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IMC 2008: Sessions

Session 1008: Desperately Seeking the 'First Person' Narrative, I: Legal Narratives

Wednesday 9 July 2008, 09.00-10.30

Sponsor:Centre for Medieval Studies, University of York
Organiser:Jeremy Goldberg, Centre for Medieval Studies, University of York
Moderator/Chair:Katherine J. Lewis, Department of History, University of Huddersfield
Paper 1008-aParliamentary Petitions
(Language: English)
W. Mark Ormrod, Centre for Medieval Studies, University of York
Index terms: Administration, Daily Life, Mentalities, Social History
Paper 1008-bChancery Petitions
(Language: English)
Cordelia Beattie, School of History, Classics & Archaeology, University of Edinburgh
Index terms: Daily Life, Gender Studies, Mentalities, Social History
Paper 1008-cChurch Court Depositions
(Language: English)
Bronach Kane, Department of History, University of York
Index terms: Daily Life, Gender Studies, Mentalities, Social History
Abstract

A variety of sources - depositions, letters, petitions, wills, even tombs - purport to represent the voices or perspectives of medieval people and from a wide social range. Although comparatively few are actually presented in the first person - indeed many are in fact third-person narratives - they could be seen to constitute forms of life-writing or ego-narratives. The purpose of these sessions is to interrogate these sources and determine how far they do in fact throw light on real people and actual experiences and to test just how elusive is self identity before the Renaissance.