In Memory of Richard Britnell: Peasants, Markets and Trade
Sponsoring Organization(s)
Medieval Association for Rural Studies (MARS)
Organizer Name
Philip Slavin
Organizer Affiliation
Univ. of Kent
Presider Name
Richard Hoffmann
Presider Affiliation
York Univ.
Paper Title 1
Contacts beyond the Village: Peasants' Social Networks and Avenues of Communication Revealed in a Case Study from Early Fifteenth-Century Huntingdonshire
Presenter 1 Name
Anne R. DeWindt
Presenter 1 Affiliation
Univ. of Detroit Mercy
Paper Title 2
The Leading Clothiers of the Later Middle Ages: Entrepreneurial and Innovative or Exceptional and Irrelevant?
Presenter 2 Name
John Lee
Presenter 2 Affiliation
Univ. of York
Paper Title 3
Fisherman's Blues: Economic Networks at Tower House Castles in the Late Medieval Irish Sea Region
Presenter 3 Name
Vicky McAlister
Presenter 3 Affiliation
Southeast Missouri State Univ.
Start Date
15-5-2015 10:00 AM
Session Location
Schneider 1235
Description
In December 2013, the community of medieval economic and social historians lost two eminent historians: Professors John H. Munro (University of Toronto) and Richard Britnell (University of Durham). The contribution of the two historians cannot be overstated: to a large extent, Munro and Britnell have redefined numerous paradigms and problems, setting up new and higher scholarly standards. Apart from their voluminous works, both Munro and Britnell were faithful attendants of the Medieval Congress at Kalamazoo and have presented their papers on numerous occasions there. As a modest homage, the MARS proposes to hold two memorial sessions at the 2015 congress, each celebrating the career of each late scholar. It is the understanding of the MARS organizers that efforts have been made to hold additional one or two memorial sessions in honour of John Munro; thus, the MARS will be sponsoring one of two or three memorial sessions for John Munro.
The intellectual justification for the two sessions stems mainly from two facts. First, both John Munro and Richard Britnell had an avid professional interest in late-medieval countryside, its inhabitants, institutions and developments (and they both have indeed published extensively on this subject, even though John Munro's works dealt primarily with wool production and trade and monetary history). Second, after some two decades of relative silence, the study of medieval peasant society has witnessed a sudden revival in the last few years, mainly thanks to the efforts of British medievalists. In 2014, the MARS has sponsored a session on medieval peasantry, which was met with apparent success, judging by the excellent quality of papers and the sheer number of attendants. Holding similar sessions at the 50th Congress would be a natural consequence of the previous year's success and dedicating each session to the memory of the eminent medievalist shall undoubtedly have a profound impact on the quality of the each session and the size of the audience. This will be an excellent opportunity to celebrate the illustrious careers of John Munro and Richard Britnell by their students, colleagues and fellow medievalists alike.
Philip Slavin
In Memory of Richard Britnell: Peasants, Markets and Trade
Schneider 1235
In December 2013, the community of medieval economic and social historians lost two eminent historians: Professors John H. Munro (University of Toronto) and Richard Britnell (University of Durham). The contribution of the two historians cannot be overstated: to a large extent, Munro and Britnell have redefined numerous paradigms and problems, setting up new and higher scholarly standards. Apart from their voluminous works, both Munro and Britnell were faithful attendants of the Medieval Congress at Kalamazoo and have presented their papers on numerous occasions there. As a modest homage, the MARS proposes to hold two memorial sessions at the 2015 congress, each celebrating the career of each late scholar. It is the understanding of the MARS organizers that efforts have been made to hold additional one or two memorial sessions in honour of John Munro; thus, the MARS will be sponsoring one of two or three memorial sessions for John Munro.
The intellectual justification for the two sessions stems mainly from two facts. First, both John Munro and Richard Britnell had an avid professional interest in late-medieval countryside, its inhabitants, institutions and developments (and they both have indeed published extensively on this subject, even though John Munro's works dealt primarily with wool production and trade and monetary history). Second, after some two decades of relative silence, the study of medieval peasant society has witnessed a sudden revival in the last few years, mainly thanks to the efforts of British medievalists. In 2014, the MARS has sponsored a session on medieval peasantry, which was met with apparent success, judging by the excellent quality of papers and the sheer number of attendants. Holding similar sessions at the 50th Congress would be a natural consequence of the previous year's success and dedicating each session to the memory of the eminent medievalist shall undoubtedly have a profound impact on the quality of the each session and the size of the audience. This will be an excellent opportunity to celebrate the illustrious careers of John Munro and Richard Britnell by their students, colleagues and fellow medievalists alike.
Philip Slavin