Page:Englishhistorica36londuoft.djvu/153

 1921 SHORT NOTICES 145 pregnant with suggestion on a many-sided subject. At first we wondered if the scheme of the author really permitted him to include his chapters on Averrhoism, Wyclifitism, and Husitism, but his arguments convinced us. Perhaps the two best chapters on medieval heresy are those which discuss ' the everlasting gospel ' and the ideas associated with the reform movements of the fourteenth century. These chapters — and indeed the whole book — are well furnished with documents, and the references to modern works prove that the author has kept abreast of the ideas of the investigators of the last thirty years. The survey of the thought of Joachim of Fiore is succinct, yet all the essential matter of a man who left a deep mark on the thought and the feeling of his day is set before us. The parallel drawn between Mazzini in his From the Council to God and instances is not overdone. The second part of the book is entirely con- cerned with the Inquisition proper, and here we think that Mr. Turberville has crossed the t's and dotted the i's of Mr. Lea's magnum opus. There is a thoughtful account of the attitude of the church towards heresy before the institution of the inquisition, and the beginnings of the new body are clearly given. Mr. Turberville is plainly right in pointing out that a large part of the work of the inquisition in the twelfth century lay in the preservation of law and order. The state was unable to dis- charge this part of its duty, and the church undertook it. It is now obvious that the Waldenses, for instance, threatened by the spread of their doctrines to overturn the civilization that was beginning to appear. If there was to be any progress, it was inevitable that the Waldenses must be persecuted, and accordingly persecuted they were. K. H. M. In view of the important revelation in the letter of John Walwyn, printed by Dr. Tanquerey in a former number of this Review, 1 of Edward II's escape from Berkeley Castle, a fresh examination into the whole mystery of *he king's death is particularly welcome. Professor Tout in The Captivity and Death of Edward of Carnarvon, reprinted from the Bulletin of the John Rylands Library, 1920, has undertaken a careful investigation of the evidence. Some facts are verified, some new details are added, but the mystery still remains unsolved. The success of the Dunhead conspiracy resulting in Edward's escape was, Mr. Tout conjec- tures, the cause of the king's death. . He was soon recaptured, and to avoid further risks was quietly put out of the way. Yet Mr. Tout also sees some justification for the widespread belief that Edward did not after all suffer death at Berkeley, that there may be some truth in the story that he escaped altogether, and another— perhaps the prison porter — was buried in state at Gloucester. In an appendix is printed from the Coram Rege Rolls of 5 Edward III a record of the appeal of Howel ap Gruffydd against William of Shalford which seems to contain definite evidence of Mortimer's responsibility for the crime. A. L. P. Carlo Cipolla unfortunately died before his edition of the Opere di Ferreto de" Ferreti could be completed. His close friend Monsignor 1 Ante, xxxi. 119. VOL. XXXVI. — NO. CXLI. L
 * the everlasting gospel ' is suggestive. The tendency to use modern