IMC 2011: Sessions
Session 1409: Clergymen, Noblemen, and Peasants: Oral and Literate Communication in the Medieval Countryside, II - A Round Table Discussion
Wednesday 13 July 2011, 19.30-20.30
| Sponsor: | Medieval Literacy Platform, Universiteit Utrecht |
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| Organiser: | Marco Mostert, Onderzoekinstituut voor Geschiedenis en Kunstgeschiedenis, Universiteit Utrecht |
| Moderator/Chair: | Marco Mostert, Onderzoekinstituut voor Geschiedenis en Kunstgeschiedenis, Universiteit Utrecht |
| Abstract | What do we know about the literacy of people living in the countryside? Did peasants, but also the clerics and noblemen living there resort to writing less than town dwellers? In the past, the illiteracy of the peasants was an assumption made by many studying medieval forms of communication. The literacy not only of noblemen, but also that of country priests was sometimes questioned as well. Recently, research has been done which leads us to address the traditional assumptions of countryside illiteracy. The round table discussion will focus on the double question of the forms of communication used in the countryside, and whether 'countryside literacy' is a helpful notion in studying country people's oral and literate behaviour. Participants include Anna Adamska (Universiteit Utrecht), Michael Clanchy (University of London), Rudi E. Künzel (Universiteit van Amsterdam), Mark Mersiowsky (Universität Innsbruck), Marco Mostert (Universiteit Utrecht), and Herwig Weigl (Universität Wien) |