William Stubbs (1825–1901), is one of the leading historians of his generation, pursued his academic research alongside his work as a clergyman. He was elected Regius Professor of Modern History at Oxford in 1866 and ap-pointed a bishop in 1884. Stubbs was a major figure in medieval English historiography, with special interests in legal and constitutional history. This work was first published in 1870. It begins with an outline of English constitutional history, which he urged should be part of the curriculum, and then presents documents from Roman times up to the thirteenth century.