Synopses & Reviews
In this invigorating collection of essays by leading medieval historians, the issue of laity—primarily the ideas and attitudes of lay people—are examined, as expressed in legal cases, charters, chronicles, and collective activities. The contributors focus on narratives from the Middle Ages, during a period of progress from irrational to rational thought. The essays range chronologically and geographically from the 7th to the 16th century, and from West Britain to Papal and urban Italy.
Synopsis
The primary focus of this collection by leading medieval historians is the laity, in particular the ideas and ideals of lay people. The contributors explore lay attitudes as expressed in legal cases, charters, chronicles and collective activities. Highlights the centrality of kinship, whilst stressing its limitations as an all purpose social bond. Ranges chronologically and geographically from the seventh century to the eve of the Reformation, from Western Britain to papal and urban Italy, from Carolingian dynastic politics to the decline of medieval pilgrimage in the sixteenth century, and from the courts of twelfth-century France to the fifteenth-century wards of London.
About the Author
Pauline Stafford is Professor of Medieval History at the University of Liverpool.
Janet L. Nelson is Professor of Medieval History at King's College, University of London.
Jane Martindale taught Medieval History at the University of East Anglia, and is a life member of Clare Hall, University of Cambridge.
Table of Contents
Writing about Charles Martel—Paul Fouracre * Peers in the Early Middle Ages—Janet L. Nelson * Stepmothers in Frankish Legal Life—Brigitte Kasten * Political Ideas in Late 10th-Century England: Charters as Evidence—Pauline Stafford * Medieval Mentalities and Primitive Legal Practice—Michael Clanchy * The Problem of Treason: The Trial of Daire le Roux—Stephen D. White * Between Law and Politics: The Judicial Duel Under the Angevin Kings—Jane Martindale * Local Custom in Early Common Law—Paul Brand * "Slaves of the Normans"?: Gerard de Barri and Regional Solidarity in Early 13th-Century England—John Gillingham * Kinsmen, Neighbors, and Communities in Wales and the Western British Isles, 1100-1400—Rees Davies * Lay Kinship Solidarity and Papal Law—David D'Avery * Laity, Laicicization and Philip the Fair of France—Elizabeth R. Brown * Lay Solidarities: The Wards of Medieval London—Caroline Barron * Language, Laughter, and Lay Solidarities: An Inquiry into the Decline of Pilgrimage and Crusading—Charles T. Wood * Lay/Clerical Distinctions in Early India—Romila Tharpar * A Bibliography of Susan Reynold's Work