Books by Nicholas Orme

Exeter Cathedral is rich in its medieval archives, which record not only its buildings but also its personnel from the thirteenth century onwards. This volume lists the names of about a thousand people who served in the Cathedralbetween 1250 and the Reformation in 1548, including vicars choral, chantry priests and choristers. It provides their biographies as far as these can be constructed. In this way the book recreates a medieval religious community inalmost unparalleled detail, ranging from distinguished musicians to violent or unsatisfactory men, some of whom were dismissed. It also traces many of the boys and men back to their places of origin in Devon and Cornwall, and shows how cathedral clergy often left to work in churches elsewhere in the South West. It is therefore an important resource for local history, providing information about the origins and careers of many clergy of the region's parishchurches.

The first English hospitals appeared soon after the Norman Conquest. By the year 1300 they numbered over 500, caring for the sick at every level of society. This text traces their origin and follows their development through the crisis periods of the Black Death and the Reformation.

In 1857 Everard Digby published the first scientific treatise on swimming - and one of the first on any modern sport. Nicholas Orme rehabilitates Digby as a pioneer of the history of sport. The book opens with a history of swimming in Britain from the Romans to the sixteenth century, which is followed by an account of Digby's life and work.