medieval worlds • no. 19 • 2023
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Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften Austrian Academy of Sciences Press
A-1011 Wien, Dr. Ignaz Seipel-Platz 2
Tel. +43-1-515 81/DW 3420, Fax +43-1-515 81/DW 3400 https://verlag.oeaw.ac.at, e-mail: verlag@oeaw.ac.at |
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DATUM, UNTERSCHRIFT / DATE, SIGNATURE
BANK AUSTRIA CREDITANSTALT, WIEN (IBAN AT04 1100 0006 2280 0100, BIC BKAUATWW), DEUTSCHE BANK MÜNCHEN (IBAN DE16 7007 0024 0238 8270 00, BIC DEUTDEDBMUC)
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medieval worlds • no. 19 • 2023 ISSN 2412-3196 Online Edition ISBN 978-3-7001-9563-4 Online Edition 2023 License: This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License: CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 Indexed by: ERIH-PLUS, Crossref, DOAJ, EZB
Megan Gilbert
S. 65 - 85 doi:10.1553/medievalworlds_no19_2023s65 Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften doi:10.1553/medievalworlds_no19_2023s65
Abstract: This article examines the role of written oaths in preventing and resolving disputes in central Japan during the fifteenth century. It examines the circumstances in which probatory oaths were used and the characteristics that made them effective. Probatory written oaths, which established facts of past and present rather than making promises for the future, both depended upon and were constitutive of community cohesion. They were public performances that could accommodate a broad array of distinctions in social status, from imperial prince to temple servant. Written oaths were united by one shared danger – increased vulnerability to the sanction of deities. Conversely, different status groups had access to different methods, such as the prince writing on a talisman or the servant pulling a stone from boiling water, to lend weight to their oaths, which both humans and gods could then use equivalently. The disparities in effort helped to compensate for status differentials among disputants and witnesses. After establishing the functioning of probatory written oaths in Japan – a function treated more sparsely than promissory oaths in the existing literature – this article analyzes the use of such oaths in resolving one type of dispute – accusations of adultery. Adultery was treated with increased severity as the century progressed. This example demonstrates how written oaths were used to investigate, proclaim innocence, and navigate status in public. Written oaths created factual consensus in disputes but left room to negotiate outcomes. Fifteenth-century Japan produced a rich array of records that reveal the negotiations that took place behind official action, particularly diary-chronicles – individuals’ daily records (diary) that were intended to guide posterity in official actions (chronicles) – as well as meeting notes from the governing council of a major temple. Such records make it possible to capture some of the experience of using written oaths. Keywords: Oaths, ordeals, kishōmon, medieval Japan, Muromachi era, ritual and writing, construction of community, juridical proof Published Online: 2023/11/30 08:56:52 Object Identifier: 0xc1aa5572 0x003ea4f9 Rights:https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
"medieval worlds" provides a forum for comparative, interdisciplinary and transcultural studies of the Middle Ages. Its aim is to overcome disciplinary boundaries, regional limits and national research traditions in Medieval Studies, to open up new spaces for discussion, and to help developing global perspectives. We focus on the period from c. 400 to 1500 CE but do not stick to rigid periodization.
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Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften Austrian Academy of Sciences Press
A-1011 Wien, Dr. Ignaz Seipel-Platz 2
Tel. +43-1-515 81/DW 3420, Fax +43-1-515 81/DW 3400 https://verlag.oeaw.ac.at, e-mail: verlag@oeaw.ac.at |