Cette étude entend poser le problème des violences dans le monde universitaire parisien du XIVe siècle jusqu’au milieu du XVe siècle. Le monde universitaire est compris comme l’ensemble des maîtres, des étudiants et des serviteurs attachés juridiquement au studium. Il s’agit d’analyser l’évolution du phénomène en tenant compte du contexte politique troublé lié à la guerre de Cent Ans, à la guerre civile et au Schisme. Cette thèse aspire à mettre en évidence que les violences étaient un phénomène significatif identitaire pour les gens de l’Université. L’étude des sources historiques variées allant des documents normatifs et des traités didactiques aux données judiciaires et aux chroniques, permet de révéler un large spectre des pratiques violentes touchant le monde du studium parisien. / This study intends to rase the problem of violence in Parisian university world from the XIVth to the middle of the XVth c. The university world in this work is understood as a totality of masters, students and servants who were legally linked to the studium. We propose to examine the evolution of the phenomenon taking account of the troubled character of the political context which was due to the Hundred Years War, the civil war and also to the Schism. This study aims at highlighting the phenomenon of violence as significant to the identity of the university population. The analysis of varied historical sources ranging from the normative documents and didactic treaties to judicial data and chronicles, allows to reveal a large range of violent practices concerning the world of the studium of Paris.

This dissertation examines how clerics in the Lombard and Carolingian Kingdom of Italy prosecuted disputes with each other. It argues for and explores two core features of the clerical legal culture of the kingdom. The first regards the judicial institutions that clerics exploited. While the late eleventh and twelfth centuries would see the elaboration of a coherent system of ecclesiastical justice centered on the papal court, distinct from secular judicial institutions, the situation in the early Middle Ages was radically different. Early medieval Italian clerics made recourse to a wide variety of judicial forums, including both "secular" ones such as the public courts and properly "ecclesiastical" ones such as church synods. The dissertation explores these judicial pathways--some of them well-trodden and enduring ones, others more ad hoc--and the ways clerics navigated between them. Second, this study demonstrates that many early medieval Italian clerics displayed considerable skill and sophistication in crafting and delivering legal arguments against each other. Those arguments frequently hinged on substantive appeal to canon law. This finding presents a challenge to a prevailing view in legal-historical scholarship which downplays or ignores practical legal expertise in the early Middle Ages and often dismisses the period itself as an "age without jurists." This dissertation instead argues for an early medieval clerical legal culture that scholars must take seriously as a prehistory to the well-known legal and judicial developments of the eleventh and twelfth centuries. This is the first study to explore in depth the diversity of judicial pathways exploited by clerics in early medieval Italy and the legal arguments they constructed. Proceeding on the basis of case studies, it traces the threads of ecclesiastical legal culture through several genres of sources: in addition to diplomatic sources such as judicial notices, papal bulls, imperial diplomas, and private charters, it also examines the evidence to be found in works of poetry, hagiography, and historiography, and in legal compilations. Among the ecclesiastical disputes that receive extended discussion are those between the bishops of Arezzo and Siena, between the patriarchs of Aquileia and Grado, between the abbots of Nonantola and neighboring bishops, and those within the diocese of Lucca.

The present study revises the chronology for the twelfth-century "artifex" Nicholaus, demonstrating that his career began just after c.1122 in Piacenza and ended in Verona c. 1164, not c. 1150 as often proposed. The first sculpted entranceway with the Nicholaus imprimatur was executed at the Sagra di San Michele. It is documented that Nicholaus was put in charge of supervising the construction and decoration of the new cathedral in Ferrara in 1135, including the western entranceway with his self-laudatory signature inscription. His activity here ended around 1150, at which time the interior of the cathedral was functional. In the early 1140s, members of the Nicholaus atelier and possibly the "artifex" himself crossed the Alps to execute certain sculptures at the imperial burial church at Königslutter. The signed Verona Cathedral entranceway was executed in the 1150s. Work at San Zeno began after 1164: the elegiac tone of two signature inscriptions here seems to indicate that Nicholaus died around this time. To determine the date of the Nicholaus Verona projects, given the lack of firm documentary evidence for their dating, because their subject matter could be associated with a known historical incident or situation and those dates fit with my stylistic evaluation as to the sculpture's date, I used the dates for these occurrences as the "termini post quem" for the project. Luigi Simeoni had proposed that the formation of the commune of Verona in 1135 is celebrated by the scene on the lunette at San Zeno depicting the patron saint of Verona signing blessing in the midst of the troops. This supported a date of 1138 for this work. However, my research into the relationship between Verona and various emperors led me to conclude that the image on the lunette at San Zeno actually memorializes the formation in 1164 of the Veronese League opposing Emperor Frederick Barbarossa. A second subject here, The Hunt of Theodoric, seems to have been chosen to insult Barbarossa, previously well received in Verona. The San Zeno frontispiece with Nicholaus's sculptures, the famous bronze doors, and the Wheel of Fortune window was assembled c.1200.

On Violence and Tyranny examines historiography as a vehicle for the production of a theory of tyrannicide in the aftermath of the murder of Pedro I de Castilla (1369). The thesis of this work is that by considering the royal chronicle as a vehicle and locus for political theorization, we can appreciate the formulation of a theory of tyrannicide as a medium for dynastic legitimation that is not reducible to political propaganda. Rather, it becomes a meditation about monarchy itself, the limits of power, and the underlying causes and consequences of political violence. The chronicle of the king Pedro's rule conceives an economy of violence coded in terms of saber (political wisdom), justice and the law, as a means to face the ideological, political, and social challenges that civil war and regicide pose to a community. I will focus on two fragments of the chronicle, a pair of letters attributed to a wise Moor that the chronicler chose to include in a second stage of his composition and that establish extra textual connections to other political genres such as the specula principum and political prophecy. Through them, I will explore how a theory of tyrannicide allows the chronicler to confront three major problems that regicide poses. First, how to explicate the dynastic break that king Pedro’s murder brought about, and minimize the discontinuity that the advent of a new, and illegitimate, dynasty (the Trastámaras) represented for a historical tradition that deeply valued the continuity of history. Second, how a theory of tyrannicide served to repair the broken ties provoked by the civil war. And third, how to represent that founding violence, the violence against a sovereign, to render it legitimate, but not available for anyone else to exploit.

In late medieval Europe, suspicions arose that minority groups wished to destroy the Christian majority by poisoning water sources. These suspicions caused the persecution of different minorities by rulers, nobles and officials in various parts of the continent during the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. The best-known case of this kind of persecution was attacks perpetrated against Jewish communities in the German Empire between 1348 and 1350. At this time, the Black Death devastated the continent, and Jews were accused of intentionally spreading the disease by poisoning wells. A series of terrifying massacres ensued, destroying many of the major Jewish communities in Europe. This was not, however, the only case in which such charges led to persecution. In 1321, lepers in south-western France were accused of attempting to spread their particular illness by poisoning water sources. These accusations evolved to include the idea that the plot was initiated by Muslim rulers and aided by the Jews of France. As a consequence, both Jews and lepers suffered violent fates, from expulsion or isolation to execution by fire. Similar, albeit less widespread, cases can be traced up until the fifteenth century. Often Jews were the victims, but lepers, Muslims, paupers, mendicants and foreigners also fell victim to persecution justified by allegations of well poisoning. This dissertation presents a thorough analysis of the subject of well-poisoning accusations and describes why and how they were adopted in the late Middle Ages. The study describes the origins of this phenomenon, how it spread through medieval Europe and its eventual decline. It asserts that in order to explain this process, one must first understand the factors within medieval society, culture and politics that made the idea of a well-poisoning threat convincing. It shows that these accusations were created to justify and drive the persecution and marginalization of minorities. At the same time, it claims that well-poisoning accusations could not have caused such major political and social shifts unless contemporaries genuinely believed the charges were plausible, convincing and threatening.

This dissertation analyzes the function of animal speakers in political poetry by William Langland, Geoffrey Chaucer, and John Gower, and it claims that late fourteenth-century poets describe the marginalized voices of emerging politicians by using animal expressions and noises. These writers invent a playful yet earnest poetics of acknowledgment in comparing politicians’ calls to animal cries. In unveiling novel interpretations of Langland’s mouse, Chaucer’s goose, and Gower’s jay, I argue that the speeches of animals contribute to significant argumentative strains within several late fourteenth-century poems, which remain obscure if the reader ignores the signal contribution of the animal. Finally, I study the use of animal speech in the Lancastrian poem, Richard the Redeless, to understand the ways in which the anti-Ricardian regime appropriated this malleable animal imagery to pursue its own political agenda.

Medieval castle slighting is the phenomenon in which a high-status fortification is demolished in a time of conflict. At its heart are issues about symbolism, the role of castles in medieval society, and the politics of power. Although examples can be found throughout the Middle Ages (1066–1500) in England, Wales and Scotland there has been no systematic study of the archaeology of castle slighting. Understanding castle slighting enhances our view of medieval society and how it responded to power struggles. This study interrogates the archaeological record to establish the nature of castle slighting: establishing how prevalent it was chronologically and geographically; which parts of castles were most likely to be slighted and why this is significant; the effects on the immediate landscape; and the wider role of destruction in medieval society. The contribution of archaeology is especially important as contemporary records give little information about this phenomenon. Using information recovered from excavation and survey allows this thesis to challenge existing narratives about slighting, especially with reference to the civil war between Stephen and Matilda (1139–1154) and the view that slighting was primarily to prevent an enemy from using a fortification. The thesis proposes a new framework for understanding how slighting is represented in the archaeological record and how it might be recognised in the future. Using this methodology, a total of 60 sites were identified. Slighting often coincides with periods of civil war, illustrating the importance of slighting as a tool of social control and the re-assertion of authority in the face of rebellion. Slighting did not necessarily encompass an entire site some parts of the castle – halls and chapels – were typically deliberately excluded from the destruction. There are also examples which fit the old narrative that slighting was used to prevent a fortification falling into enemy hands, but these cases are in the minority and are typically restricted to Scotland during the Scottish Wars of Independence. Given the castle’s role in shaping the landscape – acting as a focus for seigneurial power and precipitating the creation and growth of towns – it is important to understand how slighting effected nearby associated settlements. The evidence suggests that larger towns were able to prosper despite the disruption of slighting while smaller settlements were more likely to decline into obscurity. Importantly towns themselves were very rarely included in the destruction of slighting.

In Buddhism birth is regarded as the origin of suffering and impurity, whereas it also forms the physical basis indispensible for seeking and attaining awakening. Birth is both the starting points of incuring defilement and achieving sanctity. Pointing out this paradox on birth in Buddhism and situating the issue within the context of Chinese religion and history, this dissertation extensively investigates Buddhist discourses and practices of reproduction in medieval China. It anwsers how Buddhist discourses and practices of childbirth were transmitted, transformed, and applied in medieval China, and how they interacted with indigenous healing resources and practices in both Chinese religious and medical realms. Through examining the primary sources such as the excavated Day Books (Chapter One), Buddhist hagiographies (Chapter Two), Buddhist obstetric and embryological discourses (Chapter Three and Four) and healing resources preserved in Tripiṭaka and Dunhuang manuscripts, Dunhuang transformation texts and tableaux, and miracle tales and anecdote literature (Chapter Four and Five), I argue that not only was there a paradoxical dualism at the heart of Buddhism's relationship with reproduction, but also Buddhism provides abundant healing resources for dealing with childbirth on the practical level. Overall I contend that Buddhist healing resources for childbirth served as an effective channel through which Buddhist teaching, worldview and concepts of gender and body were conveyed to its supplicants. Through this investigation, this dissertation contributes to the understanding of the association of Buddhism with medicine, the influence of Buddhist discourses and practices of reproduction on China, and the transmission of Buddhist views of gender, the body, and life to China through its healing activities related to childbirth.

O objetivo desta pesquisa é analisar a imagem do casamento ao longo dos séculos XI e XII, a partir dos novos ideais reformadores da Igreja. A intenção é fazer um estudo comparativo das representações da literatura e dos novos ideais religiosos de casamento, que estavam sendo propostos pela Igreja aproximadamente no mesmo período, a partir de quatro documentos diferentes: o Decretum de Burchard de Worms, o Concordia discondantium canonum de Graciano, os três primeiros Concílios de Latrão e os decretais de Alexandre III, presentes no Líber Extra.. Como fontes literárias serão utilizadas as obras Eric et Enide, Cligès, Lancelot ou Le Chevalier de la Charrette, e Ivain ou Le Chevalier au Lion, todas de Chrétien de Troyes, autor do século XII. Houve transformações na constituição da doutrina do casamento nesse período? Se houve, é possível percebê-las também na literatura? Através destas comparações seria possível identificar como a sociedade era afetada por tais transformações? Estas são as perguntas que orientarão o estudo. / The goal of this research is to analyse the image of marriage throughout the 11th and 12th having the reforming ideals of the Church as the basis. The intention is to make a comparitive study of the literary representations and the new religious ideals for marriage proposed by the Church at the same period. Four documents will be used: the Decretum by Burchard de Worms, the Concordia discordantium canonum by Gratian, the first three Lateran Councils and the decretal letters of Alexandre III, found in the Liber Extra. The literary sources will be Eric et Enide, Cliges, Lancelot, and Ivain, all written by Chretien de Troyes, a 12th century author. Were there transformations in the marriage doctrine in this period? If there were, is it possible to see them in the literature? Could we identify how the society was affected by such transformations through a comparative study? These are some of the questions that will guide the present study.

Uma das principais peregrinações da Idade Média, as viagens a Santiago de Compostela foram responsáveis pela criação de rotas que permitissem um deslocamento mais confortável àqueles que seguiam rumo às relíquias do apóstolo. No intuito de atender as privações que estes viajantes apresentavam no decorrer do percurso, estabeleceu-se uma rede de assistência que provesse a eles suas necessidades físicas e espirituais, influência dos ensinamentos bíblicos em relação à caridade, além do incentivo à visitação de santuários menores que se encontravam nas rotas. Hospitalidade iniciada nos mosteiros, logo permitiu o surgimento de ordens religiosas e militares que se destinaram a auxiliar os peregrinos. Reis e nobres também tiveram um papel fundamental na edificação de instalações hospitaleiras, a fim de auxiliar os caminhantes de Deus. Neste sentido, este trabalho propõe uma reflexão acerca da importância que foi dada à assistência aos peregrinos jacobeus durante os séculos XII e XIII, período em que as peregrinações a Compostela encontravam-se em apogeu. A partir de um guia para peregrinos e documentos que demonstram a preocupação monárquica e nobiliárquica em relação a eles, procuraremos analisar como o auxilio ao peregrino foi observado e abordado naquela época e, ainda, o papel de reis e nobres na constituição das instituições de assistência. / One of the major pilgrimages of the Middle Ages, the travels to Santiago de Compostela were responsible for the creation of routes that would allow a most comfortable ride to those who followed towards the apostle´s relics. In order to meet the hardships that these travelers had on the route course, it was established a support network that could provide them their physical and spiritual needs, influence of biblical teachings regarding charity, besides encouraging visitation of smaller shrines that were on the routes. Hospitality started in monasteries soon allowed the emergence of religious and military orders which were intended to assist the pilgrims . Kings and nobles also had a key role in building hospitable facilities in order to assist the walkers of God. Thus this work proposes a reflection about the importance given to the assistance to the Jacobean pilgrims during the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, a period when the pilgrimages to Compostela were at peak. From a guide for pilgrims and documents showing the monarchy and nobility concern about them, we will try to analyze how the aid to the pilgrim was observed and discussed at that time and also the role of kings and nobles in the constitution of welfare institutions.