English Nuns and the Law in the Middle Ages: Cloistered Nuns and Their Lawyers, 1293-1540 (Studies in the History of Medieval Religion) (Volume 39)

Lawmen were crucial to the economic wellbeing of medieval nunneries; this book looks at the relationship between them and how cases were conducted. In late medieval England, cloistered nuns, like all substantial property owners, engaged in nearly constant litigation to defend their holdings. They did so using attorneys (proctors), advocates and other "men of law" who actuallyconducted that litigation in the courts of Church and Crown. However, although lawyers were as crucial to the economic vitality of the nunneries as the patrons who endowed them, their role in protecting, augmenting or depleting monastic assets has never been fully investigated. This book aims to address the gap. Using records from the courts of the common law, Chancery, and a variety of ecclesiastical venues, it examines the working relationships withoutwhich cloistered nuns could not have lived in fully enclosed but self-sustainingc communities. In the first part it looks at the six mendicant and Bridgettine houses established in England, and relates the effectiveness and resilience of their cloistered spirituality to the rise of legal professionalism in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. It then presents cases from ecclesiastical and royal courts which illustrate the work of legal professionals on behalf of their clients. Elizabeth Makowski is Ingram Professor of History, Texas State University. In late medieval England, cloistered nuns, like all substantial property owners, engaged in nearly constant litigation to defend their holdings. They did so using attorneys (proctors), advocates and other 'men of law' who actually conducted that litigation in the courts of Church and Crown. However, although lawyers were as crucial to the economic vitality of the nunneries as the patrons who endowed them, their role in protecting, augmenting or depleting monastic assets has never been fully investigated. This book aims to address the gap. Using records from the courts of the common law, Chancery, and a variety of ecclesiastical venues, it examines the working relationships without which cloistered nuns could not have lived in fully enclosed but self-sustainingc communities. In the first part it looks at the six mendicant and Bridgettine houses established in England, and relates the effectiveness and resilience of their cloistered spirituality to the rise of legal professionalism in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. It then presents cases from ecclesiastical and royal courts which illustrate the work of legal professionals on behalf of their clients. Elizabeth Makowski is Ingram Professor of History, Texas State University In late medieval England, cloistered nuns, like all substantial property owners, engaged in nearly constant litigation to defend their holdings. They did so using attorneys (proctors), advocates and other ""men of law"" who actually conducted that litigation in the courts of Church and Crown, following the increased professionalism of legal practitioners during the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. However, although lawyers were as crucial to the economic vitality of the nunneries as the patrons who endowed them, their role in protecting, augmenting or depleting monastic assets has never been Lawmen Were Crucial To The Economic Wellbeing Of Medieval Nunneries. This Book Looks At The Relationship Between Them And How Cases Were Conducted. I. Clients And Lawyers. 1. Cloistered Spirituality And English Nuns -- 2. Legal Professionalism And English Lawyers -- 3. Letters Of Appointment And Routine Business -- Ii. Select Cases. 4. Proceedings At Common Law -- 5. Chancery Suits -- 6. Episcopal Arbitration -- 7. Papal Appeals -- Conclusion. Elizabeth Makowski. Includes Bibliographical References (p. [179]-189) And Index. Preface ix Acknowledgments xiii List of Abbreviations xv Introduction 1 I. Clients and Lawyers 1. Cloistered Spirituality and English Nuns 11 2. Legal Professionalism and English Lawyers 29 3. Letters of Appointment and Routine Business 55 II. Select Cases 4. Proceedings at Common Law 71 5. Chancery Suits 101 6. Episcopal Arbitration 119 7. Papal Appeals 137 Conclusion 169 Appendix 175 Select Bibliography 179 Index 191