Ross Kennedy
Published: 21 January 2019
The Practice of Exemption in Late-Medieval England, c.1199-c.1307.
University of Glasgow
The Practice of Exemption in Late-Medieval England, c.1199-c.1307.
I am researching the history of two prominent institutions of the medieval world, the Order of the Temple and the Order of the Hospital, with reference to their interactions with the secular and ecclesiastical authorities of England. My project starts with King John’s accession to the throne in 1199 and ends with the death of King Edward I in 1307. At the heart of my PhD is the question of exempt status, which the Templars and Hospitallers enjoyed thanks to the benefactions of the papacy and the kings of England, liberating them, in theory, from burdens such as taxation, legal accountability, tolls of trade and passage and from community obligations such as suit of court. In practice, the application of these rights was very complicated, mainly because exempt institutions had, of necessity, to exist as part of the world from which they were claiming a degree of detachment.
In exploring this disparity, I seek to map the nuanced complexities of exemption as a concept in medieval history and how the theory operated in practice, not in a vacuum but as part of a complex politico-judicial environment.
First published: 21 January 2019