Problems and Possibilities of Early Medieval Charters

by Jonathan Jarrett (Editor), Allan Scott McKinley (Editor)

Overview

Although historical work on the early Middle Ages relies to an enormous extent on the evidence provided by charters and other such documents, the paradigms within which such documents are interpreted have changed relatively slowly and unevenly. The critical turn, the increasing availability of digital tools and corpora for study, and the acceptance among charter specialists that their discipline can inform a wider field all encourage rethinking. From 2006 to 2011, a series of sessions at the Leeds International Medieval Congress addressed this by applying new critiques and technologies to early medieval diplomatic material from all over Europe. This volume collects some of the best of these papers by new and young scholars and adds related work from another session. The subjects range from reinterpretations of Carolingian or Anglo-Saxon political history, through the production and use of charters by all ranks of society and their subsequent preservation from Spain to Germany and England to Italy, to explorations of new media leading to new kinds of results from such evidence. The result is an array of new perspectives which makes an important contribution to recent reconsiderations of charter studies. It will inform a wide audience from all walks of medieval historical studies.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9782503548302
Publisher:	Brepols Publishers
Publication date:	10/23/2013
Series:	International Medieval Research Series , #19
Pages:	311
Product dimensions:	6.60(w) x 9.40(h) x 0.90(d)

Table of Contents

Illustrations vii

Preface ix

Introduction: Problems and Possibilities of Early Medieval Charters Jonathan Jarrett 1

'Charters in Plenty, If Only they Were Good for Anything': The Problem of Bookland and Folkland in Pre-Viking England Martin J. Ryan 19

Strategies of Alienating Land to the Church in Eighth-Century Alsace Allan Scott McKinley 33

Cistercian Charters and the Import of a Political Culture into Medieval Sweden Erik Niblaeus 57

Meaning and Context: Moringus the Lay Scribe and Charter Formulation in Late Carolingian Burgundy Charles West 71

Comparing the Earliest Documentary Culture in Carolingian Catalonia Jonathan Jarrett 89

When Is a Charter Not a Charter? Documents in Non-Conventional Contexts in Early Medieval Europe Arkady Hodge 127

Destroying Documents in the Early Middle Ages Antonio Sennis 151

Looking for Charters that Aren't There: Lost Anglo-Saxon Charters and Archival Footprints Charles Insley 171

Representations of Monarchical 'Highness' in Carolingian Royal Charters Shigeto Kikuchi 187

Titles and Troubles: Conceptions of Mercian Royal Authority in Eighth- and Ninth-Century Charters Morn Capper 209

Lothar I in Italy, 834-40: Charters and Authority Elina Screen 231

The Charter Evidence for the Reign of King Edmund (939-46) Alaric Trousdale 253

Changes in Patronage at Fulda: A Re-Evaluation Julie A. Hofmann 275

Index 293

Editorial Reviews

"While other scholars of 'charter studies' are pushing the frontiers of 'digital diplomatics' beyond simple database studies, the essays in this volume show that the time-honored practice of reading charters carefully—which, many of the essays suggest, means with particular attention to a range of contextual information—continues to add to our understanding not only of early medieval documentary practices, but of early medieval history generally." — Adam J. Kosto, The Medieval Review

From the Publisher