Constructing the Archbishop: Registers, Rights, and Relationships in Thirteenth-Century York

The Ideology, Society and Medieval Religion seminar series is delighted to present Laura Atkinson (University of York) as our December speaker. Mrs. Atkinson will be speaking on "Constructing the Archbishop: Registers, Rights, and Relationships in Thirteenth-Century York".

The late thirteenth century was a key moment for the development of registration and for the definition of the office of Archbishop of York. York’s assertions of authority, combined with conflicting understandings of the parameters of the archiepiscopal office, provoked several disputes including with the bishop and chapter of Durham, the archbishop of Canterbury, and their own York Chapter. Examining the registers of Archbishops William Wickwane (1279-1285) and John le Romeyn (1285-1296) and their use in these disputes reveals the distinctly personal character of archiepiscopacy and places the registers within these individual approaches.

Although material from registers has been used in the study of archiepiscopal disputes, the significance of the registers themselves has been overlooked. Instead, they have fundamentally been seen as a solution to administrative challenges, rather than issues of ecclesiastical authority or ideas of archiepiscopacy. By drawing on recent scholarship about writing culture and memory in the
Middle Ages to examine the role of registers, Laura Atkinson reconsiders the administrative lens with which registers are typically considered. Cartulary studies have proven particularly useful in this regard, with ideas of repurposing material, responsiveness, and authority offering new angles with which to consider these ‘administrative’ records. In doing so, she aims to shed light on registration not simply as
an administrative tool but instead as a dynamic enterprise at the heart of individual and changing approaches to archiepiscopacy.

This seminar will last approximately 90 minutes including a Q&A. This is a hybrid event. For those attending remotely, the talk will be broadcast on Zoom; a link will be emailed to you upon registration via TicketSource. Please check your spam/junk folder for this email if you cannot find it.

For further information please see here, or email Tess Wingard (tess.wingard@york.ac.uk), or Emmie Price-Goodfellow (emmie.price-goodfellow@york.ac.uk)