Medieval Britain and Ireland in 1989

Abstract

CHILDHOOD IS A TIME of rapid biological growth and development, and a stage of the life course during which bodies are particularly sensitive to social and environmental stressors. As a consequence, events which may impact upon a child’s care and treatment can become physically embodied within their bones and teeth. The skeletal remains of children have been neglected within archaeological discourse until recently, but they are, in fact, a particularly important demographic for understanding the impact of social processes on past population health. This research examines the prevalence of skeletal disease in children (≤16 years) in Britain (England, Wales and Scotland) between ad 1000 and 1700. Data for a total of 4,626 children from 95 sites were collated from published and unpublished skeletal reports and analysed for evidence of skeletal changes reflecting disease. A biocultural approach was adopted in which the evidence was interpreted in relation to ecological, social, economic and environmental conditions. It was observed that childhood levels of skeletal stress did increase significantly after 1540. It was noted that during the Reformation sociocultural and economic factors added to stressors in the ecology of the medieval child. The effects of the Reformation were found to be the greatest aggravator in the rise of morbidity prevalence over seven centuries. Differences in morbidity patterns between non-adult age categories indicated that a state of ‘childhood’ existed until at least eleven years of age, after which there appears to have been a gradual transition into adolescence and adulthood.     

The Medieval Manor of Penhallam,Jacobstow, Cornwall

THE remains of the medieval manor of Penhallam lie in a sheltered valley in the parish of Jacobstow, some 3 miles from the sea. It was one of the principal houses of the Cardinham family who held, under the king, the largest seignory in the county of Cornwall. Extensive excavation between the years 1968 and 1973 revealed substantial remains of a sophisticated manor house, standing within an earlier ring-work. The stone-built house was constructed in four periods during the late 12th and early 13th centuries. It was deserted in the middle of the 14th century and was gradually demolished. Mo remains of the buildings were visible above ground at the time of the commencement of the excavation. The site, now known as Berry Court, takes the name of a small homestead of probable 16th-century origin, standing on the outer edge of the moat.

There was no visible trace of the hall associated with the early Norman ring-work, but its existence is attested by the subsequent development of the site. Excavation revealed that there were stone buildings standing on the four sides of a courtyard. They comprised a hall, camera, chapel, service rooms, lodgings and a gatehouse. From these remains it was possible to obtain much information about the construction and development of a medieval manor house in the 12th and 13th centuries. Excavation of the 13th-century gatehouse and drawbridge well revealed the construction, assembly and operation of a counter-balanced bridge.

The excavation finds, attributed to the 13th and early 14th centuries, have been presented to the Royal Institution of Cornwall at Truro.     

A Fleet of Mediterranean Border Humanitarians

EUrope has created a space of human suffering within which military‐humanitarian measures seem urgently required if the mass drowning is to be halted. The framing of migration governance as humanitarian has become commonplace in spectacular border practices in the Mediterranean Sea. Nonetheless, maritime disasters continue to unfold. This article discusses three non‐governmental actors, part of an emerging “humanitarian fleet” that seeks to turn the sea into a less deadly space: the Migrant Offshore Aid Station, Médecins Sans Frontières, and Sea‐Watch. While the rescue of precarious lives and the alleviation of suffering are central concerns, they imagine their humanitarian practices, the subjects of their compassion, and EUrope's role in shaping borderzones in different ways, pointing to a wide humanitarian spectrum. Engaging with the different discursive frames created by the three “border humanitarians”, the article explores what possibilities exist for political dissent to emanate from within humanitarian reason.