A study of the evolution of the knightly class in Coventry and Warwickshire.
List of illustrations; Acknowledgements; List of abbreviations; 1. Problems and perspectives; 2. The honour and locality of Coventry; 3. Town and country during and after the time of Earl Ranulf III; 4. Seignorial economy and the restructuring of estates; 5. Lords and free tenants; 6. Declining interests; 7. Knighthood in society; 8. The fortunes of the knightly class in thirteenth-century Warwickshire; 9. Conclusion: the origins of the gentry; Bibliography; Index.