The French historian Jacques Le Gof saw in the description of a ritual that is frequently found in peacemaking between rulers three distinct elements; homage, oath of fealty (faith) and investiture. Just as in the case of the king of Scots's homage to John of Salisbury in 1200, the oath of fealty stood at the heart of the ceremony in 1169, but the actual gestures were those of a suppliant. It is possible that the gestures described by John of Salisbury should be labelled as gestures for returning to homage and so should be separated from the more traditional act of homage. There are some examples of the varying interpretations of the use of homage in negotiations for peace, and some of these initially correspond more closely to the model of commendation proposed by Le Gof and others.

This chapter examines the different approaches to femininity displayed by the men. It presents four paradigms that are the outcome of research blending questions raised within the spheres of gender research and feminist theory with the research methodology of social history. They are the family paradigm, negative male paradigm, Hasidic paradigm, and community paradigm. Rabbi Solomon ben Isaac's entire oeuvre points to the central role of the family and particularly the key position and importance of the woman as the pillar of the Jewish family. In the sections of Sefer Hasidim that describe how a man progresses along the Hasidic path, coping with the female presence, and the constant danger on account of the strong sexual desire is always aroused. In many of the sources the attitude towards women stems from the male sages' conviction that the interests of the community must be given the highest priority.

This chapter is concerned with one of the staples of Mandevillian lore, the figure of Prester John, whom the 'knight of transmission' portrays as 'a grete Emperour of Ynde'. It attempts to retrieve part of the Priest-King Arthur's complex itinerary through medieval and early modern imaginations. The emergence of the Prester John legend and its success are first and foremost the products of crusading Europe's ambivalent attitude towards the East. A cited extract shows how, from his very first appearance, Prester John is an embodiment of the ambivalence, caught half-way between the pagan past of classical authorities and the present of Christian Crusaders. A look at the appellations for some of the early manuscripts and editions bears witness to the diversity of responses which the work elicited from its early audiences: it was described with terms as diverse as 'livre', 'geste', 'romant', 'tractatus', 'itinerarium', 'voiage and trauayle'.

An account of how Peter Finch’s ability to create not just a character but his past and his fears was partially developed in the British film industry of the 1950s and 1960s in both comedy and drama. The actor may have gained a posthumous Oscar for Network, but this chapter contends that his talents were more subtly employed by Ralph Thomas in No Love for Johnnie, made towards the end of his contract with the Rank Organisation, and John Schlesinger in Sunday Bloody Sunday. The chapter ends with an appraisal of The Pumpkin Eater, in which Finch gives one of his most nuanced performances.

The first years of life were arguably the most dramatic of the medieval life cycle. Infancy, the first stage, was said to last until two or four, but most commonly seven; it was followed by a later stage of childhood lasting until the early teens. Qualities said to distinguish childhood, and more specifically infancy, from other age groups are a contradictory mix of incapacity, evil, naivety, innocence and hope. A wide range of literary and visual sources supported the view of the hapless infant. Among the noble and gentry families of Europe it was common for the infant to be given to a nurse in the same way as all the routine tasks of the household were performed by hired servants. The practice of wet-nursing has received a fair amount of modern criticism for militating against close child-parent relations.

This chapter examines the origins of the late Qing reform and exposes the difficulties as the conservative and reformist factions battled each other both at court and around the country. Although many historians have argued that the reform was a failure, this chapter singles out a few cases to highlight the foundation it laid for later reforms and the overseas connection which would open a new door for China.

In societies which constructed social relationships so predominantly in kin terms, it was inevitable that the processes of peace-keeping, dispute resolution and the maintenance of social order should be grounded in a measure in the community of kinsmen. Kinsmen and neighbours might often be the same, as the details of the boundary evidence in deed collections sometimes make clear. In the world of agnatic lineages that meant that many neighbours were a fortiori not kinsmen. But neighbours they remained, and cooperation between neighbours was an economic necessity, not a theoretical aspiration, for the vast majority of medieval communities, those of the western British Isles included. The western British Isles, and Wales in particular, provide ample evidence to support Susan Reynolds's general claim of 'the strength and character of the medieval drive to association'.

Most legal historians would date the emergence of a recognizable English 'Common Law' to the last quarter of the twelfth century. It was during this period that King Henry II and his advisers created the first of a new type of royal court in England. The common law courts were clearly not invincibly hostile to the continuance of local custom. Indeed they were willing on occasion to accept and enforce it. The general effect of the 'professionalisation' and centralisation of the legal system was obviously a nationwide standardisation of norms, the development of a 'common law' for England as a whole. But the system evidently remained sufficiently flexible to allow the continuance and enforcement of some local custom both at the county level, and at a much more local level, as well.

The emergence of parliament as an important forum for legal and political matters was a significant feature of the period 1215-1381. Parliament provided a focal point where views were expressed on issues of constitutional import connected to the Crown's jurisdiction and the nature of royal governance, on problems of law and order and on issues within a judicial context. This chapter considers the judicial importance of parliament, which lay in its role as a forum for petitions, as a court of appeal, as a tribunal for the resolution of difficult cases and as a venue for state trials. Assessing the extent and impact of the legal expertise among parliament's constituent members, it is argued that those with legal knowhow and parliamentary experience played an important part in consultative exercises and in the passage of statute legislation at every juncture. The chapter looks at the interaction between local and national legislation.

Philanthropy, the love of humankind, has expressed itself in many different ways. In the Conclusion I rehearse these and argue that it is only by close attention to context, to political, economic, social and cultural change, that it is possible both to understand how philanthropy has changed and how it has been part of the motor of change.