ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
In editing this volume, I have received help from many quarters. My
wife, Eileen, painstakingly typed the text from a difficult script. Dr.
Elspeth Veale gave generous assistance with the compilation of the
index. Invaluable help has been given by the staffs of the Public Record
Office and the Department of Manuscripts of the British Library. The
London Record Society is indebted to the Keeper of the Public Records
for permission to publish the documents contained in this volume.
I am most grateful to Dr. DeLloyd J. Guth for allowing me to make
extensive use of his unpublished thesis on 'Exchequer Penal Law
Enforcement, 1485–1509'. Those who have generously advised on specific points include Professor Sydney Anglo, Mr. J. L. Bolton, Miss
Heather Creaton, Dr. Brian Dietz, Mr. Geoffrey Harris, Dr. Derek
Keene, Mr. Rhys Robinson and the late Mr. John Nevinson.
My special thanks are due to Mr. William Kellaway, the general
editor of the London Record Society from 1964 to 1983, who not only
suggested this project, but also offered steady encouragement
throughout its very slow progress towards completion.