John Salmon's register is the earliest to survive for the diocese of Norwich: a complete record of institutions to ecclesiastical benefices during the quarter-century of his episcopate, from 1299 to 1325. Although his diocese wasnot the wealthiest in England, the early fourteenth century saw the region at the height of its ecclesiastical powers, with an abundance of churches and chapels and numerous religious houses.
Institutions to benefices and offices were at the heart of the work of the medieval bishop. This edition, which takes the form of a calendar supplemented with transcriptions and translations of entries of special interest, enables a detailed and thorough examination of the character and qualifications of the clergy who served local communities at the beginning of the fourteenth century; of the motives of the patrons who presented them to their livings; and of the concerns of the bishop himself.

ELIZABETH GEMMILL is Associate Professor in History and Fellow of Kellogg College, University of Oxford.