Addressing Injustice in the Medieval Body Politic (Crossing Boundaries: Turku Medieval and Early Modern Studies)

"Justice and injustice were subjects of ongoing debate in medieval Europe. Received classical and biblical models both influenced how these qualities of moral and political life were perceived, discussed and acted upon. Important among these influences was the anonymous seventh-century Irish text, 'On The Twelve Abuses of the Age', a biblically-inspired discussion of the moral duties particular to each sector of society. This volume probes its long influence, and its interaction with the revival of classical ideas. By bringing together scholars of political thought and practice, in lay and religious contexts spanning the seventh to fourteenth centuries, this volume crosses boundaries of periodisation, discipline and approach to reflect upon the medieval evolution of concepts of injustice and means of redress. Contributions address how ideas about justice and injustice were discussed among scholars and theologians, and how those ideas were translated into action through complaint and advice throughout the medieval period."--Back cover Cover 1 Table of Contents 6 Acknowledgements 8 Abbreviations 10 Note on references 12 Introduction 16 Justice and its Abuse in the Medieval Body Politic 16 Constant J. Mews and Kathleen B. Neal 16 1 The De XII abusiuis saeculi 36 Contexts and Textual Traditions 36 Constant J. Mews and Stephen J. Joyce 36 2 The Irish Background to the De XII abusiuis saeculi 72 Dáibhí Ó Cróinín 72 3 ‘Each in the Calling to Which They are Called’ 88 Images of Authority in the De XII abusiuis saeculi 88 Stephen J. Joyce 88 4 Transforming Irish Traditions 112 De XII abusiuis saeculi and Justice in the Frankish World, c. 750–1050 112 Jelle Wassenaar 112 5 The Unjust King and the Negligent Bishop 142 Addressing Injustice in Eleventh and Twelfth-Century England and Germany 142 Ryan Kemp 142 6 Reflecting on Abuses in Religious Life 174 From The Twelve Abuses of the Cloister to The Cloister of the Soul 174 Constant J. Mews 174 7 Preaching the Body Politic 202 John of Wales and Franciscan Political Thought in the Late Thirteenth Century 202 Kathleen B. Neal 202 8 Justice and Its Abuses in the Speculum justiciariorum 234 Cary J. Nederman 234 9 Addressing Abuses and Injustice in the Court of Philip the Fair 250 The De informatione principum of Durand of Champagne 250 Rina Lahav 250 10 ‘Perfect Justice Weighs Everything on a Balanced Scale’ 284 Italian Friars on Equity, the Common Good, and the Commune c. 1270–c. 1310 284 Charles F. Briggs 284 11 Some Late Franciscan Rewritings of the Twelve Abuses 312 Sylvain Piron 312 Appendix 326 On the Twelve Abuses of the Age A Translation 326 Translated by Aidan Breen (†) and Constant J. Mews 326 Bibliography 354 Index of Biblical References 392 Index of Manuscripts 394 General Index 396 List of Tables and Illustrations 14 Table 1.1: Chronological distribution of MSS of DDAS 54 Figure 3.1: ‘The Wheel of the Age’: Relationships among the Twelve Abuses of the Age. Image by Stephen Joyce. 96 Table 6.1: Twelve Abuses of the Cloister and Twelve Abuses of the Age 178 Table 7.1: Structure of Communiloquium 210 Table 7.2: DDAS citations in the Communiloquium 215 Table 8.1: Patristic and Classical Authors in the De informatione principum 258 Table 8.2: Comparison of De informatione principum and De morali principis institutione 269 Figure 10.1: Giotto di Bondone, Iustitia, Cappella Scrovegni (Arena Chapel), Padua, c. 1306. 288 Figure 10.2: Giotto di Bondone, Iniustitia, Cappella Scrovegni (Arena Chapel), Padua, c. 1306. Image courtesy of Web Gallery of Art, created by Emil Krén and Daniel Marx. 291 Table 11.1: An adaptation of DDAS in Latin and the vernacular 314