ABSTRACT
The late thirteenth century has been identified as a turning point in the evolution of the relationship between the English church and crown, when cooperation rather than conflict became the norm and the balance ultimately tipped strongly in favor of the king. This essay will examine one particular episode in this history, the dispute between King Edward I and the Dean and Chapter of Lincoln over the advowson of the church of Ashbourne. Using manuscripts preserved in the Lincoln Cathedral Library, the essay will show how a seemingly isolated case involving one parish church fits into the broader evolution of church-crown relations in later medieval England.
