Crisis, Corruption, and Entropy: England, ca. 1250-1450
Sponsoring Organization(s)
Special Session
Organizer Name
Jack Newman
Organizer Affiliation
Univ. of Kent
Presider Name
Jeremy Piercy
Presider Affiliation
Univ. of Edinburgh
Paper Title 1
Fleecing the System: English Crown Corruption in the Early Fourteenth Century
Presenter 1 Name
Jack Newman
Paper Title 2
"Many More Myscheves": Ferries, Tolls, and Transportation Costs in Late Medieval England
Presenter 2 Name
Stephen Powell
Presenter 2 Affiliation
Rutgers Univ.
Paper Title 3
Advising the Monarch in Ricardian London: Accroaching Royal Power and the Appropriation of Baronial Complaint
Presenter 3 Name
Daniella Gonzalez
Presenter 3 Affiliation
Univ. of Kent
Paper Title 4
Corruption by Another Name? Wycliffite Solutions and the Plight of the Poor
Presenter 4 Name
Hannah Kirby Wood
Presenter 4 Affiliation
Centre for Medieval Studies, Univ. of Toronto
Start Date
12-5-2019 8:30 AM
Session Location
Bernhard 204
Description
The contemporary conception of corruption as simply an abuse of public office for private gain is not one which would be clearly recognisable in the Middle Ages. Rather corruption in this period is best viewed as a physical and moral decay from a perceived prior ideal. Likewise, entropy – a term first coined in the nineteenth century – has a variety of semantic interpretations, the most relevant of which captures the biological elements inherent in earlier conceptions of corruption. This conception includes the degradation of a system by agents and elements which combine to catalyse change and create new previously unknown possibilities. Processes of corruption and anti-corruption can be understood as precipitating change throughout in the Middle Ages and into the modern period. Complaint relating to corruption was often used as a justification for resistance which took both violent and non-violent forms, particularly in the Peasants Revolt of 1381, in Bristol from 1312-1316, but also in contemporary examples such as the Arab Spring. This moral decay of officials and systems in England during the later middle ages which drove change is the subject for this panel.
This session will provide a platform for the discussion of issues relating to corruption in the later Middle Ages. Until recent years corruption and anti-corruption have usually been explored as addenda to more traditional institutional studies. Medievalists such as William Chester Jordan, Gwilym Dodd, and Guy Geltner have begun to treat the field as one worthy of more focused attention. However, there is little research into English corruption in the period in question. Modern governance studies have called for more research into the context in which anti-corruption institutions arose as a potential for future anti-corruption practices in the developing world. These papers will provide a range of case-studies of corruption and anti-corruption practices within the context of fourteenth and fifteenth century England. Jack Newman
Crisis, Corruption, and Entropy: England, ca. 1250-1450
Bernhard 204
The contemporary conception of corruption as simply an abuse of public office for private gain is not one which would be clearly recognisable in the Middle Ages. Rather corruption in this period is best viewed as a physical and moral decay from a perceived prior ideal. Likewise, entropy – a term first coined in the nineteenth century – has a variety of semantic interpretations, the most relevant of which captures the biological elements inherent in earlier conceptions of corruption. This conception includes the degradation of a system by agents and elements which combine to catalyse change and create new previously unknown possibilities. Processes of corruption and anti-corruption can be understood as precipitating change throughout in the Middle Ages and into the modern period. Complaint relating to corruption was often used as a justification for resistance which took both violent and non-violent forms, particularly in the Peasants Revolt of 1381, in Bristol from 1312-1316, but also in contemporary examples such as the Arab Spring. This moral decay of officials and systems in England during the later middle ages which drove change is the subject for this panel.
This session will provide a platform for the discussion of issues relating to corruption in the later Middle Ages. Until recent years corruption and anti-corruption have usually been explored as addenda to more traditional institutional studies. Medievalists such as William Chester Jordan, Gwilym Dodd, and Guy Geltner have begun to treat the field as one worthy of more focused attention. However, there is little research into English corruption in the period in question. Modern governance studies have called for more research into the context in which anti-corruption institutions arose as a potential for future anti-corruption practices in the developing world. These papers will provide a range of case-studies of corruption and anti-corruption practices within the context of fourteenth and fifteenth century England. Jack Newman