The Paston Letters, A.D. 1422-1509. Volume 4 (of 6)

Step inside the world of a mid‑15th‑century English household through the eyes of its own members. The collection gathers dozens of genuine letters, legal notes and short missives exchanged among the Paston family, their allies and rivals, revealing how politics, war and personal ambition touched everyday life. Written in the lively, sometimes uncertain spelling of the time, the correspondence reads like a real‑time chronicle of a family navigating the turbulence of the Wars of the Roses.

This volume opens with a poignant note from a wife to her imprisoned husband, a glimpse of anxiety, loyalty and the tangled web of courtly intrigue that surrounded the Pastons. Subsequent letters discuss land disputes, marriage negotiations, and the management of estates, all while preserving the intimate tone of parents, siblings and friends. Listeners will hear the cadence of medieval English speech and feel the urgency of messages that once traveled across battle‑scarred roads and crowded London docks.