PIMSPontifical Institute
of
Mediaeval Studies

The Worshipful Company of Barbers is one of the 110 livery companies of the City of London. It is also one of the oldest, having celebrated its 700th anniversary in 2008. The Master of the Barbers' Company is elected each year in August and holds office for one year.

Charitable activities underpin the ethos of the Company and reflect, in large part, its medical origins. Whilst being thoroughly modern in the way it operates, the Company cherishes its history and many of its ancient customs and keeps these alive by continuing its own traditions and fully participating in the civic life of the City of London.

Professor Carley is Distinguished Research Professor at York University, Associate Fellow at PIMS, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, and the foremost authority on the library of King Henry VIII. A specialist in Old and Middle English, the history of manuscripts, and in bibliography and the early Tudor period, he has published extensively on Glastonbury Abbey and its chronicles and is the author of two monographs on Henry VIII’s library and its sources. He is working on the second volume of his edition, translation and study of the De uiris illustribus of the Tudor antiquary and book collector John Leland, the first volume of which was co-published by PIMS and The Bodleian Library.