Medieval Women and the Law by Nol Menuge
Women and their legal rights and obligations in the middle ages have been largely overlooked, but increasing speculation about women's freedom to act, and their conventional role in social and domestic circumstances, has identified how little is generally know about the law and its shaping of women's lives. Drawing on records from roughly 1300 to 1500, the studies here look at particular issues and cast illuminating light on many aspects of medieval society where women were centre stage. Studies focus on the making of wills, the age of consent, rights concerning marriage, care, custody and guardianship (with particular emphasis on the rights of a mother attempting to gain custody of her own children within the court system), women as traders, women as criminals, prostitution, the rights of battered women within the courts, the procedures women had to go through to gain legal redress and access, rape, and women within guilds. Contributors: P.J.P. GOLDBERG, VICTORIA THOMPSON, JENIFER SMITH, CORDELIA BEATIE, KATHERINE J. LEWIS, NOEL JAMES MENUGE, CORINE SAUNDERS, KIM M. PHILIPS, EMA HAWKES.
A fine example of how a new generation of historians are approaching the field of legal history.. what is really new here is the ways in which all of the authors approach the history of the law: they use some decidedly non-legal texts to examine legal history; they bring together historical and literary sources; and they debunk the view that medieval laws had little to say about women or that medieval women had little legal agency. * ALBION [US] *
Its wide-ranging and inter-disciplinary approach to source material throws new light on medieval women living their lives within the framework of the law and legal attitudes. * RICARDIAN *
Its wide-ranging and inter-disciplinary approach to source material throws new light on medieval women living their lives within the framework of the law and legal attitudes. * RICARDIAN *
Corinne Saunders is Professor of Medieval Literature at the Department of English Studies, University of Durham.
| SKU | Unavailable |
| ISBN 13 | 9780851159324 |
| ISBN 10 | 085115932X |
| Title | Medieval Women and the Law |
| Author | Nol Menuge |
| Condition | Unavailable |
| Binding Type | Paperback |
| Publisher | Boydell & Brewer Ltd |
| Year published | 2003-03-27 |
| Number of pages | 184 |
| Cover note | Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary. |
| Note | Unavailable |