Lecture | Research Seminar Medieval and Early Modern History
Navigating Married Life in the Late Medieval Low Countries
- Date
- Friday 16 May 2025
- Time
- Serie
- Research Seminars Medieval and Early Modern History academic year 2024 - 2025
- Address
-
Johan Huizinga
Doelensteeg 16
2311 VL Leiden - Room
- Conference room (2.60)
This presentation explores the dynamics of marital life in the late medieval Low Countries, offering a reassessment of traditional interpretations of spousal roles and power structures. By analyzing new sources, including town court records and private agreements between spouses, this study reveals the complexities of marriage that extend beyond the framework of canon law. While canon law emphasized consent and spousal harmony, the lived experience of marriage often entailed negotiation, conflict resolution, and community involvement. These sources demonstrate that wives, particularly in the urban centers of the Low Countries, exercised significant agency in addressing marital grievances and seeking justice. The study illustrates that marital harmony and mutual respect were not only theoretical ideals but also practical concerns, with couples and their communities actively contributing to the maintenance of these values, supported by local authorities and societal norms.
About the speaker
Chanelle Delameillieure (KU Leuven, History Department) is a historian of the late medieval Low Countries, specializing in gender, family, and legal history. Her research is based on a wide range of secular and ecclesiastical legal sources, and focuses on issues of partner choice, consent, and sexual and domestic violence.
Research Seminars Medieval and Early Modern History
The seminars are informal and intended to foster discussion. There are drinks afterwards. Everyone is welcome to join.
If you would like to join a session, and/or receive invitations for the upcoming sessions, you can send an e-mail to: ngassistent@hum.leidenuniv.nl. Further information can be obtained from the organizers Marlisa den Hartog, Judith Pollmann, Jeroen Duindam and Philippe Buc.