| Paper 2318-a | 'Blessed are the cheesemakers': Urban Climates and Codicological Contexts in the 'Dits de métiers', c. 1275-1325
(Language: English)
Sebastian Dows-Miller, Faculty of Medieval & Modern Languages, University of Oxford
Index terms: Economics - Urban, Language and Literature - French or Occitan, Manuscripts and Palaeography |
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| Abstract | Paper -a:
Providing near-ecstatic praise of a number of urban professions, the Old French 'dits de métiers' reveal much about their contemporary urban climate and the guild system, particularly the division of labour and female workers. From this, conclusions can be drawn about the texts' codicological contexts, since the poems show signs of composition for performance to travellers and individual guilds, indicating that the manuscripts containing the texts (Bern 354 and BNF fr. 837), contrary to previous thought, may have been reference or training manuscripts for jongleurs or scribes, and display some intentional ordering.
Paper -b:
The importance of securing reliable and affordable food supplies for urban populations was recognised throughout the medieval period. It resulted in many local and national ordinances, such as those controlling forestalling and the assizes of bread, ale, and wine.
This paper, focussed on late medieval Chester, will assess the burden of regulation in this key area of urban governance. Using surviving borough records, it will appraise the impact of local and national ordinances on food and drink producers and sellers in the city and how it was perceived by both traders and customers.
Paper -c:
In 13th-c. Silesia, towns were established as centres of districts containing rural estates, pastures, water, and woodland resources. The rights of access to woodlands of the advocates and burghers are described differently in the documentation. Typically, the advocates are given the 'liberty' to use the resources for their own profit, whereas the communities of burghers are given wooded land as a largesse of the duke, to use 'for their usefulness'. This paper will outline what the documents reveal about the administration of the woodlands and their various uses, and discuss how these rights and responsibilities were justified and explained.
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