High-Ranking Widows in Medieval Iceland and Yorkshire
Property, Power, Marriage and Identity in the Twelfth and Thirteenth Centuries
Biographical note
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).
Readership
All those interested in women’s history, medieval marriage, personal or familial identity, kinship and kinship systems, legal history, Anglo-Norman and Angevin history, and the history of Commonwealth Iceland.
Table of contents
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
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
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