Violence has been a subject of much lively recent debate among medieval historians. The current project seeks to develop this debate in a new direction: how law was used to control violence among two of the ‘three orders (ordines)’ of medieval society, the warrior class (bellatores) and the clergy (oratores). Clergy were committed to peace and non-aggression in principle but were often involved in violence, both on and off the battlefield. The warrior class were naturally involved in violence and destruction but both ecclesiastical and secular authorities sought to regulate their military behaviour.
None of the historiography on medieval violence has looked at these ordines together, hence this project seeks to encourage international dialogue on this topic between specialists in the often all too separate fields of religious history and political history. By examining these two ordines comparisons, contrasts and cross-currents can be explored in a way that has not been attempted before. What were the perceived limits of violence for these two groups? To what extent did religious belief and teachings dictate these? How did this inform the making and imposition of law on violence? In theory canon law was universally applicable while secular law was unique to each locality or nation, but was this the case in practice when the control of violence was at issue? Did these two legal systems interact differently in different places on this matter?
The project will be initially limited to the medieval Latin west (6th to 15th centuries). Current collaborators in this field include the project’s co-founders Prof. Anne Curry and Dr Peter D. Clarke of the University of Southampton and their colleagues Drs Chris Briggs, Leonie Hicks and Nicholas Karn; and those in other WUN institutions on both sides of the Atlantic, notably Prof. Torstein Jørgensen (University of Bergen); Prof. Karl B. Shoemaker (Wisconsin State University); and Prof. Rob Meens (University of Utrecht). The long-term aim is to involve those interested in the project from disciplines other than history and from different periods and geographical regions, including specialists in Islamic, Jewish and other religious cultures.
The outcomes of the project comprise a series of video-linked research seminars to run in the Spring of 2010 and based at Southampton, two sessions organised for the Leeds International Medieval Congress in July 2010, and an online collection of sources in translation, to which contributions are very much welcomed. The project secretary is Dr Lena Wahlgren-Smith. Please contact her for further details and if you have ideas for sources and topics for discussion (l.k.m.wahlgren-smith@soton.ac.uk).