Fama : the politics of talk and reputation in medieval Europe / Edited by Thelma Fenster and Daniel Lord Smail.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Fenster, Thelma S.

Smail, Daniel Lord.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Reputation (Law)--Europe--History--To 1500.

Reputation (Law).

Law, Medieval--Social aspects.

Law, Medieval.

Social aspects.

History.

Europe.

Physical Description:

vii, 227 pages : illustrations ; 25 cm

Place of Publication:

Ithaca : Cornell University Press, 2003.

Summary:

In medieval Europe, the word fama denoted both talk (what was commonly said about a person or event) and an individual's ensuing reputation (one's fama). Although talk by others was no doubt often feared, it was also valued and even cultivated as a vehicle for shaping one's status. People had to think about how to "manage" their fama, which played an essential role in the medieval culture of appearances. This book's authors consider how talk was created and entered into memory.

Contents:

Part 1 Fama and the Law

1. Fama and the Law in Twelfth-Century Tuscany / Chris Wickham 15

2. Fama as a Legal Status in Renaissance Florence / Thomas Kuehn 27

3. Silent Witnesses, Absent Women, and the Law Courts in Medieval Germany / Madeline H. Caviness, Charles G. Nelson 47

Part 2. Fama and Reputation

4. Good Name, Reputation, and Notoriety in French Customary Law / F. R. P. Akehurst 75

5. Infamy and Proof in Medieval Spain / Jeffrey A. Bowman 95

6. Constructing Reputations: Fama and Memory in Christine de Pizan's Charles V and L'Advision Cristine / Lori J. Walters 118

Part 3. Fama and Speech

7. Sin, Speech, and Scolding in Late Medieval England / Sandy Bardsley 145

8. Romancing the Word: Fama in the Middle English Sir Launfal and Athelston / Richard Horvath 165

9. Fama and Pastoral Constraints on Rebuking Sinners: The Book of Margery Kempe / Edwin D. Craun 187.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 215-218) and index.

ISBN:

0801439396

0801488575

OCLC:

51210636