Is history bunk?
Jan 10, 2014 10:35:26 GMT 9.5
Post by paul on Jan 10, 2014 10:35:26 GMT 9.5
Forgery of history was very popular in the monasteries.
"The case of Crowland Abbey shows that "not only did monasteries continue to produce forgeries, they also, in many cases, had to assimilate the legacy of eleventh- and twelfth-century fabrication into their histories" (36). Historiographers at the Abbey attempted to forge new, one might say nonexistent, links in the chain of the institution's history. Another case study examines Cambridge University's audacious fifteenth-century claims to greater antiquity than Oxford and shows how these claims were consistent with the western European mythology of the Studium. The fifth chapter of the book examines the case of John Hardyng who forged a variety of documents as evidence to support the argument of his metrical chronicle of English history, an argument that he adapted to the interests of both Lancastrian and Yorkist claims to overlordship of Scotland." muse.jhu.edu/journals/ren/summary/v058/58.1davis.html
"Taken as a whole, medieval monks and clerics were probably the most prolific forgers of all time. For centuries they controlled access to official documents, placing them in a perfect position to alter or forge those documents, should they so desire. And judging by the volume of their output, they evidently did so desire. What's more, their superiors could be counted on to overlook, or even approve, any textual inventions that benefitted the Church.
Papal bulls were a frequent object of forgery. In one notorious case, a count of Armagnac bribed a papal official to produce a fake papal bull allowing him to marry his sister. Letters, church histories, lives of saints, and deeds to land were other common creations of clerical forgers." www.museumofhoaxes.com/hoax/history/forgery
"The two great classes of society that counted in the early Middle Ages were the warrior class, whose business was to fight, and the clerical class, whose function was to pray, and who had, besides, a monopoly of literacy. To the latter class, forgery was hardly a crime, since it was often undertaken from a sense of duty, for the benefit of society or in the interests of the monastic or religious house in which the forger lived. It was natural to close an eye to an offence to which so large a proportion of the educated were addicted. "
www.historytoday.com/jjn-mcgurk/forgery-middle-ages
Who can trust any document of which the oldest copy is from the Middle Ages?
"The case of Crowland Abbey shows that "not only did monasteries continue to produce forgeries, they also, in many cases, had to assimilate the legacy of eleventh- and twelfth-century fabrication into their histories" (36). Historiographers at the Abbey attempted to forge new, one might say nonexistent, links in the chain of the institution's history. Another case study examines Cambridge University's audacious fifteenth-century claims to greater antiquity than Oxford and shows how these claims were consistent with the western European mythology of the Studium. The fifth chapter of the book examines the case of John Hardyng who forged a variety of documents as evidence to support the argument of his metrical chronicle of English history, an argument that he adapted to the interests of both Lancastrian and Yorkist claims to overlordship of Scotland." muse.jhu.edu/journals/ren/summary/v058/58.1davis.html
"Taken as a whole, medieval monks and clerics were probably the most prolific forgers of all time. For centuries they controlled access to official documents, placing them in a perfect position to alter or forge those documents, should they so desire. And judging by the volume of their output, they evidently did so desire. What's more, their superiors could be counted on to overlook, or even approve, any textual inventions that benefitted the Church.
Papal bulls were a frequent object of forgery. In one notorious case, a count of Armagnac bribed a papal official to produce a fake papal bull allowing him to marry his sister. Letters, church histories, lives of saints, and deeds to land were other common creations of clerical forgers." www.museumofhoaxes.com/hoax/history/forgery
"The two great classes of society that counted in the early Middle Ages were the warrior class, whose business was to fight, and the clerical class, whose function was to pray, and who had, besides, a monopoly of literacy. To the latter class, forgery was hardly a crime, since it was often undertaken from a sense of duty, for the benefit of society or in the interests of the monastic or religious house in which the forger lived. It was natural to close an eye to an offence to which so large a proportion of the educated were addicted. "
www.historytoday.com/jjn-mcgurk/forgery-middle-ages
Who can trust any document of which the oldest copy is from the Middle Ages?
Because of the perceived veil 
