Law and the Illicit in Medieval Europe

by Karras, Ruth Mazo; Kaye, Joel; Matter, E. Ann

• ISBN13: 9780812221060
• ISBN10: 0812221060
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2010-03-19
• Publisher: Univ of Pennsylvania Pr

Summary

In the popular imagination, the Middle Ages are often associated with lawlessness. As historians have long recognized, however, medieval culture was characterized by an enormous respect for law, legal procedure, and the ideals of justice and equity. Many of our most important modern institutions and legal conceptions grew out of medieval law in its myriad forms (Roman, canon, common, customary, and feudal). Institutional structures represent only a small portion of the wider cultural field affected by--and affecting--law. InLaw and the Illicit in Medieval Europesuch distinguished scholars as Patrick Geary, William Chester Jordan, R. I. Moore, Edward M. Peters, and Susan Mosher Stuard make the case that the development of law is deeply implicated in the growth of medieval theology and Christian doctrine; the construction of discourses on sin, human nature, honor, and virtue; the multiplying forms governing chivalry, demeanor, and social interaction, including gender relations; and the evolution of scholasticism, from its institutional context within the university to its forms of presentation, argumentation, and proof.

Author Biography

Ruth Mazo Karras is Professor of History at the University of Minnesota and author of The Voice of My Beloved: The Song of Songs in Western Medieval Christianity, also published by the University of Pennsylvania Press.

Table of Contents

Perface	p. xi
Introduction: The Reordering of Law and the Illicit in Eleventh-and Twelfth-Century Europe	p. 1
Legal Systems
A Fresh Look at Medieval Sanctuary	p. 17
Heresy as Politics and the Politics of Heresy, 1022-1180	p. 33
Legal Ethics: A Medieval Ghost Story	p. 47
The Ties That Bind: Legal Status and Imperial Power	p. 57
Writing the Law
Licit and Illicit in the Yarnall Collection at the University of Pennsylvania: Pages from the Decretals of Pope Gregory IX	p. 71
Judicial Violence and Torture in the Carolingian Empire	p. 79
The Ambiguity of Treason in Anglo-Norman-French Law, c. 1150-c. 1250	p. 89
Illicit Religion: The Case of Friar Matthew Grabow, O.P.	p. 103
Marriage, Concubinage, and the Law	p. 117
Cases And Trials
Crusaders' Rights Revisited: The Use and Abuse of Crusader Privileges in Early Thirteenth-Century France	p. 133
Learned Opinion and Royal Justice: The Role of Paris Masters of Theology During the Reign of Philip the Fair	p. 149
Coin and Punishment in Medieval Venice	p. 164
Law Beyond the Law
Licit and Illicit in the Rhetoric of the Investiture Conflict	p. 183
Satisfying the laws: The Legenda of Maria of Venice	p. 197
Canon Law and Chaucer on Licit and Illicit Magic	p. 211
Law, Magic, and Science: Constructing a Border Between Licit and Illicit Knowledge in the Writings of Nicole Oresme	p. 225
List of Abbreviations	p. 239
Notes	p. 241
List of Contributors	p. 305
Index	p. 307
Acknowledgments	p. 317
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