Evolution of the Word 'Assault' and Margaret Paston's Spelling Choices

In the 1400s, rising literacy rates and access to cheap paper combined to produce the first collections of personal letters in the English language. One of the earliest letter collections was maintained by the Paston family of Norfolk. Their letters reflect the struggles of an upstart family against the traditional landed nobility, and they provide an important perspective on the family dispute that became known as The Wars of the Roses.

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