“CAN'T Pay” And “WON'T Pay” In the Medieval Village

Common Knowledge 17 (2):363-370 (2011)
  Copy   BIBTEX

Abstract

What happens when a debtor does not pay back what he or she owes? As Margaret Atwood's chapter on “The Shadow Side” shows, the unpaid debt—in the broadest sense—is a recurring theme of history and literature. This review essay looks at the fourteenth-century village, a world which, perhaps contrary to expectations, turns out to have been characterized by a large number of outstanding interpersonal debts of money and goods. We know about these debts because the creditors were obliged to use local courts in order to recover them. Remarks are offered on the circumstances that led to so many individuals being sued for debt, in particular English villages in this period. Discussion then focuses on the extent to which the proliferation of unpaid debts between villagers led to tensions or a breakdown in trust within rural society. The essay concludes with comments on the character and functions of institutions and rules that have developed in this and other societies to deal with the “won't pay” tendencies of human beings

Links

PhilArchive



    Upload a copy of this work     Papers currently archived: 90,656

External links

Setup an account with your affiliations in order to access resources via your University's proxy server

Through your library

Similar books and articles

The shadow side of debt.Philip Goodchild - 2011 - Common Knowledge 17 (2):375-382.
Toward a theory of moral debt:(I)The idea of moral debt in the common understanding.Morris B. Storer - 1971 - Inquiry: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Philosophy 14 (1-4):355-385.
The Problem of Unresolved Wrongdoing.Kenneth Einar Himma - 2010 - Faith and Philosophy 27 (4):405-422.
Origin of Bankruptcy Procedure in Roman Law.Stasys Vėlyvis & Vilija Mikuckienė - 2009 - Jurisprudencija: Mokslo darbu žurnalas 117 (3):285-297.
Ethical issues in bankruptcy: A jewish perspective. [REVIEW]Meir Tamari - 1990 - Journal of Business Ethics 9 (10):785 - 789.
"Image of a global village": Global theorizing and local knowledge.Henderikus J. Stam - 2007 - Journal of Theoretical and Philosophical Psychology 27 (1):1-18.

Analytics

Added to PP
2013-11-23

Downloads
12 (#929,749)

6 months
2 (#670,035)

Historical graph of downloads
How can I increase my downloads?

Citations of this work

No citations found.

Add more citations

References found in this work

No references found.

Add more references