Overview

"A close analysis of forgeries and historical writings at Saint Peter's, Ghent; Saint-Denis near Paris; and Christ Church, Canterbury, offering valuable access to why medieval people often rewrote their pasts. What modern scholars call ""forgeries"" (be they texts, seals, coins, or relics) flourished in the central Middle Ages. Although lying was considered wrong throughout the period, such condemnation apparently did not extend to forgeries. Rewriting documents was especially common among monks, who exploited their mastery of writing to reshape their records. Monastic scribes frequently rewrote their archives, using charters, letters, and narratives, to create new usable pasts for claiming lands and privileges in their present or future. Such imagined histories could also be deployed to ""reform"" their community or reshape its relationship with lay and ecclesiastical authorities. Although these creative rewritings were forgeries, they still can be valuable evidence of medieval mentalities. While forgeries cannot easily be used to reconstruct what did happen, forgeries embedded in historical narratives show what their composers believed should have happened and thus they offer valuable access to why medieval people rewrote their pasts. This book offers close analysis of three monastic archives over the long eleventh century: Saint Peter's, Ghent; Saint-Denis near Paris; and Christ Church, Canterbury. These foci provide the basis for contextualizing key shifts in documentary culture in the twelfth century across Europe. Overall, the book argues that connections between monastic forgeries and historical writing in the tenth through twelfth centuries reveal attempts to reshape reality. Both sought to rewrite the past and thereby promote monks' interests in their present or future."

Full Product Details

Author:   Robert F. Berkhofer III (Contributor)
Publisher:   Boydell & Brewer Ltd
Imprint:   The Boydell Press
Weight:   0.001kg
ISBN:  

9781783276912

ISBN 10:   1783276916
Pages:   348
Publication Date:   19 April 2022
Audience:   Professional and scholarly ,  College/higher education ,  Professional and scholarly ,  Professional & Vocational ,  Tertiary & Higher Education
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   In Print  
This item will be ordered in for you from one of our suppliers. Upon receipt, we will promptly dispatch it out to you. For in store availability, please contact us.

Table of Contents

Reviews

More powerfully than any previous commentator, Berkhofer has demonstrated the narrative qualities of charters and cartularies. [...] Let us hope that where he has trod, others will soon follow! * THE MEDIEVAL REVIEW (TMR) *

More powerfully than any previous commentator, Berkhofer has demonstrated the narrative qualities of charters and cartularies. [...] Let us hope that where he has trod, others will soon follow! * THE MEDIEVAL REVIEW (TMR) * An essential read for those interested in questions of authenticity in the European Middle Ages. * SPECULUM *

Author Information

Robert F. Berkhofer III is associate professor of medieval history at Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo, Michigan.

Tab Content 6

Author Website:  

Customer Reviews

Recent Reviews

No review item found!

Add your own review!

Countries Available

All regions