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Public rites and public wrongs: ritual aspects of diplomas in tenth‐ and eleventh‐century England
Author(s) -
ROACH LEVI
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
early medieval europe
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.1
H-Index - 24
eISSN - 1468-0254
pISSN - 0963-9462
DOI - 10.1111/j.1468-0254.2011.00317.x
Subject(s) - eleventh , penitential , wrongdoing , history , law , classics , ancient history , political science , archaeology , physics , acoustics
This paper investigates the symbolic nature of tenth‐ and eleventh‐century Anglo‐Saxon diplomas, arguing that they are important witnesses to public rituals of conveyance. Against this background we can more fully appreciate the significance of Æthelred II's diplomas of the 990s restoring lands to religious houses which had suffered at his hands. It is argued that these documents are witnesses to an important ‘penitential programme’ involving multiple public admissions of wrongdoing.