Medieval Law and the Foundations of the State

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

Medieval Law and the Foundations of the State Medieval Law and the Foundations of the State Medieval Law and the Foundations of the State ALAN HARDING 3 3 Great Clarendon Street, Oxford, ox2 6dp Oxford University Press is a department of the University of Oxford. It furthers the University’s objective of excellence in research, scholarship, and education by publishing worldwide in Oxford New York Athens Auckland Bangkok Bogotá Buenos Aires Cape Town Chennai Dar es Salaam Delhi Florence Hong Kong Istanbul Karachi Kolkata Kuala Lumpur Madrid Melbourne Mexico City Mumbai Nairobi Paris São Paulo Shanghai Singapore Taipei Tokyo Toronto Warsaw and associated companies in Berlin Ibadan Oxford is a registered trade mark of Oxford University Press in the UK and certain other countries Published in the United States by Oxford University Press Inc., New York © Alan Harding 2001 The moral rights of the author have been asserted Database right Oxford University Press (maker) First published 2001 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior permission in writing of Oxford University Press, or as expressly permitted by law, or under terms agreed with the appropriate reprographics rights organization. Enquiries concerning reproduction outside the scope of the above should be sent to the Rights Department, Oxford University Press, at the address above You must not circulate this book in any other binding or cover and you must impose the same condition on any acquirer British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data Data available Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Harding, Alan Medieval law and the foundations of the state / Alan Harding. p. cm Includes bibliographical references and index. 1. Law, Medieval. 2. Law–Europe–History. 3. State, The–History. I. Title. KJ147 .H37 2002 340.5'5'094–dc21 2001036406 ISBN 0-19-821958-x 13579108642 Typeset in Sabon by Regent Typesetting, London Printed in Great Britain on acid-free paper by T. J. International Ltd, Padstow, Cornwall Preface Tracing the growth of the State has become something of an histor- ical industry, but the subject still needs definition. The history of the State has to be more than a history of strong government: it must show how an abstraction, a piece of metaphysics, came to dominate political consciousness as a thing not only believed to have real existence but loved for its promise of social order and hated for its threat of coercion. The power of the State rests on an idea which is unique in commanding both the levels of political thought discerned by Charles Taylor: the ‘common-sense . pre-theoretical understanding of what is going on among the members of society’ which is necessary for any political activity, and the high theory of the philosophers who criticize and sys- tematize these working notions.1 Graffiti urge the smashing of the same State about which Aquinas, Machiavelli, Hobbes, and Hegel theorized. This book is primarily concerned with the ‘pre-theoretical under- standing’ of what constituted a ‘state’ among rulers and ruled in the middle ages. It is not a history of state-theory and therefore makes little use of ‘the learned laws’, i.e. Roman and Canon Law, but an account of the complex of procedures and institutions perceived as constituting ‘the state of the realm’ in a medieval kingdom, and of how that perception developed into the early modern idea of the State. The introductory chapter does, however, seek to define the meaning of the word ‘state’ as it has been used in political thought back to the middle ages, and finds that its use in a theoretical way begins with Thomas Aquinas in the later thirteenth century. The following chapters trace the growth of systems of justice in the period before that time, when ideas of state must be looked for in the legislation and written acta of kings and their ministers. This is where ‘state’ appeared as part of a constellation of ‘constitutional’ words and notions, along with peace and custom, fief- holding and liberty, statute and ‘the common good’. In the main part of the book the sources are therefore the volumes of charters and laws in such printed series as the Monumenta Germaniae Historica, the Recueils des Actes and Ordonnances of French rulers, the Regesta Regum Anglo-Normannorum, and the English Statutes of the Realm, along with the records of the administration of justice and the law- books which summed up a country’s legal practice. The final chapters 1 C. Taylor, ‘Political theory and practice’, in Social Theory and Political Practice, ed. C. Lloyd (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1983). vi Preface return to the political theorists of the late medieval and early modern period who, in a climate of war and religious conflict, developed the legally defined ‘state of the king and the kingdom’ into a more modern concept of the State. The study focuses on the systems of laws and courts in the kingdoms of France and England. Their foundations in Frankish and Anglo-Saxon justice (Chapter 2) might appear to have been shaken by the franchisal courts of feudal lords and communes of townsmen (Chapter 3), but French and English kings succeeded in integrating these into centralized polities (Chapter 5). Unlike the Italian cities on the one hand and the empire on the other France and England were both large enough to demand, and small enough to make possible, the centralized adminis- tration from which the notion of the State could develop. The ‘orga- nized peace’ which was the bed-rock of judicial systems manifested itself most impressively in the German Landfrieden, but within an unwieldy empire these led to the crystallization of Kleinstaaterei (Chapter 4) rather than a pan-German state. Politically, the state was a far more potent idea than the nation, because it signified a structure, which demanded continual criticism and reform. Chapter 6 shows how the notion of ‘the state of the kingdom’ was used by the critics of royal justice in the English parliament and French estates general (Chapter 6). In Chapter 7 the state in England and France is described as a legislatively ordered structure of ‘estates’, each estate defined by its legal rights and duties. The vicissitudes and understanding of the late medieval ‘monarchical state’ are the subject of Chapter 8, and the final chapter shows the continuity of the word and concept from a medieval and legal context into the politics of ‘the modern state’ (Chapter 9). My thanks are due to the Universities of Liverpool and Edinburgh for appointing me to honorary fellowships on my retirement from full-time teaching, to the ‘special collections’ departments of the libraries of both universities, and above all to my wife Marjorie, without whose support and infinite patience the book would never have been completed. A.H. Edinburgh January, 2001 Contents abbreviations x 1. INTRODUCTION. STATE: WORD AND CONCEPT 1 State as regime 2 State as commonwealth 5 2. FRANKISH AND ANGLO-SAXON JUSTICE 10 The first courts 10 Grants of property and protection 13 Pleas before the king 16 Keeping the peace 22 Legal order 31 ‘The state of the realm’ 38 3. THE COURTS OF LORDS AND TOWNSMEN 43 The growth of feudal society 43 Seignorial jurisdiction 48 Justice in the towns 55 Competitors for jurisdiction and power 61 The place of the king 64 4. THE SPREAD OF THE ORGANIZED PEACE 69 The peace of God 69 The peace of the land 79 German Landfrieden 88 The territorial states of Germany 99 5. THE JUDICIAL SYSTEMS OF FRANCE AND ENGLAND 109 Justice on complaint to the king of France 109 Stabilimenta 123 Justice by royal writ in England 128 ‘Our state and our kingdom’s’ 139 viii Contents 6. NEW HIGH COURTS AND REFORM OF THE REGIME 147 Complaints against officials 147 Plaints and reform of the status regni 155 The bill revolution and parlement 160 English parliaments 170 Petitioning parliament for justice 178 Statute-making 186 7. THE LEGAL ORDERING OF ‘THE STATE OF THE REALM’ 191 Law-books, custom, and legislation 191 The law of land-holding 201 Property and liberty 211 Estates of people 221 The law of injuries and the public peace 240 8. THE MONARCHICAL STATE OF THE LATER MIDDLE AGES 252 ‘The state of the realm’ and political continuity 252 ‘The state of the king’ and government for the common good 257 The contested state of Richard II 263 The king in the French body politic 271 France as l’état monarchique 278 9. FROM LAW TO POLITICS: THE GENESIS OF ‘THE MODERN STATE’ 295 Comparing and criticizing states of commonwealths 296 State and sovereignty 306 Jean Bodin on the state 316 State, nation, and politics in France 321 The English ‘Commonwealth and Free State’ 327 10. CONCLUSION: LAW AND THE STATE IN HISTORY 336 bibliography 341 Law codes, chronicles, and treatises 341 Contents ix Records and dictionaries 347 Secondary works 352 index 368 Abbreviations CJ Journal of the House of Commons Concilia Mansi, Sacrorum Conciliorum Collectio CRR Curia Regis Rolls DRTA Deutsche Reichstagsakten EHD English Historical Documents EHR English Historical Review LJ Journal of the House of Lords MGH Monumenta Germaniae Historica RP Rotuli Parliamentorum RRAN Regesta Regum Anglo-Normannorum SR Statutes of the Realm ST Aquinas, Summa Theologica TAmPhilSoc Transactions of the American Philosophical Society TRHS Transactions of the Royal Historical Society UP University Press chapter one Introduction. State: Word and Concept Yves Congar1 and Gaines Post2 have shone light on the use of ‘status’ in the late Carolingian period and the high middle ages respec- tively, and Wolfgang Mager3 and Paul-Ludwig Weinacht,4 among others, have discussed the development of the modernen Staatsbegriffe from the late medieval period onwards.
Recommended publications
  • Welsh Tribal Law and Custom in the Middle Ages
    THOMAS PETER ELLIS WELSH TRIBAL LAW AND CUSTOM IN THE MIDDLE AGES IN 2 VOLUMES VOLUME I1 CONTENTS VOLUME I1 p.1~~V. THE LAWOF CIVILOBLIGATIONS . I. The Formalities of Bargaining . .a . 11. The Subject-matter of Agreements . 111. Responsibility for Acts of Animals . IV. Miscellaneous Provisions . V. The Game Laws \TI. Co-tillage . PARTVI. THE LAWOF CRIMESAND TORTS. I. Introductory . 11. The Law of Punishtnent . 111. ' Saraad ' or Insult . 1V. ' Galanas ' or Homicide . V. Theft and Surreption . VI. Fire or Arson . VII. The Law of Accessories . VIII. Other Offences . IX. Prevention of Crime . PARTVIl. THE COURTSAND JUDICIARY . I. Introductory . 11. The Ecclesiastical Courts . 111. The Courts of the ' Maerdref ' and the ' Cymwd ' IV. The Royal Supreme Court . V. The Raith of Country . VI. Courts in Early English Law and in Roman Law VII. The Training and Remuneration of Judges . VIII. The Challenge of Judges . IX. Advocacy . vi CONTENTS PARTVIII. PRE-CURIALSURVIVALS . 237 I. The Law of Distress in Ireland . 239 11. The Law of Distress in Wales . 245 111. The Law of Distress in the Germanic and other Codes 257 IV. The Law of Boundaries . 260 PARTIX. THE L4w OF PROCEDURE. 267 I. The Enforcement of Jurisdiction . 269 11. The Law of Proof. Raith and Evideilce . , 301 111. The Law of Pleadings 339 IV. Judgement and Execution . 407 PARTX. PART V Appendices I to XI11 . 415 Glossary of Welsh Terms . 436 THE LAW OF CIVIL OBLIGATIONS THE FORMALITIES OF BARGAINING I. Ilztroductory. 8 I. The Welsh Law of bargaining, using the word bargain- ing in a wide sense to cover all transactions of a civil nature whereby one person entered into an undertaking with another, can be considered in two aspects, the one dealing with the form in which bargains were entered into, or to use the Welsh term, the ' bond of bargain ' forming the nexus between the parties to it, the other dealing with the nature of the bargain entered int0.l $2.
    [Show full text]
  • The Last Horizons of Roman Gaul: Communication, Community, and Power at the End of Antiquity
    The Last Horizons of Roman Gaul: Communication, Community, and Power at the End of Antiquity The Harvard community has made this article openly available. Please share how this access benefits you. Your story matters Citation Wilkinson, Ryan Hayes. 2015. The Last Horizons of Roman Gaul: Communication, Community, and Power at the End of Antiquity. Doctoral dissertation, Harvard University, Graduate School of Arts & Sciences. Citable link http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:17467211 Terms of Use This article was downloaded from Harvard University’s DASH repository, and is made available under the terms and conditions applicable to Other Posted Material, as set forth at http:// nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:dash.current.terms-of- use#LAA The Last Horizons of Roman Gaul: Communication, Community, and Power at the End of Antiquity A dissertation presented by Ryan Hayes Wilkinson to The Department of History in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the subject of History Harvard University Cambridge, Massachusetts May 2015 © 2015 Ryan Hayes Wilkinson All rights reserved. Dissertation Advisor: Professor Michael McCormick Ryan Hayes Wilkinson The Last Horizons of Roman Gaul: Communication, Community, and Power at the End of Antiquity Abstract In the fifth and sixth centuries CE, the Roman Empire fragmented, along with its network of political, cultural, and socio-economic connections. How did that network’s collapse reshape the social and mental horizons of communities in one part of the Roman world, now eastern France? Did new political frontiers between barbarian kingdoms redirect those communities’ external connections, and if so, how? To address these questions, this dissertation focuses on the cities of two Gallo-Roman tribal groups.
    [Show full text]
  • LAND REGISTRATION for the TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY a Conveyancing Revolution
    LAND REGISTRATION FOR THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY A Conveyancing Revolution LAND REGISTRATION BILL AND COMMENTARY Laid before Parliament by the Lord High Chancellor pursuant to section 3(2) of the Law Commissions Act 1965 Ordered by The House of Commons to be printed 9 July 2001 LAW COMMISSION H M LAND REGISTRY LAW COM NO 271 LONDON: The Stationery Office HC 114 The Law Commission was set up by section 1 of the Law Commissions Act 1965 for the purpose of promoting the reform of the law. THE COMMISSIONERS ARE: The Honourable Mr Justice Carnwath CVO, Chairman Professor Hugh Beale Mr Stuart Bridge· Professor Martin Partington Judge Alan Wilkie QC The Secretary of the Law Commission is Mr Michael Sayers Her Majesty’s Land Registry, a separate department of government and now an Executive Agency, maintains the land registers for England and Wales and is responsible for delivering all land registration services under the Land Registration Act 1925. The Chief Land Registrar and Chief Executive is Mr Peter Collis The Solicitor to H M Land Registry is Mr Christopher West The terms of this report were agreed on 31 May 2001. The text of this report is available on the Internet at: http://www.lawcom.gov.uk · Mr Stuart Bridge was appointed Law Commissioner with effect from 2 July 2001. The terms of this report were agreed on 31 May 2001, while Mr Charles Harpum was a Law Commissioner. ii LAW COMMISSION HM LAND REGISTRY LAND REGISTRATION FOR THE TWENTY- FIRST CENTURY A Conveyancing Revolution CONTENTS Paragraph Page PART I: THE LAND REGISTRATION BILL AND
    [Show full text]
  • THARP-THESIS-2021.Pdf
    Danishness in the Viking Age: Violence, Christianity, and Boundary Perception in the Construction of Medieval Danish Identity by Jessica Tharp, B.A. A Thesis In History Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of Texas Tech University in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of MASTER OF ARTS Approved John Howe, Ph.D. Chair of the Committee Gretchen Adams, Ph.D. Mark Sheridan Dean of the Graduate School May, 2021 Copyright 2021, Jessica Tharp Texas Tech University, Jessica Tharp, May 2021 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS There are numerous people who have helped me throughout the course of writing this thesis. First, I would like to thank my committee members, Dr. John Howe and Dr. Gretchen Adams, for their patience and invaluable feedback throughout the production process. I would also like to thank Dr. Sydnor Roy for her instrumental assistance in translating early medieval Latin, as well as her encouragement and advice. Thank you also to the numerous professors within the History Department at Texas Tech University who encouraged and helped me grow as a scholar. ii Texas Tech University, Jessica Tharp, May 2021 TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS .................................................................................... ii ABSTRACT .......................................................................................................... iv I. INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................. 1 II. THE THEORETICAL LANDSCAPE ........................................................
    [Show full text]
  • Future Interests in Property in Minnesota Everett Rf Aser
    University of Minnesota Law School Scholarship Repository Minnesota Law Review 1919 Future Interests in Property in Minnesota Everett rF aser Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarship.law.umn.edu/mlr Part of the Law Commons Recommended Citation Fraser, Everett, "Future Interests in Property in Minnesota" (1919). Minnesota Law Review. 1283. https://scholarship.law.umn.edu/mlr/1283 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the University of Minnesota Law School. It has been accepted for inclusion in Minnesota Law Review collection by an authorized administrator of the Scholarship Repository. For more information, please contact [email protected]. MINNESOTA LAW REVIEW FUTURE INTERESTS IN PROPERTY IN MINNESOTA "ORIGINALLY the creation of future interests at law was greatly restricted, but now, either by the Statutes of Uses and of Wills, or by modern legislation, or by the gradual action of the courts, all restraints on the creation of future interests, except those arising from remoteness, have been done away. This practically reduces the law restricting the creation of future interests to the Rule against Perpetuities,"' Generally in common law jurisdictions today there is but one rule restricting the crea- tion of future interests, and that rule is uniform in its application to real property and to personal property, to legal and equitable interests therein, to interests created by way of trust, and to powers. In 1830 the New York Revised Statutes went into effect in New York state. The revision had been prepared by a commis- sion appointed for the purpose five years before. It contained a code of property law in which "the revisers undertook to re- write the whole law of future estates in land, uses and trusts ..
    [Show full text]
  • Ancestors of Luca Jediah WESTFALL B
    Prepared by: Lincoln Westfall Lincoln Westfall 1113 Murfreesboro Rd Nicholas J. Jurian Suite 106, #316 Franklin, WESTPHALEN WESTPHALEN TN 37064 USA b. 1594 b. 1560 Printed on: 01 Jun 2004 Jurian WESTPHAL at Westphalen Prov. or at Westphalen Prov. Rhine Ancestors of Luca Jediah WESTFALL b. 12 Mar 1629 Muenster, Rhine Valley, Valley, Germany at Westphalia Province, Germany m. Germany d. 1655 at d. at Westfalen Prov. Rhine Or:1667/10/01-1669/10/01 Valley, Germany at Kingston, Ulster Co, New m. 1628 York, USA at Westphalen Prov. Rhine m. Valley, Germany Or:1652/00/00-1653/00/00 Johannes "John" at Esopus or Kingston, Jurian WESTFALL Ulster Co, NY b. Or:1655/00/00-1657/00/00 b. 1505 NOTES: at Foxhall, Kingston, Ulster at Dordrecht, Zuid Province, Co, New York, USA Hans JANSEN Holland d. b. circa 1600 d. 10 Sep 1538 Or:1719/00/00-1721/00/00 at Netherlands at Holland at Kingston, Ulster Co, New d. 1690 m. 1529 York, USA at at Holland Maritje HANSEN b. 1532 m. 28 Jun 1683 m. 1629 b. 1636 at Dordrecht, Zuid Province, at Kingston, Ulster Co, New at Netherlands at Nordstrand, Holstein, Holland 1. Extentions/continuations of this pedigree, starting York, USA b. 1513 b. 1487 Holland (Prussia) d. 23 Sep 1596 at Dordrecht, Zuid Province, at d. at Holland m. Or:1670/01/10-1680/01/10 Rymerigg (Rymeria, m. 1550 d. 1565 at at Kingston, Ulster Co, NY Rammetje?) at Dordrecht, Zuid Province, at the point marked in orange, are found on pages 2, b.
    [Show full text]
  • Tilman Struve (Hg.), Die Salier, Das Reich Und Der Niederrhein, Köln, Weimar, Wien (Böhlau) 2008, VIII–414 S., 10 Abb., ISBN 978-3-412-20201-9, EUR 54,90
    Francia-Recensio 2010/1 Mittelalter – Moyen Âge (500–1500) Tilman Struve (Hg.), Die Salier, das Reich und der Niederrhein, Köln, Weimar, Wien (Böhlau) 2008, VIII–414 S., 10 Abb., ISBN 978-3-412-20201-9, EUR 54,90. rezensiert von/compte rendu rédigé par Joseph P. Huffman, Grantham/Pennsylvania The 900th anniversary of the death of Emperor Henry IV (7 August 2006) occasioned several special colloquia (in Cologne, Speyer, Goslar) and publications in celebration of the so-called »Year of the Salians«1. While several scholarly publications and exhibits also appeared with specific focus on Henry IV himself2, the present volume contains the papers given at a colloquium held at the University of Cologne (26–30 September 2006), which accordingly focused on the Salian dynasty’s history in the lower Rhine region. Prof. Dr. Tilman Struve (emeritus professor at the University of Cologne), who has spent much of his career studying the Salian house during the Investiture Struggle3, lends his considerable expertise to framing this collection of disparate essays. Published conference proceedings are always a mixed bag, and this volume is no exception. Essays range from a virtually undocumented 11-page sketch to a remarkably fulsome 76-page study complete with primary and secondary source citations at least as long as the article itself. Helpful if not groundbreaking Zusammenfassungen of scholarship on selected topics are joined with detailed new research findings that have also been subsequently published elsewhere. And while some articles focus specifically on the Salian dynasty, others do so only tangentially because their topics happened to be located in the (usually late) Salian era.
    [Show full text]
  • From Caesar to Tacitus: Changes in Early Germanic Governance Circa 50 BC-50 AD
    From Caesar to Tacitus: Changes in Early Germanic Governance circa 50 BC-50 AD Andrew T. Young College of Business and Economics West Virginia University Morgantown, WV 26506-6025 ph: 304 293 4526 em: [email protected] Latest Version: November 2014 JEL Codes: D72, N43, N93, P16, Keywords: governance institutions, constitutional exchange, antiquity, early Germanic peoples, the Roman Empire, political economy, Julius Caesar, Tacitus, roving versus stationary bandits, ancient economic history 0 From Caesar to Tacitus: Changes in Early Germanic Governance circa 50 BC-50 AD Abstract: Julius Caesar and Cornelius Tacitus provide characterizations of early Germanic (barbarian) society around, respectively, 50 BC and 50 AD. The earlier date corresponds to expansion of Rome to the Rhine and Danube. During the subsequent century Germanic governance institutions changed in a number of ways. In particular, (1) temporary military commanders elected from the nobility gave way to standing retinues under the leadership of professional commanders, (2) public assemblies met more frequently and regularly, (3) councils made up of nobility gained agenda control in the assemblies, and (4) these councils relinquished their control over the allocations of land. I account for these constitutional exchanges in light of Rome’s encroachment upon Germania. In particular, it brought new sources of wealth and also constraints on the expansion of Germans into new lands. Incentives favored a reallocation of resources away from pastoralism and towards both sedentary farming and raids across the frontier. JEL Codes: D72, N43, N93, P16, Keywords: governance institutions, constitutional exchange, antiquity, early Germanic peoples, the Roman Empire, political economy, Julius Caesar, Tacitus, roving versus stationary bandits, ancient economic history 1 1.
    [Show full text]
  • 308 BOOK REVIEWS Seems to Be Provable, and Under These Circumstances It Is Unlikely That He Cribbed Entire Argu­ Ments from His Authorities
    308 BOOK REVIEWS seems to be provable, and under these circumstances it is unlikely that he cribbed entire argu­ ments from his authorities. Petrella discusses an unusual aspect of the treatment of Pamphylia, noting the complete lack of information on leading citizens as supplied in the case of cities elsewhere in Asia Minor. This corresponds to the geographer’s perception of Pamphylia as a centre of low cultural achievement reflecting its involvement in the pirate trade. The ideal against which this is measured appears to be that of the Greek polis, but city life did develop early in Pamphylia, although linguistic indi­ viduality remained important. Precise understanding of integration is hampered by sporadic archaeological work, but the topographical importance of Pamphylia in the age of Strabo and beforehand is to be emphasised. Some of these points can be demonstrated from the epigraphic record. Attaleia is typical with a mix of negotiatores italici and veterans, many of whom origi­ nated from Pisidian Antioch. There is a review of the considerable number of notables known from the major centres. Sometimes this exploration deals with individuals well beyond Strabo’s own age, and their relevance is to understanding an acme of city life in Pamphylia rather than to an exact match with what Strabo claims is the debased quality of the country as a whole. Petrella thinks the evidence is sufficient to show that these cities continued for a long time to operate under the empire in an unchanged environment, autonomous cities maintaining their Hellenistic magistracies, and their own coinage. Overall, it can be seen that this volume from Perugia treats an enormous range of material, and will be indispensable for serious students of Strabo’s Geography, especially those with a pri­ mary interest in the books on Asia Minor.
    [Show full text]
  • Professor Sir Fergus Millar (1935-2019): a Collection of Tributes
    Professor Sir Fergus Millar (1935-2019): A collection of tributes Obituaries Alan Bowman (The Guardian, 30th July 2019) In 1977 the historian Fergus Millar, who has died aged 84, published a massive book, The Emperor in the Roman World, that got to grips in an entirely original way with the institutional character of the empire and the role of its head of state. Based in large part on an encyclopaedic knowledge of Roman law, Millar’s analysis showed in detail how a great empire actually functioned with effective leadership and multifarious modes of communication. Its assertion that “the emperor was what the emperor did”, presaged in a 1965 article, “Emperors at Work”, prompted considerable controversy in the world of ancient history. One reviewer, Keith Hopkins, objected that the emperor was also how he was thought about, imagined, represented, worshipped and so on. Mary Beard, a graduate student at the time, recalled how a live debate between the two both energised the subject and demonstrated how such differences of view could co-exist in a friendly manner. The Crowd in Rome in the Late Republic (1998) argued that the democratic and particularly the electoral processes of the second and first centuries BC were much more critical and effective than had traditionally been thought. It stimulated discussion, as also did lectures delivered at the University of California, Berkeley (2002-03), published as A Greek Roman Empire: Power and Belief under Theodosius II, 408-450 (2006). Here Millar combined the codification of Roman law and the acts of the Church councils in the fifth century into a compelling and entirely original account of the character and the functioning of the later eastern empire, a century after its formal separation from the west.
    [Show full text]
  • Fergus Millar FBA FAHA 1935-2019
    AUSTRALIAN ACADEMY OF THE HUMANITIES humanities.org.au Fergus Millar FBA FAHA 1935-2019 Fergus Graham Burtholme Millar was born in Edinburgh on 5th July 1935 and remained throughout his life a proud Scotsman and one who would have loved to prove his prowess on Murrayfield for his beloved national rugby team. He went to the prestigious Edinburgh Academy but unforeseen changes in family circumstances meant that he had to complete his schooling at Loretto School. In both these ‘Dùn Èideann’ institutions Fergus excelled in Classics and a scholarship at Trinity College to read Literae Humaniores at Oxford came as no surprise. Like so many linguistically gifted young persons of the Cold War generation, he did his National Service before university and acquired considerable proficiency in Russian. After graduation in 1958, Fergus won a Prize Australian Academy of the Humanities archives Fellowship at All Souls College Oxford where Professor Sir Fergus Millar FBA FAHA, Camden he remained until 1964. Instead of launching Professor of Ancient History at Oxford (1984- into an academic career on the basis of this 2002), was a titan in the study of the Ancient prestigious fellowship, he studied for a Doctor World. As a Roman historian his standing of Philosophy (DPhil) degree in Ancient History among all time greats like Theodore under the tutelage of Sir Ronald Syme, FBA Mommsen, Sir Ronald Syme, Arnaldo OM (Camden Professor 1944-70). He would Momigliano and A.H.M. (Hugo) Jones is later become the first Camden Professor to unchallenged. He also had strong connections have an earned doctorate.
    [Show full text]
  • The Salisbury Oath: Its Feudal Implications
    Loyola University Chicago Loyola eCommons Master's Theses Theses and Dissertations 1943 The Salisbury Oath: Its Feudal Implications Harry Timothy Birney Loyola University Chicago Follow this and additional works at: https://ecommons.luc.edu/luc_theses Part of the History Commons Recommended Citation Birney, Harry Timothy, "The Salisbury Oath: Its Feudal Implications" (1943). Master's Theses. 53. https://ecommons.luc.edu/luc_theses/53 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Theses and Dissertations at Loyola eCommons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Master's Theses by an authorized administrator of Loyola eCommons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License. Copyright © 1943 Harry Timothy Birney THE SALISBURY OATH - ITS FEUDAL IMPLICATIONS by HARRY TIMOTHY BIRNEY, S.J., A.B. A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS IN LOYOLA UNIVERSITY J~e 1943 TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 1 CHAPTER I FEUDALI SM - IN THEORY • • • • • • • • • • • 3 II FEUDALISTIC TENDENCIES IN ENGLAND BEFORE 1066 ••••••••••••••••••••• 22 III NORMAN FEUDALISM BEFORE 1066 • • • • 44 IV ANGLO - NORMAN FEUDALISM PRECEDING THE OATH OF SALISBURy........... 62 V THE SALISBURY OATH • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 81 CONCLUSION • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 94 BIBLIOGRAPHY • • • •
    [Show full text]