Tim William Machan
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- January 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199282128
- eISBN:
- 9780191718991
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199282128.003.0003
- Subject:
- Linguistics, Historical Linguistics, English Language
This chapter explores the ways in which linguistic beliefs convey meaning. It considers both the role of English within the linguistic repertoire of the period (its relations to Latin and French in ...
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This chapter explores the ways in which linguistic beliefs convey meaning. It considers both the role of English within the linguistic repertoire of the period (its relations to Latin and French in particular) and the relative status among varieties of English.Less
This chapter explores the ways in which linguistic beliefs convey meaning. It considers both the role of English within the linguistic repertoire of the period (its relations to Latin and French in particular) and the relative status among varieties of English.
P. J. P. Goldberg
- Published in print:
- 1992
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198201540
- eISBN:
- 9780191674938
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198201540.003.0008
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Medieval History, Economic History
This chapter explores more fully the structure of late medieval English society and examines the role women played in economic life. It compares and contrasts this with the post-medieval English ...
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This chapter explores more fully the structure of late medieval English society and examines the role women played in economic life. It compares and contrasts this with the post-medieval English evidence and some continental evidence, notably for Tuscany around the time of the great tax survey or catasto of 1427, a society that allowed women little economic or emotional independence. On one hand, it considers the issue of household and marriage in late medieval England. On the other hand, it considers the wider question of the relationship between movements in the economy. It proposes a new hypothesis that links increasing demand for female labour with greater autonomy for women in deciding when and whom to marry. This hypothesis suggests an essentially anti-Malthusian relationship between nuptiality and economic opportunity for women.Less
This chapter explores more fully the structure of late medieval English society and examines the role women played in economic life. It compares and contrasts this with the post-medieval English evidence and some continental evidence, notably for Tuscany around the time of the great tax survey or catasto of 1427, a society that allowed women little economic or emotional independence. On one hand, it considers the issue of household and marriage in late medieval England. On the other hand, it considers the wider question of the relationship between movements in the economy. It proposes a new hypothesis that links increasing demand for female labour with greater autonomy for women in deciding when and whom to marry. This hypothesis suggests an essentially anti-Malthusian relationship between nuptiality and economic opportunity for women.
ROGER B. MANNING
- Published in print:
- 1993
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780198203247
- eISBN:
- 9780191675805
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198203247.003.0002
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Early Modern History, Social History
This chapter examines the social and cultural context of hunting in late-medieval England. An analysis of the deer-hunting reveals much about the aristocracy and gentry of Tudor and early Stuart ...
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This chapter examines the social and cultural context of hunting in late-medieval England. An analysis of the deer-hunting reveals much about the aristocracy and gentry of Tudor and early Stuart England. The chapter explains that in the absence of war, the rituals of hunting symbolically helped to define these social classes as a military elite, and that hunting also served as a kind of preparation for war. It argues that unlawful deer hunting represented an attack upon the royal or aristocratic hunting preserve as a symbol of power, prerogative, and privilege.Less
This chapter examines the social and cultural context of hunting in late-medieval England. An analysis of the deer-hunting reveals much about the aristocracy and gentry of Tudor and early Stuart England. The chapter explains that in the absence of war, the rituals of hunting symbolically helped to define these social classes as a military elite, and that hunting also served as a kind of preparation for war. It argues that unlawful deer hunting represented an attack upon the royal or aristocratic hunting preserve as a symbol of power, prerogative, and privilege.
Eliza Hartrich
- Published in print:
- 2019
- Published Online:
- September 2019
- ISBN:
- 9780198844426
- eISBN:
- 9780191879975
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780198844426.003.0007
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Medieval History
This introduction suggests that political practices, discourses, and events in fifteenth-century England were shaped by the experiences of those who governed, lived in, and travelled through towns. ...
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This introduction suggests that political practices, discourses, and events in fifteenth-century England were shaped by the experiences of those who governed, lived in, and travelled through towns. The tradition, however, of studying individual English towns, rather than assessing the collective influence of multiple towns, has made it difficult for the role of townspeople and urban spaces in English political life to be appreciated. Here, a new methodology is proposed for studying relationships between towns and for tracing the relative strength of this inter-connected ‘urban sector’ at particular points in time. Fluctuations in the membership and strength of this ‘urban sector’ had significant implications for how pivotal events in English history—including the Wars of the Roses—played out.Less
This introduction suggests that political practices, discourses, and events in fifteenth-century England were shaped by the experiences of those who governed, lived in, and travelled through towns. The tradition, however, of studying individual English towns, rather than assessing the collective influence of multiple towns, has made it difficult for the role of townspeople and urban spaces in English political life to be appreciated. Here, a new methodology is proposed for studying relationships between towns and for tracing the relative strength of this inter-connected ‘urban sector’ at particular points in time. Fluctuations in the membership and strength of this ‘urban sector’ had significant implications for how pivotal events in English history—including the Wars of the Roses—played out.
C. M. Woolgar
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- September 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780300181913
- eISBN:
- 9780300182361
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Yale University Press
- DOI:
- 10.12987/yale/9780300181913.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Medieval History
This book shows that food in late-medieval England was far more complex, varied, and more culturally significant than we imagine today. Drawing on a vast range of sources, the book charts how ...
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This book shows that food in late-medieval England was far more complex, varied, and more culturally significant than we imagine today. Drawing on a vast range of sources, the book charts how emerging technologies as well as an influx of new flavours and trends from abroad had an impact on eating habits across the social spectrum. The book begins with a background of the concept of food in medieval England, and moves through discussions on food in the countryside, the importance of drinks and drinking to late medieval society, the importance of bread, the role of sauces and spices, gardens, food and drink at civic occasions, food of monks and nuns, cooks and kitchens, and hunger and famine. From the pauper's bowl to elite tables, from early fad diets to the perceived moral superiority of certain foods, and from regional folk remedies to luxuries such as lampreys, the book illuminates desire, necessity, daily rituals, and pleasure across four centuries.Less
This book shows that food in late-medieval England was far more complex, varied, and more culturally significant than we imagine today. Drawing on a vast range of sources, the book charts how emerging technologies as well as an influx of new flavours and trends from abroad had an impact on eating habits across the social spectrum. The book begins with a background of the concept of food in medieval England, and moves through discussions on food in the countryside, the importance of drinks and drinking to late medieval society, the importance of bread, the role of sauces and spices, gardens, food and drink at civic occasions, food of monks and nuns, cooks and kitchens, and hunger and famine. From the pauper's bowl to elite tables, from early fad diets to the perceived moral superiority of certain foods, and from regional folk remedies to luxuries such as lampreys, the book illuminates desire, necessity, daily rituals, and pleasure across four centuries.
Martin Heale
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- October 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780198702535
- eISBN:
- 9780191772221
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198702535.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Early Modern History, History of Religion
The importance of the medieval abbot needs no particular emphasis. The monastic superiors of late medieval England ruled over thousands of monks and canons, who swore to them vows of obedience; they ...
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The importance of the medieval abbot needs no particular emphasis. The monastic superiors of late medieval England ruled over thousands of monks and canons, who swore to them vows of obedience; they were prominent figures in royal and church government; and collectively they controlled properties worth around double the Crown’s annual ordinary income. As guardians of regular observance and the primary interface between their monastery and the wider world, abbots and priors were pivotal to the effective functioning and well-being of the monastic order. This book provides the first detailed study of English monastic superiors, exploring their evolving role and reputation between the fourteenth and sixteenth centuries. Individual chapters examine the election of late medieval monastic heads; the internal functions of the superior as the father of the community; the head of house as administrator; abbatial living standards and modes of display; monastic superiors’ public role in service of the Church and Crown; their external relations and reputation; the interaction between monastic heads and the government in Henry VIII’s England; the Dissolution of the monasteries; and the afterlives of abbots and priors following the suppression of their houses. This study of monastic leadership sheds much valuable light on the religious houses of late medieval England, including their spiritual life, administration, spending priorities, and their multi-faceted relations with the outside world. It also elucidates the crucial part played by monastic superiors in the dramatic events of the 1530s, when many heads surrendered their monasteries into the hands of Henry VIII.Less
The importance of the medieval abbot needs no particular emphasis. The monastic superiors of late medieval England ruled over thousands of monks and canons, who swore to them vows of obedience; they were prominent figures in royal and church government; and collectively they controlled properties worth around double the Crown’s annual ordinary income. As guardians of regular observance and the primary interface between their monastery and the wider world, abbots and priors were pivotal to the effective functioning and well-being of the monastic order. This book provides the first detailed study of English monastic superiors, exploring their evolving role and reputation between the fourteenth and sixteenth centuries. Individual chapters examine the election of late medieval monastic heads; the internal functions of the superior as the father of the community; the head of house as administrator; abbatial living standards and modes of display; monastic superiors’ public role in service of the Church and Crown; their external relations and reputation; the interaction between monastic heads and the government in Henry VIII’s England; the Dissolution of the monasteries; and the afterlives of abbots and priors following the suppression of their houses. This study of monastic leadership sheds much valuable light on the religious houses of late medieval England, including their spiritual life, administration, spending priorities, and their multi-faceted relations with the outside world. It also elucidates the crucial part played by monastic superiors in the dramatic events of the 1530s, when many heads surrendered their monasteries into the hands of Henry VIII.
Ronald Hutton
- Published in print:
- 1994
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198203636
- eISBN:
- 9780191675911
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198203636.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Early Modern History
This book explores the religious and secular rituals that marked the passage of the year in late medieval and early modern England, and tells the story of how these rituals altered over time in ...
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This book explores the religious and secular rituals that marked the passage of the year in late medieval and early modern England, and tells the story of how these rituals altered over time in response to political, religious, and social changes. The book examines a number of important and controversial issues such as: the character and pace of the English Reformation; the nature of the early Stuart ‘Reformation of Manners’; the context of writers such as Ben Jonson and Robert Herrick; the origins of the science of folklore; the relevance of cultural divisions in the English Civil War; the impact of the English Revolution; and the viability of economic explanations for social change. The book includes source material such as local financial records.Less
This book explores the religious and secular rituals that marked the passage of the year in late medieval and early modern England, and tells the story of how these rituals altered over time in response to political, religious, and social changes. The book examines a number of important and controversial issues such as: the character and pace of the English Reformation; the nature of the early Stuart ‘Reformation of Manners’; the context of writers such as Ben Jonson and Robert Herrick; the origins of the science of folklore; the relevance of cultural divisions in the English Civil War; the impact of the English Revolution; and the viability of economic explanations for social change. The book includes source material such as local financial records.
Jessica Brantley
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- March 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780226071329
- eISBN:
- 9780226071343
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226071343.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Medieval History
Just as twenty-first-century technologies such as blogs and wikis have transformed the once private act of reading into a public enterprise, devotional reading experiences in the Middle Ages were ...
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Just as twenty-first-century technologies such as blogs and wikis have transformed the once private act of reading into a public enterprise, devotional reading experiences in the Middle Ages were dependent upon an oscillation between the solitary and the communal. This book uses tools from both literary criticism and art history to illuminate Additional MS 37049, an illustrated Carthusian miscellany housed in the British Library. This revealing artifact, the author argues, closes the gap between group spectatorship and private study in late medieval England. Drawing on the work of W. J. T. Mitchell, Michael Camille, and others working at the image–text crossroads, the book addresses the manuscript's texts and illustrations to examine connections between reading and performance within the solitary monk's cell and also outside. The author reimagines the medieval codex as a site where the meanings of images and words are performed, both publicly and privately, in the act of reading.Less
Just as twenty-first-century technologies such as blogs and wikis have transformed the once private act of reading into a public enterprise, devotional reading experiences in the Middle Ages were dependent upon an oscillation between the solitary and the communal. This book uses tools from both literary criticism and art history to illuminate Additional MS 37049, an illustrated Carthusian miscellany housed in the British Library. This revealing artifact, the author argues, closes the gap between group spectatorship and private study in late medieval England. Drawing on the work of W. J. T. Mitchell, Michael Camille, and others working at the image–text crossroads, the book addresses the manuscript's texts and illustrations to examine connections between reading and performance within the solitary monk's cell and also outside. The author reimagines the medieval codex as a site where the meanings of images and words are performed, both publicly and privately, in the act of reading.
Stephen Rigby (ed.)
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- December 2014
- ISBN:
- 9780199689545
- eISBN:
- 9780191802669
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199689545.001.0001
- Subject:
- Literature, Early and Medieval Literature, Poetry
While literary scholars, under the influence of ‘historicist’ literary theory, have insisted on the need to understand Chaucer’s poetry in its historical context, medieval historians have made little ...
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While literary scholars, under the influence of ‘historicist’ literary theory, have insisted on the need to understand Chaucer’s poetry in its historical context, medieval historians have made little attempt to join in with debates about the meaning of his work. This volume sets out to remedy this lack. Here, 25 leading historians of late medieval England discuss the portraits of the pilgrims in the ‘General Prologue’ to Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales in relation to their own area of expertise. The first chapter of the collection sets out recent debates about Chaucer’s engagement with the conflicts and controversies of his day and, in particular presents three main ways in which literary critics have made sense of Chaucer’s moral and social outlook: Chaucer as conservative; Chaucer as sceptical or radical; Chaucer as open-ended. Each of the 25 chapters which follow offers a detailed discussion of particular pilgrims. The historians involved offer a range of economic, social, political, religious, and intellectual contexts within which to make sense of Chaucer’s s work whilst always retaining a sense of its specifically literary nature and conventions. The book is far more coherent than the usual edited collection of essays and concludes by drawing together the main themes and conclusions of the debate. The book seeks to introduce historians to recent controversies about the meaning of Chaucer’s text in relation to the poet’s historical context whilst also showing literary critics what historians may have to offer to such debates.Less
While literary scholars, under the influence of ‘historicist’ literary theory, have insisted on the need to understand Chaucer’s poetry in its historical context, medieval historians have made little attempt to join in with debates about the meaning of his work. This volume sets out to remedy this lack. Here, 25 leading historians of late medieval England discuss the portraits of the pilgrims in the ‘General Prologue’ to Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales in relation to their own area of expertise. The first chapter of the collection sets out recent debates about Chaucer’s engagement with the conflicts and controversies of his day and, in particular presents three main ways in which literary critics have made sense of Chaucer’s moral and social outlook: Chaucer as conservative; Chaucer as sceptical or radical; Chaucer as open-ended. Each of the 25 chapters which follow offers a detailed discussion of particular pilgrims. The historians involved offer a range of economic, social, political, religious, and intellectual contexts within which to make sense of Chaucer’s s work whilst always retaining a sense of its specifically literary nature and conventions. The book is far more coherent than the usual edited collection of essays and concludes by drawing together the main themes and conclusions of the debate. The book seeks to introduce historians to recent controversies about the meaning of Chaucer’s text in relation to the poet’s historical context whilst also showing literary critics what historians may have to offer to such debates.
