Janet L. Nelson

Susan Reynolds

Pauline Stafford

Jane Martindale

In this invigorating collection of essays by leading medieval historians, the issue of laity—primarily the ideas and attitudes of lay people—are examined, as expressed in legal cases, charters, chronicles, and collective activities. The contributors focus on narratives from the Middle Ages, during a period of progress from irrational to rational thought. The essays range chronologically and geographically from the 7th to the 16th century, and from West Britain to Papal and urban Italy.

Law, Laity and Solidarities

The primary focus of this collection by leading medieval historians is the laity, in particular the ideas and ideals of lay people. The contributors explore lay attitudes as expressed in legal cases, charters, chronicles and collective activities. Highlights the centrality of kinship, whilst stressing its limitations as an all purpose social bond. Ranges chronologically and geographically from the seventh century to the eve of the Reformation, from Western Britain to papal and urban Italy, from Carolingian dynastic politics to the decline of medieval pilgrimage in the sixteenth century, and from the courts of twelfth-century France to the fifteenth-century wards of London.

Jane Martindale

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