Women's Voices in Tudor Wills, 1485–1603

Authority, Influence and Material Culture

Nonfiction, History, Modern, 17th Century, Social & Cultural Studies, Social Science, Gender Studies, Women&
Cover of the book Women's Voices in Tudor Wills, 1485–1603 by Susan E. James, Taylor and Francis
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Susan E. James ISBN: 9781134781010
Publisher: Taylor and Francis Publication: March 9, 2016
Imprint: Routledge Language: English
Author: Susan E. James
ISBN: 9781134781010
Publisher: Taylor and Francis
Publication: March 9, 2016
Imprint: Routledge
Language: English

Contributing an original dimension to the significant body of published scholarship on women in 16th-century England, this study examines the largest corpus of women’s private writings available to historians: their wills. In these, female voices speak out, commenting on their daily lives, on identity, gender, status, familial relationships and social engagement. Wills show women to have been active participants in a civil society, well aware of their personal authority and potential influence, whose committed actions during life and charitable strategies after death could and did impact the health of that society. From an intensive analysis of more than 1200 wills, this pioneering work focuses on women from all parts of the country and all strata of society, revealing an entire population of articulate, opportunistic, and capable individuals who found the spaces between the lines of the law and used those spaces to achieve personal goals. Author Susan James demonstrates how wills describe strategies for end-of-life care, create platforms of remembrance, and offer insights into the myriad occupational endeavors in which women were engaged. James illuminates how these documents were not simply instruments of bequest and inheritance, but were statements of power and control, catalogues of material culture from which we are able to gauge a woman’s understanding of her own reality and the context that formed her environment. Wills were tools and the way in which women wielded these tools offers new ways to look at England in the 16th century and reveals the seminal role women played in its development.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

Contributing an original dimension to the significant body of published scholarship on women in 16th-century England, this study examines the largest corpus of women’s private writings available to historians: their wills. In these, female voices speak out, commenting on their daily lives, on identity, gender, status, familial relationships and social engagement. Wills show women to have been active participants in a civil society, well aware of their personal authority and potential influence, whose committed actions during life and charitable strategies after death could and did impact the health of that society. From an intensive analysis of more than 1200 wills, this pioneering work focuses on women from all parts of the country and all strata of society, revealing an entire population of articulate, opportunistic, and capable individuals who found the spaces between the lines of the law and used those spaces to achieve personal goals. Author Susan James demonstrates how wills describe strategies for end-of-life care, create platforms of remembrance, and offer insights into the myriad occupational endeavors in which women were engaged. James illuminates how these documents were not simply instruments of bequest and inheritance, but were statements of power and control, catalogues of material culture from which we are able to gauge a woman’s understanding of her own reality and the context that formed her environment. Wills were tools and the way in which women wielded these tools offers new ways to look at England in the 16th century and reveals the seminal role women played in its development.

More books from Taylor and Francis

Cover of the book Handbook of Contemporary European Social Theory by Susan E. James
Cover of the book Mass Media Revolution by Susan E. James
Cover of the book East and West in Comparative Education by Susan E. James
Cover of the book Sport, Racism And Ethnicity by Susan E. James
Cover of the book Schizophrenia: The Positive Perspective by Susan E. James
Cover of the book Personal Transport and the Greenhouse Effect by Susan E. James
Cover of the book Japan's Socio-Economic Evolution by Susan E. James
Cover of the book Motivational Analyses of Social Behavior by Susan E. James
Cover of the book Australia-China Relations post 1949 by Susan E. James
Cover of the book Team Psychology in Sports by Susan E. James
Cover of the book Sustainable Development Strategies by Susan E. James
Cover of the book The Future of Industrial Man by Susan E. James
Cover of the book Unfolding Stakeholder Thinking by Susan E. James
Cover of the book Forced Migration in the History of 20th Century Neuroscience and Psychiatry by Susan E. James
Cover of the book The Nature of the Transnational Firm by Susan E. James
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy