Centre for Water Cultures seminar: Common Sense of Cleanliness

In medieval England’s fenlands, flooding was a common issue, and the maintenance of drainage systems was of critical importance. In court leet records, a multitude of cases relating to the blocking of ditches, watercourses, and sewers can be found; in monastic cartularies, there are records of agreements regarding sewer repair and maintenance; and in the patent rolls, disputes and complaints over the same matter appear. This mass of documentation demonstrates not only how important the correct management of water was to the survival of fenland towns, but also how individuals at all levels of society were keenly aware of this fact.

However, water management was not purely a logistical matter. Water, whether flowing or stagnant, potable or contaminated, was associated with socio-cultural meanings which informed how it was treated. The very same documents which showcase concerns over drainage systems also contain entries, by-laws, and complaints regarding the introduction of pollutants into water systems as well as the sanitary issues that incorrect management of water could cause.

This paper seeks to explore water management in two late medieval fenland towns: Peterborough and Ramsey. It aims to consider where responsibility lay for ensuring the correct management of water and the level of accountability individuals or institutions were held to when expectations were not met. Utilising a mixture of court records, monastic cartularies, medical treatises, and archaeological data, this paper shall examine the administrative and legal developments that took place as a result of challenges of water management, exploring what motivations were behind the systems in place and whether water management was primarily due to common sense or a need for cleanliness.

Biography:

Louis Henry is a PhD Candidate at the Greenhouse Research Center for Environmental Humanities, at the Universitetet i Stavanger, being supervised by Dolly Jørgensen. His research is on waste, community, and local governance in late medieval England, exploring how the need to manage the urban environment influenced local governance such as local officeholding or monastic and episcopal lordship, from c.1300-1550. Prior to Stavanger, he completed an MPhil in Medieval History at the University of Cambridge which focused on waste management in late medieval Peterborough. His research interests revolve around the intersection of power, law, and the environment in the medieval world.

This session will be in an online format - you can join the session online here, however we do have availability for attendees to attend in person in Larkin Lecture Theatre E for further discussion if this is preferred.