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This article examines the Scalacronica, a chronographic work authored by the soldier and knight Thomas Gray (d. 1369), as a work of political thinking. In doing so, it takes inspiration from recent approaches which have diversified the kinds of sources used in the study of political ideas. Three themes in the Scalacronica — the king’s use of the realm’s resources, the provision of counsel, and the wider role of the nobility and of kingship itself — are examined closely and situated in context to illustrate that Gray’s text offers a valuable — and rare — knight’s eye view into late medieval political thinking. More broadly, this article shows how the study of political ideas can continue to be refined by the study of a wider range of texts and documents. This will enable historians to situate the lives of political actors firmly into a diverse and sometimes contradictory spectrum of political thinking.
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