Groundbreaking essays show the variety and complexity of the roles played by inquisition in medieval England. Inquisition in medieval and early modern England has typically been the subject of historical rather than cultural investigation, and focussed on heresy. Here, however, inquisition is revealed as playing a broader role in medievalEnglish culture, not only in relation to sanctions like excommunication, penance and confession, but also in the fields of exemplarity, rhetoric and poetry. Beyond its specific legal and pastoral applications, inquisitio was a dialogic mode of inquiry, a means of discerning, producing or rewriting truth, and an often adversarial form of invention and literary authority. The essays in this volume cover such topics as the theory and practice ofcanon law, heresy and its prosecution, Middle English pastoralia, political writing and romance. As a result, the collection redefines the nature of inquisition's role within both medieval law and culture, and demonstrates the extent to which it penetrated the late-medieval consciousness, shaping public fame and private selves, sexuality and gender, rhetoric, and literature. Mary C. Flannery is a lecturer in English at the University of Lausanne; Katie L. Walter is a lecturer in English at the University of Sussex. Contributors: Mary C. Flannery, Katie L. Walter, Henry Ansgar Kelly, Edwin Craun, Ian Forrest, Diane Vincent, Jenny Lee, James Wade, Genelle Gertz, Ruth Ahnert, Emily Steiner

About the Author
Ian Forrest is professor of social and religious history at the University of Oxford.

Reviews
The essays collected together . . . successfully highlight the tensely creative interrelationship of form of official legal documentary culture and individual authorship in both old and new genres. * JEGP *
In their collective approach, the authors explicate the way in which the process of inquiry ('inquisitio') became a judicial and confessional tool whereby ecclesiastical authorities . . . constructed a rationale and accompanying institutions that enabled them to root out and correct errors of belief and practice. * JOURNAL OF CHURCH AND STATE *
A valuable collection that offers intriguing insights into understanding medieval inquisition as a complex and dynamic concept not confined to investigations of heresy. * MEDIAEVISTIK 26, 2013 *
[A] volume of worthy articles and a welcome contribution to the field. * STUDIES IN MEDIEVAL AND RENAISSANCE TEACHING *



Book Information
ISBN 9781843843368
Author Mary C. Flannery
Format Hardback
Page Count 202
Imprint D.S. Brewer
Publisher Boydell & Brewer Ltd