Contents

• General
• Social Classes
  • Slaves
    • The Slave Trade
    • The Church and Slavery
  • Peasants
  • Aristocracies
• Medieval People Reflected in Literature
  • Langland
  • Chaucer
  • Villon
• Law: Theory and Practice

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General

For subjects somtimes considered under "social history" see:

• Sex and Gender section
• Economic Life section

Social Classes

• This section to be developed
• Slaves
  • The Slave Trade
    • Decrees on Sale of Unfree Christians, c. 922-1171
      "Trade" included slavery.
    • Traffic in Slaves: England, 1065-1066
    • William the Conqueror: Sale of Slaves in England, c. 1080
    • Bills of Sale for Saracen Slave Girls, 1248
  • The Church and Slavery
    • Council of Agde: Concerning Slaves of the Church, 506
    • Gregory of Tours: Enslaving Noble Families, 511
    • Fifth Council of Orleans: Concerning Freedmen, 549
    • Gregory of Tours: Harsh Treatment of Serfs and Slaves, c. 575
    • Gregory I the Great (r.590-604): On Manumission and Redemption, c. 600
    • St. Eligius: Redemption of Slaves, c. 630
    • Fourth Council of Toledo: On the Keeping of Slaves, 633 [re Jews]
    • Pope Gregory III: Prohibition on Selling Christians to Pagans for Sacrificial Rites, 731
    • Lullo, Archbishop of Mainz: On Traffic in Ecclesiastical Serfs, c. 755
    • Council of Worms: On the Murder of Slaves, 876
    • Peter the Venerable vs. St. Bernard of Clairvaux: On the Keeping of Serfs, c. 1120
    • Innocent III (r.1198-1216): The Keeping of Slaves by the Jews, 1204
• Peasants
  • See Economic Life section for documents on farming activities, the peasant's legal position, customary obligations, and peasant revolts.
• Aristocracies
  • For issues of real property, and inheritance, see the documents on "feudalism" in the 10th Century Collapse? section.
  • texts?

Medieval People Reflected in Literature

Make sure to see the Literary Texts section of the Medieval Sourcebook: Full Texts Page, for many complete medieval epics, romances, and other literary texts.

• Langland
  • [Tierney 98] William Langland: Piers Plowman: Peasant Food, available soon
  • William Langland: Piers Plowman: Excerpts. [At Harvard]
  • Piers Plowman: Incipit. [At Harvard]
  • Piers Plowman: Passus I (The Dreamer is Instructed by Holy Church). [At Harvard]
  • Piers Plowman: Passus II (Lady Meed Appears). [At Harvard]
  • Piers Plowman: Passus III (The Debate of Meed and Conscience). [At Harvard]
  • Piers Plowman: Passus IV (Reason Counsels the King). [At Harvard]
  • Piers Plowman: Passus V (Confession of the Seven Deadly Sins). [At Harvard]
  • Piers Plowman: Passus VI (Piers Sets All to Work). [At Harvard]
  • Piers Plowman: Passus VII (The Pardon Granted to Piers). [At Harvard]
  • Piers Plowman: Passus XVIII (The Harrowing of Hell). [At Harvard]
• Robin Hood and the Monk, after 1450. [At Purdue]
  The earliest Robin Hood Ballad.
• [Tierney 99] Italian Merchant: In Praise of Merchants 1458, copyrighted
• [Tierney 100] Sebastian Brandt: The Ship of Fools 1494, copyrighted. See also Catholic Encyclopedia: Sebastian Brandt
• Chaucer
  • [Tierney 101] Geoffrey Chaucer (c.1340-1400): Prologue to the Canterbury Tales, text file in original language.
  • Geoffrey Chaucer (c.1340-1400): Canterbury Tales: The Prologue [Parallel Texts] , [uses Tables], (c.1380)
  • Geoffrey Chaucer (c.1340-1400): Canterbury Tales: Prologue to Wife of Bath's Tale [Modern Text] , (c.1380). A Parallel Text Version, [using HTML Tables] is also available.
• Everyman, 15th century, full text
• Villon
  • [Tierney 102.1] François Villon (c.1431-after 1463): Ballade of the Concourse of Blois, copyrighted
  • [Tierney 102.2] François Villon (c.1431-after 1463): Ballade for Fat Margo, copyrighted
  • [Tierney 102.3-4] François Villon (c.1431-after 1463): Ballade to Our Lady and Epitaph in the form of a Ballade.

Law: Theory and Practice

• See the specific Medieval Sourcebook: Medieval Legal History page
• WEB Robert Palmer: English Legal History Materials Page [At Univ. Houston]
  Basically an online textbook on Medieval English law. The Discussion chapters contain the full texts or extended excerpst of the main documents.
• Robert Palmer: Application of Writs. [At Univ. Houston]
  Cases derived from the plea rolls, the records of the king's court, showing application of writs
• John of Ibelin: Account of a Plea, 1198, The earliest documented instance of an appeal to the Assise sur la ligece
• Concord made between Laurence the Clerk, Son of William & Sir Simon, son of Richard of Stanstead and their kinsmen, c. 1150 x 1178.
• The Trial of Enguerrand IV de Coucy Before Louis IX, 1259.
• The Strange Story of Thomas of Elderfield, 13th Century.
• Agreement between Count William V of Aquitaine and Hugh IV of Lusignan.
• The Questioning of John Rykener, A Male Cross-Dressing Prostitute, 1395.
  This is the one a a minute number of texts from legal processes on same-sex activities in late medieval England. The document contains a facsimile of the Roll membrane, a Latin transcription, and a translation.
• Oldradus de Ponte: No. 35 (Questio), early 14th century.
  The issue here is the validity of a marriage contract made under duress. A woman was kidnapped, held captive and raped over a period of twelve days. During that time, the villain compelled the woman to pronounce the words of a marriage ceremony, after which he endeavored to consummate the marriage.
• Oldradus de Ponte: No. 92 (Questio), early 14th century.
  The here was the responsibility of a knight who had been entrusted with a castle while a war was going on. That knight gave custody of the castle to someone else who then lost it to the enemy. Was the original knight liable for the castle's loss? What is the responsibility of someone who undertakes to keep something safe for someone else?

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NOTES:

copyrighted means the text is not available for free distribution. In some cases alternate versions are available, and are working through the pipeline.

Dates of accession of material can be seen in the New Accessions Page. The date of inception was 1/20/1996.

Links to files at other site are indicated by [At some indication of the site name or location]. No indication means that the text file is local.

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created 1996: last revised 10/14/1998