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.

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.

The first systematic examination of the expectations people had of the law in the middle ages. This book represents the first systematic examination of the expectations people had of the law in the Middle Ages. Up until now historians have used medieval legal records to demonstrate the operation of legal rules, the functioning of legal institutions and the development of the legal profession, but they have rarely considered the attitudes that arose as a result of the processes of law. The papers in this volume investigate the way expectations of the law were generated, captured, revealed or replayed for posterity in medieval Europe in jurisprudential reasoning, the activity of charter writing, the framing of definitions of "liberty", the concern for historical justifications, and the phraseology of various forms of legislation and chancery bills. Attitudes and perceptions are also considered with regard to the active role played by rulers of European states in law-giving and in the organisation of legal institutions. Contextualising some of the developments in medieval law, this volume not only enables generalisations to be made about expectations of the law, but also highlights the existence of national and supra-national similarities as well as differences arising in medieval Europe. Contributors: RICHARD W. KAEUPER, D. HEIRBAUT, M. KORPIOLA, JUDITH EVERARD, CYNTHIA J. NEVILLE, JULIA C. CRICK, H. SUMMERSON, G. SEABOURNE, G. DODD, T. HASKETT, ANTHONY MUSSON, C. STEBBINGS, P. TUCKER

The non-judicial confinement of women is a common event in medieval European literature and hagiography. The literary image of the imprisoned woman, usually a noblewoman, has carried through into the quasi-medieval world of the fairy and folk tale, in which the 'maiden in the tower' is one of the archetypes. Yet the confinement of women outside of the judicial system was not simply a fiction in the medieval period. Men too were imprisoned without trial and sometimes on mere suspicion of an offence, yet evidence suggests that there were important differences in the circumstances under which men and women were incarcerated, and in their roles in relation to non-judicial captivity. This study of the confinement of women highlights the disparity in regulation concerning male and female imprisonment in the middle ages, and gives a useful perspective on the nature of medieval law, its scope and limitations, and its interaction with royal power and prerogative. Looking at England from 1170 to 1509, the book discusses: the situations in which women might be imprisoned without formal accusation of trial; how social status, national allegiance and stage of life affected the chances of imprisonment; the relevant legal rules and norms; the extent to which legal and constitutional developments in medieval England affected women's amenability to confinement; what can be known of the experiences of women so incarcerated; and how women were involved in situations of non-judicial imprisonment, aside from themselves being prisoners.