Grace Book B

Grace Book B Synopsis

'Grace books' were the volumes in which scribes recorded decisions of the administration of the University of Cambridge during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. Many of the 'graces' concern the conferral of degrees on individuals, but others refer to more general University business including appointment of teachers and preachers, leaves of absence, inventories and financial records, and the resolution of disputes.

Grace Book B, Part 1 covers the years from 1488 to 1511, and this transcription was first published in 1903 with an introduction by Mary Bateson of Newnham College which explains the terminology and the administrative systems underlying it, and the changes they underwent during this period. The Latin documents transcribed in this publication constitute a valuable source for those researching British history and institutions in the early Tudor period, and this reissue will make them readily available to scholars today.