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Testimony (to some extent fictitious)'

Proofs of age in the first half of the fifteenth century

Bibliographic Data

ID4827433
AuthorsMatthew Holford (0000-0002-1528-9981, University of Cambridge, corresponding author)
Year2009
Volume82
Issue218
Pages635-654
Publication date2009-11-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueHistorical Research (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0950-3471 • E-ISSN: 1468-2281
PublisherOxford University Press (OUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1111/j.1468-2281.2008.00471.x
OpenAlexW1965585844
LanguageEN
Citations received3
References cited6

This article offers an assessment of the reliability and value of proofs of age produced c.1400–50. It argues that the testimonies recorded in these proofs must be treated with considerable scepticism. From around 1420 onwards, proofs with demonstrably fictitious or conventional testimonies were produced in increasingly large numbers. The documents had become something of a formality, and it was not expected that they would be closely scrutinized. But despite these caveats, proofs of age cannot simply be dismissed. Many are not obviously conventional in their contents; and even in certain apparently fictitious documents, care was taken to provide some accurate information

Epistemology · Fifteenth · Formality · Linguistics · Mathematical proof · Skepticism · Statistics · Classics · Computer Science · History · Mathematics · Medieval and Early Modern Justice · Medieval History and Crusades · Medieval Literature and History · Philosophy

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Unique citing works3
Citations per year0,33
Citation span2017 - 2019 (3)
Citation velocityhistorical
Highly citedNo
Citation typesNeutral: 3
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