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Gossip And Resistance Among The Medieval Times

Decent Essays

Wickham argues in his article, Gossip and Resistance Among the Medieval Peasantry about the importance of analyzing gossip, and how gossip can help historians understand how medieval social groups work. Wickham’s analysis of medieval gossip is unique in that, as Wickham points out, research involving gossip has been historically marginalized due to the connotation of gossip as being morally incorrect, and for having a low proportion of facts. For example the author states that fields which would have been the most prepared for studying gossip tend to stay away from gossip for fear that the field would develop a “ stigma of being about 'mere ' gossip”. (page 10) Wickham, in this piece develops an argument backed by examples to support his claim that studying gossip can result in a better understanding of social groups, in particular peasants. An important reference story in the argument for the importance of gossip is the story of Compagno and Passignano. To summarize briefly, Compagno is a low class peasant, and Passignano is a powerful monastery. Compagno and Passignano go into an argument about a piece of land. Compagno claims he has an ancestral right to the land, and attempts create public rumors in his favor by publicly working the lands in dispute. The author theorizes that eventually Passigano won the case, but the use of “gossip” in the legal discussion is furthered analyzed throughout the paper. One such element of gossip, is how Compagno tried to create

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