Law, Justice, and Society in the Medieval World : An Introduction Through Film / Esther Liberman Cuenca, editor.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Cuenca, Esther Liberman, editor.

Series:

Fordham Series in Medieval Studies

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Medievalism in motion pictures.

Law in motion pictures.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (309 pages)

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

Amsterdam, The Netherlands : Fordham University Press, [2025]

Summary:

This coursebook is the first full-length study of cinematic "legal medievalism," or the modern interpretation of medieval law in film and popular culture For more than a century, filmmakers have used the "Middle Ages" to produce popular entertainment and comment on contemporary issues. Each of the twenty chapters in Law, Justice, and Society in the Medieval World represents an original contribution to our understanding of how medieval regulations, laws, and customs have been depicted in film. It offers a window into the "rules" of medieval society through the lens of popular culture. This book includes analyses of recent and older films, avant-garde as well as popular cinema. Films discussed in this book include Braveheart (1995), Kingdom of Heaven (2005), The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928), The Last Duel (2021), The Green Knight (2021), The Little Hours (2017), and The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938), among others. Each chapter explores the contemporary context of the film in question, the medieval literary or historical milieu the film references, and the lessons the film can teach us about the medieval world. Attached to each chapter is an appendix of medieval documentary sources and reading questions to prompt critical reflection.

Contents:

Cover

Title Page

Copyright

Contents

Introduction / Esther Liberman Cuenca, M. Christina Bruno, and Anthony Perron

Canon Law and the World of the Medieval Church

1. Between Royal Law and Canon Law in Becket (1964) / Anthony Perron

2. Relic Movement, Anathema, and Crusade in Pilgrimage (2017) / Sarah C. Luginbill

3. The Creation of the Franciscan Rule in Francesco (1989) / Nathan Melson

4. Poverty and Heresy in The Name of the Rose (1986) / M. Christina Bruno

5. Joan of Arc's Inquisitorial Trial of Faith in The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928) / Henry Ansgar Kelly

"Feudal" Law and the Customs of Lordship

6. The Chivalric Code in The Green Knight (2021) / Coral Lumbley

7. Crusading and Oath-Taking in Kingdom of Heaven (2005) / Esther Liberman Cuenca

8. Forest Law in The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938) / Casey Ireland

9. Trial by Battle and Gendered Medievalisms in The Last Duel (2021) / Sara McDougall and David M. Perry

10. Animal Trials in The Advocate (1993) / Julie K. Chamberlin

Women and Representations of Premodern Law

11. Religious Women's Authority and Rules for Nuns in Vision: From the Life of Hildegard von Bingen (2009) / Lucy C. Barnhouse

12. War, Family, and the Law of the Kyivan Rus in Alexander Nevsky (1938) / Asif A. Siddiqi

13. Church Law, Community Practice, and the Witch Trial That Wasn't in Sorceress (1987) / Rachel Ellen Clark and Lucy C. Barnhouse

14. The Myth of Jus Primae Noctis, or the "Right of the First Night," in Braveheart (1995) / Lorraine Kochanske Stock

15. Medieval Satire and the Canon Law of Claustration in The Little Hours (2017) / Spencer Strub

Religious Conflict and Forging Communities through Law

16. Late Roman Law, Women's Status, and Classical Education in Agora (2009) / Christopher Bonura.

17. Depicting the Prophet, Social Justice, and the Pillars of Islam in The Message (1976) / Maria Americo

18. Lawful Language and Global North Encounters in The 13th Warrior (1999) / Daniel Armenti and Nahir I. Otaño Gracia

19. Jewish Assimilation and the Absent "Saracens" and Africans of Ivanhoe (1952) / Celia Chazelle

20. Medieval Science, the Spanish Inquisition, and Religious Violence in 1492: Conquest of Paradise (1992) / Eugene Smelyansky

Acknowledgments

Contributors

Index.

Notes:

Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

1-5315-1015-9

OCLC:

1515322949