2024/02/13 by Jinming Yi · 1 voice
Arts and Humanities · #Medieval Literature and History #Historical Studies of British Isles #Scottish History and National Identity
paper · pdf · doi:10.1017/s0963926823000767
openalex publication_date 2024/02/13 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/05/21
Abstract Using York during the late thirteenth and early fourteenth centuries as a case-study, this article discusses a pivotal aspect of the development of civic administrative literacy: the inception of record-keeping. Previous historians have failed to note the evident advancement in York’s civic administrative literacy during the late thirteenth century, and they have usually dated the earliest surviving urban records to the mid-fourteenth century. By comparing different classes of civic and ecclesiastical records, this article reveals that York’s civic administration was in fact engaged in archival preservation from the late thirteenth century. In addition, by examining evidence that appears sporadically in royal archives, this article argues that the commencement of York’s urban archive was significantly influenced by the policies and archival activities of the royal government. Overall, this article aims to contribute to the literature on the early history of civic administrative literacy.