IMC 2015: Sessions

Session 909: Emotions in the Courtroom: A Round Table Discussion

Sponsor:	Centre for Mediaeval & Early Modern Law & Literature, University of St Andrews / Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for the History of Emotions
Organiser:	Kimberley-Joy Knight, Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for the History of Emotions, University of Sydney
Moderator/Chair:	John Hudson, St Andrews Institute of Mediaeval Studies, University of St Andrews
Abstract	The recent surge of interest in the history of the emotions has seen medievalists uncover a broad range of new source material recording the affective lives of Europeans in the Middle Ages. A parallel growth of interest in crime and judicial records from ecclesiastical and secular courts has identified these as excellent sources and made clear that the courtroom could be a locus for emotionally charged events, in which anger, fear, and love feature prominently. This round table will bring together the insights of these strands of research, and will address the following themes: - the role that emotions played in legal conduct - emotional responses to punishment or leniency - provoked, faked, and repressed emotions - the influence of religious norms and moral codes Patricipants include Kimberley-Joy Knight (University of Sydney), John Hudson (University of St Andrews), Paul Hyams ( Cornell University / Independent Scholar, Oxford), Matthew McHaffie (King's College London), and James Page (University of Durham)