Marriage Disputes in Medieval England

Intimate details about the personal lives of medieval people are rare. Most information comes from the records of the church courts of the province of York, which date from the 14th century. This work investigates cases involving a range of disputes, including sex, consent and violence.

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Intimate details about the personal lives of medieval people are frustratingly rare. We seldom know what the men and women of the middle ages thought about marriage, let alone about sex. The records of the church courts of the province of York, mainly dating from the fourteenth century, provides a welcome light on private, family life and on individual reactions to it. They include a wide range of fascinating cases involving disputes about the validity of marriage, consent, sex, marital violence, impotence and property disputes. They also show how widely the laws of marriage were both known and accepted. Marriage Disputes in Medieval England offers a remarkable insight into personal life in the middle ages.