The use of the term “community” in historical studies continues to present
problems for many medievalists. Myriad studies have emphasized the inadequacy
of the term when describing medieval society. Microstudies of manors and villages,
especially in the English context, by historians Barbara A. Hanawalt, J.
Ambrose Raftis, and Sherri Olson (am…[Read more]

Art historian Barbara Kellum’s 1973 article on child murder in medieval
England paints a picture of a world replete with ruthless and murderous
single mothers who escaped the legal consequences of their actions due to
an indifferent court system that chose to turn a blind eye to the deaths of
young children. Despite the overstated tone of h…[Read more]

The history of homicidal insanity in the courts of law of medieval England.

Given the hurdles one faced in trying to stay healthy in later medieval England, it
should come as no surprise that the medieval English placed a premium on competent
medicine. As Carole Rawcliffe has argued, “medieval life was beset by constant
threats to health arising from poor diet (at both ends of the social spectrum), low
levels of h…[Read more]

Conflicts between parish clergy and parishioners in late medieval England have been described as
acts of both anticlericalism and proclericalism (that is, an attempt to compel clergy into living up to
the parishioners’ increasingly high expectations of them). This paper hopes to expand our knowledge
of parish conflict by turning to an o…[Read more]

With regard to English common law, medieval women were able to participate
in the curial process in only a limited way. This is not true of
women as defendants: women could be sued for almost any civil or criminal
plaint, but their privileges as plaintiffs were broadly curtailed by
marital status and cultural expectation. The legal fiction of…[Read more]

In the year 1304, Matilda Bonamy of Guernsey, a young woman
from one of the Anglo-Norman island’smost established and affluent
families, found herself in a predicament familiar to many of
today’s youth. A liaison with Jordan Clouet, also from a family
of long provenance in Guernsey if not as comfortable, had left
her pregnant. To Matilda the…[Read more]

A two-page abstract of the book.