Largely unpublished hitherto, the materials contained in The Records of Convocation have been drawn from a variety of sources. They make available, for the first time, the fullest possible account of the convocations which stood at the very heart of the nation's life throughout most of the medieval and early modern period. The Records of Convocation contain the minutes of clergy synods, the legislation passed by them tax assessments imposed by the king on the clergy, and accounts of the great debates about religious reformation and reform.

The core of this edition relates to the convocations of the Church of England, beginning in 1313. Six volumes are devoted to the province of Canterbury in the later period (plus Introductory and Index volumes). They contain all the records surviving from 1509 until the revival of convocation by the Victorians after over a century's suspension in 1852. Scholars will find the materials for the period up to1666 of particular interest, as the original records were burnt in the great fire of London and have been reconstructed from copies and allusions found elsewhere.