Fresh approaches to how premodern women were viewed in legal terms, demonstrating how this varied from country to country and across the centuries.

This book provides a detailed analysis of women’s involvement in litigation and other legal actions within their local communities in late-medieval England. I

Examines how late medieval church courts were used for marriage cases, and how this varied dramatically across Europe.

Explores single men and women in the Roman world, their ways of life and their reasons for remaining unmarried.

Marriage in Europe became a central pillar of society during the medieval period. Theologians, lawyers, and secular and church leaders agreed on a unique outlin