NCJ Number
182405
Editor(s)
Barbara A. Hanawalt,
David Wallace
Date Published
1999
Length
275 pages
Annotation
Written by leading specialists in European history and literature, this book explores shifting definitions of crime and changing attitudes toward social control in medieval Europe.
Abstract
Essays in the book reveal how various forces in medieval society interacted and competing in interpreting and influencing social control mechanisms. Drawing on a wide range of historical and literary sources, including legal treatises, court cases, statutes, poems, romances, and comic tales, book contributors consider such topics as fear of crime, rape and violence against women, revenge and condemnation of crime, learned dispute about crime and social control, and legal and political struggles over hunting rights. Consideration is also paid to problems faced by medieval societies in defining crime and its relationship to politics, state formation, individual honor, and issues of property and poverty. In general, the contributors demonstrate medieval crime must be understood in the context of jurisprudence, politics, and economics. Notes