Gendered Punishments in Medieval Nordic Law, Ca. 1100-1300

Erscheinungsjahr 2025
ISBN: 978-1-80270-184-5
Verlag: ARC Humanities Press

Buch, Englisch, 156 Seiten, Format (B × H): 158 mm x 234 mm, Gewicht: 372 g

This book examines gendered punishments in medieval Nordic laws, ca. 1100–1300. By exploring legislation on violence, sorcery, sexual morality, and theft, it considers whether women were seen as independent legal subjects or as extensions of their families. It identifies various gendered punishments and discriminatory treatments, revealing regional differences and the influence of European legal ideologies. It also uncovers an emphasis on individual culpability for crimes, reflecting a shift from collective to individual responsibility and women’s increasing property rights. This comparative analysis offers a nuanced view of medieval Nordic law, highlighting the complex relationship between gender, law, and society during this transformative period. It explains how criminal law was influenced by canon law and German town law and offers new insights into the legal history of the Nordic region.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Vogt, Helle

Korpiola, Mia

Mundal, Else

Tveit, Miriam Jensen

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Geschichtliche Themen Kultur- und Ideengeschichte
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Geschichtswissenschaft Allgemein
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Alte Geschichte & Archäologie Vor- und Frühgeschichte, prähistorische Archäologie
• Rechtswissenschaften Recht, Rechtswissenschaft Allgemein Rechtsgeschichte, Recht der Antike
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Geschichtliche Themen Mentalitäts- und Sozialgeschichte

Inhaltsverzeichnis

List of Illustrations

Abbreviations

Introduction. Gender in the Medieval Nordic Laws

Chapter 1. The Nordic Medieval Laws

Chapter 2. Violence and Homicide

Chapter 3. Sorcery and Magic

Chapter 4. Violations of the Norms of Sexual Morality

Chapter 5. Theft

Chapter 6. Comparative Observations and Main Conclusions

Bibliography

Index

Über Autor(innen)

Vogt, Helle
Helle Vogt is Professor in Legal History at University of Copenhagen, Denmark.

Korpiola, Mia
Mia Korpiola (PhD 2004) is professor of legal history of the University of Turku. She has published extensively on Swedish and Finnish legal history.

Tveit, Miriam Jensen
Miriam Jensen Tveit (PhD 2017) is assistant professor of medieval history at Nord University, and has published extensively on Norwegian medieval legal history.

Mundal, Else
Else Mundal is professor emerita in Old Norse philology at the University of Bergen. She has published extensively on gender in medieval Norway and Iceland. In 2017, she was appointed a knight of the Icelandic Order of the Falcon.