Description
Book SynopsisStudies of the uses of literacy for the exercise of political and economic power, in Latin Christendom and the wider world.This pioneering collection of studies is concerned with the way in which increasing literacy interacted with the desire of thirteenth-century rulers to keep fuller records of their government's activities, and the manner in whichthis literacy could be used to safeguard or increase authority. In Europe the keeping of archives became an increasingly normal part of everyday administrative routines, and much has survived, owing to the prolonged preference forparchment rather than paper; in the Eastern civilisations material is more scarce. Papers discuss pragmatic literacy and record keeping in both West and East, through the medium of both literary and official texts. Thelate Professor RICHARD BRITNELL taught in the Department of History at the University of Durham. Contributors: RICHARD BRITNELL, THOMAS BEHRMANN, MANUEL RIU, OLIVER GUYOTJEANNIN, GÉRARD SIVÉRY, MANFRED GROTEN, MICHAELNORTH, MICHAEL PRESTWICH, PAUL HARVEY, GEOFFREY MARTIN, GEOFFREY BARROW, ROBERT SWANSON, NICHOLAS OIKONOMIDES, ELIZABETH ZACHARIADOU, I.H. SIDDIQUI, TIMOTHY BROOK, YOSHIYASU KAWANE
Trade ReviewAn ambitious contribution to a very important subject. * ENGLISH HISTORICAL REVIEW *
Stimulating new perspectives... and fresh insights on a topic of central significance to an understanding of the middle ages in Europe and beyond. * JOURNAL OF THE SOCIETY OF ARCHIVISTS *
Table of Contents`Sources in Local Town Archives for the Legal, Social and Economic History of Catalonia, c.1220-1330'. - `French Manuscript Sources, 1250-1330'. - `The Pattern of Non-Literary Manuscript Production and Survival in Scotland, 1250-1330'. - Pragmatic literacy in Latin Christendom - Richard H Britnell The development of pragmatic literacy in the Lombard city communes - T Behrmann Sources on local town archives for the legal, social and economic history of Catalonia, c.1220-1330 - Manuel Riu French manuscript sources, 1250-1330 - Oliver Guyot Jeannin Non-literary sources in the B series of the archives of the department of Lille for the period 1250-1330 - G. Sivery Civic record keeping in Cologne 1250-1330 - M. Groten The records of Lubeck and Hamburg, c.1250-1330 - Michael North English government records, 1250-1330 - English estate records, 1250-1330 - Paul D A Harvey English town records, 1250-1330 - G Martin The pattern of non-literary manuscript production and survival in Scotland, 1250-1330 - G W S Barrow Universis Christi Fidelibus: the Church and its records - Robert N Swanson Pragmatic literacy beyond Latin Christendom - Richard H Britnell Byzantine archives of the Palaiologan period, 1258-1453 - Nicholas Oikonomides Records of the Turkish Anatolian States, c.1250-1330 - E.A. Zachariadou Records of the Sultanate of Delhi, 1206-1330 - I.H. Siddiqui Records and record-keeping in Yuan China - Richard H Britnell Native identity under alien rule: local gazetteers of the Yuan dynasty - Tim Brook The formalisation of testimonials of valour in medieval Japan - Yoshiyasu Kawane
