Affective networks across the divide

Singlewomen, the notarial archive, and social connections in the late medieval Mediterranean

Datos Bibliográficos

ID12922016
AutoresShannon Mcdonough (0000-0002-7876-265X, University of Maryland, Baltimore County, autor de correspondencia), Michelle Armstrong‐partida (0000-0003-4346-4772, Emory University)
Año2023
Volumen16
Número1
Páginas121-139
Fecha de publicación2023-12-07
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessNo
TipoARTICLE
RevistaJournal of Medieval Iberian Studies (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 1754-6559 • E-ISSN: 1754-6567
EditorialTaylor & Francis (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/17546559.2023.2286019
OpenAlexW4389440806
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas2
Referencias citadas40

Though previous scholarship has presumed singlewomen in medieval Southern Europe were nearly non-existent and had few means, notarial sources from the late medieval Mediterranean reveal not only that singlewomen were present in the thriving port cities, but also that they created extensive networks among other women and men in order to survive and in some cases to flourish. Some had children out of wedlock, some were formerly enslaved, others traveled long distances and still remembered family members in their places of origin, and many built new communities in their homes. Indeed, it is remarkable that many of these migrant and formerly enslaved women created deep ties to both local and migrant neighbors, and their actions suggest a sense of responsibility to manumit other enslaved peoples and give charity to poor women. We investigate how singlewomen strategically used their final wills and testaments and other notarial documents to sustain, post-mortem, the networks that nurtured the women in their life, both friends and family members. We consider how women bestowed personal goods and financial legacies to maintain and memorialize their relationships and to sustain community, even in their absence

Business · Ethnology · Genealogy · Order (exchange · Political science · Scholarship · Social science · Sociology · Thriving · Historical Economic and Social Studies · History · Law · Medieval and Early Modern Justice · Medieval Literature and History