Excommunication in Thirteenth-Century England Communities, Politics, and Publicity

Excommunication was the medieval churchâs most severe sanction, used against people at all levels of society. It was a spiritual, social, and legal penalty. Excommunication in Thirteenth-Century England offers a fresh perspective on medieval excommunication by taking a multi-dimensional approach to discussion of the sanction. Using England as a case study, Felicity Hill analyzes the intentions behind excommunication; how it was perceived and received, at both national and local level; the effects it had upon individuals and society. The study is structured thematically to argue that our understanding of excommunication should be shaped by how it was received within the community as well as the intentions of canon law and clerics.

Challenging past assumptions about the inefficacy of excommunication, Hill argues that the sanction remained a useful weapon for the clerical elite: bringing into dialogue a wide range of source material allows âeffectivenessâ to be judged within a broader context. The complexity of political communication and action are revealed through public, conflicting, accepted and rejected excommunications. Excommunication could be manipulated to great effect in political conflicts and was an important means by which political events were communicated down the social strata of medieval society.

Through its exploration of excommunication, the book reveals much about medieval cursing, pastoral care, fears about the afterlife, social ostracism, shame and reputation, and mass communication.

Felicity Hill, Lecturer in Medieval History, University of St Andrews

Felicity Hill's research is focused on social and religious history. She came to St Andrews in 2019 from Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, where she held a research fellowship. Before that she was a fellow at the Institute of Historical Research, and studied at Manchester, UCL, and UEA.

Introduction
PART I: INDIVIDUALS
1. The Spiritual Effects of Excommunication: Instilling Fear
2. Belief, Fear, and Conscience
PART II: COMMUNITIES
3. Exclusion from the Community of the Faithful
4. Apathy, Rejection, and Divided Loyalties
PART III: PUBLICITY
5. Publicity, Reputation, and Scandal
6. Violence, Excommunication, and Dispute Settlement: Thame, 1292-1294
7. Ecclesiastical Broadcasting in the Thirteenth Century: The Origins of the Great
Conclusion
APPENDIX I: IPSO FACTO SENTENCES TO BE REGULARLY PRONOUNCED IN THIRTEENTH-CENTURY ENGLAND
APPENDIX II: WILLIAM OF PAGULA'S LIST OF IPSO FACTO SENTENCES (OCULIS SACERDOTIS, C. 1320)