High-Ranking Widows in Medieval Iceland and Yorkshire

Property, Power, Marriage and Identity in the Twelfth and Thirteenth Centuries
Erscheinungsjahr 2010
ISBN: 978-90-04-18471-8
Verlag: Brill

Buch, Englisch, Band 49, 494 Seiten, Format (B × H): 160 mm x 240 mm, Gewicht: 916 g

Reihe: The Northern World

This book provides an evocative insight into the property, power, remarriage, and identity of high-ranking widows in two fundamentally different societies, Iceland and Yorkshire. The legal position of widows in each region is examined in light of evidence from charters, royal records and sagas to establish a detailed picture of practice. Comparison and family reconstruction are important elements, enabling the book to emphasize the placement of widows within the context of society and its institutions, and to consider fully the impact of individual circumstances on the widows’ opportunities for action. The result offers a fresh approach that tests widely accepted generalizations about widows’ independence, highlights differences between regions, and suggests the need to reconsider traditional, rigid definitions of kinship systems.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Ricketts, Philadelphia

Fachgebiete

• Sozialwissenschaften Soziologie | Soziale Arbeit Spezielle Soziologie Familiensoziologie

Inhaltsverzeichnis

List of Diagrams and Tables. xi
Preface. xiii
Acknowledgements. xv
Abbreviations. xix

Chapter One: Introduction. 1

Chapter Two: Sources. 23
Legal Sources. 24
Contemporary Sagas. 37
Charters. 43
Conclusion. 49

Chapter Three: Property and Marriage: The Laws. 51
Inheritance. 51
Marriage. 67
Consent in Marriage. 67
Dowry, Dower and Other Marital Property. 73
Land Transactions. 79
Conclusion. 82

Chapter Four Property. 85
Inheritance. 87
Lineal versus Collateral Descent. 88
Female Inheritance. 91
Division of Inheritance. 100
Illegitimacy. 116
Marital Assignments. 121
Conclusion. 129

Chapter Five Remarriage. 133
Marriage Patterns and Age at First Marriage. 133
Marital Demographics. 139
Marital Demographics for Icelandic and Yorkshire Widows. 144
Remarriage. 149
Wealth and Heiresses. 149
Lordship and Family. 152
Social Status. 156
Fertility and Children. 158
Ecclesiastical Influence. 163
Political Change in Iceland. 169
Conclusion. 174

Chapter Six Power. 177
Consent in Marriage. 180
Wardship and Transference of Property and Authority to the
Next Generation. 195
Property Transactions and Management. 216
Conclusion. 239

Chapter Seven Identity. 245
First Names. 246
Family Nomenclature. 253
Titles and Seals. 266
Property Management and Patronage. 278
Conclusion. 294

Chapter Eight Conclusion. 297

Appendices
Key to Appendices. 313
Appendix 1 Icelandic Widows. 318
Appendix 1 A Icelandic Widows (continued). 323
Appendix 2 Yorkshire Widows. 327
Appendix 2 A Yorkshire Widows (continued). 331
Appendix 3 Types of Property Acquired by Widows and Degree of Wealth. 334
Appendix 4 Descent of Lands and Power. 341
Appendix 5 Information about Remarried Widows’ Circumstances before Remarriage. 345
Appendix 6 Information about Widows’ Circumstances at End of Final Marriage and Including Subsequent Liaisons. 348
Appendix 6 A Information Regarding Widows Who Do Not Survive Last Relationship. 353
Appendix 7 Remarriage, Lordship, Kinship and Rank. 354
Appendix 8 Seals of the Yorkshire Widows. 365
Appendix 9 Naming Patterns—Sons. 367
Appendix 9 A Naming Patterns—Daughters. 373
Appendix 10 References. 378
Appendix 11 Avice Meschin’s Marriages and the Inheritance of her Daughter Alice Paynel. 402

Genealogies
Key to Genealogies. 411
Icelandic 1–12. 413
Yorkshire 13–20. 425
Bibliography. 433

Index. 447

Über Autor(innen)

Philadelphia Ricketts, PhD (2005), University of Liverpool, researches women’s history in northern Europe, family history, marriage, identity, naming patterns, and religious patronage. She has published on widows and identity (Haskins Society Journal, 2003), and on grandmothers (Youth and Age, Brill, 2008).