Description
Book SynopsisFirst comprehensive survey of how kinship rules were discussed and applied in medieval England.Two separate legal jurisdictions concerned with family relations held sway in England during the high middle ages: canon law and common law. In thirteenth- and fourteenth-century Europe, kinship rules dominated the lives of laymenand laywomen. They determined whom they might marry (decided in the canon law courts) and they determined from whom they might inherit (decided in the common law courts). This book seeks to uncover the association between the two, exploring the ways in which the two legal systems shared ideas about family relationship, where the one jurisdiction - the common law - was concerned about ties of consanguinity and where the other - canon law - was concerned toadd to the kinship mix ties of affinity. It also demonstrates how the theories of kinship were practically applied in the courtrooms of medieval England. SAM WORBY is a civil servant and independent scholar.
Trade ReviewWorby has provided a significant contribution to the scholarship, and her book must be welcomed as an important corrective to Maitland's criticisms of medieval legal scholarship. * JOURNAL OF BRITISH STUDIES *
This book makes an important contribution to the narrative of family in late medieval England and the inter-relationship of English common law and the ius commune. * REVIEWS IN HISTORY *
Table of ContentsIntroduction Canon law kinship structures Common law kinship structures The dominance of canon law kinship ideas Kinship laws in practice Trends underlying legal kinship structures Conclusion Appendix 1: Raymón of Penyafort's Quia tractare intendimus Appendix 2: The historical introduction to Sciendum est Appendix 3: Common law adaptations of canon law treatises: Quibus modis Appendix 4: Common law adaptations of canon law treatises: Triplex est
