Unit information: Bristol, c. 1000-1542 in 2013/14

Unit name	Bristol, c. 1000-1542
Unit code	HISTM0006
Credit points	20
Level of study	M/7
Teaching block(s)	Teaching Block 2 (weeks 13 - 24)
Unit director	Dr. Jones
Open unit status	Not open
Pre-requisites	None
Co-requisites	None
School/department	Department of History (Historical Studies)
Faculty	Faculty of Arts

Description including Unit Aims

The unit will examine the development of Bristol from its foundation, some time before 1000, till it became a city in 1542. It will focus on why the town was so successful, why it took the physical form it did and what role Bristol played in the regional and international economy. Extensive use will be made of both archaeological and documentary material. Archaeological sources will include examinations of standing buildings, street plans and excavation reports. Students will also learn how to interpret and analyse the differing forms of urban records available on the town. While most teaching and research will be based on the extensive collections of published medieval records on the town, students will also be introduced to original documents at the Bristol Record Office.

Teaching Information

Seminars

Assessment Information

1 essay

Reading and References

• Adams, William: Adams's Chronicle of Bristol (J.W. Arrowsmith 1910), http://www.archive.org/details/adamsschronicleo00adamuoft
• Adolphus Ballard,(ed.), British Borough Charters, 1042-1216 (CUP 1913)
• B S Smith and E Ralph, A History of Bristol and Gloucestershire (Phillimore 1996D. Keene, Survey of Medieval Winchester (OUP, 1985) vol. 1
• C. D. Liddy, War, Politics and Finance in Late Medieval English Towns: Bristol, York and the Crown, 1350-1400 (Boydell 2005) 'Urban charters', 190-212
• Clive Burgess (ed), The pre-Reformation records of All Saints’, Bristol I, Bristol Record Society 1995
• Colin Platt, The English Medieval Town (Paladin, 1976), 'Borough Constitution'