Ethics, emotion and self-interest: Rural Bavaria in the later middle ages

Michael Toch

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Abstract

The subject of this paper is the ways medieval peasants and their lords ordered and maintained their respective interests within a social order and agrarian regime frought with conflict. It is based on a rare manuscript source, partly published and never used except by local historians, the minutes of the manor court belonging to the 15th century Bavarian abbey of Indersdorf. Staging, ritual, and verbal games were found to be the day-to-day tools used by both sides in a social context which only in theory favoured the stronger party of lords. The findings point to much more complicated and delicate relationships between peasants and lords than suggested by current scholarschip. The concept of "symbolic capital" was found to be a most useful tool to explain the particularities of the case.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)135-147
Number of pages13
JournalJournal of Medieval History
Volume17
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - Jun 1991

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