Kathryn L. Reyerson, well-known for her studies of social and economic life in southern France, and Debra A. Salata have produced a valuable edition and translation of an important source for every day life in medieval Montpellier. As part of the TEAMS Documents of Practice Series, the volume was designed as a means to introduce students to medieval source documents in translation, in this case the register of the notary of Montpellier Jean Holanie. Medieval Notaries and Their Acts offers forty extracts from Holanie's register of 1327-28 and reveals the dynamic character of early 14th-century economic and social life in southern France. The documents from the register provide a useful introduction to students little familiar with notarial documents and life in the 14th century, and, as the editors note, Medieval Notaries makes available to the wider scholarly world documents that have yet to be edited and remain solely in manuscript form.
Medieval Notaries opens with a thorough introduction to the history of medieval notaries and their importance in society. The editors identify the many ways in which the registers of notaries can illuminate medieval society and describe the function of the medieval notary. They also describe the types of notaries that existed in the later Middle Ages and identify the notaries' clients. Reyerson and Salata discuss notarial techniques, such as the use of abbreviations and formulas, the various types of document found in notaries' registers, and the arrangement of notarial contracts. Special attention is, of course, paid to the register of Jean Holanie, which they identify as "a window on the world of Montpellier" in the early 14th century (15). The register of 1327-28 is the largest collection from Montpellier in the first half of the 14th century, which renders it a particularly useful source for understanding society at that time. Although the editors do not address whether the size of the register makes it unusual, they do rightly note that the register contains a wide range of documents that illustrate the commercial, financial, juridical, religious, and social developments of Holanie's day. The editors provide a breakdown of the acts included in the register and provide a table of contracts drawn up in one day by Holanie to illustrate the nature of the notaries' trade. In a later section of the book, the editors compare the work of the medieval notary with a modern one. And they provide a handy glossary of terms and an extensive list of suggested readings.
Selections from the register are arranged topically, which provides students new to the material a means to gain a better understanding of the complexity and vitality of medieval society even if it masks the nature of the notary's day-to-day experience. The table in the introduction offers some insight into the wide variety of contracts that a register could be expected to prepare in any day, but even this does not fully reveal the notary's daily responsibilities. This arrangement also makes it difficult for the student to notice that clients from one contract sometimes appeared in the following contract as witnesses (an occurrence that the editors say happened on occasion). Moreover, document thirty-two, a bill of sale, is the first document of the register. It is also the only document in the register not to incorporate any abbreviations, which raises the question of whether it was standard practice to begin a register with a contract that does not use abbreviations.
Medieval Notaries, however, contains an important selection of documents from the register that touches on many aspects of the social and economic life of Montpellier. The documents are organized into sections, each with their own introduction, on business techniques, trade, finance, family, and real estate. Contracts from the register address partnerships, apprenticeships, payment of debts, loans, sale of various agricultural products, dowries, and rental, sale, and usufruct of property--all of which help introduce students to the richness and vitality of 14th-century society. The inclusion of last wills and testaments provides insights into family relationships and networks and religious sensibilities. Indeed, one of the longest documents in the collection is a will, which carefully sets out the extensive holdings of the testator and the pious benefactions she makes for the salvation of her soul and the souls of her family. The wills and real estate documents demonstrate the means of identifying property boundaries by reference to neighboring properties and landmarks. The documents also provide evidence on the value of money--an issue for students at all levels--by outlining the cost of various goods and services.
Although only a small sampling of the very large number of documents in Holanie's register, Medieval Notaries provides includes a broad range of contracts that successfully introduce students to medieval society. The variety of the documents included allows instructors to use the book to introduce students to many aspects of the everyday life of ordinary people. It can also be used to illustrate the transition from memory to written record, as Michael Clanchy once termed it. The translation of documents from Holanie's register is a valuable tool for students and instructors alike. Medieval Notaries makes an important source available to a wide audience and is also a call to scholars to prepare critical editions of the many registers that remain only in manuscript form.