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Preface

Readers who chance upon this work may wonder why its editors have created a reference book when so much information is now freely available through the Internet. The explanation is the editors’ conviction that the book remains an effective medium for the presentation and communication of knowledge.

The content of books represents the desire of editors and authors to communicate with particular readers and users, and to address their perceived interests or requirements. Long‐established facilities, namely the book trade, book reviews and libraries, enable them to reach intended audiences. The Internet, despite its advantages for many purposes, can be a sprawling, uncertain medium. Although authors of websites can communicate potentially with over 4 billion people, they cannot necessarily reach interested readers; publishing through a website is rather like posting an announcement in the hope that someone might notice it. This absence of channelled interaction tends to encourage authors to give unlimited expression to their own concerns and enthusiasms, rather than providing what an audience wants. Books have other advantages. Many people find that they can browse more easily through printed books than through electronically held material and can absorb content more effectively from print than from a screen.

All facets of A Dictionary of British and Irish History have been carefully designed for particular users and purposes. It is aimed, in the first instance, at history students in universities, colleges and schools, in Britain and Ireland and worldwide. Like all reference books, it provides items of information that may be required instantly, such as definitions of concepts and dates of births, deaths, treaties and battles. But it also offers further assistance. Two difficulties often encountered in studying historical topics are ascertaining essential elements and appreciating them within broader contexts. The latter problem occurs particularly when history is studied as ‘modules’ covering brief periods or narrow topics. This Dictionary provides numerous short synoptic entries on broad subjects from which students can quickly absorb basic subject‐matter and appreciate it as part of a larger story. The provision of extensive cross‐referencing also enables students to expand their learning immediately. Content is deliberately factual and chronological in emphasis, rather than analytical; and brevity necessarily excludes deeper matters such as causation, consequences and alternative theories. The production of short entries has inevitably required simplicity, ruthless selection of facts and sometimes sharp generalization. The editors hope that use of the Dictionary’s entries will leave students with a clear grasp of basic information with which they can then tackle more detailed and discursive publications.

The editors further hope that the book will prove useful to other groups who need to obtain basic historical information rapidly and easily, such as teachers, journalists, museum curators, tourism promoters, civil servants, diplomats and politicians — not to mention readers who have a natural curiosity about the past.

In providing a reference work on British and Irish history, the editors have sought to be even‐handed in dealing with the component parts of the British Isles. This is done in a flexible way. For some topics (e.g., housing, the Reformation) there are separate entries on the constituent parts of Britain and on Ireland. In other instances (e.g., divorce law), a single entry covers different jurisdictions.

The editors wish to draw attention to and explain certain features of the Dictionary.

 Cross‐references: these occur within and at the end of entries and are shown by capitalization of words. Capitalized words within entries do not always correspond exactly to the headings of other entries; nevertheless they will be similar and easy to follow. Sometimes a key word within a phrase is capitalized to indicate an entry heading (e.g., ‘Church of Scotland’ refers to ‘Scotland, Church of’).

 Personal names: people are generally referred to by their normally used names rather than full names (the latter are mentioned mostly to elucidate use of initials; e.g., ‘William Ewart Gladstone’ to explain the entry heading ‘Gladstone, W.E.’).

 Historical periods: common period names (e.g., early medieval, Regency, Victorian) have been used sparingly; periods are frequently described in terms of centuries. This has been done partly to assist users who are unfamiliar with period names and partly because some names are used differently in the various parts of the British Isles. Period names are discussed in the entry ‘historical periods’.

 Dates between 5 Oct. 1582 and 2 Sept. 1752: these are given as ‘Old Style’ dates as were used officially in Britain and Ireland (rather than as the ‘New Style’ dates that were used in Continental Europe following adoption of the Gregorian Calendar).

 Start of year: this is taken throughout as 1 January, as became official in Scotland after 31 Dec. 1599 and in England, Wales and Ireland after 31 Dec. 1751.

 References to shires/counties and kingdoms: where a place is located by reference to a shire or county (from the 10th century in England, later elsewhere), the unit is normally the contemporaneous one (e.g., before 1965 some places now within London, such as Chiswick, are located by reference to the former county of Middlesex). Places are also sometimes located by reference to a contemporaneous kingdom (e.g., Gwynedd, Mercia).

 Places of birth and death in biographies: these are usually located partly by reference to the relevant contemporaneous kingdom, country or other territory, except that after the formation of Great Britain in 1707 places within Britain continue to be specified in relation to England, Scotland or Wales. In Ireland following partition (1921), places are located by reference to southern or Northern Ireland.

 Numbering of rulers: because of the varying geographical extents of rulers’ authority within the British Isles, some rulers of ‘multiple kingdoms’ or unified kingdoms have conventionally been known by different numbers in each kingdom or by a particular numbering. The Dictionary uses the following conventions. James VI of Scotland is normally called ‘James VI/I’ after his accession as James I in England and Ireland (1603), and his later namesake is ‘James VII/II’. English numbering is used for rulers called Henry (Henry II to Henry VIII) as lords of Ireland; William III as king of Ireland (its first William) and Scotland (the second William); the following as rulers of the United Kingdom: William IV, Edward VII and Edward VIII (the first and second Edwards for Scotland) and Elizabeth II (Scotland’s first Elizabeth).

 Use of term ‘lord’: references to the creation of a man as a ‘lord’ (from 1387 in England, 1462 in Ireland), or inheritance of such status, normally refer to the peerage rank of ‘baron’; other ranks, such as viscount, are usually designated. Note, however, that some men who ranked higher than baron are commonly referred to as ‘Lord’ (e.g., the 3rd Viscount Palmerston is usually called ‘Lord Palmerston’).