A unique portrait of the English working people in the Middle Ages and their relationship with the sea
 
In November 1294, Edward I wrote to 26 English ports and told each of them to build, or help others to build, ‘a good and beautiful galley of 120 oars’. Galleys were among the most powerful naval vessels of their day, and Edward wanted them for his wars with France and Scotland. Twenty galleys were actually ordered, and in the end only ten were delivered along with seven smaller oared vessels called barges.
 
What makes these galleys more than just a piece of obscure naval history is that financial accounts and other records survive for them. They tell us about war and about medieval technology operating at its limits, but crucially they also make it possible to explore life and work on the English coast and its two greatest cities, London and York. The galley accounts offer a way of discovering what made England tick in the late 13th century, just as the English population was reaching its medieval peak, before the famines and plagues of the 14th century that devastated the country.
 
The book builds on Ian Friel’s many years of research into medieval maritime history. The abundant information in these documents is combined with evidence from other historical sources, as well as insights from terrestrial and maritime archaeology, studies of human remains, placenames and topography.