Bonds of Love and Affection in Medieval Law with Dr Meghan Woolley

We tend to view law as impartial and impersonal, but emotions are often part of its practice. In this presentation, I argue that love and friendships were viewed as essential components to create peace in twelfth-century English law. Then, I explore how the English common law - the first national body of law in England - transitioned to framing love and affection as threats. This opposition between law and emotions is not a natural one, but one built by administrators to craft a vision of perfect centralized justice, a vision that could never be fulfilled in reality.