The Making of Manners and Morals in Twelfth-Century England

Fiona Whelan completed her DPhil in Medieval History at the University of Oxford in 2015, and has previously studied at Trinity College Dublin and University College London. She has published on manuscript dissemination and has contributed to the collection Transformations and Continuities in the Eleventh Century: The Archaeology of the Norman Conquest. She currently works for the University of Oxford and her research interests include the cultivation of norms of behaviour, food and diet in the medieval period, household administration, and the manuscript culture of early courtesy literature.

Illustrations

Acknowledgements

Abbreviations

Manuscript Sigla

Introduction

Chapter 1. The Background to Urbanus Magnus

Content

Introduction to the Manuscripts

Composition

Authorship

Chapter 2. Genre and Urbanus Magnus

Scholarship on Urbanus Magnus

The Genre of Courtesy Literature

The Origins of Courtesy Literature

Other Sources

Chapter 3. The Manuscript Evidence

Twelfth-Century Satire

An Educational Tool

Religious Use

A Medical Text

Chapter 4. Introduction to Themes

Chapter 5. The Medieval Household and Beyond

Administering the Household

Householder, Home, and Hospitality

Children and Wives

Staff and Servants

Outside the Household

Social Mobility and Appropriate Courtesy

Chapter 6. The Medieval Body in Urbanus Magnus

Bodily Moderation and Restraint

Speech and Laughter

Bodily Vices

The Body and Sex

Bodily Emissions

Disgust

Chapter 7. Medieval Dining and Diet

The Archaeological Evidence

The Medieval Meal

Preparation and Consumption

Manners

Continuity and Change

Diet and Health

Chapter 8. New Interpretations

The Impetus for and Precursors to Urbanus Magnus

Origins

Social Habitus

The Court of Henry II

‘A Monument to Anxiety’

Use

The Impact of Urbanus Magnus

Conclusion

Appendix: Contenances de table poems

Bibliography

Index