Imprisoning Medieval Women: The Non-Judicial Confinement and Abduction of Women in England, c.1170-1509The non-judicial confinement of women is a common event in medieval European literature and hagiography. The literary image of the imprisoned woman, usually a noblewoman, has carried through into the quasi-medieval world of the fairy and folk tale, in which the 'maiden in the tower' is one of the archetypes. Yet the confinement of women outside of the judicial system was not simply a fiction in the medieval period. Men too were imprisoned without trial and sometimes on mere suspicion of an offence, yet evidence suggests that there were important differences in the circumstances under which men and women were incarcerated, and in their roles in relation to non-judicial captivity. |
Contents
Introduction | 1 |
By Royal Power and Command Maidens and Other Women in Towers | 13 |
Confinement of Women in War and Armed Conflict | 15 |
Other Species of Garde Royal Wardship and Idiocy Guardianship | 55 |
A Dreary and Solitary Place or Honourable Captivity? | 61 |
Wrongful Imprisonment and Abduction Legal Responses and their Limits | 87 |
Countless Ravishments of Women? Legislation and Other Royal Initiatives | 89 |
Common Law | 105 |
Escaping the Confines of the Common Law | 129 |
Not Averse to the Arrangement? Allegations of Collusion and Consent | 145 |
Agency and Contagion Further Aspects of Womens Participation | 165 |
Conclusion | 187 |