IMC 2021: Sessions
Session 522: Peasants, Parchment, and Paper: Late Medieval Countryside Literacy and the Role of Scribes
Tuesday 6 July 2021, 09.00-10.30
Organiser: | Mark Vermeer, Departement Geschiedenis en Kunstgeschiedenis, Universiteit Utrecht |
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Moderator/Chair: | Marco Mostert, Onderzoekinstituut voor Geschiedenis en Kunstgeschiedenis, Universiteit Utrecht |
Paper 522-a | Scribal Networks in Late Medieval Brabant (Language: English) Index terms: Archives and Sources, Charters and Diplomatics, Literacy and Orality |
Paper 522-b | Writing Margins: Professional and Non-Professional scripteurs in Medieval Normandy (Language: English) Index terms: Archives and Sources, Literacy and Orality, Women's Studies |
Paper 522-c | Scribes of Village Records in Late Medieval Poland (Language: English) Index terms: Archives and Sources, Charters and Diplomatics, Literacy and Orality |
Abstract | Countryside literacy is as of yet a understudied subject. Nonetheless, the peasants formed the majority of the medieval population, and during the 13-16th centuries their attitudes towards written forms of communication developed just as much as those of towndwellers. This session provides a new view on the interaction between peasant communities and the written word by presenting case studies from France, Poland, and the Low Countries, and aims at showing that in the less urbanized regions of Europe literacy too prevailed and was adapted pragmatically to suit the peasants' needs. |