Women in the Medieval Common Law c.12001500 (Studies in Medieval History and Culture)

This book examines the view of women held by medieval common lawyers and legislators, and considers medieval women's treatment by and participation in the processes of the common law. Surveying a wide range of points of contact between women and the common law, from their appearance (or not) in statutes, through their participation (or not) as witnesses, to their treatment as complainants or defendants, it argues for closer consideration of women within the standard narratives of classical legal history, and for re-examination of some previous conclusions on the relationship between women and the common law. It will appeal to scholars and students of medieval history, as well as those interested in legal history, gender studies, and the history of women. Examining the medieval English common law's ideas about and treatment of women, this book tackles the key issues of what legal sources can tell us about the view of women held by lawyers and legislators, and what light this can shed on understandings of women and gender in this period. It considers legislation, reports and records of litigation, and lawyers' discussions, exercises and treatises, and the petitions of those for whom the common law did not provide a satisfactory solution, drawing together a broad range of areas of law - land rights, civil claims and litigation, controls on sexual behaviour and crime. It highlights the vagueness of the common law when it came to women, and explores the reason behind this lack of clarity and how it relates to positive rules limiting women's lives, and the contrasting growth in regulation of male rights and duties over the medieval period. "This book examines the view of women held by medieval common lawyers and legislators, and considers medieval women's treatment by and participation in the processes of the common law. Considering a wide range of points of contact between women and the common law, from their appearance (or not) in statutes, through their participation (or not) as witnesses, to their treatment as complainants or defendants, it argues for closer consideration of women within the standard narratives of classical legal history, and for re-examination of some previous conclusions on the relationship between women and the common law. It will appeal to scholars and students of medieval history, as well as those interested in legal history, gender studies, and the history of women"-- Provided by publisher 'Their position is inferior to that of men' : differentiation, inclusion, omission -- Unstable constructions : unity, disunity, property and favour in common law thought on women -- 'By the mouth of man' : women as non-party actors in litigation -- Voice, agency and 'playingthe victim' -- Limits and accommodation -- Responsible and irresponsible women : the female defendant -- Conclusion : the future of women's legal past