‘Tyrannous Constructs’ or Tools of the Trade?: The Use and Abuse of Concepts in Medieval History

Jackson Armstrong; Peter Crooks; Andrea Ruddick

doi:10.1007/978-3-030-77280-2_1

‘Tyrannous Constructs’ or Tools of the Trade? The Use and Abuse of Concepts in Medieval History

Jackson Armstrong, Peter Crooks, Andrea Ruddick

History

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter (peer-reviewed) › peer-review

Abstract

Concepts are indispensable. It is through concepts that humans seek intellectually to control and understand the disposition of the world they experience. But conceptual history and conceptual analysis also have their attendant risks. Concepts conjured up in an effort to bring order to the infinite complexity of the past have a bad habit of taking on a life of their own. As Peggy Brown and Susan Reynolds famously demonstrated in the case of that tyrannous construct, ‘feudalism’, a tool of the historian’s trade can easily turn tyrant. This introductory chapter examines the metahistorical and methodological questions concerning the use and abuse of concepts in medieval history. We explore the creative friction between historical ideas and analytical categories, and the potential for fresh and meaningful understandings to emerge from a dialogue fostered between the two planes of conceptualisation.

Original language	English
Title of host publication	Using Concepts in Medieval History
Subtitle of host publication	Perspectives on Britain and Ireland, 1100–1500
Editors	Jackson Armstrong, Peter Crooks, Andrea Ruddick
Place of Publication	Basingstoke
Publisher	Palgrave Macmillan
Chapter	1
Pages	3
Number of pages	14
ISBN (Electronic)	9783030772802
ISBN (Print)	9783030772796
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-77280-2_1
Publication status	Published - 2022

Keywords

Concepts
methods of historical research
historiography
Late medieval
middle ages
Britain and Ireland
conceptual history

Access to Document

10.1007/978-3-030-77280-2_1Licence: Unspecified

3 Workshop, Seminar or Course

Workshop: Tyrannous Constructs’ or ‘Tools of the Trade’? The Use and Abuse of Concepts in Medieval History (Exeter College, Oxford)
Andrea Ruddick (Organiser), Jackson Armstrong (Organiser) & Peter Crooks (Organiser)
26 Sept 2017 → 27 Sept 2017
Activity: Disseminating Research › Workshop, Seminar or Course
Workshop: ‘Tyrannous Constructs’ or ‘Tools of the Trade’? The Use and Abuse of Concepts in Medieval History (Trinity College Dublin)
Peter Crooks (Organiser) & Jackson Armstrong (Organiser)
30 May 2016 → 31 May 2016
Activity: Disseminating Research › Workshop, Seminar or Course
‘Tyrannous Constructs’ scoping workshop (RIISS, University of Aberdeen)
Jackson Armstrong (Organiser) & Peter Crooks (Organiser)
18 May 2015
Activity: Disseminating Research › Workshop, Seminar or Course

Cite this

‘Tyrannous Constructs’ or Tools of the Trade? The Use and Abuse of Concepts in Medieval History. / Armstrong, Jackson; Crooks, Peter; Ruddick, Andrea.
Using Concepts in Medieval History: Perspectives on Britain and Ireland, 1100–1500. ed. / Jackson Armstrong; Peter Crooks; Andrea Ruddick. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2022. p. 3.

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter (peer-reviewed) › peer-review

@inbook{86351968f4da4ed793b01a60bcec567f,

title = "{\textquoteleft}Tyrannous Constructs{\textquoteright} or Tools of the Trade?: The Use and Abuse of Concepts in Medieval History",

abstract = "Concepts are indispensable. It is through concepts that humans seek intellectually to control and understand the disposition of the world they experience. But conceptual history and conceptual analysis also have their attendant risks. Concepts conjured up in an effort to bring order to the infinite complexity of the past have a bad habit of taking on a life of their own. As Peggy Brown and Susan Reynolds famously demonstrated in the case of that tyrannous construct, {\textquoteleft}feudalism{\textquoteright}, a tool of the historian{\textquoteright}s trade can easily turn tyrant. This introductory chapter examines the metahistorical and methodological questions concerning the use and abuse of concepts in medieval history. We explore the creative friction between historical ideas and analytical categories, and the potential for fresh and meaningful understandings to emerge from a dialogue fostered between the two planes of conceptualisation.",

keywords = "Concepts, methods of historical research, historiography, Late medieval, middle ages, Britain and Ireland, conceptual history",

author = "Jackson Armstrong and Peter Crooks and Andrea Ruddick",

year = "2022",

doi = "10.1007/978-3-030-77280-2_1",

language = "English",

isbn = "9783030772796",

pages = "3",

editor = "Jackson Armstrong and Peter Crooks and Andrea Ruddick",

booktitle = "Using Concepts in Medieval History",

publisher = "Palgrave Macmillan",

}

TY - CHAP

T1 - ‘Tyrannous Constructs’ or Tools of the Trade?

T2 - The Use and Abuse of Concepts in Medieval History

AU - Armstrong, Jackson

AU - Crooks, Peter

AU - Ruddick, Andrea

PY - 2022

Y1 - 2022

N2 - Concepts are indispensable. It is through concepts that humans seek intellectually to control and understand the disposition of the world they experience. But conceptual history and conceptual analysis also have their attendant risks. Concepts conjured up in an effort to bring order to the infinite complexity of the past have a bad habit of taking on a life of their own. As Peggy Brown and Susan Reynolds famously demonstrated in the case of that tyrannous construct, ‘feudalism’, a tool of the historian’s trade can easily turn tyrant. This introductory chapter examines the metahistorical and methodological questions concerning the use and abuse of concepts in medieval history. We explore the creative friction between historical ideas and analytical categories, and the potential for fresh and meaningful understandings to emerge from a dialogue fostered between the two planes of conceptualisation.

AB - Concepts are indispensable. It is through concepts that humans seek intellectually to control and understand the disposition of the world they experience. But conceptual history and conceptual analysis also have their attendant risks. Concepts conjured up in an effort to bring order to the infinite complexity of the past have a bad habit of taking on a life of their own. As Peggy Brown and Susan Reynolds famously demonstrated in the case of that tyrannous construct, ‘feudalism’, a tool of the historian’s trade can easily turn tyrant. This introductory chapter examines the metahistorical and methodological questions concerning the use and abuse of concepts in medieval history. We explore the creative friction between historical ideas and analytical categories, and the potential for fresh and meaningful understandings to emerge from a dialogue fostered between the two planes of conceptualisation.

KW - Concepts

KW - methods of historical research

KW - historiography

KW - Late medieval

KW - middle ages

KW - Britain and Ireland

KW - conceptual history

U2 - 10.1007/978-3-030-77280-2_1

DO - 10.1007/978-3-030-77280-2_1

M3 - Chapter (peer-reviewed)

SN - 9783030772796

SP - 3

BT - Using Concepts in Medieval History

A2 - Armstrong, Jackson

A2 - Crooks, Peter

A2 - Ruddick, Andrea

PB - Palgrave Macmillan

CY - Basingstoke

ER -

‘Tyrannous Constructs’ or Tools of the Trade? The Use and Abuse of Concepts in Medieval History

Abstract

Keywords

Access to Document

Fingerprint

Activities

Workshop: Tyrannous Constructs’ or ‘Tools of the Trade’? The Use and Abuse of Concepts in Medieval History (Exeter College, Oxford)

Workshop: ‘Tyrannous Constructs’ or ‘Tools of the Trade’? The Use and Abuse of Concepts in Medieval History (Trinity College Dublin)

‘Tyrannous Constructs’ scoping workshop (RIISS, University of Aberdeen)

Cite this