Medieval Writings on Secular Women

63. Controls over Wives in Northern Italy, Bologna, 1016 --
64. Sale of Land by Elica of Verona, Verona, 5 December 1127 --
65. Will of Maria Salbaconsa, Naples, 1076 --
66. Will of Dulcelina Gomberta, Marseilles, 6 July 1248 --
67. A Married Woman in Charge of Cash, Normandy, Late Eleventh Century --
68. Female Workers in City Regulations, Pisa, 1287 --
69. Alleged Rape of Wives, England, Mid-fifteenth Century --
70. A Rebel's Wife in Custody, Venice, 1326-8 --
71. Impugning Female Honour, Venice, 1290 --
72. The Incarceration of the Bruce Women, Scotland/England, 1306 --
73. A Young Married Woman: Petronilla, Lady of Ardres, Flanders, c. 1138-9 --
74. A Couple Rent a House, Bologna, 1071 --
75. A Wife's Account of her Sick Husband, Cured by John Cacciafronte, Martyred Bishop, Verona, 1224 --
76. Royal Marital Troubles, France, 1149-50 --
77. A Young Woman Excommunicated for Leaving her Husband, England, Late Twelfth Century. 78. The Suicide and Miraculous Revival of an Unhappy Wife, Normandy, Early Twelfth Century --
79. Penitential Texts on Sexual Intercourse, Spain, Ninth to Eleventh Centuries --
80. A Dubious Consanguinity Case, Sicily, Twelfth Century --
81. Infertility? : A Jewish Divorce Upheld by the King, England, 1242 --
82. Clerical Celibacy, Lisieux, Normandy, Late 1170s --
83. An Irregular Liaison, Bologna, 1092 --
84. A Clerical Portrayal of the Miseries of Marriage, Italy, c.1200 --
85. Christina of Markyate's Heroic Struggle against Marriage, Huntingdon, Early Twelfth Century --
86. Religious Conversion Not an Excuse for Separation: Papal Opinions, Rome, Twelfth Century --
87. Empress Judith as Godmother, France, 826 --
88. Peasant Mothers and their Children, France, c.820 --
89. A Mother's Refusal to Let her Son Hunt, France, 826 --
90. Queen Margaret of Scotland's Care for her Children's Education, Scotland, Eleventh Century. 91. Pope Gregory IX Pronounces on a Custody Case, Strasbourg, 16 May 1229 --
92. Eleanor of Provence, Queen of England, Writes to her Son, Edward I, England, 1274-85 --
93. A Mother Responsible for a Disabled Child, Sicily, 1138 --
94. Care for a Deaf and Mute Child, Normandy, 1145 --
95. A Mother Placing her Son into an Apprenticeship, Crete, 1301 --
96. Will of Gentil, Wife of Jacob of Puigcerda, Pyrenees, 21 November 1306 --
97. Two Agreements between Mothers and Sons, Crete, 1301 --
98. A Stepmother Mentioned in Passing, Venice, 1196. A note on the texts --
A note on dates and currencies --
chapter 1: Birth and infancy. Introduction --
1. Fear of Giving Birth to the Antichrist, France, Mid-tenth Century --
2. A Charm to be Spoken During the Birth of a Baby, England, Eleventh Century --
3. A Pregnant Woman's Delivery of a Stillborn Baby, Normandy, Mid-eleventh Century --
4. Public Record of the Labour of Isabel de la Cavallería, Zaragoza, 10 January 1490 --
5. William of Conches on Human Reproduction, Normandy, Mid-twelfth Century --
6. The Welsh Law of Women on Provision for Mother and Baby, Early Thirteenth Century --
7. A Bequest of Moveables to a Pregnant Wife, Genoa, 5 March 1156 --
8. Faked Pregnancies and Substituted Children: Galbert of Bruges on Walter of Vladsloo, Flanders, Early Twelfth Century --
9. A Substituted Child, Normandy, Eleventh Century --
10. A Substituted Child, England, Twelfth Century --
11. Pope Gregory XI Issues a Pardon over a False Pregnancy, Villeneuve-lès-Avignon, 27 July 1372 --
12. Reaction to the Birth of a Daughter: Walter of Châtillon, France, Twelfth Century --
13. A Jewish Husband in Dispute with his Wife, Cairo, Tenth to Twelfth Centuries --
14. Conciliar Advice on Lay Baptism, Trier, 1277 --
15. A Royal Baptism, England, Late Eleventh Century --
16. A Noblewoman Breastfeeding her own Children: Ida of Bouillon, Eleventh Century --
17. King Roger of Sicily Rewards the Wet-nurse of his Son, Henry, Southern Italy, 1136 --
18. Nurse and Infant, Normandy, Mid-eleventh Century --
19. Nurse and Infant, Normandy, Early Twelfth Century --
20. Penitential Texts on Child Deaths, Spain, Ninth to Eleventh Centuries --
21. Care of an Abandoned Baby, Italy, Late Thirteenth Century. Chapter 2: Girls and young women. Introduction --
22. A Jewish Girl's Charitable Act, Cairo, Mid-eleventh Century --
23. Little Girls' Pastimes: Liutberga, Germany, Ninth Century --
24. Little Girls' Pastimes: Joan of Arc, France, Early Fifteenth Century --
25. Little Girls at School: Froissart's L'Espinette amoureuse, 1365-72 --
26. A Young Girl at Work: Liutberga, Germany, Ninth Century --
27. A Peasant Girl at Work: Alpais of Cudot, France, Mid-twelfth Century --
28. A Contract Placing a Girl in Service, Amalfi, 1090 --
29. Slave Girls Among the Rus', Tenth Century --
30. Manumission of a Female Slave, Genoa, 12 May 1159 --
31. Sales of Female Slaves, Crete, 1301 --
32. A Fugitive Slave, Crete, 1315 --
33. Anglo-Saxon Customs on Engagement, Eleventh Century --
34. An Anglo-Jewish Betrothal Contract, 1271 --
35. A Muslim Girl Sent Early to be Married, Sicily, Twelfth Century --
36. The Case of Grace of Saleby, England, Twelfth Century --
37. A Narrow Escape from Assault: Christina of Markyate, Huntingdon, Twelfth Century --
38. Alleged Rape of an Eleven-year-old Girl, London, 1320 --
39. Securing a Dowry by Litigation, Calabria, 1093 --
40. Securing a Dowry by Adoption, Southern Italy, 1170 --
41. Securing a Dowry through Charity, Trento, 1301 --
42. Menstruation: St Trophimena Intervenes in a Case of Underage Marriage, Amalfi, Ninth Century --
43. Innocent III on the Horrors of Menstrual Blood, Italy, Before 1198 --
44. Unmarried Women and Prostitutes, Paris, c.1200 --
45. Single Mother's Lament, Germany/France, c.1200 --
46. Marbod of Rennes, Poem to the Countess Ermengarde of Brittany, France, Early Twelfth Century --
47. A Wealthy Heiress, England, 1137/8 --
48. Single Women's Business Transactions, Crete, 1301 --
49. A Single Woman: Liutberga, Germany, Ninth Century. Chapter 3: Married women and mothers. Introduction --
50. Letter of Einhard's Wife, Imma, on an Illicit Marriage, France, 828-36 --
51. Barriers to Licit Marriage, Milan, 20 May 822 --
52. The Ideal Wife Described: Bonizo of Sutri, Italy, Late Eleventh Century --
53. A Marriage and Wedding Feast, Flanders, Twelfth Century --
54. The Marriage of Urraca, Spain, c.1082 --
55. The Blessing of the Marital Bed at the End of the Wedding Day, Flanders, Twelfth Century --
56. Donation by Bernard of Narbonne to his Wife Ermengarda, Narbonne, 27 August 1031 --
57. Managing a Dowry, France, Before 1148 --
58. Regularizing of the Property Surrounding Marriage, Genoa, 1159 --
59. Customs on the Dowry, Amalfi, Thirteenth Century --
60. Dowry Payments, Marseilles, 1248 --
61. A Wife Gives all her Property to her Husband, Barcelona, 3 March 981 --
62. A Wife Defends the Property Rights of herself and her Husband, Barcelona, 17 October 987. Chapter 4: Widows. Introduction --
99. A Widow Makes Alternative Arrangements to Sell her Land, Salerno, 882 --
100. A Widow Taking Over her Husband's Tenancy, Barcelona, 31 January 975 --
101. A Widow and Children Selling Land, Barcelona, 29 December 942 --
102. A Sale between Women, Palermo, Sicily, 1164 --
103. A Widow Entering Service, Marseilles, 15 April 1248 --
104. A Widow Taking a Loan, Marseilles, 14 April 1248 --
105. Widows in a Loan Agreement, Crete, 1301 --
106. The Business Circle of the Jewish Widow, Helea, Crete, 1310 --
107. Widows and Political Upheaval, Normandy, 1219 --
108. Emma, Widow of King Lothar, Writes to her Mother, Empress Adelaide, France, Late Tenth Century --
109. A Fictional Widow's Lament on the Loss of her Husband, Austria, 1194 --
110. Customs on Widows' Property, Amalfi, Thirteenth Century --
111. A Widow in Conflict with her Brother, Barcelona, 8 May 1000 --
112. A Widow Disputing the Status of Land, Normandy, c.1206 --
113. A Widow Making a Gift, Barcelona, Late Tenth Century --
114. A Widow Renting Out Property, Marseilles, 30 April 1248 --
115. Account of Expenses Made by Richard of Anstey in his Case against Mabel of Francheville, England, 1158-63 --
116. Will of Regina, Jewess of Puigcerda, Pyrenees, 23 October 1306 --
117. A Widow in Business as a Miller, Crete, 1301 --
118. A Frustrated Female Crusader, France, 1098 --
119. An Eyewitness Account of Empress Matilda Acting as Intermediary in the Case of Thomas Becket, Normandy, 1164. Chapter 5: Older Women and death. Introduction --
120. A Grandmother Invests for her Grandchildren, Crete, 1301 --
121. Will of Florita, Making Provision for her Old Age, Ravello, 1199 --
122. Old Women, According to the Poem "Ruodlieb, " Germany, c.1050 --
123. Epigram on an Old Woman by Ulger, Angers, France, c.1111 --
124. Old Women as Reliable Witnesses, Venice, 1196 --
125. Epitaph of the Jewess Scarlatta, Aquileia, Italy, 1140 --
126. Epitaph of Urania of Worms, Leader of Female Synagogue, Germany, Thirteenth Century --
127. Epitaphs of Sicardis, Languedoc, 1199 --
128. The Death of Empress Adelaide, Orbe, Switzerland, 999 --
129. The Death of Queen Matilda I of Germany, 968 --
130. Queen Margaret of Scotland's Deathbed, Scotland, 1093 --
131. Death in Childbirth of Countess Christina of Guînes, Flanders, 2 July 1177 --
132. Benefactors of the Hôtel-Dieu, Listed for Commemoration, Beauvais, 1292 --
133. "Competitive" Commemoration after the Death of Queen Matilda II, England, 1118 --
134. Letter to Einhard Commiserating on the Death of his Wife, Imma, 836 --
135. Guisanda's Will Disputed, Bari, 1021 --
136. The Will of Eva Peche Disputed, Cambridge, 1286 --
137. Beneficiary of a Will, Crete, 1301 --
138. Commemoration Stone Erected by Helmgöt for his Deceased Wife, Odendis, Sweden, Tenth to Eleventh Centuries --
139. The Will of Æthelgifu, England, Tenth Century.