Necessary Conjunctions The Social Self in Medieval England

Necessary Conjunctions is an original study of how regular medieval people created their public social identities. Focusing especially on the world of English townspeople in the later Middle Ages, the book explores the social self, the public face of the individual. It gives special attention to how prevalent norms of honor, fidelity and hierarchy guided and were manipulated by medieval citizens. With variable success, medieval men and women defined themselves and each other by the clothes they work, the goods they cherished, as well as by their alliances and enemies, their sharp tongues and petty violence. Employing a highly interdisciplinary methodology and an original theory makes it possible to see how personal agency and identity developed within the framework of later medieval power structures.

David Gary Shaw is Professor of History, Wesleyan University.

Introduction: The Self in Social History * Master Values of Town Life * E Pluribus Unum. Peer Pressures * The Marriage of Self and Structure * Friends, Enemies, Patrons * Battles at the Boundary of the Self * Self-Possession * A World of Individuals * Conclusion: The Shape of the Social Self
Introduction: The Self in Social History * Master Values of Town Life * E Pluribus Unum. Peer Pressures * The Marriage of Self and Structure * Friends, Enemies, Patrons * Battles at the Boundary of the Self * Self-Possession * A World of Individuals * Conclusion: The Shape of the Social Self