From: Medium Aevum | Date: September 22, 2000| Author: HUDSON, JOHN | COPYRIGHT 2000 Society for the Study of Mediaeval Languages and Literature. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan.  All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group.Copyright information

Bruce R. O'Brien, God's Peace and King's Peace (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1999). xv + 305 pp. ISBN 0-8122-3461-8. 41.00 [pounds sterling].

These two books share many themes. They mark a shift from studies which take law as only one element within the maintenance of social order and the settlement of disputes, and instead emphasize the analysis of legal mentalities through examination of legal texts. They integrate the close study of manuscripts into...