Feminae: Medieval Women and Gender Index


  • Record Number: 9764
  • Author(s)/Creator(s): Finch , Andrew.
  • Contributor(s):
  • Title: Women and Violence in the Later Middle Ages: The Evidence of the Officiality of Cerisy
  • Source: Continuity and Change 7, 1 ( 1992): Pages 23 - 45.
  • Description:
  • Article Type: Journal Article
  • Subject (See Also): Abortion Cerisy-la-Foret, Manche, France Courts of Law, Ecclesiastical Crime and Criminals Fines and Penalties Infanticide Insults Libel and Slander Rape Violence Wife Abuse
  • Award Note:
  • Geographic Area: France
  • Century: 14- 15
  • Primary Evidence:
  • Illustrations:
  • Table: Two tables. Table One Assaults, fights, and rapes in the officiality of Cerisy, 1314- circa 1486. Section a presents the proportion involving groups. Section b presents the proportion involving women. Table Two Numbers of men and women involved in violence in the officiality of Cerisy, 1314-circa 1486. Section a presents assaults, fights, and rapes. Section b presents other forms of violence which include abortion and infanticide, homicide, and defamation.
  • Abstract: The register of the officiality of Cerisy contains an unusually large amount of information relating to the violent crime. The main utility of this material lies in the area of assaults. Here detailed descriptions allow a "profile" of male and female violence to be reconstructed. These demonstrate that women were capable of similar acts of violence to men, but that their exposure to violence may have been more limited or, in fact, different. Women were particularly vulnerable to sexual and domestic violence; suspicions of abortion and infanticide also invariably fell on them. The evidence does not, however, demonstrate a clear (and expected) link between women and verbal violence.
  • Related Resources:
  • Author's Affiliation: University of York
  • Conference Info: - , -
  • Year of Publication: 1992.
  • Language: English
  • ISSN/ISBN: 02684160