Medieval History (1066-1485)

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The Ties that Bind
(2021-11-04)
Dixon-Smith, Sally
;
Harper, April
Marriage in Europe became a central pillar of society during the medieval period. Theologians, lawyers, and secular and church leaders agreed on a unique outline of the institution and its legal framework, the essential features of which remained in force until the 1980s. The medieval Western European definition of marriage was unique: before the legal consequences of marriage came into being, the parties had to promise to engage in sexual union only with one partner and to remain in the marriage until one of the parties died. This requirement had profound implications for inheritance rules and for the organization of the family economy; it was explained and justified in a multitude of theological discussions and legal decisions across all faiths on the European continent. Normative texts, built on the foundations of the scriptures of several religious traditions, provided an impressive intellectual framework around marriage. In addition, developments in iconography, including sculpture and painting, projected the dominant model of marriage, while social, demographic and cultural changes encouraged its adoption.
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The Western Entrance to the Tower of London, 1240-1241
(2021-07-09)
Impey, Edward
The discovery in 1995 of a medieval structure within the fill of the Tower's western moat, close to the outer curtain wall and roughly halfway along it, led to further fieldwork in 1996 and 1997. This revealed a masonry platform, roughly 7m square, orientated on an approximate north-south axis. The eastern side was built into a bank of clay, the other three were faced in Reigate and Purbeck marble ashlar, set within a massive timber frame, which was linked to further framing to the west. The masonry and timberwork were both distorted by subsidence, an area of piling against the platform's eastern side having been driven in to stabilise the platform after the collapse of its super structure. The masonry was of late 12th or 13th-century type, but dendrochronological dating of the piles to 1240 may offer the precise date of its shoring up, probably its collapse, and possibly its construction. The coincidence of the building's position, its approximate date, the exact date of the piles and its structural failure almost certainly identify it with part of Henry III's new defences which, according to Matthew Paris, fell 'as if struck by an earthquake' in 1240 and 1241. The nature of the structure, its position, and the interpretation of the timber structure as a bridge identify it as a gate tower —probably an outer barbican. While the exact chronology of building, collapse and consolidation remain to be confirmed — together with the interpretation of Matthew Paris's text - the discovery vindicates Sir Howard Colvin's suggestion in 1963 that the principal entrance to the Tower in the mid 13th century was in this position. In addition, it has interesting implications for the form of the castle before the 1240s, in the period 1240-C.1280, and for the sequence and extent of Edward I's refortification.
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Découverte à la Tour de Londres
Impey, Edward
Une minutieuse enquete melant des sources epigraphiques du XllI s., des etudes archeologiques et divers documents couvrant plus de 100 ans d'histoire, a permis de lever le voile sur un des plus intriguants mysteres de la Tour de Londres : la disparition de la porte du roi Henri III. Par Edward Impey.
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Law and Arms: The Politics of Chivalry in Late Medieval England
(2020-07-17)
Musson, Anthony
THE MONARCH's RESPONSIBILITIES WERE eloquently symbolised in the two images on the obverse and reverse respectively of the great seal: the sovereign enthroned in majesty bearing the sword of justice; and as a knightly warrior on horseback with shield in one hand and outstretched sword in the other. This image highlights the monarch's constitutional proprieties, which were set out in his coronation oath and embodied his personal obligations to the realm. He undertook to the best of his ability to preserve peace and concord for the sake of God's church, clergy and people, maintain, defend and uphold ‘the just laws and customs which the people shall have chosen’ and ‘in all your judgments see that right and impartial justice is done in mercy and truth’. It was a potent image that accompanied the putting into effect of royal commands and was reflected in illuminated miniatures portraying the opening words of Bracton's De Legibus et Consuetudinibus Regni, which in turn echoed the Roman Emperor Justinian's maxim: ‘Clothed with arms, armed with laws’. The historiography of late medieval England and in particular the ‘long fourteenth century’ has benefitted considerably from renewed focus on constitutional, legal and administrative history. Through his revisionist work on the fifty-year reign of Edward III and a wider concern to foreground and understand contemporary political culture, Mark Ormrod has done much to restore to the picture the significance of the person (and personality) of the king. He has also sharpened focus on the intricate workings of royal government, especially the judicial and financial institutions (and their personnel) that underpinned its operations. His examination of kingship and what it meant to be king has stimulated a growing body of scholarship reappraising the reigns of monarchs and the role played by royal consorts in maintaining or destabilising the body politic and determining attitudes towards the crown. As Ormrod himself concludes in his influential biography, whatever Edward III's personal shortcomings, he was revered as a model ruler. Even a century after his death he was perceived to have conformed to the ideal of chivalric kingship, balancing valour with upholding the law: ‘this noble prince, this princely knight, this knightly conqueror so loved’, in whose days ‘God [was] obeyed, the course and recourse of merchandise justly kept and the order of the law [was] duly observed’.
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Men of Law
(2019-09-20)
Musson, Anthony
Gower's works were written during a formative period in the evolution of the judicial system and the legal profession. In particular his poetry was influenced by, and bears witness to, an expansion in the legal system and concomitantly of those staffing its institutions and facilitating the resolution of disputes. This expansion flowed from a heightened intensity in royal governance during the course of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries with the number of judicial commissions and the amount of parliamentary legislation steadily increasing with a corresponding growth in the level of the supervision and regulation of daily life. New laws, notably the labour legislation and a range of economic and criminal offences required strict enforcement at the local level in order to be effective. Unsurprisingly, searching inquiries frequently revealed corruption and injustices on the part of royal and local officials. Richard II's reign saw fresh expectations about the legal system fuelled by enhanced accessibility of legal mechanisms and the greater availability of legal practitioners. They were expectations that could not wholly be met, however, as the system was already creaking under the weight of the public and private business which was coming before the courts. While royal government attempted to respond to the social and economic challenges of the period with new legislation, it ended up confounding these new expec-tations by confirming stereotypes and prejudices as well as perpetuating injustices. In particular there was much criticism by contemporaries of the outlay necessary for pursuing litigation, of the remuneration required by lawyers for their services and of the profits available for those involved in the administration of justice. Legitimate relationships with patrons and payment for work done led to a focus not only on the processes of law (which were oiled by gifts and fees) but also on their social consequences: an accumulation of wealth evidenced by conspicuous consumption and social mobility. In an adversarial legal system where there were bound to be winners and losers, dissatisfaction inevitably centred on those within the system who gained whatever the outcome: the judges and lawyers. It is not surprising therefore, that the legal system and the legal profession were the subjects of voluble complaint, biting satire and suggestions for reform even before Gower entered the fray.
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Illuminated English Law Books
(2021-11-09)
Musson, Anthony
Illuminated books of the English legal tradition follow distinct iconographic patterns depending on the nature of the legal material included. The article explores correlations and dissonance between image and text as well as the symbolism associated with the imagery (in both initials and the margins) and its connection to political, legal and social discourses. It evaluates what the images reveal about key concepts of medieval law and justice, including kingship and good governance, the role of parliament and the church in endorsing these, as well as how these aspects might be undermined (or paradoxically confirmed) by medieval society’s penchant for role reversal, transgression and misrule.
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Marriage
(2019-07-11)
Dixon-Smith, Sally
Marriage in Chaucer’s time – how it was defined, created, and who could get married – was significantly different from what it is today. Chaucer clearly knew the canon law of marriage, promulgated through preaching and enforced via the church courts. It was incredibly easy to get married (even, perhaps, unintentionally), through words or deeds, such as exchanging rings like Troilus and Criseyde, or having sex while engaged. However, divorce, in the modern sense of voluntarily ending a valid marriage, did not exist. Joan of Kent’s marriage history illustrates how a clandestine marriage, although strictly prohibited, would still be held up in court and could overturn a subsequent, properly publicised, marriage. Second marriages, to the dismay of the Wife of Bath, were regarded as lesser, as their religious symbolism was flawed. The Church wanted exogamy (marrying outside the wider kinship group) but the main concern for many people was maintaining and increasing their social status.
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Networks and Influences: Contextualising Personnel and Procedures in the Court of Chivalry
(2020)
Musson, Anthony
The Court of Chivalry enjoyed a high political profile, owing to the military nature of the suits and the high social status of its litigants. Within the context of long periods of warfare during the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, the Court maintained its reputation on account of nobles and knights wishing to challenge the legitimacy of perceived rights to lucrative ransoms of prisoners or to bear heraldic coats of arms. The procedures employed were predominantly those of the continental ius commune rather than the common law, probably on account of the international body of customs and practices found in the 'law and custom of arms' which underpinned the legal principles applied in the Court. In addition to its eclectic jurisdiction, the networks and connections of the legal personnel helped shape its distinct identity. The Court formed a nexus where highly qualified men from other courts and administrative traditions pooled their considerable intellectual understanding and practical experience. They were often educated in civil and/or canon law, but were probably both respected and well-placed from their involvement in parliament and other diplomatic and judicial business to act as commissioners and advocates in the often highly charged political circumstances of Court of Chivalry cases.
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An admonitory wall painting at the Tower of London
(2016-12-01)
Spooner, Jane
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‘The Chamber called Gloriette’ : Living at Leisure in Thirteenth- and Fourteenth-Century Castles
(2013-07-18)
Ashbee, Jeremy A.
Recent research at Chepstow Castle has identified a chamber known by the name ‘Gloriette’. Other buildings with this name have previously been identified at Corfe, Leeds and Hesdin Castles and at Canterbury Cathedral Priory. ‘Gloriette’ has usually been explained as a reference to a type of garden building in the Islamic world, transposed to northern Europe either from Spain or Sicily, though the word's etymology, and the particularities of each site make this interpretation difficult. The architectural differences between oriental garden pavilions and 13th-century Gothic chambers, and the particular association of the term with castles rather than unfortified manors, suggest an alternative meaning. It is proposed that ‘Gloriette’ was more immediately a reference to a 12th-century chanson de geste, ‘la Prise d'Orange’, in which the name was used for an exotic marble tower. In this chanson, ‘Gloriette’ was the scene of romantic and military adventures of the kind to which Christian knights might aspire. However, the recurrent association of the word with Islamic Spain suggests that European patrons adopted it with these connotations of a sophisticated alien culture in mind.
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Medieval History (1066-1485)

Medieval History (1066-1485)

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