Law and the Maiden: Inquisitio, Fama, and the Testimony of Children in Medieval Catalonia

Abstract

This article explores an unpublished set of records surrounding a rape inquest in fourteenth-century Catalonia, and examines its implications for the relationship between law and community in the High Middle Ages. The rise of inquisitorial procedure during the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries made fama (reputation) a part of preliminary inquests, thereby giving legal voice to a broad cross-section of medieval communities, including children who were procedurally barred from giving sworn testimony. This article uses the documents in this case to show how fama was created, and how it was translated into terms actionable at law. The role that fama and the testimony of children played indicates a close relationship between community opinion and formal legal proceedings, even during the heyday of the ius commune. Furthermore, such testimony strongly suggests that participation in legal discourse was much broader than previously suspected.