Memory Is a Strange Country

Abstract

When the 12 memories of a Proof of Age are read as a single document, they usually focus on a few familiar themes and it is easy to see how the jurors shared a common village life. In a few Proofs there was even a “theme” that covered at least half the memories: a gift for the mother at her churching, the death of valuable animals, and so on. In many Proofs there were joint memories: four men said as one that they had seen the priest write the date of the baptism, and many more statements of this sort. But there were some odd memories and we wonder that only one juror went back to that event: a comet, the burning of a Lollard, deaths from the plague. So in aggregate the hundreds of Proofs attest to the common threads that run through lives that share culture and class (and gender) and they also provide an occasional glimpse into a few once-and-only events that were offered as a memory to mark the year under consideration.