Native Law and the Church in Medieval Wales [Hardcover]

This is the first full scholarly study of the relationship between native secular law and the church in medieval Wales. The interaction was close, despite Archbishop Pecham's condemnation of native law as the work of the devil. Huw Pryce assesses the influence of the church on Welsh law, examining the participation of churchmen in the composition of lawbooks and the administration of legal processes and analyzing ecclesiastical criticism of native customs, notably those concerning marriage. He considers the extent to which Welsh law defended the authority and possessions of the church, focusing in particular on the status of clerics and on rights of sanctuary and lordship. The book throws revealing new light on both the law and the church in Wales in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. As a study of the impact of ecclesiastical reform on a society perceived by some contemporaries as barbarian and immoral, this scholarly and lucid account makes an important contribution to medieval history.

Well written, carefully and persuasively argued, this work advances our knowledge and understanding of the church's place in medieval Welsh society. --American Historical Review

Scholars of the medieval fringes have not always made their territories particularly welcoming to outsiders. Huw Pryce's book is a pleasurable exception: it opens the closed world of medieval Welsh law to any adventurous invader. --The Historian

The author argues his points carefully and has produced a work that is both a nuanced study of his topic and a helpful and thought-provoking introduction for the nonspecialist to high-medieval Wales and its lawbooks. The book points the way for future studies. --Speculum

Native Law and the Churchis a splendid book and a major contribution to the literature on the subject. --Albion

Pryce's scholarship is impeccable...[T]he work will quickly and deservedly become a sls,