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- Title
Loving Friends: Surviving Widowhood in Late Medieval Westminster.
- Authors
French, Katherine L.
- Abstract
Although medieval moralists routinely warned against women socialising with either men or women, this article argues that friendships were instrumental in helping women survive widowhood. In medieval Europe, widowhood was frequently a time of vulnerability and poverty. Unscrupulous businessmen and other opportunists often preyed upon widows. Looking at the different ways men and women in Westminster made their wills and analysing those chosen to administer them reveals that widows frequently turned to the husbands of their friends to execute their wills and oversee their estates.
- Subjects
WESTMINSTER (London, England); LONDON (England); ENGLAND; WIDOWS -- Social conditions; FRIENDSHIP; WILLS; SOCIAL norms; MIDDLE Ages
- Publication
Gender & History, 2010, Vol 22, Issue 1, p21
- ISSN
0953-5233
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1111/j.1468-0424.2010.01576.x