Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®
Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Commons™
Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®
Articles 1 - 1 of 1
Full-Text Articles in Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies
Female Criminal Agency In Early Fourteenth-Century Norfolk, Anna K. Davis
Female Criminal Agency In Early Fourteenth-Century Norfolk, Anna K. Davis
Masters Theses
Medieval women who were on the wrong side of the law expressed agency in a specific and unusual manner. Criminal agency, as it were, was a way for them to express their wants and desires in a way that is no less valid a subject of study than actions that were legally permissible. However, this agency was constrained by medieval notions of women’s capability. This thesis examines women and their crimes found in an early fourteenth-century Norfolk gaol delivery roll to further understand how the men who ran gaol delivery “allowed” women to be criminal. As gaol delivery rolls were …