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“Against The Good Widdow No Harme We Doe Know:” Examining Aristocratic And Gentry Widows’ Roles And Influence In England From 1500-1650, Alyson D. Alvarez
“Against The Good Widdow No Harme We Doe Know:” Examining Aristocratic And Gentry Widows’ Roles And Influence In England From 1500-1650, Alyson D. Alvarez
Department of History: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research
This dissertation explores how English aristocratic and gentry women utilized their widowhoods to actively craft their personal image as well as influence and alter their communities. Free from the common law principles of coverture, English widows gained new legal autonomy. Additionally, many affluent women received substantial inheritances at the deaths of their husbands thus providing them with the financial freedom.
While widowhood offered English women new independence, it was also accompanied by a multitude of expectations. Sixteenth and seventeenth century authors and scholars developed and perpetuated specific conduct deemed appropriate for widows. The behaviors for created for widowed women contributed …