Trustworthy men : how inequality and faith made the medieval church / Ian Forrest.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Forrest, Ian, 1975- author.

Contributor:

Class of 1932 Fund.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

England--Church history--1066-1485.

England.

Church history.

Trust--Religious aspects--Christianity.

Trust.

Church polity.

Physical Description:

xiii, 502 pages ; 25 cm

Place of Publication:

Princeton, New Jersey : Princeton University Press, [2018]

Summary:

"The medieval church was founded on and governed by concepts of faith and trust - but not in the way that is popularly assumed. Offering a radical new interpretation of the institutional church and its social consequences in England, Ian Forrest argues that between 1200 and 1500 the ability of bishops to govern depended on the cooperation of local people known as trustworthy men and shows how the combination of inequality and faith helped make the medieval church. Trustworthy men (in Latin, virifidedigni) were jurors, informants, and witnesses who represented their parishes when bishops needed local knowledge or reliable collaborators. Their importance in church courts, at inquests, and during visitations grew enormously between the thirteenth and fifteenth centuries. The church had to trust these men, and this trust rested on the complex and deep-rooted cultures of faith that underpinned promises and obligations, personal reputation and identity, and belief in God. But trust also had a dark side. For the church to discriminate between the trustworthy and untrustworthy was not to identify the most honest Christians but to find people whose status ensured their word would not be contradicted. This meant men rather than women, and-usually-the wealthier tenants and property holders in each parish. Trustworthy Men illustrates the ways in which the English church relied on and deepened inequalities within late medieval society, and how trust and faith were manipulated for political ends"--Book jacket.

Contents:

Part I Late Medieval Cultures Of Trust p. 9

Chapter 1 Theology: Belief in God p. 15

Chapter 2 Law and Agreements: A World Made from Promises p. 33

Chapter 3 Identity and Emotion: Faith in the Heart p. 63

Part II Identifying The Trustworthy Men p. 89

Chapter 4 The Emergence of the Trustworthy Men p. 95

Chapter 5 Bishops Describe Trustworthiness p. 113

Chapter 6 Very Local Elites p. 129

Part III Trustworthiness and Inequality In The Parish p. 159

Chapter 7 Representing the Community? p. 163

Chapter 8 Time, Place, and the Limits of Trustworthy Status p. 201

Chapter 9 Face-to-Face with the Trustworthy Men p. 221

Part IV Bishops and a Church Built On inequality and Faith, 1250-1500 p. 239

Chapter 10 Practical Epistemology p. 247

Chapter 11 Other People's Money p. 267

Chapter 12 The Material Church p. 285

Chapter 13 Subtle Judgements p. 307

Chapter 14 The Church Built on Trust p. 331.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Local Notes:

Acquired for the Penn Libraries with assistance from the Class of 1932 Fund.

ISBN:

9780691180601

0691180601

OCLC:

1005111753