From memory to written record, England, 1066-1307

List of plates

Preface to the first edition

Preface to the second edition

List of abbreviations

Introduction

Being prejudiced in favour of literacy

Medieval, renaissance, and reformation literacy

England's place in medieval literacy

Part I: Making Of Records

1: Memories and myths of the Norman Conquest

Anglo-Saxon uses of writing

Uses of domesday book

Edward I's 'Quo Warranto' proceedings and the Earl Warenne

2: Proliferation of documents

Documents at village level

Chronology of charter making

Output of royal documents

Documents and bureaucracy

Work of Hubert Walter

Royal influence on other records

3: Types of record

Variety of writings

Statements issued by individuals

Memoranda kept by institutions

Learned and literary works

Liturgical books

4: Technology of writing

Scribe and his materials

Wax, parchment, and wood

Committing words to writing

Layout and format

Rolls or books?

5: Preservation and use of documents

Monastic documents for posterity

Secular documents for daily use

Archives and libraries

Royal archives

Ways of remembering

Ways of indexing

Part 2: Literate Mentality

What reading meant

6: Languages of record

Walter of Bibbesworth's Treatise

Variety of languages

Spoken and written language

Chronological development

Writing down of French

Royal documents in Latin, French, and English

7: Literature and illiterate

Meanings of 'Clericus' and 'Litteratus'

Question of the literacy of the laity

Knowledge of Latin among Non-churchmen

Acquisition of clerical education

Educated knights

8: Hearing and seeing

Symbolic objects and documents

Spoken versus the written word

Listening to the word

Spoken word in legal procedure

Writings as works of art

Word and image

9: Trusting writing

Memory and writing

Dating documents

Signing documents

Symbolism of seals and crosses

Forging documents

10: Practical literacy

Further reading on the history of literacy

Literacy in history in general

Readers and writers in medieval Europe

Methods of writing and making books in Medieval Europe

Readers and writers in Medieval England

Records and manuscript-making in Medieval England

Plates

Index.