The Foundations of Medieval English Ecclesiastical History: Studies Presented to David Smith (review)

Abstract

The Foundations of Medieval English Ecclesiastical History: Studies Presented to David Smith. Edited by Philippa Hoskin, Christopher Brooke, and Barrie Dobson. [Studies in the History of Medieval Religion, vol. 27.] (Rochester, New York: Boydell Press. 2005. Pp. xii, 235. $90.00.) The economics of the publishing world make the publication of Festschriften much rarer than used to be the case; however, this volume shows a great combination of personal tribute to an eminent scholar and a pioneering archivist, on the occasion of his retirement from the directorship of the Borthwick Institute, University of York. It is a focused and interesting collection of essays, the subjects of which reflect the breath and scope of David Smith's work. The first two contributions in the book, by Christopher Brooke and Christopher Webb respectively, present the scholarly work of David Smith as the editor of the British Academy's English Episcopal Acta series, general editor of the Lincoln Record Society, and editor of many volumes of other medieval ecclesiastical documents from the York diocese as well as director of the Borthwick Institute, which under his leadership became one of the most important repositories of documents related to the ecclesiastical and regional history of northern Britain as well as an active research center and training ground for new generations of archivists. Julia Barrow's contribution, Why Forge Episcopal Acta? Preliminary Observations on the Forged Charters in the English Episcopal Acta series argues that forgeries were produced primarily by large Benedictine monasteries and cathedral priories and to a lesser degree by other ecclesiastical institutions in the eleventh and twelfth centuries. The most active in this field were post-Conquest foundations at Gloucester, Rochester, Durham, and Norwich, and the charters were produced to assert the right to numerous parish churches or tithes granted in the late eleventh century, which was a low point in the production of private charters as well as an attempt to secure freedom from various demands of episcopal officials.This article contains also a useful list of forged episcopal acta and beneficiaries of these documents. The next essay, by Nicholas Bennett, Pastors and Masters: The Beneficed Clergy of North-East Lincolnshire, 1290-1340, argues for a less gloomy picture of lower clergy in later medieval Britain, which has traditionally been seen as dominated by absenteeism and lack of care for parish duties. Using the example from the registers of the bishops of the dioceses of Lincoln, he finds many examples contradicting this view. Then, Janet Burton elucidates how another type of sources-so called cause papers-concerning payments of ecclesiastical dues, matrimonial cases, defamation, and testamentary wills can be used to explore complex relationships between religious houses in Yorkshire and their lay neighbors. …