The Hanged Man By Robert Bartlett: Summary

Miracle, Memory, and Colonialism in the middle ages is the story of The Hanged Man by Robert Bartlett. There are not many people that can escape death in general; especially when they are hanged. Robert Bartlett’s The Hanged Man is a story of a Welshman that was hanged, but was still alive. There was a inquiry that was held to see if there was a intercession from a saint named Thomas De Cantilupe whom was the bishop of Hereford who was also hanged, but survived. Bartlett’s background as a medieval historian provides rich information from the structure, argument, theme, and personal statements from the witness helps us understand and map out the ideological view, theological, and political policy of the church in the middle ages. The Hanged Man by Robert Bartlett takes place around 1307 in Wales and is about a Welshman, William Cragh who was hanged for a homicide fifth-teen to sixteen years before 1307 in, which there was an inquiry that took place called “canonization”. The motive of this investigation is an argument of William Cragh being alive because of the intercession of Saint Thomas De Cantilupe the bishop of Hereford. There are nine witnesses that were inquired starting from the Briouze Family, which consisted three members Lady Mary de Briouze who …show more content…
We can see how the church can manipulate people and also how the people of the middle ages would understand time. Bartlett does an excellent job providing detail accounts of the witnesses and their belief of William Cragh’s resurrection and healing period. This shows that even though William Cragh was a Welshman there was many identities he had taken place from others such as a rebel, thief, or innocent. Each witness gave their intake on how William Cragh was and how his survived his hanging, but the importance of this book would be how testimonies can be influenced by one another as well