Medieval Legal Process

Physical, Spoken and Written Performance in the Middle Ages

Edited by Marco Mostert Edited by Paul Barnwell

Book cover: Medieval Legal Process

Extent: 308 pages

Publisher: Brepols Publishers

Subjects: Medieval Studies

Series: Utrecht Studies in Medieval Literacy

Series volume number: 22

Language: English

Hardback (Published)

(November 2011)

ISBN: 9782503541747

Price: $108.00

Out of stock

In medieval legal transactions the use of the written word was only one of many ways of conducting business. Important roles were played by the spoken word and by the ‘action’ of ritual. The relationship between ‘rituals’ and literacy has been the focus of much recent research. Medieval societies which made extensive use of written instruments in legal transactions have been shown to employ rituals as well. This has led to investigation of the respective functions of written instruments and legal rituals. What is the nature of legal rituals? If they included oral verbalization, how did the spoken words relate to those of the written instruments that played a role in the same legal transactions? Usually, we only have the written documents to answer these questions, and they are often silent about the rituals and oral elements of the transactions they document. Furthermore, the importance attached to written instruments and rituals may not have been the same at all levels of a society, differing, for example, between princely and local courts. The contributors to this volume discuss fifteen cases, ranging from the early Middle Ages to the eighteenth century, and from England to Galician Rus’.

  • Edited by Marco Mostert
  • Edited by Paul Barnwell