Law, legislation and consent in the Plantagenet Empire: Wales and Ireland, 1272-1461

In recent years, scholars have begun to look afresh at the dynamics of English “imperial” power in the late medieval period, but the extent to which the English dominions were subject to English law and legislation – and why and how these influences varied between the regions, and over an extended period of time – has been considered less systematically, and rarely comparatively. With its focus on Wales and Ireland this discussion explores the synergies and the strains which shaped attitudes towards the authority of the late medieval English crown and which, ultimately, determined the extent of England’s influence beyond its borders. It shows that these attitudes were often fundamentally conflicted and contradictory. It highlights the difficulties of the English crown in seeking to balance the elitist agenda of its English subjects, on the one hand, with its desire to bring the Welsh and Irish more squarely within the orbit of the English state system, on the other hand. It also highlights the often inconsistent attitudes within the dominions themselves, which veered between welcoming or resisting the interference of the English crown. The discussion emphasizes how interaction between the English crown and the people of its dominions was shaped above all by dialogue and negotiation

Movement coordination of the lumbar spine and hip during a picking up activity in low back pain subjects

The effect of low back pain, with or without nerve root signs, on the joint coordination and kinematics of the lumbar spine and hips during everyday activities, such as picking up an object from the floor, are largely unknown. An experimental study was designed to compare lumbar spine and hip joint kinematics and coordination in subjects with and without sub-acute low back pain, while picking up an object in a sitting position. A three-dimensional real-time electromagnetic tracking device was used to measure movements of the lumbar spine and hips. Sixty participants with subacute low back pain, with or without straight leg raise signs, and twenty healthy asymptomatic participants were recruited. The ranges of motions of lumbar spine and hips were determined. Movement coordination between the two regions was examined by cross-correlation. Results showed that mobility was significantly reduced in subjects with back pain, who compensated for limited motion through various strategies. The contribution of the lumbar spine relative to that of the hip was, however, found to be similar in all groups. The lumbar spine–hip joint coordination was substantially altered in subjects with back pain, in particular, those with a positive straight leg raise sign. We conclude that changes in the lumbar and hip kinematics were related to back pain and limitation in straight leg raise. Lumbar–hip coordination was mainly affected by the presence of positive straight leg raise sign when picking up an object in a sitting position