Jacques Chauvet proposes to evoke the customs of our Poitevin ancestors through these criminal cases. He will also show how even the most modest could obtain a pardon from the king, and will look at the practices of medieval justice as well as the notion of "justice".
The Actes royaux du Poitou (1302-1483) are full of criminal cases that plunge us into the everyday life of our forebears in the Middle Ages: warriors quick to pillage, clergy not inclined to chastity, penny-pinchers, forgers and inveterate gamblers. And a whole cohort of misfits who clearly hadn't read the manuals of good behaviour.
These archives bring to light the deeds and actions of our ancestors, these Poitevins of the lower classes, briefly plucked from anonymity for having obtained the king's pardon... often at the cost of a clever and crude disguise of the facts.
Illustrated by examples drawn from the marshlands of the Sud-Vendée, this talk looks at medieval justice which, contrary to popular belief, favoured negotiation between the parties in order to put an end to the cycle of revenge. The mercy granted by the injured party was not disinterested. It reveals a very real obsession with the Last Judgement, where each party hopes to obtain in return the forgiveness it granted during its lifetime. Even more surprisingly, the king is keen to justify his own leniency by invoking reasons that leave us dumbfounded.
These archives bring to light the deeds and actions of our ancestors, these Poitevins of the lower classes, briefly plucked from anonymity for having obtained the king's pardon... often at the cost of a clever and crude disguise of the facts.
Illustrated by examples drawn from the marshlands of the Sud-Vendée, this talk looks at medieval justice which, contrary to popular belief, favoured negotiation between the parties in order to put an end to the cycle of revenge. The mercy granted by the injured party was not disinterested. It reveals a very real obsession with the Last Judgement, where each party hopes to obtain in return the forgiveness it granted during its lifetime. Even more surprisingly, the king is keen to justify his own leniency by invoking reasons that leave us dumbfounded.
