Authors: Clanchy
ISBN-13: 9780631168577, ISBN-10: 0631168575
Format: Paperback
Publisher: Wiley, John & Sons, Incorporated
Date Published: January 1993
Edition: 2nd Edition
Michael Clancy taught Medieval History at Glasgow University 1964-85. He now researches at London University at the Institute of Historical Research, University Vollege London, and the Warburg Institute. He is the author of the popular textbook England and its Rulers 1066-1272, and Abelard-A Medieval Life.
The second edition of Michael Clanchy's widely-acclaimed study of the history of the written word in the Middle Ages is now, after a much lamented absence, republished in an entirely new and revised edition. The text of the original has been revised throughout to take account of the enormous amount of new research following publication of the first edition. The introduction discusses the history of literacy up to the present day; the guide to further reading brings together over 300 new titles up to 1992. In this second edition there are substantially new sections on bureaucracy, sacred books, writing materials, the art of memory, ways of reading (particularly for women), the writing of French, and the relationship of script, imagery and seals.
List of Plates | ||
Preface to the First Edition | ||
Preface to the Second Edition | ||
List of Abbreviations | ||
Introduction | 1 | |
Being Prejudiced in Favour of Literacy | 7 | |
Medieval, Renaissance, and Reformation Literacy | 11 | |
England's Place in Medieval Literacy | 16 | |
Pt. I | The Making of Records | 23 |
1 | Memories and Myths of the Norman Conquest | 25 |
Anglo-Saxon Uses of Writing | 26 | |
The Uses of Domesday Book | 32 | |
Edward I's 'Quo Warranto' Proceedings and the Earl Warenne | 35 | |
2 | The Proliferation of Documents | 44 |
Documents at Village Level | 46 | |
The Chronology of Charter Making | 52 | |
The Output of Royal Documents | 57 | |
Documents and Bureaucracy | 62 | |
The Work of Hubert Walter | 68 | |
Royal Influence on Other Records | 74 | |
3 | Types of Record | 81 |
The Variety of Writings | 81 | |
Statements Issued by Individuals | 85 | |
Memoranda Kept by Institutions | 92 | |
Learned and Literary Works | 104 | |
Liturgical Books | 109 | |
4 | The Technology of Writing | 114 |
The Scribe and his Materials | 115 | |
Wax, Parchment, and Wood | 118 | |
Committing Words to Writing | 125 | |
Layout and Format | 132 | |
Rolls or Books? | 135 | |
5 | The Preservation and Use of Documents | 145 |
Monastic Documents for Posterity | 146 | |
Secular Documents for Daily Use | 149 | |
Archives and Libraries | 154 | |
The Royal Archives | 162 | |
Ways of Remembering | 172 | |
Ways of Indexing | 177 | |
Pt. II | The Literate Mentality | 185 |
What Reading Meant | 191 | |
6 | Languages of Record | 197 |
Walter of Bibbesworth's Treatise | 197 | |
The Variety of Languages | 200 | |
Spoken and Written Language | 206 | |
Chronological Development | 211 | |
The Writing down of French | 215 | |
Royal Documents in Latin, French, and English | 220 | |
7 | Literature and Illiterate | 224 |
Meanings of 'Clericus' and 'Litteratus' | 226 | |
The Question of the Literacy of the Laity | 231 | |
Knowledge of Latin among Non-Churchmen | 234 | |
The Acquisition of Clerical Education | 240 | |
Educated Knights | 246 | |
8 | Hearing and Seeing | 253 |
Symbolic Objects and Documents | 254 | |
The Spoken versus the Written Word | 260 | |
Listening to the Word | 266 | |
The Spoken Word in Legal Procedure | 272 | |
Writings as Works of Art | 278 | |
Word and Image | 283 | |
9 | Trusting Writing | 294 |
Memory and Writing | 295 | |
Dating Documents | 299 | |
Signing Documents | 304 | |
The Symbolism of Seals and Crosses | 308 | |
Forging Documents | 318 | |
10 | Practical Literacy | 328 |
Further Reading on the History of Literacy | 335 | |
Literacy in History in General | 335 | |
Readers and Writers in Medieval Europe | 337 | |
Methods of Writing and Making Books in Medieval Europe | 340 | |
Readers and Writers in Medieval England | 341 | |
Records and Manuscript-Making in Medieval England | 343 | |
Plates | 346 | |
Index | 386 |