PT Journal
AU Grabe, D
TI Looking beyond charters and contracts: child slavery in the narrative sources of the early Middle Ages
SO Early Medieval Europe
PD October
PY 2025
BP 572
EP 589
VL 33
IS 4
PU Wiley-Blackwell
DI 10.1111/emed.12785
WP https://www.db-thueringen.de/receive/dbt_mods_00069008
LA en
SN 1468-0254
AB This article traces the presence of enslaved children in early medieval narrative sources, especially hagiographies, and looks into the relationship between their historicity and their literary functions. While topoi such as the ransoming or redemption of slaves are acknowledged, this article argues that despite these motifs, narrative sources offer unique details about early medieval child slavery, as the authors embedded their stories in plausible scenarios. The most significant findings include the possible education and subsequent ordination of (former) child slaves, and the corroboration of children being sold alone, as many charters and contracts also attest.
PI London
ER