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IMC 2008: Sessions

Session 1524: Medieval English Wills, 1150-1500

Thursday 10 July 2008, 09.00-10.30

Sponsor:Centre for Medieval & Renaissance Culture, University of Southampton
Organiser:Leonie V. Hicks, Department of History and American Studies, Canterbury Christ Church University
Moderator/Chair:Leonie V. Hicks, Department of History and American Studies, Canterbury Christ Church University
Paper 1524-aDonations, Legacies, and Executors of English Bishops, c. 1150-1250
(Language: English)
Nicholas Karn, Centre for Medieval & Renaissance Culture, University of Southampton
Index terms: Administration, Ecclesiastical History, Law
Paper 1524-bEnglish Bishops and their Goods
(Language: English)
Chris Woolgar, Department of History / Centre for Medieval & Renaissance Culture, University of Southampton
Index terms: Administration, Daily Life, Ecclesiastical History
Paper 1524-cThe Wydeviles: Greedy and Grasping?
(Language: English)
Lynda Jane Pidgeon, Centre for Medieval & Renaissance Culture, University of Southampton
Index terms: Lay Piety, Politics and Diplomacy, Social History
Abstract

This session considers evidence from wills and other testamentary documents of bishops and the laity in medieval England. These sources are more than just a statement of how goods should be disposed, revealing information about the organisation of land and households, as well as social networks, pious intentions, and the relations between testamentary practices and the law. The three speakers will discuss the mechanics of bequests, the nuances of day-to-day life in bishops' households and, in the case of the Wydeviles, how a politically important family was perceived.