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Felony and the Guilty Mind in Medieval England
About this book
This book explores the role of mens rea, broadly defined as a factor in jury assessments of guilt and innocence from the early thirteenth through the fourteenth century - the first two centuries of the English criminal trial jury. Drawing upon evidence from the plea rolls, but also relying heavily upon non-legal textual sources such as popular literature and guides for confessors, Elizabeth Papp Kamali argues that issues of mind were central to jurors' determinations of whether a particular defendant should be convicted, pardoned, or acquitted outright. Demonstrating that the word 'felony' itself connoted a guilty state of mind, she explores the interplay between social conceptions of guilt and innocence and jury behavior. Furthermore, she reveals a medieval understanding of felony that involved, in its paradigmatic form, three essential elements: an act that was reasoned, was willed in a way not constrained by necessity, and was evil or wicked in its essence.
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Information
Table of contents
- Cover
- Half-title page
- Series page
- Title page
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- List of Figures
- Acknowledgments
- A Note on the Text
- List of Abbreviations
- Introduction
- Part I Felonia Felonice Facta: Felony and Intentionality
- Part II Þe Deuylys Doghtyr of Hellë Fyre: Felony and Emotion
- Part III Handlyng Synne: Guilt and Innocence
- Part IV Dies Iræ: Judge and Jury
- Bibliography
- Index