, ed. Gwilym Dodd and Alison K. McHardy. Publications of the Lincoln Record Society 108. Woodbridge, UK: Boydell Press, 2020, pp. lxvi, 375.

The editors’ intention in publishing this selection of 190 petitions to the English royal government from the county of Lincolnshire is to reveal the range of problems the king’s subjects faced in the region. They provide a fine introduction that discusses the characteristics of the records, including the rhetorical strategies employed in petitioning, and the political and economic background of life in the county. Lincolnshire was a large region, mostly agricultural in nature but there were a few mid-sized towns, notably the county seat, Lincoln, and the port of Boston. Their problems were rather different from those of the villages, and the editors devote a section of the introduction to these urban issues. Another section of the introduction addresses ecclesiastical matters, and a brief conclusion lays out the editorial protocols the editors have followed. The editors attempt to date each petition, offer a transcription and translation of each and provide copious and very helpful notes as well as other pertinent records to allow for the identification of parties and witnesses and the proper understanding of the disputes that led men and women – mostly men – of all stations to seek the aid of the crown. There is an excellent index, which will facilitate use of the volume.