This article discusses various forms of ordeals, such as the ordeal of hot iron, and analyzes whether, and to what extent, these ordeals could have served as ‘rational’ forms of adjudication during the period.
Between A Rock And A Hot Place: The Role Of Subjectivity In The Medieval Ordeal By Hot Iron
November 22, 2015 By
Expert examinations of wounds in the criminal court or justice in Cocentaina (Kingdom of Valencia) during the Late Middle Ages
November 4, 2015 By
Among the activities of doctors in the courts, one in particular stood out: the examination of wounds.
Penal enslavement in the early middle ages
October 26, 2015 By
In the specific form it took during the medieval period, penal enslavement therefore amounts to a strikingly new phenomenon. How did such a system come about, and what functions did it serve?
Down to the Last Stitch: Sumptuary Law and Conspicuous Consumption in Renaissance Italy
October 21, 2015 By
Fashion and luxury were very important in Italian Renaissance society. One’s appearance indicated more than whether one was simply attractive, it also indicated one’s social standing.
Final Month to See British Library’s Magna Carta Exhibit
August 2, 2015 By
It’s August, and summer has begun its inevitable wind down. Unfortunately, this means the British Library’s spectacular exhibit, Magna Carta: Law, Liberty and Legacy is winding down as well. This is the final month to catch a glimpse of the famous 800 year old document before the exhibit comes to a close on September 1st.
Cracking down on illegal gambling in Medieval Livonia
July 20, 2015 By
Just like their modern day counterparts, medieval cities had to deal with their own criminal underworlds – the sex trade, gambling, and violence taking place within their walls. At the International Medieval Congress, held earlier this month at the University of Leeds, these issues were explored as part of session #706: Perceiving and Regulating Vices.
The Experience of Growing Up in Medieval Society
July 10, 2015 By
This session (#508) was one of several at Leeds devoted to exploring childhood in the Middle Ages. Our presenters talked about the stereotypes of adolescence, and what the coroner’s rolls revealed about the deaths (and lives) of medieval children.
Exhibit: Magna Carta Through the Ages at the Society of Antiquaries of London
July 2, 2015 By
If you’re passing through London and want something to do that is very quick, free, and historical, check out this great little Magna Carta exhibit at Burlington House hosted by the Society of Antiquaries of London.
Imprisoning the Mentally Ill in Medieval England
June 29, 2015 By
What to do with mentally ill individuals who are violent? This is a question that modern and medieval societies had to deal with.
The Laws about Weddings in Viking-Age Gotland
June 27, 2015 By
An important source about daily-life in Viking-Age Scandinavia is Guta Lag, a set of laws from the Swedish island of Gotland. This includes details on how weddings were to be conducted.
Medieval Emergencies and the Contemporary Debate
June 27, 2015 By
This article shows that medieval France formulated its own state of exception, meant to deal with emergencies, based on the legal principle of necessity.
Magna Carta Conference Offers New Insights Into The 800-year-old Document
June 22, 2015 By
Magna Carta just celebrated its 800th birthday this past Monday. In honour of this incredible milestone, King’s College London, and the Magna Carta Project, hosted a 3 day conference dedicated to this historic document.
Bishops and Their Towns
June 1, 2015 By
Another #KZOO2015 post – this one examines Bishops and Their Towns.
Shadow of the Sword (The Headsman)
May 21, 2015 By
Nikolaj Coster-Waldau gives us a sympathetic Headsman in Reformation Austria, in the ‘Shadow of the Sword (The Headsman)’.
KZOO 2015: Session #42 – Magna Carta in Context
May 18, 2015 By
This coming week I’ll be featuring summaries on some of my favourites sessions and papers from #KZOO2015. I kicked off my first session on Thursday with the Magna Carta.
Incest in Early Medieval Society
April 20, 2015 By
The question of what persons and why can have sexual relations with each other and consequently, can contract marriage, is of basic importance for the functioning of every society, irrespective of time, place and the degree of the society’s development.
Magna Carta: The Road to Runnymede
April 14, 2015 By
A look at the creation of the British Library’s Magna Carta: Law, Liberty, Legacy exhibition.
Trial by Battle in France and England
April 11, 2015 By
This dissertation surveys the history of trial by battle in the French-speaking regions of the European continent and England, concentrating on the period between roughly 1050 and 1350 when it was most practiced.
Law in the Lives of Medieval Women: Beyond the Magna Carta
April 11, 2015 By
Ruth Mazo Karras discussed, through an analysis of the lives of three women, the way law affected (or not) women at different levels of society in medieval England.
Ostsiedlung or Transition of German Law? Legal Perspective on Settlement According to German Law in Medieval Poland
April 3, 2015 By
Paper given at Twenty-First Annual Forum of Young Legal Historians – 6th Berg Institute International Conference
Capital and Corporal Punishment may have been rare in Anglo-Saxon England, researcher suggests
March 1, 2015 By
A long standing belief about early medieval justice was that many offenders would be executed for serious crimes, or face punishments such as amputations for lesser offences. However, an examination of archaeological data suggests that these kinds of punishments were rare in Anglo-Saxon England.
A peasant is a peasant, is a peasant? : Medieval Maritime Peasant Lives
January 26, 2015 By
A peasant is a peasant, is a peasant…or is s/he? Was the life of a peasant who lived in the coastal regions of England the same as that of the peasant who made his livelihood toiling on the land for his local lord?
Intersex in the Middle Ages
January 9, 2015 By
A brief look at how the medieval world viewed the Intersex individual.
Trolls in the Middle Ages
January 6, 2015 By
Where did trolls come from? What did medieval and early modern people think of trolls? How did the concept of the modern day troll evolve?
Aquinas on Torture
December 22, 2014 By
Here we are faced with something that, for this writer at least, is something of an enigma. It does not appear that Aquinas approved of this practice. Nowhere does he defend it, although he explicitly defends putting heretics to death.
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