
Addressing Injustice in the Medieval Body Politic
10.5117/9789463721271
Amsterdam University Press
Published on 1. August 2023
Book
Hardback
402 pages
978-94-6372-127-1 (ISBN)
Description
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.
Reviews / Votes
"One of the key strengths of Addressing Injustice is its diversity of analysis, which portrays fully the breadth of influence exercised by this singular Hiberno-Latin treatise [...] Addressing Injustice successfully demonstrates many of the ways that De XII abusiuis saeculi shaped the meaning and application of the concept of justice in a variety of contexts across the Middle Ages. Its essays thus contribute substantially to the scholarship concerning this anonymous, seventh-century admonitory treatise from Ireland''.- Maire Johnson, Speculum , vol. 100, no. 3, 2025
More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
Oxford
Netherlands
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Academic
Illustrations
3 s/w Abbildungen
3 Illustrations, black and white
Dimensions
Height: 240 mm
Width: 161 mm
Thickness: 26 mm
Weight
769 gr
ISBN-13
978-94-6372-127-1 (9789463721271)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
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Constant Jan Mews | Kathleen Neal
Addressing Injustice in the Medieval Body Politic
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approx. 12/2025
1st Edition
Routledge
€69.80
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Constant Jan Mews | Kathleen Neal
Addressing Injustice in the Medieval Body Politic
E-Book
10/2025
Routledge
€60.99
Available for download

Constant Jan Mews | Kathleen Neal
Addressing Injustice in the Medieval Body Politic
E-Book
10/2025
Routledge
€60.99
Available for download
Persons
CONSTANT J. MEWS is Emeritus Professor and formerly Director of the Centre for Religious Studies, Monash University (Australia). He specializes in the religious and intellectual history of Europe in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, on which he has published widely, but is also completing Aidan Breen's edition of DDAS for the Corpus Christianorum. KATHLEEN B. NEAL is Senior Lecturer in History and Director of the Centre for Medieval and Renaissance Studies at Monash University (Australia). She specializes in later-medieval political culture and communication. Her monograph The Letters of Edward I: Political Communication in the Thirteenth Century was published by Boydell Press in 2021.
Content
1. The De XII abusiuis saeculi: Contexts and Textual Traditions (Constant J. Mews and Stephen J. Joyce)
2. The Irish Background to the De XII abusiuis saeculi (Daibhi O Croinin)
3. 'Each in the Calling to Which They Are Called': Images of Authority in the De XII abusiuis saeculi (Stephen J. Joyce)
4. Transforming Irish Traditions: De XII abusiuis saeculi and Justice in the Frankish World, c. 750-1050 (Jelle Wassenaar)
5. The Unjust King and the Negligent Bishop: Addressing Injustice in Eleventh and Twelfth-Century England and Germany (Ryan Kemp)
6. Reflecting on Abuses in Religious Life: From The Twelve Abuses of the Cloister to The Cloister of the Soul (Constant J. Mews)
7. Preaching the Body Politic: John of Wales and Franciscan Political Thought in the Late Thirteenth Century (Kathleen B. Neal)
8. Justice and its Abuses in the Speculum Justiciariorum (Cary J. Nederman)
9. Addressing Abuses and Injustice in the Court of Philip the Fair: The De informatione principum of Durand of Champagne (Rina Lahav)
10. 'Perfect Justice Weighs Everything on a Balanced Scale': Italian Friars on Equity and the Commune, c. 1270-c. 1310 (Charles F. Briggs)
11. Some Late Franciscan Rewritings of The Twelve Abuses(Sylvain Piron)
Appendix: On the Twelve Abuses of the Age: A Translation (Aidan Breen? and Constant J. Mews)
Bibliography
Index of Manuscripts
Index
2. The Irish Background to the De XII abusiuis saeculi (Daibhi O Croinin)
3. 'Each in the Calling to Which They Are Called': Images of Authority in the De XII abusiuis saeculi (Stephen J. Joyce)
4. Transforming Irish Traditions: De XII abusiuis saeculi and Justice in the Frankish World, c. 750-1050 (Jelle Wassenaar)
5. The Unjust King and the Negligent Bishop: Addressing Injustice in Eleventh and Twelfth-Century England and Germany (Ryan Kemp)
6. Reflecting on Abuses in Religious Life: From The Twelve Abuses of the Cloister to The Cloister of the Soul (Constant J. Mews)
7. Preaching the Body Politic: John of Wales and Franciscan Political Thought in the Late Thirteenth Century (Kathleen B. Neal)
8. Justice and its Abuses in the Speculum Justiciariorum (Cary J. Nederman)
9. Addressing Abuses and Injustice in the Court of Philip the Fair: The De informatione principum of Durand of Champagne (Rina Lahav)
10. 'Perfect Justice Weighs Everything on a Balanced Scale': Italian Friars on Equity and the Commune, c. 1270-c. 1310 (Charles F. Briggs)
11. Some Late Franciscan Rewritings of The Twelve Abuses(Sylvain Piron)
Appendix: On the Twelve Abuses of the Age: A Translation (Aidan Breen? and Constant J. Mews)
Bibliography
Index of Manuscripts
Index