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Sarah White – Research Update (iii)

I have uploaded the first of the three unpublished ordines, “Iudicium est actus trium personarum,” which is now available on the project website with an introduction to the text. I am continuing work on the remaining two treatises, the next of which will be uploaded in spring 2019.

I am also in the process of editing my monograph on procedure in the thirteenth-century ecclesiastical courts and doing additional research on the production and use of procedural texts to add to the same. In order to pursue this research, I have been awarded a Marc Fitch Special Projects Grant to examine ordinesmanuscripts in England for evidence of use. I shall be examining the codicological and paleographical aspects of the ordinesto ascertain both how these manuscripts were used and how this use affected their design. The primary focus will be on treatises contained in English collections, though comparison will be made to Continental sources where relevant. This strand of research will consider additions to the treatises, as well as their provenance, format, and collation. I shall also be digitising these texts where possible.

Lastly, I recently spoke at a workshop at the University of Roma Tre on the ordo iudiciorum in theory and in practice. I have also submitted two articles for review, the first on witness testimony in procedure and practice, and the second on a case study of legal argument in a thirteenth-century tithes dispute.