Using Wills as Sources in Early Modern England

Öz

The Last Will and Testaments have become a significant resource for scholars interested in studying Early Modern English history. Wills have become indispensable resources in studies on sect change, religious attitude, and personal piety of testators and testatrixes in England. By its nature, whether it reflects personal thoughts and what kind of external factors it is exposed to has been discussed by many scholars. These rich-in-content resources have been used not only in religious studies but also in many different fields. When examined with a proper method, wills bring scholars closer to the mind of testators or testatrixes. In this article, the function and areas of usage of Early Modern English wills, the significance of wills in historical research and use of wills as primary sources, their reliability as primary sources, comparative analysis of recent literature on wills and the used methods, analysis of these methods and the methods that can be used instead are presented.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• Early Modern England
• Prerogative Courts
• The Will and Last Testament
• Wills as Sources
• The English Reformation

Erken Modern Dönem İngiltere’sinde Vasiyetnamelerin Kaynak Olarak Kullanılması

Öz

Vasiyetnameler, erken modern dönem İngiliz tarihi çalışmak isteyen araştırmacılar için önemli bir kaynak haline gelmiştir. Özellikle İngiltere’de mezhep değişimi, vasiyetname sahiplerinin dini tutumu ve kişisel dindarlığı üzerine yapılan çalışmalarda vasiyetnameler vazgeçilmez kaynaklar haline gelmiştir. Doğası gereği kişisel düşünceyi yansıtıp yansıtmadığı ve ne tür dış etkenlere maruz kaldığı birçok araştırmacı tarafından tartışılmıştır. İçerik açısından zengin olan bu kaynaklar yalnızca dini araştırmalarda değil birçok farklı alanda kullanılmıştır. Vasiyetnameler uygun bir metot ile incelendiği takdirde, araştırmacıları ilgili vasiyetname sahibinin zihnine daha da yakınlaştıracaktır. Bu makalede, erken modern dönem vasiyetnamelerinin işlevleri ve kullanım alanları, vasiyetnamelerin tarih araştırmaları için önemi ve birincil kaynak olarak kullanımları, tarihi bir kaynak olarak güvenilirlikleri, vasiyetnameler üzerine İngiliz literatüründe yapılan çalışmaların karşılaştırmalı analizi ve kullanılan metotlar, bu metotların tartışılması ve yerine kullanılabilecek metotlar sunulmuştur.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• Erken Modern Dönem İngiltere’si,
• Miras İşleri Mahkemeleri
• Vasiyetname
• Kaynak Olarak Vasiyetnameler
• İngiliz Reformasyonu

Kaynakça

1. The National Archives (Ulusal Arşiv), Canterbury Miras İşleri Mahkemesi PROB 11/21 serisindeki vasiyetnameler. Belge Referansı: 32
2. The National Archives (Ulusal Arşiv) PROB 11/17/624.
3. The National Archives (Ulusal Arşiv) PROB 11/33/288.
4. The National Archives (Ulusal Arşiv) PROB 11/17/624.
5. The National Archives (Ulusal Arşiv) PROB 11/34/166.
6. The National Archives (Ulusal Arşiv) PROB 11/18/582.
7. The National Archives (Ulusal Arşiv) PROB 11/32/575.
8. The National Archives (Ulusal Arşiv) PROB 11/33/288.

9. The National Archives (Ulusal Arşiv)PROB 11/22/96.
10. The National Archives (Ulusal Arşiv) PROB 11/17.
11. The National Archives (Ulusal Arşiv) PROB 11/20.
12. The National Archives (Ulusal Arşiv) PROB 11/19/21.
13. Alsop, J. D. “Religious Preambles in Early Modern English Wills as Formulae.” The Journal of Ecclesiastical History 40, no. 1 (1989): 19–27. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0022046900035405.
14. Burgess, Clive. “Late Medieval Wills and Pious Convention: Testamentary Evidence Reconsidered”. In Profit, Piety and the Professions in Later Medieval England, ed. Michael Hicks, 14-33. Gloucester: Alan Sutton, 1990.
15. Carr, E. H., What Is History?. London: Penguin, 1990.
16. Champion, Matthew. “Personal Piety or Priestly Persuasion: Evidence of Pilgrimage Bequests in the Wills of the Archdeaconry of Sudbury, 1439-1474.” Peregrinations: Journal of Medieval Art and Architecture 3, no. 3, (2012): 66-82.
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18. Çelik, Oğulcan. “The Religion of the Gentry and Middling Classes: The English Reformation as Reflected in Wills, 1509-1553.” Yüksek Lisans Tezi., Bilkent University, 2019. http://hdl.handle.net/11693/52338
19. Dickens, A. G. “The Early Expansion of Protestantism in England 1520-1558”. Archiv für Reformationsgeschichte, 78 (1978): 187-222. https://doi.org/10.14315/arg-1987-jg10.
20. Duffy, Eamon. Traditional Religion in England, 1400-1580. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2005.
21. Edwards, Dorothy. Early Northampton Wills: Preserved in Northamptonshire Record Office. Northamptonshire: Publication of the Northamptonshire Record Society, 2005
22. Ford, Judith. “The Decline in the Use of Latin for Will- and Testament-making in Early Sixteenth- Century Bedfordshire.” Reformation 1 (1996): 138-148.
23. Franklin, Peter. Some Medieval Records for Family Historians: An Introduction to the Purposes, Contents and Interpretation of Pre-1538 Records Available in Print. Birmingham: Federation of Family History Societies, 1994.
24. Grannum, Karen and Nigel Taylor. Wills and Other Probate Records: A Practical Guide to Researching Your Ancestors’ Last Documents. National Archives, 2004.
25. Heale, Martin. Abbots and Priors of Late Medieval and Reformation England. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2016.
26. Litzenberger, Caroline. The English Reformation and the Laity: Gloucestershire, 1540-1580. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2002.
27. Moynahan, Brian. Book of Fire - William Tyndale, Thomas More and The Bloody Birth of the English Bible. London: Little, Brown Book Group, 2011.
28. Orme, Nicholas ed. Cornish Wills: 1342-1540 Exeter: Devon and Cornwall Record Society, 2007.
29. Scarisbrick, J. The Reformation and the English People. Oxford: Blackwell, 1998.
30. Stuart, A. Raymond. Wills of Our Ancestors - A Guide for Family & Local Historians. Barnsley: Pen & Sword Books, 2012. Zell, Michael L. “Fifteenth- and Sixteenth Century Wills as Historical Sources”. Archives 14, no. 62 (1979): 67-74.
31. Zell, Michael L. “The Use of Religious Preambles as a Measure of Religious Belief in the Sixteenth Century”. Historical Research, 50 (1977): 246-49. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.14682281.1977.tb01720.x.