Conflicts, Confessions, and Contracts: Diocesan Justice in Late Fifteenth-Century Carpentras (Studies in Medieval and Reformation Traditions)

Elizabeth Hardman uses notarial records from the 1480s to explore the nature of criminal and civil justice at the bishop's court of Carpentras and compare it to other secular and ecclesiastical courts. Diocesan Justice In Late Fifteenth-century Carpentras' Uses Notarial Records From The 1480s To Reconstruct The Procedures, Caseload, And Sanctions Of The Bishop's Court Of Carpentras And Compare Them To Other Secular And Ecclesiastical Courts. The Court Provided A Robust Forum For Debt Litigation Utilized By A Wide Variety Of People. Its Criminal Proceedings Focused On Recividist Clerics Who Engaged In Fights, Disobedience, Anti-jewish Activities, And Sexual Transgressions. Its Justice Varied Depending On Whether Cases Involved Violence, Sex, Or Contracts. The Judge Applied Sanctions Gingerly And Protected Litigants' Rights Carefully, In Ways We Might Not Expect: His Role Was To Intervene In, Explore, And Document Conflicts, And To Elicit Confessions And Mediate Disputes. Participants Exploited This Narrative And Archival Space Well. Introduction -- The Accused And The Court : Confrontations And Legal Spaces -- De Verbis Ad Verbera : Wounded Honor, Interpersonal Violence, And Exculpatory Narratives -- Disciplining The Clergy : Personal Sins And Public Challenges -- Civil Litigation : A Space Of Registration And Mediation -- The Court As A Judicial Space : Coercion And Compliance, Sanctioning And Sentencing -- Conclusion -- Appendix: Transcriptions Of Select Cases. By Elizabeth L. Hardman. Based On Author's Thesis (doctoral - Fordham Univeristy, 2010), Issued Under Title: Justice, Jurisdiction And Choice: The Fifteenth-century Church Courts Of Carpentras. Includes Bibliographical References (pages 240-260) And Index. Diocesan Justice in Late Fifteenth-Century Carpentras uses notarial records from the 1480s to reconstruct the procedures, caseload, and sanctions of the bishop's court of Carpentras and compare them to other secular and ecclesiastical courts. The court provided a robust forum for debt litigation utilized by a wide variety of people. Its criminal proceedings focused on recidivist clerics who engaged in fights, disobedience, anti-Jewish activities, and sexual transgressions. Its justice varied depending on whether cases involved violence, sex, or contracts. The judge applied sanctions gingerly and protected litigants'rights carefully, in ways we might not expect: his role was to intervene in, explore, and document conflicts, and to elicit confessions and mediate disputes. Participants exploited this narrative and archival space well.