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IMC 2018: Sessions

Session 416: Late Medieval Wills: Directions for Future Research - A Round Table Discussion

Monday 2 July 2018, 19.00-20.00

Sponsor:Institute for Medieval Research, University of Nottingham / Gender, Place & Memory, 1400-1900 Research Cluster, University of Hull
Organiser:Rob Lutton, Department of History, University of Nottingham
Moderator/Chair:Elisabeth Salter, Gender, Place & Memory, 1400-1900 Research Cluster, University of Hull
Abstract

This round table brings together experts on late medieval wills and considers the potential for future research using this valuable source of evidence. Late medieval wills survive in huge numbers for locations all across England. There are some surviving records for Wales, Scotland, and Ireland, and many in other European countries. Wills provide extensive evidence for popular religious belief and practice, the construction of identity and memory, ownership and attitudes to material goods, literate activity, and much more. They also enable access to stories of our ancestors' lives and as such their contents have popular appeal. This round table will discuss the potential for future research looking qualitatively and quantitatively at this source and the ways we might enhance its accessibility for academic and public use.

Participants include Cordelia Beattie (University of Edinburgh), Margriet Hoogvliet (Rijksuniversiteit Groningen), Alex Marchbank (University of Nottingham), and Marianne Wilson (The National Archives, Kew).