I want to understand which new historical stories interested the people of the Limousin during the Angevin period, how Limousin monks and troubadours used history to reinforce their political values, and ways that Limousin authors reinvented old historical stories to maintain their relevance in a new era. A major goal of my summer research was to investigate the figure of St. Valerie, a woman venerated as an ancient martyr within the Limousin.
What archive(s) did you visit and can you describe the archive a little?
One of the archives I visited this past summer was the Archives départementales de la Haute-Vienne in Limoges, France. This is a small archive run by the local government on the outskirts of the city. I went for the medieval material, but they had much more that would have been of interest to scholars of early modernity and modernity.
The building is fairly inconspicuous from the main street (there is a lining of trees), and the signs are small, so it can be easy to miss: it took me a minute to convince myself that I was in the right place. The inside, however, is very clean and well-maintained, and a lot of the things inside looked relatively new. You are supposed to register for a research pass before you arrive. After you deposit your bag in the lockers by the entrance, you can pick up your pass at the main desk (straight ahead, at the end of the corridor and through the doors).
The staff is smaller than you would find at a major archive, but large relative to the number of researchers that I saw working. There are usually at least two staff behind the desk to assist you. None of them seemed to be fluent in English, but if you (like me) struggle with spoken French, they are very patient should you need to write down the French or use a translator app on your phone. You choose your own seat, and are allowed to take photographs.
To request documents/manuscripts, you write the information on a paper slip in pencil. They will bring the box/folder to you at your seat when it is ready, but only one at a time. When you are finished with one box/folder, you can return it to the cart at the desk, hand the staff member the accompanying slip, and receive your next item. There are charging ports built into the research desks, but I did have trouble fitting my Apple laptop charger into them (it was too bulky to fit into the cubby). They also have a couple of rows of desktop computers.
A particularly useful part of this archive are the open-shelf printed materials that line two walls of the reading room. These include print catalogs which are mostly digitized, but which are easier to skim in hard copy. They also include a number of rarer local history resources, such as a complete set of the Bulletin de la Société archéologique et historique du Limousin.
What was the most exciting part of your archival trip?
For me, the most exciting part of the trip was seeing some of the autograph notes written by the monk Bernard Itier. The vast majority of the material I work with survives only in later copies, but in the case of Bernard, it is possible to find the original, handwritten notes that he wrote into the blank spaces of other manuscripts. It is really great to see these notes in person, since even though some of the notes are edited, the materiality of the notes is not always clear to me. In this archive, I got to see several small documents that Bernard had used almost as scrap paper: charters, chirographs, etc. This material context allows me to imagine Bernard’s writing practices much better than I could without seeing them for myself.
What was a challenge you encountered during your research? How did you overcome it?
It was unbearably hot during my time in Limoges (I think it was close to the all-time record high in France). Since my hotel was a far walk, and there was no feasible transit alternative, I had to time my walks very carefully so that I was not risking heat stroke at the peak hours of sunlight. It also meant that I had to acquire sunscreen and a hat, and figure out which routes to the archive took me through the most shade. Since I didn’t want to walk all the way back to town in the heat at lunchtime, I had to get smarter about planning my meal times and packing snacks in my bag to eat in the coffee area. Plenty of water was key. And (at the risk of TMI), I had to make sure that I didn’t request my manuscripts too quickly when I arrived, since the last thing you want is to get sweat on something from the twelfth century.
What’s a good museum to visit while in Limoges?
The Musée des Beaux Arts was incredible. It is right next to the cathedral (which hosts food and antique fairs during the summer), and it has a really nice garden with a view of the city behind it. The building is the old bishops’ palace, and is stunning. The exhibits range from Roman and medieval artifacts (in the basement) to paintings to enamel artworks. Enamel is the artistic medium for which Limoges is famous, and I absolutely loved seeing their displays show the evolution of the art form from the twelfth century to the twentieth century. It was very cool.
Did you receive any funding to support your research?
What advice would you give to someone interested in pursuing historical research?
Talk to as many people as possible first: all our best ideas usually flow from conversations with friends and mentors.
A French meal. Patrick’s argument for researching in France.
From the Archives is a special series for the Fordham History blog which highlights the research experiences of members of the history department in an effort to bothshowcase their work and provide insight for future researchers preparing for their own archival projects.
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Ron Braasch – History department PhD Candidate (Cohort 2017-18) working with Dr. Maryanne Kowaleski and Nicholas L. Paul – is currently competing his dissertation entitled: “Supporting the Fight: Combat Support Personnel in English Expeditionary Armies During the Hundred Years’ War.” In this week’s From the Archives, Ron shares some of his experiences while researching at The National Archives of England, the British Library, and the Duchy of Cornwall Office Headquarters.
Have you ever had a question that bugged you? Some topic of scholarship that made you ask, “why do scholars consider it that way?” If you are reading this, then you no doubt have, and that is precisely what happened to me when I began researching the people who made medieval armies work. You know, the people behind the scenes whose toil and labor continuously fed the engine that was a medieval army. They were not, after all, noncombatants, as described by most scholars, but they also were not combatants in way we might conventionally think (e.g., knights, men-at-arms, or archers). So, armed with the research tools Fordham had given me and a mind full of wonder, I set out on a quest to examine personnel ranging from engineers and chaplains to medical practitioners and wagon drivers.
“Hi,” my name is Ron Braasch, and I am researching Combat Support Personnel in late medieval English armies. This past summer, I was able to travel to English archives to complete my research on these amazing, if not often talked about, medieval people. To do this, I visited three archives in England: The National Archives (TNA), The British Library (BL), and the Duchy of Cornwall Office Headquarters (DCO). In this short post, I wanted to share my journey with students across the university and ensure their success during their own expeditions to the archives.
Applying for Funding: Apply for funding early and consider submitting for multiple grants. I used two funding sources to support my trip: Fordham’s Student Support Grant and a General Omar Bradley Fellowship. This was not enough to cover everything, but it certainly lightened the load.
Travel with a buddy! If you have the opportunity to travel with someone familiar with the area, it can make things go much easier. Ph.D. Candidate Patrick Debrosse was conducting research at the same time near London, so we synchronized our trips. This made it much easier to get around the city and gain access to some very cool primary documents. Having a colleague in the same archives also allows you to compare translations when you think you have found that “eureka” moment.
Apply for a Reader Pass: If this is your initial visit to TNA or the BL, plan for extra time early in the day to get the appropriate ID Card. Some initial paperwork can be completed beforehand, but you will still have to show two forms of identification with your permanent address (a challenge for someone who moves often). Access to the DCO is tightly controlled and must be coordinated through london@duchyofcornwall.org.
Visiting the Archives: TNA was my first stop because it contained the most crucial evidence for my research: The Wardrobe Book of William de Farley, TNA E 101/393/11. This account book recorded the royal military finances of English King Edward III during his final campaign to France before the treaty of Bretigny in 1360. As Pat and I walked through the main doors, we turned left and found ourselves in the cafeteria. On our right was a bookshop. The lockers were further up to the right, where we could leave our bags, food, drink, etc. Next, we made our way to the second floor to sign in and, presenting our identification, received our passes. The second floor had numerous records, books, and other documents, but the score I was after was in the third-floor map room. A sprawling open space greeted us, scattered with large tables to handle oversized documents. We made our way back to the left to submit our request (Tip! You must request your document online ahead of time and ensure you include several items at once, so you have plenty of material for the day). At the counter, I received a dusty box with the appropriate designation. Then, finally sitting at the table with my prize, I removed the cover, and behold, there was Farley’s book, first penned in 1359.
Next, we traveled to the BL. An enormous building greeted us, and once inside, we followed the signs back and right to the waiting area to sign in. We arrived early, quickly received our library cards, and were off to the reading room on the other side of the building. Here I was able to examine two documents critical for my research: The Wardrobe Book of Robert Ferriby, another financial account concerning Edward’s campaigns in Scotland 1334-1338 (BL Manuscript Cotton Nero C VIII), and a collection of medical treatises by the famous fourteenth-century surgeon, John of Arderne (BL Sloane 3548) (Tip! Make sure you save time to visit the treasure room, which holds some of the world’s most impressive historical documents).
Our next excursion took us to the DCO across from Buckingham Palace. This took months of coordination—it is, after all, the London headquarters for the Duke of Cornwall—but the effort was entirely worth it. Upon ringing the bell, we were promptly greeted and led into a lush office on our left. As we entered the room, displayed before us was the object of my interest: the Account Book of John Henxteworth, 1355-1356. It is the only extant document containing detailed military finances from Edward, the Prince of Wales’ 1355 and 1356 military campaigns in France. Pat and I initially marveled at what treasures the document (pictured with the author) might hold, and we worked together to find entries for men such as William Blackwater, the Prince’s Physician. The DCO is worth the effort if you think they have documents to help your research.
One final note is to plan an extra day for research. I first heard this recommendation listening to a plenary lecture with Professor Geoffrey Parker at the Annual Symposium of Medieval and Renaissance Studies at Saint Louis University, and I put that advice to good use here. On the first day, I could not review all the material in Farley’s account, so I returned to TNA and completed my research. I also took photos of several other documents that had escaped my initial investigation. This extra day also allowed us to visit the sites of London (such as the British Museum!) and soak in the culture of such a historic place.
During our trip, we certainly faced challenges, such as a train strike which, at one point, forced us to walk an hour back to our lodgings. Overall, however, visiting the archives in England was a wonderful experience, and I hope these notes will help as you plan your own research journeys.
If this post has sparked your interest further, please check out some of the findings in my forthcoming article “Military Engineers as Combat Support Forces in the Armies of Edward III” Journal of Military History 87:2 (April, 2023) and on Twitter @r_braasch.
Author pictured with the Account Book of John Henxteworth located at the Duchy of Cornwall Office Headquarters, London, England
From the Archives is a special series for the Fordham History blog which highlights the research experiences of members of the history department in an effort to bothshowcase their work and provide insight for future researchers preparing for their own archival projects.
Comments Off on From the Archives: Ron Braasch, PhD Candidate visits The National Archives (TNA), The British Library (BL), and the Duchy of Cornwall Office Headquarters
