A mind-boggling aspect of late medieval church courts was the employment of “juries of matrons” in suits for divorce by reason of impotence: the court could order a group of women to investigate on its behalf whether a man was capable of “having carnal knowledge” of a woman. In other words, they performed a court-orderedContinue reading “Alice Barbour c. William Barbour”
Tag Archives: Divorce for impotence
Christopher Bradley c Margaret Bradley
In May 2024, I found in the London Consistory records this highly unusual case of an apparent intersex person. She[1] was Margaret Bradley of Edmonton and Hackney, Middlesex, whose husband Christopher sued her in 1522 to annul their marriage. Six women, three midwives and three apparent neighbours of Christopher in Hackney, testified in significant anatomicalContinue reading “Christopher Bradley c Margaret Bradley”
Consistory 