What is Medieval history? By John H. Arnold

Silvia Espinosa's Response
Chapter 4: Debating the Middle Ages

I find Arnold’s chapter,
Debating the Middle Ages, interesting and useful as survey of issues and problems
facing students and scholars of medieval culture. It certainly brought many to my attention.

In the chapter, Arnold
declares from the beginning that “History is a collaborative enterprise” and an
“ongoing argument” (respectfully of course) based on “differences in evidence,
view point, perspective and insight.” These
points are succinctly summarized in his survey of essential issues and themes
debated by medievalists. The themes
examined indicate ways in which they could form a common ground to work with
across the interdisciplinary spectrum of Medieval Studies. Naturally, the author does not pretend to
cover all of these in this brief essay, but highlights a few of the shifting
weight of issues that flash back and forth in the discourse on the Middle
Ages. Some of these include: the role, value and place of ritual within
medieval society and politics; the meaning of “feudalism” and its role in
constructing “Social structures”; the place and boundaries of cultural
divisions in defining “cultural Identities” such as the sacred as opposed to the
low (or popular) culture, the folk vs the official, oral vs literary culture
and so forth; and finally the role of royal power and other figures of
authorities (localized or centralized) across the medieval period. Before surveying these themes, the author
begins by stressing a few points for the medieval historian to consider: the
importance of understanding the wider historiographical contexts within
specific arguments; the question of how historians use sources and how these
sources construct rather than reflect the historical realities; and how different
methodologies and ideologies influence how historians propose and form
arguments.

The theme that was of most interest
to me was that of “ritual” as experienced in a myriad of settings and thus imbued
with diverse meanings. As the chapter
shows, rituals play important roles in the politics of conquest and submission
and in defining and confirming status and hierarchy. Rituals are also experienced as a language of
gestures with political and social implications and objectives. Whether formal and “scripted” or unstructured,
rituals as symbolically meaningful action permeated medieval society. Arnold gives several examples of civic,
social and political rituals. Some
affirmed courtly status and obligations which included gift giving and
receiving; these relied on communication through bodily movements as in gestures
of the body, head, and hands or even as found in the kiss of peace. Arnold also discusses rituals manifested in a
public forms: ritual punishments, religious and civic processions centered around
daily life or the Church calendar. More mundane
and common ones were mentioned too as in folk rituals of courting, birth and
death, marriage and harvest. Arnold also
considered rituals that employed a legalistic language and diplomacy. Of course, in the context of religion, the
Liturgy was paramount, having a written code from the earliest times. Other public
manifestations were equally central to medieval life such as private and public
blessings, processions and the sacraments, to name a few examples.

Questions open to debate are
those concerning the importance of ritual in society in general and more
specifically in the areas of politics, social relations, and in the Christian
faith. Civic
rituals raise the question of how it represents or reflects a town or city and
whether these were occasions for unity or tension? Author
points to another problem facing historians: the heavy reliance on text – chronicles for instance. It is important to consider how much it
reflects the interest of the individual chronicler/author or those of the wider
community and participants. Hence, ritual
becomes something to be “decode” and its meanings drawn out of varying contexts
and individuals. Yet textual sources are fewer as one delves into earlier
periods and there is always the problem of any text being deliberately
misconstrued for political purposes or other interests. Arnold reminds us of some of the difficulties
in constructing meaning out of rituals from past periods so different from our
own.

Another area disputed by
medievalists is that of “Social Structures,” commonly associated with “Feudalism”
– a term whose meaning has been much contested, but which now encompasses a
wider spectrum of issues of civil life, family, gender, status and
socioeconomic conditions and stratification.
Historians attempt to approach related questions “objectively” but the lack of sources and shifting terminology present
problems of interpretation. Arnold goes on to highlight the challenges
involved in interpreting and constructing what the Middle Ages is in the areas
of “Power” and “Cultural Identities” preparing the student of medieval studies
with a basic framework to build from.