The Register of Richard Praty, Bishop of Chichester, 1438-1445

A rare survival among Chichester registers, this gives a full and rounded picture of the diocese during a period when many other church records are thin and formulaic. This is one of only three surviving Chichester bishops' registers, and the last to be published. It gives a full and detailed picture of church life during the middle years of Henry VI's reign, and so presents a valuable corrective to the period as one dominated by political strife. Richard Praty was an Oxford-trained theologian, an expert on the treatment of heretics, and a conscientious resident diocesan who worked hard to uphold standards, to ordain clergy, and yet to fulfil his obligations to the crown. It is among the richest and fullest of any bishop's register of the fifteenth century, and paints a true picture, warts and all, of the late-medieval English church.