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IMC 2020: Sessions

Session 1550: Status, Rank, or Office?: Social Boundaries in England, 900-1100, I - Royal Agents and Secular Elites

Thursday 9 July 2020, 09.00-10.30

Sponsor:Haskins Society / Department of History & Philosophy, State University of New York, Old Westbury
Organisers:Mary Blanchard, Department of History, Ave Maria University, Florida
Chelsea Shields-Más, Department of History, University of York
Moderator/Chair:Charles Insley, Department of History, University of Manchester
Paper 1550-aStatus and Obtaining the Office of Ealdorman
(Language: English)
Mary Blanchard, Department of History, Ave Maria University, Florida
Index terms: Charters and Diplomatics, Language and Literature - Old English, Politics and Diplomacy, Social History
Paper 1550-bReeves, Status, and Royal Service
(Language: English)
Chelsea Shields-Más, Department of History, University of York
Index terms: Charters and Diplomatics, Language and Literature - Old English, Politics and Diplomacy, Social History
Paper 1550-cNobility, Wealth, and Worldly Standing: How Thegnly Rank Was Won and Lost in Early Medieval England
(Language: English)
Stuart Pracy, Department of History, University of Manchester
Index terms: Charters and Diplomatics, Language and Literature - Old English, Politics and Diplomacy, Social History
Abstract

These sessions explore where status ended and office began in England c. 900-1100 and seek to encourage a dialogue among those working on different aspects of pre-Conquest society. Status and the social order were becoming more important during these centuries, signaled by increasing conspicuous consumption and an ecclesiastical interest in tracts on status. In a world where the secular and spiritual were often closely intertwined, what can the men and women who gained status and office in the ecclesiastical sphere tell us about those who obtained the same thing in the secular world? Among the laity, what can a discussion of the lowest thegns contribute to our understanding of the men who became reeves or ealdormen? By asking and attempting to answer these and other questions, these sessions aim to start a discussion and further a multifaceted understanding of the period and its people.