Author: Mariah Cooper, Department of History and Classics, Acadia University - Academia.edu

Abstract: »This research focuses on sexual assault in medieval England by examining twelfth to fourteenth-century trial records, England's medieval rape laws, and literary representations of rape in popular Middle English romance. By comparing representations of rape in romance, with contemporaneous trial documents, and the laws themselves, this dissertation argues that in medieval England, consent and non-consent to rape were based on the physical proof of resistance on the woman’s body. This is the body of proof.
Analysing the five legal ages of England’s raptus laws, from Glanvill to the Statute of Rapes, it is evident that the gradual displacement of victim status away from the woman herself and in favour of her male kin was in response to continual frustration with the marriage clause and a persistent fear of malicious accusations of rape. This is represented not only in the laws themselves, but also in popular romance narratives.
The analysis of previously unpublished twenty-eight cases from the court of the general eyre exposes a schism between the laws in theory and in practice. By combining these with an ecclesiastical perspective, as well as popular romance narratives, the research suggests that there were three constructed legal identities a woman could have had when appealing rape: the truly innocent victim, the reluctant but willing accomplice, and the scheming culpable woman. Through a comparison to popular romance narratives with scenes of rape and sexual violence, it is evident that these identities were not confined to the courts, but widely acknowledged in medieval English culture.
The evidence suggests that there are remarkably consistent cultural tropes used in reference to survivors of sexual assault from the Middle Ages through to the twenty-first century. Ideas around "no means yes" and that the body can enjoy the assault are exposed in this research as existing in English medieval culture. In looking at rape laws, how the laws were interpreted by the courts through actual trial records, as well as the social attitudes towards rape as represented in popular romance narratives, this research presents new understandings of the cultural and legal discourse of rape in medieval England.« (Source: Thesis)

Contents:

	Abstract (p. ii)
	Acknowledgments (p. iii)
	List of Tables (p. vii)
	List of Figures (p. viii)
	List of Maps (p. ix)
	Chapter 1: Introduction (p. 1)
		1.1 Good Friday, 1347 (p. 2)
		1.2 Modern Definitions (p. 10)
		1.3 Scope and Aim (p. 14)
		1.4 Theory (p. 19)
		1.5 Structure (p. 24)
		1.6 A Note on Terminology and Gender (p. 27)
	Chapter 2: The Five Ages of Secular Raptus Laws (p. 32)
		2.1 Introduction (p. 32)
		2.2 Medieval England’s Jury Selection (p. 35)
		2.3 The Process of Appeal (p. 39)
		2.4 I: The Age of Glanvill (p. 40)
		2.5 II: The Age of Bracton (p. 58)
		2.6 III: The Age of the First Statute of Westminster (p. 85)
		2.7 IV: The Age of the Second Statute of Westminster (p. 97)
		2.8 V: The Age of the Statute of Rapes (p. 108)
		2.9 Concluding Thoughts on the Five Legal Ages (p. 118)
	Chapter 3: The Eyre Courts in Practice (p. 120)
		3.1 Introduction (p. 120)
		3.2 The Legal Age of Glanvill, c.1200–c.1230 (p. 122)
		3.3 The Legal Age of Bracton, c.1200–c.275 (p. 123)
		3.4 The Legal Age of Westminster I, 1275–1285 (p. 128)
		3.5 The Legal Age of Westminster II, 1285–1382 (p. 140)
		3.6 The Eyre Courts and Women’s Constructed “Identities” (p. 163)
	Chapter 4: Ecclesiastical Perspectives (p. 173)
		4.1 Introduction (p. 173)
		4.2 Development of Canon Law (p. 173)
		4.3 Marriage (p. 182)
		4.4 Sex Crimes (p. 185)
		4.5 Raptus in Canon Law (p. 188)
		4.6 Benefit of the Clergy (p. 190)
		4.7 Raptus and Marriage (p. 193)
		4.8 Clandestine Marriage (p. 198)
		4.9 Hagiography (p. 200)
		4.10 Separation (p. 218)
		4.11 Physical Abuse (p. 219)
		4.12 Marital Rape (p. 224)
		4.13 Concluding Thoughts on the Ecclesiastical Perspectives (p. 226)
	Chapter 5: The Third Identity (p. 228)
		5.1 Pregnancy and the Rapable Body (p. 233)
		5.2 Marriage (p. 240)
		5.3 Concluding Thoughts (p. 244)
	Chapter 6: Middle English Romance: A Historiography and Review (p. 246)
		6.1 Introduction (p. 246)
		6.2 Romance Context: The Crises of the Fourteenth Century (p. 247)
		6.3 Literature Review of Romance Genre and Definition (p. 255)
		6.4 Audience and Reception (p. 261)
		6.5 Romance Theory (p. 264)
		6.6 Medieval Gender Constructions in Romance: Masculinity (p. 266)
		6.7 Medieval Gender Constructions in Romance: Femininity (p. 271)
		6.8 Social Anxieties in Romance (p. 277)
		6.9 Romance and Hagiography (p. 281)
		6.10 Concluding Thoughts on Middle English Romance (p. 291)
	Chapter 7: Abduction and Malicious Rape Accusations: Sir Orfeo and Amis and Amiloun (p. 293)
		7.1 Introduction (p. 293)
		7.2 Rape in Romance: A Literature Review (p. 293)
		7.3 The Token No (p. 303)
		7.4 Sir Orfeo (p. 312)
		7.5 Concluding Thoughts on Sir Orfeo (p. 324)
		7.6 Amis and Amiloun (p. 325)
		7.7 Concluding Thoughts on Amis and Amiloun (p. 340)
	Chapter 8: Rape in Romance: Sir Degare, Sir Gowther and Le Bone Florence of Rome (p. 342)
		8.1 Sir Degare (p. 342)
		8.2 Concluding Thoughts on Sir Degare (p. 367)
		8.3 Sir Gowther (p. 371)
		8.4 Wild Nature (p. 383)
		8.5 The Rape of Nuns (p. 384)
		8.6 Concluding Thought on Sir Gowther (p. 388)
		8.7 Le Bone Florence of Rome (p. 390)
		8.8 The Burning (p. 406)
		8.9 Concluding Thoughts on Le Bone Florence of Rome (p. 408)
		8.10 Final Thoughts on Rape in Romance (p. 413)
	Chapter 9: Conclusion: The Body of Proof and the Rapable Body (p. 416)
	Bibliography (p. 423)
		Primary Sources (p. 423)
		Secondary Sources (p. 428)
	Appendix A: A Brief History of the Court of the General Eyre (p. 439)
	Appendix B: Circuits of the Eyre for Select Case-Studies (p. 445)

Publication: Cooper, Mariah L. Representations of Rape and Consent in Medieval English Laws and Literature. Leeds 2024. - Bibliographic Entry: Info

Wikipedia: History of Europe: History of England / England in the High Middle Ages, England in the Late Middle Ages | Court: Medieval English court system / Eyre (legal term) | Law: Canon law / Canon law of the Catholic Church | Law: English law / Medieval English law, Statute of Westminster 1275, Statute of Westminster 1285 | Literature: English literature / Amis and Amiloun, Le Bone Florence of Rome, Sir Degaré, Sir Gowther, Sir Orfeo | Sex and the law: Rape / Rape in England