Medieval Forgeries

[Imperial Dave]

https://www.medievalists.net/2025/03/forgeries-middle-ages/

Like the 12th century Tonka toy I bought from a flea market....

[Ian61]

Fake news, fake news.
I had heard of a couple of these but this was an interesting read. thanks Dave. Just shows nothing new in unscrupulous dealings. It is disappointing in that I suspect most folks are far more honest than we give them credit for But the minority undermine trust.

[Jim Webster]

I remember reading one exploration into 'early medieval' England where the assumption was an awful lot of charters were forged, but even the forged ones, when you worked out when they had been forged, were useful

[Erpingham]

It is interesting to consider these.  Although clearly many were forged in full knowledge they weren't true and were just to gain dishonest advantage, some do seem to have been attempts to fill "gaps" in the record.  E.g. we have an honourable tradition that Edward the Confessor gave the monastery these rights but just can't seem to find the original document, so we'll recreate it. And, of course, over time, entirely honest people would believe the recreation was the real thing.

[Imperial Dave]

The Llandaff Charters are infamous around here