This is the first scholarly history of the rise of the Townshends, who were to become the most famous landowning family in Norfolk. Moreton exploits to the full the rich family archives in order to tell the story of individuals such as Roger Townshend I, a prominent lawyer of the late fifteenth century, and his son, also Roger, a leading country gentlemen. Moreton traces the growth in the Townshends' wealth and power in the late middle ages, and sets...