Abstract
The extraction of a pecuniary penalty for the recusancy of married women was a heavily contested issue in the Parliament of Elizabeth. Under the rules of coverture, married women controlled no property. It was thus ineffective to fine them, for they were unable to pay the penalty. As a result, the government attempted to hold husbands responsible for the penalties of their wives through the use of recognizances under the auspices of the Commissions for Causes Ecclesiastical, a prerogative court. Research into the York Commission’s use of recognizances indicated that it had indeed been possible legitimately and legally to obtain a pecuniary penalty for the recusancy of a married woman by the 1570s. This was generally believed to have been legally impossible until they became obtainable by statute in 1593. Detailed examination of the records of the Commission indicates clearly that the depiction in the scholarly literature of the levying of these penalties as somehow improper or even illegal is erroneous. These forfeitures might have seemed irregular, but were indeed legitimate and obtained by proper and legal means in the context of contemporary standards of authority and control, both governmental and familial. This study demonstrates how respect for the standards of coverture, patriarchy, and marital obligations incorporated in the use of the recognizance provided a highly effective and legal means to penalise and correct both recusant wives and their husbands.
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Acknowledgements
The author would like to thank the Andrew C. Duncan Trust of the Catholic Record Society and the Department of History/Peter Fraser Fund and Faculty of Graduate Studies at Dalhousie University for travel funding in support of this project.
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Original Article: Victoria Fisher Memorial Prize Essay, 2005 – Victoria Fisher was an academic and feminist who lectured in law at the University of Leicester from 1979 until her tragic death in 1986. As a testament to her life and work, the Law Faculty set up a Prize fund from money raised after Victoria’s death. The purpose is to stimulate and encourage interest in the topic of Women and the Law, an area with which Victoria herself was closely involved. Feminist Legal Studies is pleased to publish the winning essay from the 2005 competition.
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Peddle, K.S. In the Name of the Father: The Elizabethan Response to Recusancy by Married Catholic Women, 1559–1586. Fem Leg Stud 15, 307–328 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10691-007-9063-0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10691-007-9063-0