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IMC 2008: Sessions

Session 505: Problems and Possibilities of Early Medieval Diplomatic, III: Politics and Ritual in Charter Evidence

Tuesday 8 July 2008, 09.00-10.30

Organiser:Jonathan Jarrett, Fitzwilliam Museum University of Cambridge 1 Lingholme Close CAMBRIDGE CB4 3HW
Moderator/Chair:Jonathan Jarrett, Fitzwilliam Museum University of Cambridge 1 Lingholme Close CAMBRIDGE CB4 3HW
Paper 505-aTitles and Troubles: Conceptions of Mercian Royal Authority in 8th- and 9th-Century Charters
(Language: English)
Morn D. T. Capper, Department of History, University of Sheffield
Index terms: Charters and Diplomatics, Politics and Diplomacy
Paper 505-bLothar I in Italy, 822-40: Charters and Authority
(Language: English)
Elina Screen, School of Historical Studies, University of Leicester
Index terms: Charters and Diplomatics, Politics and Diplomacy
Paper 505-cEvidence for the Ceremonial Act in 12th- and 13th-Century Scottish Charters
(Language: English)
Matthew H. Hammond, School of Historical Studies, University of Glasgow
Index terms: Charters and Diplomatics, Ecclesiastical History, Mentalities
Abstract

This part of the Problems and Possibilities strand engages the charter evidence in the pursuit of political events and rituals. Capper looks at variations in the royal title given to Mercian kings in the 8th and 9th centuries and asks whether the political circumstances and location of their production provide explanations. Screen explores the methods of rule of the expatriate Lothar I's Italian kingdom through its underexploited diplomatic legacy. Finally Hammond addresses early Scottish charters and their archival traces in search of evidence for ritual acts of transfer and ceremonies to memorialise donations to the Church.