Society and Population
Discussion Questions and Topics
Primary Sources
Accounts of the Plague (S1 and S2)
Compare the two accounts. What differences do you see? Any differences in the descriptions of symptoms? Of official responses to the disease? Of its social or other effects?
How do the two different kinds of sources yield different insights into the course and consequences of the plague?
Characteristics of a Knight (S3)
Does this description of a knight match your own preconceptions regarding medieval knights? If there are differences, what are they?
Margery Kempe (S4 and S5)
Margery Kempe's account gives us a rare glimpse into the life of a late medieval English woman, and she has received a good deal of attention from scholars. You can read more about her life at the Luminarium, which has collected several sketches. Kempe cannot be considered at all typical, but she does show us one individual's experience of intense mysticism. The two examples I've chosen highlight more everyday matters, but the Luminarium site has many other excerpts.
Textbooks
Look at Hay, p. 48. What do you make of the categories listed here? Draw up your own list of late medieval social categories. Just for fun, draw up a list of modern social categories. How do the two compare? Do you know of any formal list of social categories in our own day?
The modern perception is that families ruled for generations and even centuries, but Hay on p. 66 says that a third of the nobility was turned over every two generations, or even faster. Make some guesses as to how the modern perception developed and why it has persisted even in the face of objective evidence to the contrary.
Hay on p. 194 discusses the seven Electors. It's worth taking the time to try to locate their territories on a map.
Hay, p. 199 mentions two bishops who "had extensive liberties" and "liberties" get mentioned elsewhere, too. What does "liberties" mean in this sense? Can you give examples?
Hay and Jensen both speak about the reception of Roman law, and you'll encounter that reference elsewhere often. Can you find any examples of exactly how this worked? If not, try making some guesses. It's clearly important because it gets mentioned so frequently, but none of our authors really speak to the mechanics of it or even to the timing.
Hay talks on pages 291-292 about various fiscal practices of the Church. See if you can find out more about reservations and elections and expectatives and collations.
Hay, p. 293: What is granting a monastery in commendam?
On page 361, Hay mentions there were no university foundations in England in the 14thc or 15thc. Any guesses as to why? Or why the decline in Italy, and the steady growth in Germany and France?
What were the Seven Liberal Arts. Why those particular topics? See if you can find out what was actually taught in each of those seven areas; you might be a little surprised.