SECRETS of medieval life up North have emerged from 14th century records held in the University of York’s archives.

Some of the stories within the records include a nun who faked her own death and an archbishop who went into battle with an army of clergymen.

Joan of Leeds was fed up of her life in a medieval nunnery. By 1318, her urge to escape the vows she had pledged to poverty, chastity and obedience had grown so strong that she resorted to faking her own death.

After tricking her fellow sisters into burying a dummy they believed to be her body, Joan fled. But alas, her freedom was short lived as she was soon discovered and ordered to return to the convent by the Archbishop of York.

Archivists from the Borthwick Institute for Archives at the University of York have uncovered Joan’s story as they begin to explore registers recording the business of the archbishops of York between 1304 and 1405.

Ink, skilfully scrawled onto parchment by medieval scribes, preserves the secrets of people – from nobles to peasants and bishops to curates - who lived during periods of disease, war, famine, political strife and religious reformation in the King’s City in the North and surrounding province.

Before coming into the University’s care, the 16 heavy volumes had endured a perilous existence and have not been extensively studied. In the Middle Ages they were carried by the Archbishop’s officials on his travels; after the English Civil War they found their way to storage in London, only being restored to the Diocesan Registry in York Minster in the late 18th century. Parts of some registers have been published, but often untranslated from the original Latin.

Now, with an injection of just under £1million of funding from the Arts and Humanities Research Council, a research team of medieval historians and archivists from the University and The National Archives (UK) are taking on the painstaking task of translating the volumes and indexing them to make their contents digitally available to all for free.

Professor Sarah Rees Jones, medieval historian at the University of York and Principal Investigator on the project, said: “Archbishops of York in the 14th century had incredibly varied roles.

“On the one hand they carried out diplomatic work in Europe and Rome and rubbed shoulders with the VIPs of the Middle Ages. However, they were also on the ground resolving disputes between ordinary people, inspecting priories and monasteries and correcting wayward monks and nuns.

“That’s why these registers provide such a rich account of people from all walks of 14th century life during a fascinating and extremely turbulent period.”

Over the course of their research, the team is hoping to find out more about some of history’s most extraordinary archbishops - characters such as William Melton, who led an army of priests and citizens into battle to defend the City of York against the Scots in 1319.

The project, called ‘The Northern Way’ will run for 33 months in partnership with The National Archives (UK) and with the support of the Chapter of York Minster. The team will also generate a programme of lectures, publications and joint research with local history groups and postgraduate students.

Once indexed, the material from the registers will be linked via the York’s Archishops’ Registers Revealed platform to ecclesiastical records at The National Archives, the British Library and York Minster to provide a complete picture of the role of the northern archbishops in national affairs.