Loyalty in the Middle Ages

Although ‘loyalty’ is in itself a relatively modern term, as a phenomenon it has long been recognised as a fundamental element of social relationships. The essays collected in this volume address the concept of loyalty as it was understood in the Middle Ages, exploring the theme of loyalty from three separate angles–the ties between individuals (such as marriage or feudal ties), the ties between individuals and groups (for example, the role of the individual in their wider family), and the ties between institutions and groups (such as monastic orders or guilds)–and questioning how, when, and why the phenomenon of loyalty first developed. This volume, which draws together contributions from leading historians, explores how loyalty was manifested, both in public and in private, in the medieval world. Covering topics as diverse as religious orders, royal courts, and funeral customs, the essays collected here explore the interplay between loyalty and love, friendship, obedience, and justice, and question how the value of loyalty functioned both in theory and in practice across a range of social spaces. Together, these articles offer a unique new perspective on medieval society and provide a framework that also promises to be fruitful for future research.

Although ‘loyalty’ is in itself a relatively modern term, as a phenomenon it has long been recognised as a fundamental element of social relationships. The essays collected in this volume address the concept of loyalty as it was understood in the Middle Ages, exploring the theme of loyalty from three separate angles–the ties between individuals (such as marriage or feudal ties), the ties between individuals and groups (for example, the role of the individual in their wider family), and the ties between institutions and groups (such as monastic orders or guilds)–and questioning how, when, and why the phenomenon of loyalty first developed. This volume, which draws together contributions from leading historians, explores how loyalty was manifested, both in public and in private, in the medieval world. Covering topics as diverse as religious orders, royal courts, and funeral customs, the essays collected here explore the interplay between loyalty and love, friendship, obedience, and justice, and question how the value of loyalty functioned both in theory and in practice across a range of social spaces. Together, these articles offer a unique new perspective on medieval society and provide a framework that also promises to be fruitful for future research.

Coralie Zermatten and Jorg Sonntag, Loyalty in the Middle Ages: Introductory Remarks on a Cross-Social Value Part I: Individual Bonds of Loyalty: Friendship and 'Treue' Here and Hereafter Rudolf Kilian Weigand, Siegfrieds verlorene Siege: Oder: Loyalitat der Schwachen? Todliche Spiele im 'Nibelungenlied' - Klaus Oschema, Der loyale Freund ist eine feste Burg. Loyalitat als Charakteristikum der Freundschaft spaten Mittelalter - Jean-Claude Schmitt, 'Leal souvenir' - Brian Golding, Burials, Benefactions and the Bohuns: Dynastic and Monastic Loyalties in Medieval England - Ludovic Viallet, 'Nos qui cum eo fuimus': Gefahrten und Mitstreiter der franziskanischen Reformatoren im 15. Jahrhundert. Das Beispiel von Johannes KapistranPart II: Political Expressions of Loyalty: Commitments as Stabilisators of Order Hans-Joachim Schmidt, Schreckensherrschaft: Urteile und Bewertungen von der spaten Antike bis zum hohen Mittelalter - Rosamond Mckitterick, The Oaths of Strasbourg (842) and their Implications in the Light of Recent Scholarship- Maria Pia Alberzoni, Fides - fiducia - fedus im politischen Sprachgebrauch der lombardischen Kommunen im 13. Jahrhundert- Karl-Heinz Spiess, Loyalitat und Illoyalitat an spatmittelalterlichen Furstenhofen im Reich - David d'Avray, The Papacy, the French Monarchy, and Reciprocal Loyalty- Jens Rohrkasten, Englische Ordenshauser in der Anfangsphase des Hundertjahrigen Krieges - Nikolas Jaspert, Zur Loyalitat interkultureller Makler im Mittelmeerraum: Christliche Soldnerfuhrer (alcayts) im Dienste muslimischer Sultane Part III: Loyalty and Faith: Obedience and Pragmatism in Religious Communities Steven Vanderputten, Communities of Practice and Emotional Aspects of Loyalty in Tenth- and Eleventh-Century Monasticism - Patrick McGuire, Loyalty and Betrayal in Bernard of Clarivaux - Bernard Ardura, The Religious Profession in the Order of the Canons Regular of Premontre: A Challenge of Loyalty - Anne Muller, Divided Loyalties in Religious Orders: Structures and Patterns in Cistercian Wales and Ireland- Michael Cusato, 'Cucullus non facit monachum'? The Controversy over the Franciscan Habit in the Early Fourteenth Century Resume: Concluding Reflections on the Book's Perspectives Patrick Geary, Felix Dahn's Deutsche Treue: Loyalty and its Alternatives in the Tenth Century - Karl-Siegbert Rehberg, Reziprozitat und institutionelle Risikoverminderung: Soziologische Anmerkungen zur "Loyalitat"

• Edited by Jorg Sonntag
• Edited by Coralie Zermatten