This volume provides a comprehensive study of widowhood in Medieval Britain based on literary
and historical sources from the seventh to the fifteenth centuries. The book is divided into
two parts: the first deals with the Anglo-Saxon period the second with the Medieval period.
Because widows shared certain preoccupations specific to their status the two parts deal with
similar topics: the fundamental role played by the Church in the doctrine of marriage and the
dominant male discourse about widows. Widows had a specific legal status: special laws affected
their lives and their relationships with their children and other relatives. Much attention is
consequently devoted to family structures and to the legal and social aspects of inheritance.
The volume also explores the various options widowhood offered and the highly debated degree of
independence widows had in their life choices.
